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Bombs found near Berlusconi's villa after Blair visit
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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What's up with this,Fred?
Page 2
2 (02:07) Soldier blogging from Mosul: MY WAR - Fear And Loathing In Iraq

I was reading yesterdays Rantburg this morning and ran across the above link.When I tried to post the same link a few days ago it was deleted and you told me links to other blogs are not allowed
Why was link allowed to remain?
Posted by: Raptor || 08/18/2004 9:40:29 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The link was posted late at night, when I was nitey-bye. But it was also posted correctly.

Links to other blogs are allowed, even encouraged, with the following provisos:

1. Post the headline, attribution to the blog, and a link.

2. Add your discussion of the content if you want, but don't post more than a few lines of the content.

What isn't allowed is the full content of a post on someone else's blog, off-topic stuff, or pure opinion pieces. I think of front-line milblogs as news sources, so I'm usually pretty forgiving in that respect, though other editors might not be.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2004 10:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Ok,sounds reasonable enough.
Posted by: Raptor || 08/18/2004 10:27 Comments || Top||

#3 
Speaking of what's up, I noticed late last night that there were about 5,500 people online at one time.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester || 08/18/2004 18:13 Comments || Top||

#4  I had all of my muliple personalities activated ;-)
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2004 18:20 Comments || Top||

#5  I think that was one of the periodic denial of service attacks. Just ignore about 5000 of them...
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2004 19:00 Comments || Top||

#6  You still getting DOS'd?

Well, at least you seem to be scaling to match it.
Posted by: OldSpook || 08/18/2004 22:37 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Two More Arrested in Makkah, Riyadh
Security forces have arrested two suspected terrorists in Riyadh and the holy city of Makkah, published reports said yesterday. Al-Watan Arabic daily said a 38-year-old suspect was arrested in Makkah on an unspecified date. It did not name him but he was not on the Kingdom's list of 26 most-wanted militants. Al-Watan said he was believed to be a member of the group tracked down by security forces last week in Makkah in an operation that led to the killing of "bomb maker" Abdul Rahman Al-Harbi. The paper said the suspect had "disguised" himself in a tracksuit but the "alertness of the security men helped to uncover his trick".
"Mahmoud! That guy in the track suit! He's pushin' a FROG-7!"
"Hmmm... That's strange. He ain't got no truck!"
"Let's investigate!"
Okaz newspaper reported that another suspected militant, believed to be in his thirties and also not on the most-wanted list, was arrested in Riyadh early Tuesday. The man did not put up any resistance, it said.
"Don't shoot, coppers! Don't shoot!"
Okaz also quoted Abdul Karim Al-Hunainy, the undersecretary at the governorate of Madinah, as saying that media reports of the recent detention of four suspects in Madinah and Buraidah were false.
"Nope. Nope. Never happened."
Local newspapers reported on Tuesday that security forces arrested the four suspects following raids on their hideouts in Madinah and Buraidah.
... but it didn't happen. It was... ummm... something else.
Eleven suspects on the most-wanted list remain at large. The others have been killed or arrested by security forces. Some have also surrendered to the authorities. Some 90 people have been killed and hundreds wounded, many of them foreigners, in a string of terror attacks in the Kingdom over the past 15 months.
So, did this happen? Or are you gonna say it didn't tomorrow?
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2004 8:18:03 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  hope they weren't "surrounded"
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2004 20:43 Comments || Top||


Britain
'Dirty Bomb' plot charges - UK
EIGHT men were yesterday accused of plotting a "dirty" bomb attack in Britain — using radioactive materials, toxic gases and chemicals. The eight Muslims, arrested in raids by the Anti-Terrorist Branch and MI5 on August 3, were also charged with conspiracy to murder. No specific targets were mentioned in the charges. But security chiefs feared that, had a chemical attack succeeded, it would have caused death and injury on a massive scale. One of the suspects was further charged with possessing plans which could have provided the basis for a terror attack on major financial institutions in the US. They allegedly included the Stock Exchange and Citigroup in New York and the International Monetary Fund HQ in Washington.

The eight charged yesterday at London's high-security Paddington Green police station were: Dhiren Barot, 32, of Willesden, North London; Omar Abdul Rehman, 20, of Bushey, Herts; Zia Ul Haq, 25, of Paddington; Abdul Aziz Jalil, 31, of Luton, Beds; Nadeem Tarmohammed, 26, of Willesden; Mohammed Naveed Bhatti, 24, of Harrow, Middx; Quaisar Shaffi, 25, of Willesden and Junade Feroze, 28, of Blackburn. Pakistan-born Barot was also accused of possessing "reconnaisance" plans for a US attack. He was said to have had two notebooks with information on "explosives, poisons and chemicals". He and Tarmohammed were also charged jointly with having reconnaisance plans of the Prudential Building in New Jersey. Shaffi was charged with possessing an extract from the Terrorist's Handbook, a bomb-making guide available on the internet. A ninth man — Matthew Monks, 32, of Sudbury, North West London — was also quizzed at Paddington Green. He was charged with possessing a banned weapon.

The eight appeared in court today. The suspects were among 13 people held by more than 200 officers in this month's series of anti-terror swoops across London, Lancashire and the South East. The operation was said to have been sparked by the capture of al-Qaeda's computer chief, Muhammed Naeem Noor Khan, in Pakistan last month. Two days before the arrests, a string of US financial institutions had been placed on security alert. US Attorney General John Ashcroft said prosecutors there were now exploring if there would be any charges across the Atlantic. Shaffi's family last night told of their "shock" at the news he had been charged. A cousin who gave his name as Oz said: "We have just heard. We're really worried about him and shocked at what has happened."
Posted by: || 08/18/2004 04:23 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bulldog - what do you reckon the chances of them building a mosque on the side of Belmarsh nick? The place must be full of them now.
Posted by: Howard UK || 08/18/2004 4:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Well at least one of them has an Anglo-Saxon name.
My take after coming from the "Have your say" pages at the BBC web-site is that: (1) They will claim to be "good boys." (2) Are being persecuted for their religion. (3) Claim it's George Bushs' fault. (4) It's a frame up by the American Imperialist Empire. (5) The public in the U.K. will believe it and demand they be released forth with. (6) Anyone who doubts their claims is a racist and must be investigated and hauled off to jail.
Posted by: Flamebait93268 || 08/18/2004 5:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Quite. I sometimes wish they'd do something heinous so we can get on with 'the cleansing.'
Posted by: Howard UK || 08/18/2004 5:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Sometimes I think that when the authorities say "dirty bomb", they're actually using an all-purpose cover story for something more serious.
Posted by: Pete Stanley || 08/18/2004 5:23 Comments || Top||

#5  what do you reckon the chances of them building a mosque on the side of Belmarsh nick?

Must be one of the holiest sites by now...
Posted by: Bulldog || 08/18/2004 8:43 Comments || Top||

#6  Not until a dragon is slayed there Bulldog. Once the blood of the dragon has been spilled it may be considered holy. The Brothers de Beards must actively slay a dragon in the UK. You can bet your bottom dollar that as soon as practicable GZ WTC would be the holiest site in the western hemishere.

A chrome dome perhaps.
Posted by: Lucky || 08/18/2004 12:05 Comments || Top||

#7  Hmmmm..... Dragon Blood.

I know! Clamato Juice and StrawBerry Ripple.
Posted by: Shipman || 08/18/2004 15:22 Comments || Top||


Europe
Bombs found near Berlusconi's villa after Blair visit
2004-08-18 23:01:31
ROME, Aug. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Two bombs were found near Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's villa on the island of Sardinia early Wednesday, hours after a visit by British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Italian news agency ANSA said a caller claiming to be from the Proletarian Nuclei for Communism (NPC), a radical group active on the island, phoned a warning to the Sardinian newspaper L'Unione Sarda late Tuesday saying the organization had planted two bombs. The first bomb found by police was programmed to explode and a second device was later discovered, said ANSA. Berlusconi's office said the prime minister is "calm" and is being briefed on investigations. Blair left Sardinia on Tuesday after a two-day visit to Berlusconi's villa.
I guess it just got personal, eh Tony?
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2004 1:55:34 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What kind of terrorrists don't blow up the bomb? Will they asassinate him with a paintball gun for an encore?
Posted by: Super Hose || 08/18/2004 17:12 Comments || Top||

#2  It just me or is it odd that a Chinese news agency is reporting this?

I don't doubt the veracity of this, only it is odd that the Chinese are the only ones that have it (via Google search).

Can somebody prove me wrong? An independent source, either Europeran or American?
Posted by: BigEd || 08/18/2004 18:02 Comments || Top||

#3  BigEd, this was posted earlier by Lux. Here's a link to the Reuters feed. Fear not, I agree. Xinhua has all the reliability of an Iranian mullah's promise.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2004 20:35 Comments || Top||

#4  Speaking of bombs...

http://www.geocities.com/bptc_alert/
Posted by: Anonymous6108 || 08/18/2004 23:53 Comments || Top||


"Frenchman" suspected of planning terrorist attack arrested in Poland
Police have arrested a Frenchman near a gas pumping station in western Poland suspecting he is preparing a terrorist attack, an official from the Polish security services said on Wednesday. "Michel N., 23, is being investigated for preparing actions which can endanger human life and destroy property," Ewa Socha, the official following the matter at the public prosecutor's office in the western city of Poznan told AFP. "We had sufficient information at our disposal to be able to arrest him for three months," she told AFP by telephone. "All matters that can be linked to terrorist activities are a priority for internal security," Magda Stanczyk, spokeswoman for Poland's internal security agency said. "The agency is currently verifying all the information and circumstances of this arrest. What were the motives for his stay in Poland," she added. The suspect is of Algerian origin, according to Poland's Fakt newspaper.
One of "those" Frenchman.
He "was arrested Friday while he was cycling around the pumping station at Swarzedz and taking photos of the site," the newspaper said. According to another newspaper, the Rzeczpospolita, he is suspected of "having prepared the ground to blow up the pumping station". Poland, one of Washington's staunchest supporters in the Iraq war, patrols a swathe of the country south of Baghdad, heading a 6,500-strong multinational force including 2,500 Polish troops. In July, a group claiming links with Al-Qaeda threatened an attack unless Warsaw withdraws its troops from Iraq.
Posted by: Steve || 08/18/2004 11:13:00 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A string of gas station bombings would be very hard to protect against in the US.
Posted by: Super Hose || 08/18/2004 22:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Hi! I googled for this funny story and came upon your blog. Don't know if you've heard, but the guy was just an amateur photographer, and has been let free.
Posted by: Katta || 09/10/2004 3:50 Comments || Top||


Italian police defuse bomb after Blair's visit
Italian police have defused a bomb near the Sardinian holiday villa of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi just hours after a visit by Tony Blair. Police said early on Wednesday morning they were seeking a possible second bomb after a local lefist group said it had planted two devices. Blair and his wife Cherie had left Sardinia a few hours earlier after a brief stay at Berlusconi's luxury retreat and the island was under heightened security patrols.
Posted by: Lux || 08/18/2004 05:22 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Why not before?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 08/18/2004 8:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Why not before?

Because everybody was too busy getting bombed. [rimshot]
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2004 14:47 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Another white powder incident...
A white powder spilled from a bag being unloaded at the Fort Wayne Airport Wednesday morning, making at least one airport worker ill and forcing the closure of the airport. The bag was being unloaded from an American Eagle flight from Chicago, airport spokeswoman Sandra Lux said. She said the bag belongs to a doctor from Beirut, Lebanon, who was not on the flight.
They need to do luggage the Israeli way
One worker became ill after coming in contact with the powder and two others complained of severe itching. The airport terminal was shut down and all fights were delayed after the 2 a.m. incident. Lux said that officials were attempting to contact the doctor and determine what the white powder is.
Posted by: Ayahtollah Khameni || 08/18/2004 9:39:18 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  From foxnews.com:

A liquid leaked from an unclaimed bag Wednesday inside the Fort Wayne International Airport (search), causing some workers to report feeling ill and prompting authorities to halt passenger service.

The owner of the bag told FBI agents that the substance was a liquid used in making perfume, said Tory Richardson, the airport's executive director. Tests were being conducted to determine whether that account was correct.

"It appears as though he's cooperating," Richardson said of the bag's owner.
Posted by: VAMark || 08/18/2004 13:16 Comments || Top||

#2  It turned out to be rose water.
Posted by: Super Hose || 08/18/2004 19:28 Comments || Top||

#3  God bless you, Mr. Rose water...
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2004 19:52 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Sadr accepts "Peace Plan"
Posted by: pro-correct || 08/18/2004 23:50 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran Delivered Missiles to Hizbullah in Lebanon via Syria
The Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa recently reported that Iran has delivered missiles to Hizbullah in Lebanon via Syria, and that Iran and Syria are cooperating closely in missile development and deployment. The following are excerpts of the article:

"Two cargo aircraft landed on the morning of Wednesday, August 4, 2004, at one of the Syrian military airfields in north Damascus. There to greet the planes were Iranian Ambassador to Syria Riza Baqiri and Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Masud Idris." Al-Siyassa also reported that "several Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers had arrived the previous day from their headquarters at a Hizbullah military camp near the town of Qasrbana in al-Buqa' in order to unload a significant number of surface-to-surface missiles."

According to information received from the Syrian opposition in London on Saturday, August 14, the missiles "are of the most recent and improved Iranian model, with a 250- to 350-kilometer range, with which it is possible to hit any target in Israel." The sources also reported to Al-Siyassa that the two deliveries comprised 220 missiles "that Iran had not so far supplied to any foreign entity
 Over Thursday and Friday [August 12-13], the missiles were transported in civilian Syrian and Lebanese trucks to three Hizbullah military bases" in the regions of Jenta and Yahfufa near the Syrian border, as well as to southern Ba'albek. The Syrian opposition said that according to information they claim to have received from a senior source in the Syrian military in Damascus, "the alert level of the Syrian missile corps, deployed mostly in the North and East of the country [i.e., Syria], has been raised to high after commanders in military intelligence and in the Ba'th party in Damascus received information about the possibility that the Israeli Air Force would attack the nuclear reactors in Iran via Jordanian, Iraqi, and Turkish skies."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2004 8:29:09 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan/South Asia
Troops attack militants' hideouts near Wana
Paramilitary troops in the Zari Noor camp on Wednesday evening attacked militants' hideouts in the Joni Mela area with mortar guns. Acting on a tip-off, the troops continued firing for some time but no loss of life was reported.
Sounds like a real perfessional operation by crack troops...
On the other hand, the Zalikhel tribe held a jirga in Azam Warsak to discus whether to cooperate with the political administration or not. All three sub-tribes failed to reach a consensus on the matter. Malik Said Zalim Khan, a local tribesman told daily Times that one of the three sub-tribes, Sheikh Bazidkhel, decided to cooperate with the political administration in its effort to flush out foreign terrorists. Kakakhel and Uthmankhel tribes will hold another jirga today.

Agencies add: The local administration on Wednesday gave the Ganghikhel tribe, a sub-tribe of the Ahmedzai tribe, a list of 19 wanted men accused of sheltering Al Qaeda militants. Clerics Maulvi Akhtar and Maulvi Gulistan are reportedly on the list. The Ganghikehl tribe on Tuesday signed an agreement with the local administration that it would not harbour foreigners.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2004 8:58:23 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Police raid two seminaries for anti-Army clerics
Police on Wednesday raided two seminaries in the federal capital to arrest Maulana Abdul Aziz and other clerics who are critical of the military operation to flush out foreign terrorists from the tribal ares. A large police force accompanied by senior officials raided Jamia Faridia located in Sector E-7 in Kohsar Police Station precincts to search for Aziz who fled a police raid on Lal Mosque on Tuesday. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sultan Azam Taimuri and Additional Deputy Commissioner General Zafar Iqbal had to negotiate with Ghazi Abdul Rasheed, the custodian of the seminary, before conducting the raid. The police scoured students' rooms and records for clues in their search for the elusive Maulana. They took published material and snapped photos of the building. The police also raided Farooqia Mosque in Sector G-9. They were present in large numbers outside Lal Mosque on Wednesday too.

Meanwhile, an emergency meeting of the Jamiat Ahle-Sunnat was held in Lal Mosque to discuss the situation. The meeting resolved to protest the government's action on Friday. A 10-member coordination committee was formed to confer with religious leaders on the matter. It was decided that the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal would raise the issue in parliament. The meeting was attended among others by Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Mian Muhammad Aslam, Qari Saeed-ur-Rehman and Zahoor Alvi.

Agencies add: Clerics gave the government until Thursday to withdraw cases against Maulana Abdul Aziz and Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and threatened to start countrywide protests if their demands were not met, at a meeting with Maulana Samiul Haq in the chair. The police confiscated a Kalashnikov during the raid on Jamia Faridia.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2004 8:41:26 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq-Jordan
Kurdish Mashed Tater
DEBKAfile's military sources reveal: US-Iraqi forces have transferred to Najef Kurdish Special Forces 36th commando battalion, of mostly Shiite fighters, to spearhead Iraqi military drive into Imam Ali Mosque - possibly Wednesday night.

Butter, check. Gravy, check. Salt and pepper to taste. Kurds gonna mash them some Taters for supper!
Posted by: Atropanthe || 08/18/2004 5:44:03 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Kurdish Special Forces 36th commando battalion

Deze Boys sound nasty. Kurds, these folks are PERSONALLY offended by someone threatining the new way of things.
Posted by: BigEd || 08/18/2004 19:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Hope this is true...
Posted by: Ol_Dirty_American || 08/18/2004 19:52 Comments || Top||

#3 
Mashed potatoes!
Mashed potatoes in my head!
Mashed potatoes!
Mashed potatoes in my head!
Mashed potatoes!
Mashed potatoes in my head!
Mashed potatooooooooooooooes.
Posted by: crazyhorse || 08/18/2004 19:57 Comments || Top||

#4  Kurdish Shiites ? A rare bird, if any I think.
Theres something wrong here. Kurds, I can understand. But I don't think there is a battalion-worth of Kurdish Shiites.
Posted by: buwaya || 08/18/2004 20:08 Comments || Top||

#5  I can imagine Kurds converting to become Shiites if it means they get a crack at smiting Arabs.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/18/2004 21:13 Comments || Top||

#6  Read me back a few days ago.

I told you guys it took a few days, and I also told you they'd be bringing in ther "special" units - after they have had time to rehearse.

Take a look at the shrines available for "practice" in the Kurdish areas.
Posted by: OldSpook || 08/18/2004 22:40 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Cleric Who Died in Pakistan Custody 'Tortured'
An Afghan Islamic cleric who died in custody in Pakistan on Wednesday had signs of torture on his body, an intelligence official said.
Wow, look at that meter bounce! Oh, sorry, just a power surge.
In Pakland, y'say? Signs of torture? When did that start?
Pakistani security forces arrested Qari Mohammad Noor along with three associates last week in a raid on an Islamic school, or madrassah, in the central city of Faisalabad. Intelligence officials said Noor, who was suspected of helping al Qaeda members find accommodation in Faisalabad, died in police detention and an autopsy found he had wounds on his body. "He has signs of torture and wounds on his body," one of the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
I'm shocked, shocked that this could happen in a Muslim country!
A statement from Faisalabad police chief Abid Saeed said Noor was brought to a hospital on Wednesday where "apparently he died of heart failure."
The "heart failure", would that be cause or effect?
When you die, your heart... ummm... fails.
"A joint team (of police and other security agencies) is conducting investigation into the mysterious death" said the statement carried by official APP news agency.
No hurry, I'm sure they have a lot of pressing things to do.
Saeed earlier told Reuters that Noor was suspected of involvement in "anti-state activities." He gave no other details. The statement said a three-member medical board conducted an autopsy and its final report was being awaited. It said Noor was an Afghan national.
Who are well known for dropping dead.
I think I read somewhere that the majority of all the Afghans who ever lived are dead...
Noor was arrested as part of a crackdown launched since the arrest in Pakistan last month of an al Qaeda computer expert, Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan. Khan has proved a key source of information on the identity of operatives from Osama bin Laden's organization and its plans to launch attacks on British and U.S. targets.
... which could account for the fact that he hasn't had heart failure yet...
His arrest has led to the detention of more than 60 suspected militants in Pakistan. News of Noor's death came as Pakistan published pictures of six "most wanted terrorists" on Wednesday, and offered $340,000 each for information leading to the arrest of two militants wanted for assassination attempts on President Pervez Musharraf. A large number of al Qaeda men are thought to be hiding in Pakistan's rugged tribal region, near the Afghan border, or in major cities after fleeing the U.S.-led war on terror waged in Afghanistan in the wake of Sept 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.
So, did Qari die because he wouldn't talk, or because he did?
Posted by: Steve || 08/18/2004 3:56:07 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The guy might have been a klutz and fallen on his face repeatedly, inducing a heart attack.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/18/2004 16:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Cleric Who Died in Pakistan Custody 'Tortured'

This completely destroys my image of the ISI. Just like when I found out that Hulk Hogan had used steroids.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2004 16:30 Comments || Top||

#3  I wonder what causes more heart attacks, electic shocks or sensitive bits in a bench vise?
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats || 08/18/2004 17:00 Comments || Top||

#4  What? Hulk Hogan used steroids?
Posted by: Shipman || 08/18/2004 17:23 Comments || Top||

#5  Interesting that when the shoe is on the other foot, they squeal like stuck turbans pigs. Was the crime here that no turban did the torturing?
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2004 17:24 Comments || Top||

#6  Nevermind that particulars, he gave his last drop of blood so he gets the prize!
Posted by: Atropanthe || 08/18/2004 17:36 Comments || Top||

#7  What? Hulk Hogan used steroids?

I know. Devastating, isn't it?
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2004 18:12 Comments || Top||

#8  In Pakland, y'say? Signs of torture? When did that start?

[looks at watch]

Oh, about fifteen minutes after his arrest.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2004 21:08 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Iraqi cleric has UK heart surgery
Iraq's most influential Shia leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, is in a stable condition after undergoing a heart operation in London. The ayatollah's London office said the 73-year-old cleric had an angioplasty procedure to unblock a coronary artery. He had flown into London on 6 August for treatment at the world-renowned Harefield heart hospital. On Thursday the ayatollah expressed "deep sorrow" at the violence in his home town, the holy city of Najaf. US and Iraqi troops have been fighting militias loyal to young Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr for more than a week. Ayatollah Sistani's London office said on Friday: "There were no adverse side effects during this operation and his health is currently stable." The ayatollah, who is the prime marja, or spiritual reference, for Shia Muslims, is one of only five living grand ayatollahs. The UK Foreign Office has said there was no political aspect to the trip, but that it had helped out with the logistical elements like visas.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 08/18/2004 4:02:42 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


ABU GHRAIB FIGHT LEAVES TWO DETAINEES DEAD
Aug. 18, 2004
BAGHDAD - A fight that broke out among detainees at the Abu Ghraib detention facility early this morning resulted in the death of two detainees, with five others wounded. The altercation among the detainees broke out at about 5:45 a.m., when guards observed a large group of security detainees attacking another detainee using rocks and tent poles. Guards attempted to intervene with verbal warnings, but the situation continued to escalate and the number of detainees involved swelled to over 200, resulting in the use of non-lethal rounds to disperse the group.

When this failed to quell the situation and it was determined that a detainee's life was still at risk, lethal force was authorized, and the situation was brought under control. Medical assistance was immediately provided on site and at the detention hospital. The circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation.
Posted by: Steve || 08/18/2004 2:59:11 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Those are my panties, you beast!"

"No they're not! Give them back to me this instant or I'll scratch your eyes out!"
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2004 15:23 Comments || Top||

#2  No....those are MY panties....look, I've the matching bra to prove it. Besides, everyone knows you prefer a thong!
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 08/18/2004 15:40 Comments || Top||

#3  Guards attempted to intervene with verbal warnings, but the situation continued to escalate and the number of detainees involved swelled to over 200, resulting in the use of non-lethal rounds to disperse the group.

When this failed to quell the situation and it was determined that a detainee's life was still at risk, lethal force was authorized, and the situation was brought under control.


Shot the guys doing the beating, did they?
Posted by: mojo || 08/18/2004 15:54 Comments || Top||

#4  Besides, everyone knows you prefer a thong!

"I do not! If I wanted to floss my @ss, I'd use your headband, you brute!"
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2004 16:12 Comments || Top||

#5  Memo to World: "... guards observed a large group of security detainees attacking another detainee using rocks and tent poles."

Remember how brutal it was of us to have put panties on their heads.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2004 16:14 Comments || Top||

#6  If I wanted to floss my @ss, I'd use your headband, you brute!" Really...how gauche. Besides, I'll just barrow a pair from Mahmoud and just mix the set. I mean hey....if we're gonna fight, why not clash!
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 08/18/2004 16:32 Comments || Top||

#7  Abu Ghraib is no place for a stoolie. Maybe all the Baathists recognized one of Sadaam's favorites.
Posted by: Super Hose || 08/18/2004 17:07 Comments || Top||

#8  "but these were all innocent men imprisoned by Amerikka, really, salt of the Iraqi Earth, not an unbroken violent bone in their bodies
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2004 18:39 Comments || Top||

#9  The Iraqis are running the place now. Rules are different. Welcome to the Jungle baybee!
Posted by: OldSpook || 08/18/2004 23:01 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
COALITION FORCES CAPTURE 11 INSURGENTS
Aug. 18, 2004
Afghan and Coalition soldiers assisted by U.S. Special Forces captured 11 insurgents, two of which were injured and also recovered a weapons cache two kilometers south of the village of Nangalam today. The troops encountered insurgents at 8:40 a.m. The troops were supported by AH-64 Apache Helicopters and mortar fire. U.S., Afghan and Coalition forces sustained no casualties during the 4.5-hour battle. The coalition and the Afghan government will continue working together to bring security and stability to the region and provide for a free and democratic Afghanistan.
Posted by: Steve || 08/18/2004 2:42:25 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  These “insurgents” may well be Al Qaeda, or remnants of the Taliban providing armed escort for drug dealers.

The Konar area is one of Afghanistan’s many opium poppy growing regions and Nangalam central to that cultivation effort. Making the “drug connection” even more probable is that Nangalam is home to the U.S. Special Forces Base-Camp Blessing, and the poppy fields are within easy view of the camp.

Poppy cultivation would have begun in the late February, early March time frame, with harvesting approximately four months later; hence, the appearance of “insurgents” in the area to escort the product across the border into Pakistan.

With its once plentiful funding for terrorism through non-profits and third parties drying up, Al Qaeda, and its ilk are turning to international drug dealing to fill their coffers. And, whereas, prior to 9-11 the Taliban had nearly wiped out poppy cultivation as it was “against the teachings of the Koran”, it’s now business as usual.
Posted by: RN || 08/18/2004 16:03 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Tater Blinked?
Iraqi delegates to a conference choosing a national assembly said Wednesday that radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr had agreed to government demands to end an uprising in the holy city of Najaf. A letter from Sadr's office in Baghdad was read out at the conference, saying Sadr had agreed to demands which included leaving the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf. Spokesmen for Sadr could not be immediately reached for comment.
I'll believe it when I see it.
Posted by: Steve || 08/18/2004 11:00:22 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  kill the swarm when it leaves the hive shrine
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2004 11:05 Comments || Top||

#2  This guy now has control over the Iraqi govt, oil price, the US military, the press. He may "pull back" now. And when we withdraw he will be back. This guy has won, and we have lost.

The only answer is his death and the death of his people or we will fight this fight for years.

It is Bush that has turned this fight into a "sensitive" fight.



Posted by: Busybody || 08/18/2004 11:11 Comments || Top||

#3  we haven't lost and Tater hasn't won. It's really not a bad solution.

Boths sides seemed acutely aware of "beware the law of unintended consequences"

Both sides opted for a known "lesser" quantity. Personally, I think it was a good decision overall to accept the acceptable and move on.

Posted by: B || 08/18/2004 12:17 Comments || Top||

#4  we haven't lost and Tater hasn't won. It's really not a bad solution.

You're looking at it through your own lens. Try looking at it from an Arab/Muslim point of view. And one thing to keep in mind - logic does not apply.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 08/18/2004 12:23 Comments || Top||

#5  BAR: You're looking at it through your own lens. Try looking at it from an Arab/Muslim point of view. And one thing to keep in mind - logic does not apply.

Actually, decapitation isn't strictly necessary to bring a Muslim movement down. It's not like Palestinians are volunteering in droves to blow themselves up even though Arafat is still alive. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority is collapsing around him. Mullah Omar and bin Laden are still floating around somewhere, and yet the foreign jihadis in Iraq and Afghanistan number in the thousands at most - a fraction of the number that existed in Afghanistan alone during the time of the Taliban. Like I said, Muslims are deterred by heavy casualties - the hordes of fanatical Muslim jihadists frequently conjured up are a figment of the Arab imagination - most would rather live than die fighting.

Why are we seeing significant Baathist resistance at Fallujah and various other towns? Because these formations weren't rolled up during the fighting. Imagine if we had bypassed most of the Japanese and German combat formations through flanking maneuvers during WWII, instead of destroying them in place. I bet the peace would have seen many more postwar American casualties.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/18/2004 12:44 Comments || Top||

#6  the devils in the details, IMHO. If the Mahdi army isnt disarmed, I think Sadr will spin this as a win - if its not a loss for a us, its damned close to it. And his record on follow through on promises is NOT good, which is why this second confrontation happened. ANY promise not to arrest him must be made contingent on full, iron clad compliance with disarmament - if there is ANY violation, then the govt goes to arrest him, and this time he doesnt have the shrine for protection.

But I dont see him accepting such terms. My bet, is give it a couple of days before the negotiations on the details break down, and then Allawis troops go in. Hope they keep training meanwhile. Note, also, that waiting a couple of days means the Baghdad conference is over. Any assembly resulting from the conference should be more realistic than the conference members themselves.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 08/18/2004 13:26 Comments || Top||

#7  Keep Saturday open on your calendar.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 08/18/2004 13:45 Comments || Top||

#8  LH: If the Mahdi army isnt disarmed, I think Sadr will spin this as a win - if its not a loss for a us, its damned close to it.

Muslim lies don't change the facts on the ground. The reality is that Mullah Omar and bin Laden can spin their ability to elude capture as a victory for them. But jihadis haven't exactly flocked to them by the hundreds of thousands, let alone millions. And that is because no amount of lying can disguise their catastrophic defeat. Sadr's followers aren't exactly increasing - the last time around, thousands of Sadrites were killed before he capitulated. This time around, he's throwing in the towel after a few hundred KIA. The reality is this - instead of dramatically increasing after Sadr's first uprising, US casualties decreased. That's not a sign that Sadr's recruiting is going great guns - the more combatants he has, the more casualties we take.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/18/2004 13:59 Comments || Top||

#9  Mrs. D "Saturday open on your calendar."

In another post someone said that tomarrow is Thursday and that will be to close to Friday/Saturday so the raid will not happen. I think your right Mrs. D watch for a Sunday/Monday raid. Probably Monday so it can be in for the entire Western World new cycle.
Posted by: TomAnon || 08/18/2004 14:44 Comments || Top||

#10  If his clowns leave the shrine, and if we are able to secure it against any further occupation, then this is a good thing. Outside the shrine we can take him at will.

Also, Sadr is of more value to us alive than dead. Sadr the man is a pathetic, insignificant fool. Sadr the idea is very powerful to the weakminded at the NYT and Al Jazeera. Our interests would be poorly served by killing him. It would elevate Sadr the idea by untethering it from the reality of the man.
Posted by: Iblis || 08/18/2004 15:09 Comments || Top||

#11  zf - but lies matter, not just attrition. For a variety of reasons, Allawi doesnt have as much time as Kharzai. He needs to establish his control and fairly soon. If Sadr gives up Najaf, having lost circa 500 thugs thus far, and he gets away to Sadr city with his remaining 1000 from the shrine, plus the hundreds who were never in Najaf, hes in position to keep making trouble in Sadr City and in Basra, even if his recruitment declines. And hes immune to arrest. So we've got a guy who has at least enough force to dominate Sadr City, with a get out of jail free card. Thats a problem, and it DOESNT inspire confidence in Allawi, whos only real claim to legitimacy is the beleif on the part of Iraqis that he is strong and will solve the security problems.

Compared to taking down the 1000 thugs, and seeing Sadr die or be arrested, or at worst run for it WITHOUT a get out of jail free card (this latter is more like what happened to Mullah Omar) this is a loss.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 08/18/2004 15:19 Comments || Top||

#12  Iblis: Our interests would be poorly served by killing him. It would elevate Sadr the idea by untethering it from the reality of the man.

I agree. It's a lot like what's happening with Arafat - everything he touches turns to crap. Destroying Sadr's followers around him is going to be just as effective. He can't do anything to protect them, but at the same time, for his followers, being around him is the kiss of death. I like the concept.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/18/2004 15:21 Comments || Top||

#13  I assume if Sadr wont accept anything less than immunity for his lieutenants as well. You really think Allawi and the coalition can keep up a sustained campaign of assasination (i mean that word in the nice way) like Sharon can? Allawi does not have the legitimacy, the base, of Sharon. And the Americans are faraway and free to run, as Israel is not. A long,slow, Sharon style strategy wont work in Iraq.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 08/18/2004 15:24 Comments || Top||

#14  LH: If Sadr gives up Najaf, having lost circa 500 thugs thus far, and he gets away to Sadr city with his remaining 1000 from the shrine, plus the hundreds who were never in Najaf, hes in position to keep making trouble in Sadr City and in Basra, even if his recruitment declines.

He has had these folks around for a while, but 2,000 guys are a drop in the bucket. Our people can kill them all in a matter of weeks. The key metric is this - our casualty numbers aren't going up, not because our guys are supermen, but because they're having problems recruiting. Raw numbers do tell, and Sadr isn't exactly attracting new jihadis like bees to honey, which means that his lies are failing. Jihadis are no different from other revolutionary groups - success begets success, as new recruits are converted to the cause. The problem for Sadr is that potential Muslim recruits don't believe his declarations of victory and are staying away in droves.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/18/2004 15:28 Comments || Top||

#15  our guys cant kill them (at least not in the overt way weve been doing) if Sadr has an agreement that says we cant.

Im not sure about recruits - whats your source on that?

In any case IF this looks like a Sadr win, it would increase his recruits. So spin matters.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 08/18/2004 15:33 Comments || Top||

#16  LH: You really think Allawi and the coalition can keep up a sustained campaign of assasination (i mean that word in the nice way) like Sharon can?

Sadr doesn't have his own tax base and direct aid from the EU, unlike Arafat. Sadr has to compete with oil-funded largesse from the Iraqi government. Sadr is fighting against other Muslims, which isn't viewed with the same equanimity as fighting infidel Jews. Bottom line, Sadr is fighting the combined economic and military resources of the Iraqi state and Uncle Sam. There is no way he can win.

Every day he brings disaster upon his followers is a day that he becomes more despised. He claims to be a martyr, but his followers are the ones who drop like flies around him. Like I said, the bottom line is how many new recruits he manages to bring on. These days, it looks like he's really scraping bottom.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/18/2004 15:34 Comments || Top||

#17  LH: Im not sure about recruits - whats your source on that?

Pure interpolation. Sadr is folding after the loss of a few hundred men, compared to the loss of a few thousand men the first time around. I doubt it's out of the milk of human kindness. Another indicator is the fact that US casualties aren't going up - we're still looking at 2 or 3 KIA a day. If he had more guys, we'd be losing more casualties. The point is that you've got to ignore all the qualitative BS spun by the liberal media to make the jihadis look stronger and more motivated than they really are. The numbers don't lie.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/18/2004 15:39 Comments || Top||

#18  It's not about winning the hearts and minds of his followers, it's about winning the hearts and minds of OUR people. The VCs didn't win by holding onto recruits, they did by making our people hate our soldiers.

Goddammit.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,129275,00.html <- sounds rather like flip-flopping by the government.
Posted by: Edward Yee || 08/18/2004 15:40 Comments || Top||

#19  look ZF, if your point is that Sadr is weaker now than he was in April, I fully agree. But he was also weaker two days ago than he was in April. The question remains whether his cutting a deal is a win for us, relative to what would have happened had the Baghdad convention not intervened.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 08/18/2004 15:46 Comments || Top||

#20  LH: In any case IF this looks like a Sadr win, it would increase his recruits. So spin matters.

Like I said, spin doesn't matter - Arabs are a little more sophisticated than you might think. They'll say something for public consumption and do something that completely contradicts what they just said.* If they really believed Osama, the Taliban, Zarqawi and Sadr, why aren't they turning up in the hundreds of thousands for the jihad against the infidel? The reality is that Arabs claim that the US is lying, but show by their actions that they believe the US is telling the truth. (It's kind of like the dichotomy, where they praise 9/11 as a warning from Muslims about American foreign policy, but then also say that Jews were behind it).

* There's something about an honor culture that prizes uttering brave words, without actually doing anything that might involve risking their lives for a lost cause.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/18/2004 15:47 Comments || Top||

#21  LH: The question remains whether his cutting a deal is a win for us, relative to what would have happened had the Baghdad convention not intervened.

The convention is playing the Kerry card. They want to have it both ways - the Sadr threat decreased, and their personal popularity enhanced at Allawi's expense. Allawi is outflanking them by bending over backwards to let them have their parley. This is the kind of thing Allawi has to do if he's going to stand for elections in January. The media are playing the continuing conflict in Iraq as some kind of disaster. But the reality is that this is probably the most successful counter-guerrilla campaign (against a well-resourced enemy) of all time.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/18/2004 15:52 Comments || Top||

#22  There are also a number of other 'minor conditions' which he has set. I wonder what they are?

And will he be permitted to return to Najaf? Will we have to do this shit all over again in 3-4 months when he is feeling his oats again?

I dont think Sadr needs new 'recruits' when he can get Iranian regular army pilgrims to fill his ranks.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 08/18/2004 15:59 Comments || Top||

#23  Debka proffers a straw for anyone still hoping that Sadr might be taken out :

DEBKAfile’s military sources reveal: US-Iraqi forces have transferred to Najef Kurdish Special Forces 36th commando battalion, of mostly Shiite fighters, to spearhead Iraqi military drive into Imam Ali Mosque - possibly Wednesday night.

Sadr and his militia are holed up in shrine. Iraqi prime minister and Iraqi and US commanders believe Sadr’s revolt can be brought to end in coming hours.

Sadr has not verified in person letter his aides sent to national council in Baghdad offering to lay down arms if troops pull away from shrine
Posted by: Lux || 08/18/2004 16:01 Comments || Top||

#24  Will we have to do this shit all over again in 3-4 months when he is feeling his oats again?

Probably. But the IP and military forces will have had more time to train, etc. Allawi will be more secure in his position. They will be ready for elections. Allawi can probably finish him off at a much lower P/R cost and political risk than doing so today.

I dont think Sadr needs new 'recruits' when he can get Iranian regular army pilgrims to fill his ranks.

Right now there can't have been that many. If there were, why didn't we kill them on the ride into Najaf? And if the Black Turbans want to send in in 3-4 months, well W won't have to worry about an election then.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 08/18/2004 16:08 Comments || Top||

#25  Iraqi Kommando always = Kurds.

The reality is that Arabs claim that the US is lying, but show by their actions that they believe the US is telling the truth. (It's kind of like the dichotomy, where they praise 9/11 as a warning from Muslims about American foreign policy, but then also say that Jews were behind it).

I'm stealing that, even tho it hurts my head.
Posted by: Shipman || 08/18/2004 16:10 Comments || Top||

#26  CF: Will we have to do this shit all over again in 3-4 months when he is feeling his oats again?

The first time around, Sadr caved after losing a few thousand men. This time around, he's backing off after losing a few hundred. I expect that the next time around, he's going to back off after losing a few dozen men. The guy's tapped out - the Mahdi (Messiah) is supposed to be able to summon Allah himself to help his avenging armies. The only protection Sadr has summoned up is the sanctuary of a holy site. I don't think this is the kind of protection mentioned in the Koran, where the angels themselves are supposed to help the Mahdi win one for Allah and the Muslim world over the infidels.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/18/2004 16:15 Comments || Top||

#27  I'm not nuanced enough to understand how this isn't simply lifting the siege on Najaf, aka a victory for Sadr and noone else.

What exactly is *he* being forced to do? Submit to arrest? Demilitarize his troops? Issue a fatwa against terrorism and stop the war rhetoric? Accept a future secular government as legitimate? Accept the *current* government's laws as applying in the territory he controls? Remove *all* his people from Najaf?

No, it just seems he will be allowed to leave the Shrine and in return he will indeed leave it.

Which essentially means you agreed to lift the siege, and he agreed to take advantage of it.

And the people who say that him being an alive enemy is better than being a dead martyr are *so* full of crap. He doesn't need anyone's respect as long as he has their fear. "Healing Iraq" http://healingiraq.blogspot.com/ said recently:

"Allawi's 'emergency laws' are a joke. They might look good on paper, but who is to enforce them? Allwai says it's not time yet to implement them. Not when IP and ING's desert and swear allegiance to Al-Mahdi in Ammara and Basrah. Not when Al-Mahdi have taken over governmental offices and IP stations in Nasiriya and Diwaniya. Not when they have checkpoints and patrols using IP vehicles in Sadr city. Not when they
declare their own emergency laws and a curfew in Baghdad. Not when they are lobbing mortars daily at Iraqi ministries and residential areas. Not when they can hold anyone hostage and force Iraqi officials to resign. Not when they can control the flow of oil through pipelines from the south. Not when Muqtada is al-sayyed al-qa'id. And certainly not when Allawi is just the local mayor of the Green Zone."


So what of the above things is Sadr and his troops gonna *stop* doing in return for this amnesty that was seemingly offered?
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 08/18/2004 16:49 Comments || Top||

#28  AK - if i understand ZF correctly, simply leaving the shrine is defeat. For Sadr to have won he would have had to force the US and Allawi to back off and leave him IN Najaf, as the Baathists/wahabis got in Fallujah. He clearly failed at that, and to some that continues his loss of momentum, and hes now in an irreversible downward cycle.

Of course we dont know what deal will actually be reached. He is SAID by SOME to have agreed to the convention terms - which DID involve disarming is militia, in its entirety I presume. No details about how this is to be accomplished or verified. Again, Im not sure those details will be worked out - I think theres a very high chance it will all fall apart and Iraqi govt forces will enter the shrine, if not Saturday than early next week.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 08/18/2004 16:57 Comments || Top||

#29  AK: Not when IP and ING's desert and swear allegiance to Al-Mahdi in Ammara and Basrah. Not when Al-Mahdi have taken over governmental offices and IP stations in Nasiriya and Diwaniya. Not when they have checkpoints and patrols using IP vehicles in Sadr city. Not when they declare their own emergency laws and a curfew in Baghdad. Not when they are lobbing mortars daily at Iraqi ministries and residential areas. Not when they can hold anyone hostage and force Iraqi officials to resign.

Are some Iraqi Police and National Guard units infiltrated by Sadr? Probably. Are they a significant number of the total force? If that were the case, you'd expect to see a lot more US casualties, as well as casualties among the goods convoys going through Iraq. Why hasn't the number of casualties suffered by Blackwater and other security contractors skyrocketed? (Note that convoy hijackings offer rich pickings for looters). Bottom line is that Zeyad is saying a lot of things for which he has no statistical evidence. Show me the numbers. And he can't - because he concluded a long time ago that the occupation of Iraq has been a major disaster, without any context in which to judge it. All of his comments since he reached this conclusion have served to reinforce his prejudices rather than analyzed the situation in Iraq.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/18/2004 17:03 Comments || Top||

#30  (I'm not at my regular computer. Mea culpa).

Guys, I am afraid all this negotiation 'stuff' is making Sadr stronger, especially when they negotiate with him as if he's legitimate AFTER he's done stuff like this:

http://rantburg.com/poparticle.asp?HC=&D=8/18/2004&ID=40906

The bread-and-butter of insurgent movements like Sadr's is killing the families of his enemy's soldiers and police; if he gets amnesty after committing cold-blooded murders such as those, he'll have the ability to murder people as part of his power base. Which means Iraq will have begun the long slide down to dictatorship and plastics-grinders... maybe Sadr's, maybe someone else's... but the "principle" will have been established.

UGH.
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 08/18/2004 17:20 Comments || Top||

#31  Agree PF, but there is no guarantee that regardless of terms, that bright eyed tater will live.... he's got geniune tribal affliated, religously condoned, over wrought, carpet kissing enemies.
Posted by: Shipman || 08/18/2004 17:32 Comments || Top||

#32  Aren't you supposed to kill your enemies in War so they don't have the chance to attack you again? Just checking...
Posted by: Ol_Dirty_American || 08/18/2004 18:25 Comments || Top||

#33  Claudia Rosett mentioned that this situation is exactly what the neutron bomb was needed for.

Setting that aside, what about a pepper spray, tear gas, or even the previously mentioned, high decibel "We Built This City" as means for making them WANT to get out? (I still think Starship *would* be a human rights violation, but I won't complain about it.)
Posted by: eLarson || 08/18/2004 19:18 Comments || Top||

#34  I find Sadr's actions to be consistent with a game of Red Light/ Green Light possibly being controlled from Iran - one of Sadr's uncles sits on the Revolutionary Council. Iran may have called "red light" because he was running low on supplies and cannon fodder.
The most important element with respect to continuing the game is the mosque. I suspect that very few Mahdi would still be walking about if Sadr's forces were unable to use the mosque as a sanctuary. The game ends when the mosque is removed from play or Sadr loses corporal existence.
I wouldn't worry too much about Sadr's ghost haunting Iraqi politics. His dead dad is a much more important figure. I'm sure that the Iranians will make an effort to reorganize the Mahdi behind a substitute for Sadr, but substitutes that speak with an Iraqi accent but are willing to dance for Tehran will be progressively hard to come by. For example, after Yassin died, how much did Rumplestiltskin get accomplished before he joined his spiritual leader in the express line into Hades?
Posted by: Super Hose || 08/18/2004 22:46 Comments || Top||

#35  Sadr didn't win - he is leaving, and his troops will ahve to go thru the cordon of US troops. The Iraqi National Guard will occupy the Shrine. And the IP will run Najaf.

If he refuses or goes back on his word - 1) he looks like a liar, and 2) the Iraqi SF (Kurds) will kill him and the Madhi army, in detail.

Sadr loses weapons, and troops, either way.

Sistani is the one coming out smelling like a rose.
Posted by: OldSpook || 08/18/2004 23:00 Comments || Top||


Africa: Horn
Weapons flowing into Somalia, UN forms group
The Security Council voted unanimously to create a new expert group to continue investigating violations of the United Nations arms embargo against Somalia and make proposals to improve compliance.
New group, same as the old group
"We have a problem. We have to discuss it." versus "We have a problem. We have to solve it."
The resolution adopted by the council on Tuesday asks Secretary-General Kofi Annan to re-establish the monitoring group within 30 days, for a six-month period, to carry out investigations in Somalia and neighbouring states and to update a list of those who continue to violate the embargo. It condemned "the continued flow of weapons and ammunition supplies to and through Somalia" and said those on the list, and their active supporters, could face "possible future measures by the council."
They'll send a stern note and frown at them.
... without having to go to the expense and unpleasantness of putting together a hunter-killer team to take out the gun runners...
The United Nations imposed an arms embargo against Somalia in 1992, a year after dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted.
And very well it's worked, hasn't it? Not a thunderstick to be found in Somalia, Somaliland, or Puntland...
The Horn of Africa nation has not had an effective government since then, and the embargo has not been effectively enforced. The previous monitoring group, which the council authorised in mid-December, was based in Nairobi and focused on transfers of ammunition, single-use weapons and small arms.
They have better hotels in Nairobi
Thousands of gun runners were snagged in the lobbies, no doubt...
A report to the Security Council from that group, circulated this week, said its investigation revealed that arms continue to flow in and out of Somalia but the pattern of the arms traffic appears to have changed. "While in the past warlords were known to have been the main importers of arms and weapons, arms traders and other businessmen are increasingly playing a more active and bigger role in this traffic," it said.
So instead of importing them to use on each other, they are importing them for resale.
... and resale to whom? My guess would be to the warlords who were importing them before. Even without a working government, division of labor still makes sense. Among the "warlords," by the way, you can also include the Islamist fifth column...
The Bakaaraha arms markets in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, remain the main source for arms, and weapons are either bought off the shelf or ordered by agents of the warlords and other interested parties, the report said.
The "other interested parties" being the guys with the Koran in one hand and the bomb in the other...
The monitoring group said it did not find "concrete proof" that any of Somalia's neighbours were directly involved, or directly approved the transfer and trafficking of arms and weapons into Somalia.
The UN wouldn't recognize concrete proof if you dropped it on their heads.
Prob'ly it's not the governments that're involved, with the exception of Sudan. It's companies and groups within the country that're engaged in the arms trade. But you probably don't notice that over aperitifs with the Eritrean second secretary...
"On the basis of the investigations, however, it is apparent that some individuals and groups in some of these states are involved in the transfer and trafficking of arms and weapons into Somalia," it said. "These violations of the embargo may be taking place with or without the knowledge of the concerned states."
"We just can't say."
"We're the United Nations, so we're not too concerned with anything that goes on at other than the national level."
The monitoring group said it also learned from several sources that shipments of small arms "are regularly being supplied to certain businessmen and other parties... in Somalia through Kenya." At this stage in the investigation, the monitoring group recommended that the list of violators "be called a watch list and remain confidential," noting that it will include individuals who should be investigated further "to establish clearly whether they continue to violate the arms embargo."
"We are placing them on double-secret probation list and we're gonna watch them for a few more years."
"Our work here is done. Is it time for tea yet?"
Posted by: Steve || 08/18/2004 10:38:06 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Security Council voted unanimously to create a new expert group to continue investigating violations of the United Nations arms embargo against Somalia and make proposals to improve compliance.

Another worthless money-burning exercise.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 08/18/2004 10:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Investigating violations too ya say. A two front plan in motion. Monitoring and investigating.
Posted by: Lucky || 08/18/2004 11:46 Comments || Top||

#3  First item on the agenda: where shall we eat lunch?

Item two: our first off-site.

Item three: hearing from the budget sub-sub-committee on acceptable charges for lunches.

...

Item 91: Breakout into working team to begin the outline of a draft of a letter.
Posted by: eLarson || 08/18/2004 11:57 Comments || Top||

#4  Item 92: It's a little early, but perhaps a lite dinner, say Mexican, will help us in the letter thinking about phase.
Posted by: Shipman || 08/18/2004 15:20 Comments || Top||

#5  The Security Council voted unanimously to create a new expert group to continue investigating violations of the United Nations arms embargo against Somalia and make proposals to improve compliance.

That should read ..."make bids themselves for under-the-table arms deals". France or Russia can chair.
Posted by: jules 187 || 08/18/2004 15:24 Comments || Top||

#6  If a UN meeting goes like most of the one's I've been in at work, everything after "3" on the agenda would get tabled to next time. :)
Posted by: eLarson || 08/18/2004 16:28 Comments || Top||

#7  Item#4 Create "Emergency Sex" fund for the working girls. I just cannot think with a load on my mind.
Posted by: TomAnon || 08/18/2004 17:07 Comments || Top||

#8  Outside the box idea: monitor the progress from Somalia instead of from Malta.
Posted by: Super Hose || 08/18/2004 23:07 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Iraqi forces preparing to attack Najaf's holy shrine
Iraqi govrnment forces could raid Najaf's holy Imam Ali Shrine today in a final push to root out the Shiite militants hiding out there, said Defence Minister Hazem Shaalan. "Today is a day to set this compound free from its imprisonment and its vile occupation," Shaalan told the Arab-language television station Al-Arabiya. State Minister Qassim Dawoud said the planned raid on the shrine would send a message to insurgents throughout the country. "This will be a civilised lesson for those in Fallujah, Samarra, Mosul, Yusufiyah or Basra. Their is no lenience ... with those people," he said.

Additional: Now that the peace talks have not worked, "we have to turn to what's stronger and greater in order to teach them a lesson that they won't forget, and to teach others a lesson as well," Shaalan said. Shaalan said Iraqi forces were now fully trained to carry out a raid of the shrine, one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam. He reiterated that US forces would not enter the shrine, which would almost certainly cause an uproar among the country's majority Shiites. "There will be no American intervention in this regard. The only American intervention would be aerial protection and also securing some of the roads that lead to the compound. As for entering the compound, it will be 100% Iraqis," Shaalan said in comments aired on the Arab-language television station Al-Arabiya. "Our sons in the national guard have been trained on the breaking-in operation, which was easy for them," he said. While never referring to Sadr's Mahdi Army militia by name, Shaalan referred to those who occupied the shrine as a "gang dressed in the clothes of religion."
Ooooooh, sounds like they are going to make a object lesson out of Tater. Where's my popcorn maker?
Posted by: Steve || 08/18/2004 10:09:38 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  doesn't sound like this is going to be one of those touchy feely PC type shindigs.
Posted by: B || 08/18/2004 21:35 Comments || Top||

#2  We're just going to clean up the ones which get in the way.
Posted by: Anonymous2u || 08/19/2004 2:12 Comments || Top||


Iraq interim DM vows to ''teach al Sadr men unforgettable lesson''
Iraqi interim Defense Minister Hazem al-Shaalan said Shiite fighters must surrender within hours, as he visited the holy city of Najaf. "The coming hours will be decisive and we will teach them a lesson they will never forget," he told a news conference in Najaf, according to AFP. "In the coming hours they must surrender," Shaalan said Wednesday, stressing that Iraqi troops were making the "final military preparations" should they not lay down their weapons.
Lock and load.
In a related development, Iraq's National Conference refused Wednesday to dispatch a second mission to Najaf to negotiate an end to the standoff between American forces and loyalists of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, a day after the latter rebuffed their demand for a meeting. According to AP, conference envoys suggested they were fed up with al-Sadr, believed holed up in the Imam Ali shrine. "If there were anyone sympathizing with him in the past, there will be none from now on because of this stand," delegate Abdul-Halim al-Ruhaimi said Wednesday.
Posted by: Steve || 08/18/2004 9:06:04 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I can't believe they'd start this on a Thursday, before the Holiest of days. Saturday, if they're serious.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 08/18/2004 9:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Well, it's not as if they can hold Friday prayers in the Imam Ali Mosque if it's in the middle of a war. Also, it's not as if Sadr can issue a Friday sermon when he's holed up in an unusable mosque, isolated from the media.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 08/18/2004 9:41 Comments || Top||

#3  I doubt that psycho dickhead Tater now understands that he has overplayed his hand. Maybe he will when he starts cavorting with his 72 raisins.
Can't happen soon enough.
Posted by: JerseyMike || 08/18/2004 10:02 Comments || Top||

#4  Tick, tick, tick....

American marines and soldiers have been doing most of the fighting in Najaf, but Shaalan said Iraqi forces had been training to storm the shrine complex and could complete such an operation within hours. "It will be Iraqis who enter the shrine ... there will be no American role in this, except giving air protection and protecting some roads leading to the shrine. But the entry (of the shrine) will be 100 percent Iraqi," Shaalan told Al Arabiya, a pan-Arab television channel, in Najaf.

Just like we thought, that's why all the delay. We may have built a mockup of the shrine somewhere and have been drilling the Iraqi troops till they were ready. I figure a night assault, fast with suppressed weapons, kill them before they can respond.
Posted by: Steve || 08/18/2004 10:09 Comments || Top||

#5  I don't want them to "teach him a lesson", it implies he will be around to apply it. I want them to make a lesson out of him.
Posted by: BH || 08/18/2004 10:17 Comments || Top||

#6  Has a good sound to it, but I'll celebrate when he delivers.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 08/18/2004 10:19 Comments || Top||

#7  I have advice for those incharge over there...
"Less Talk, More Rock"
Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 08/18/2004 10:30 Comments || Top||

#8  Latest news is that Al-Sadr has backed down and agreed to leave the mosque ... should be a link in the next hour if its confirmed true.
Posted by: Lux || 08/18/2004 10:45 Comments || Top||

#9  CRAP! Fox (7:45AM PST) sez Tater's accepted a ceasefire with unnamed conditions....
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2004 10:46 Comments || Top||

#10  Lux - Yep - I heard it on FoxNews, too - and haven't found anything online to confirm.

Since it appears today was the day, he cut it close.

Of course, I am hoping that either the report is false or they reject his bullshit and go ahead and storm the place anyway.

Posted by: .com || 08/18/2004 10:50 Comments || Top||

#11  Kill him already.

This is another "victory" for him.

And another attack might not happen. Today's NY Times is spinning the whole operation, saying Marines went ahead without OK from the Pentagon on anybody other than the local Iraqi police. Of course now word will come down that no operation can begin without orders from the top.
Posted by: growler || 08/18/2004 10:51 Comments || Top||

#12  Fox (7:45AM PST) sez Tater's accepted a ceasefire with unnamed conditions....

This is bullshit. Sadr is NOT in any position to set conditions, and that needs to be made crystal clear. Acceptance of any of his "conditions" only serves to boost the turd's stock among potential recruits.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 08/18/2004 10:56 Comments || Top||

#13  First - one member of the Iraqi convention going on in Baghdad SAYS she has a letter from Sadrs BAGHDAD office (ie NOT from him and his close aides in Najaf) that hes willing to accept the conditions delivered by the convention delegation - which were that we was to leave the shrine and disarm, in return for not being attacked. I wouldnt get to worked up about this, just yet.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 08/18/2004 11:48 Comments || Top||

#14  This is a ploy if anything at all
keep the water OFF! Stop all water trucks! Keep the cordon up! (whoever let the last ones in should be shot)
wait his ass out and kill em as the emerge....1000 hard boyz is a lotta thirst
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2004 11:52 Comments || Top||

#15  well..I suppose if he surrenders it is good. He can achieve the status of Louis Farrakan (sp? who cares) Jessie Jackson or Al Sharpton. Some might say Pat Buchannan or David Duke.. is there a difference?

Iran won't get the money from the Shrine anymore, the Iraqi's will.

It's not as good as if he was dead. But it's the best that all sides ...Iranian/Iraqi/American could hope for.

If everyone is ok with it, but not happy, it must be a good compromise.

Posted by: B || 08/18/2004 11:56 Comments || Top||

#16 

Frank, you're right - that's alot of mouths...

Mebbe we could call Dominos and have them deliver...

Posted by: .com || 08/18/2004 11:56 Comments || Top||

#17  ok...I want to change something...it's not the best that we could have obtained or hoped for...we could have..and maybe should have...wiped this sorry **&&& from the planet.

But it's not the worst that could have happened for us either. But Hey! Isn't that what a negotiation is all a bout -a plea bargain is little more than both sides realize that they could do better, they could do worse.

PS....love the images. Got any Col Sanders with some mashed taters?
Posted by: B || 08/18/2004 12:03 Comments || Top||

#18  well..I suppose if he surrenders it is good. He can achieve the status of Louis Farrakan (sp? who cares) Jessie Jackson or Al Sharpton. Some might say Pat Buchannan or David Duke.. is there a difference?

Frankly, no. But there is a huge difference between Sadr surrendering or abandoning the mosque and actually being taken into custody. The end result must involve Sadr catching a slug wearing matching bracelets or all of this is 31 Flavors of USDA Inspected Prime Cut Dry Aged Grade AAA Jumbo Size 14 Carat Ranch Style Heinz 57 Varieties of pure-dee horseshit!
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2004 15:42 Comments || Top||

#19  .com in re #17 --- That only works IF the ordinance is loaded with "unclean" Pepperoni!
Posted by: BigEd || 08/18/2004 17:24 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Pakistan Publishes 'Most-Wanted Terrorists' List
Pakistan published pictures of six "most-wanted terrorists" on Wednesday and offered rewards for information leading to the arrest of two al Qaeda-linked militants wanted over assassination attempts on the president. In an advertisement printed on the front page of two leading newspapers, the government said the identity of informants would be kept secret and published two toll free telephone numbers and email addresses.
1-800-MAHMOOD, operators are standing by!
Five of the suspects were Pakistani and one a Libyan, and the list appeared to feature militants wanted for attacks and crimes inside Pakistan as opposed to terrorism overseas. At least 63 suspected militants, 12 of them foreigners and many with links to the al Qaeda network, have been captured since mid-July in Pakistan's most successful crackdown to date on the shadowy network of Osama bin Laden. Officials say they have narrowed the hunt down to a handful of key "planners," whose capture would sharply reduce the level of attacks.
Run out of "masterminds", now looking for "planners".
But they have also poured cold water on speculation that the high-profile arrests in recent weeks, which also exposed al Qaeda plans for attacks in Britain and the United States, would lead investigators to bin Laden or his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri. Both men are believed by the U.S. military to be hiding somewhere along the Afghan-Pakistan frontier. A reward of 20 million rupees ($340,000) each was offered for information leading to the arrest of Amjad Hussain Farooqi and Libyan Abu Faraj, both suspected of involvement in two assassination attempts on President Pervez Musharraf in December.
Pervez has his priorities
Al Qaeda and its local militant allies in Pakistan are furious at Musharraf's support for the U.S.-led war on terror and his crackdown on radical Islamic groups behind sectarian violence and attacks on political targets, foreigners and Christians. Farooqi, from the radical Pakistani Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami group, has also been linked to the 2002 murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl. The sum of $170,000 was offered for information leading to the arrest of Mati-ur-Rehman, alias Samad. Intelligence officials say he is an activist in the outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group behind sectarian violence and attacks on Westerners and Christians and with known links to al Qaeda. The equivalent of around $85,000 was offered for information on Mansoor, alias Chota Ibrahim, Qari Ehsan, alias Shahid and Omar Aqdas, alias Sohail.
Posted by: Steve || 08/18/2004 8:55:18 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Pakistan Publishes 'Most-Wanted Terrorists' List

To save time, they're just handing out copies of the phone book.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2004 13:58 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Renewed Fighting Reported in Najaf
Renewed heavy fighting is reported to have broken out Wednesday in the Iraqi city of Najaf between U.S-led forces and militiamen loyal to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Reports say U.S. troops backed by tanks and helicopter gunships pounded militia positions around the Imam Ali Shrine. Reuters quoted local hospital officials as saying there were many casualties. However, no confirmed figure was available. Meanwhile, Dubai-based Al Arabiya television quoted Iraq's interim Defense Minister Hazim al-Shaalan as saying he expects a "decisive battle" today in Najaf.
Last chance for popcorn at pre-war prices
Tuesday, an Iraqi delegation of religious and political leaders delivered a peace proposal to aides of Moqtada al-Sadr, offering amnesty to militiamen loyal to the radical cleric if they disarm, vacate holy sites, and join Iraq's political process. Meanwhile, an explosion rocked central Baghdad today. The blast occurred near the site, where Iraqi religious, political and civic leaders are meeting to choose an interim national assembly that will serve until general elections due to be held in January.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 08/18/2004 7:32:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Looks like Iran is just about pulling out all the stops in its bid to stop the democratic process with out an outright invasion.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 08/18/2004 8:58 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Pakistan issues $1m al-Qaeda list
The Pakistani government has offered rewards totalling more than $1m for information leading to the capture of six leading al-Qaeda suspects. The "most wanted" list appeared on the front page of two leading newspapers. Rewards of 20m rupees ($340,000) each were placed on the heads of Abu Faraj al-Libbi and Amjad Hussain. The pair are suspected of being the main planners of two assassination attempts on President Pervez Musharraf last December. A senior Pakistani security official told the AFP agency the government believed, Faraj, a Libyan, was ranked third in the al-Qaeda hierarchy behind Osama bin Laden and his Egyptian deputy Ayman al-Zawahri. The official said Faraj, alias Dr Taufeeq, replaced Khalid Sheikh Mohammed who was captured in Pakistan in March last year. "Faraj heads the international operational wing of al-Qaeda, with the help of an Egyptian accomplice, Abu Hamza Rabia," he said. Apart from Faraj, those named are all Pakistanis. Amjad Hussain, alias Amjad Farooqi, has also been indicted for the kidnapping and killing of US journalist Daniel Pearl in January 2002.

The BBC's Zaffar Abbas in Islamabad says the other four are said to be members of two banned Islamic extremist groups that have close links with al-Qaeda. He says it seems that all of the suspected militants are wanted for bomb explosions and other crimes committed within Pakistan rather than outside the country. The rewards offer continues a government crackdown on al-Qaeda that has led to the arrest of more than 60 suspects in Pakistan in the past month. The breakthrough was the arrest in mid-July of al-Qaeda's communication expert, Naeem Noor Khan. According to President Musharraf, the Pakistani security forces have uprooted al-Qaeda operatives from their safe houses in the tribal region near the Afghan border and the authorities are determined to wipe them out from the rest of the country.
Posted by: The Beard Lover || 08/18/2004 08:07 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Chuck would like WMD info...
From Chuck Simmins...
I'm preparing a four hour course in WMD's to fulfill the recertification educational requirements for EMT in New York State. I'll be giving it at my ambulance corps's monthly meetings September, October and November.

I'd like to ask Rantburg readers for reliable, usable sources of information that I may not stumble across. I'll use the CDC in Atlanta, for example, but would not have thought about the British MOD necessarily. My guess is that there is a lot of useful information for first responders out there beyond reading the usual suspects and the readers of Rantburg are just the ones to turn them up.
Okay, cough up what you know!
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2004 7:22:35 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  O.S.H.A. has an excellent 40-hr hazmat,and 24-hr first responders course you can get.I use to be 40-hr certified.
Posted by: Raptor || 08/18/2004 8:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Chuck-
For general info, the globalsecurity WMD site has lots of good info. I'm not sure about how specifically related to emergency response it is, though.
Posted by: Spot || 08/18/2004 8:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Here's a couple more:
EPA: addressing terrorist activities in local emergency plan
DHS: emergencies and disasters
Posted by: Spot || 08/18/2004 8:46 Comments || Top||

#4  A long while back I ran across this link... I don't know if it has what you're looking for.

http://co.pinal.az.us/PubHealth/BDPR/

"Pinal County Biodefense Preparedness and Response" Website.

(I really need time to sit down and get all my links organized; it may be I have something bettter than that lying around somewhere).
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 08/18/2004 9:02 Comments || Top||

#5  Chuck's a terrorist! He used to tell me that spiders were laying eggs in my ears while I slept and they would hatch and eat my brain. (He's my older brother)
Posted by: John Simmins || 08/18/2004 11:32 Comments || Top||

#6  Well, I'm not sure what "the usual suspects" would be, but for very general information on nukes there's always The Effects of Nuclear Weapons, a DOD publication by Glasstone and Dolan. Here it is in PDF format (they're big files). You'll probably want Chapter XII -- Biological Effects.

I have a shabby paperback copy of this book. The hardback had a kewl circular sliderule that lets you calculate things like crater size (in stone, damp earth, or dry earth), fireball radius, blast effects, etc.
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 08/18/2004 13:16 Comments || Top||

#7  some usefull stuff on radius sizes of nuke blasts out there on the net, off hand an airburst nuke at say 20,000 feet does far more damage then one at ground level but ground based nukes throw up alot more of that dodgy crap thats got radiation in it - fallout is the word i'm looking for. used to hear plastic gear helps stop gamma or beta rays or something. think you best ask the experts for better advice though,good luck.
Posted by: Shep UK || 08/18/2004 13:41 Comments || Top||

#8  I absolutely require one of those sliderules angie... I'm willing to pay.

My slipstick collection will not be incomplete.
Posted by: shipman || 08/18/2004 15:17 Comments || Top||

#9  Shipman -- Wish I had one too. If you google around, you'll find people selling them on the web, like this one. I don't think this one came with the book. You can also buy the book used on Amazon. Some copies have the computer in them, but the cheapest of these is $111!
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 08/18/2004 17:34 Comments || Top||

#10  I'm not too knowledgable but I might check out websites by the Israeli Defense Forces or Israeli Civil Defense.

They have been living with these threats for a while.

And John Simmins--our kitten just had surgery to remove some sort of beetle that burrowed into the kitten's neck to lay it's eggs...gross, eh?
Posted by: JDB || 08/18/2004 17:48 Comments || Top||

#11  Regarding biological warfare, it is important to follow the history and activity of the American Type Culture Collection of Manassas, Virginia. Although the institution ships many deadly strains of diseases to Ministries of health, as it did to Iraq in the late 1980s, it did not ship tularemia samples as John McCain has claimed.
Posted by: Anonymous6106 || 08/18/2004 21:17 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Najaf Police Chief deals with attacks on his family
via Wash Times - EFL
Militants had just kidnapped and dragged his ailing 80-year-old father through the streets. They also beat his brothers until they collapsed. Forty of his men were killed and several were beheaded. It's tough being the police chief of Najaf — the Iraqi city that is sacred to millions of Shi'ites and a battleground pitting Shi'ite militia against U.S. Marines and Iraqi police and national guardsmen. "They told me that I could go in the place of my father," said Chief Ghalib al-Jezairy who is high on the militant hit list. As he spoke late Monday night his father was still being held.
Hang in there, Dad.
The stress and exhaustion showed on the face of the man who is trying to keep morale high in a police force facing thousands of supporters of firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Many are holed up inside the sacred Imam Ali shrine in anticipation of a major U.S. offensive. But they still have time to roam the streets, some hoping to fire assault rifles or rocket-propelled grenades at Iraqi police officers, who say they are in dire need of more flak jackets and heavier weapons. "What they did to my father was inhuman. He is a dying old man. They beat my brothers until they fainted," Chief al-Jezairy told reporters as the sound of mortars being fired could be heard in a nearby cemetery that has turned into a battle zone. They beheaded one of his relatives and Sheik al-Sadr's Mahdi's Army militants have gouged out the eyes of some of his officers and boiled them in water, he said.
Oh. Ick. Now that's just not right.

...more...
Yes, indeed, Tater is a Holy Man - and certainly negotiations are in order. Right. Death is their just end. Do it, Allawi. Follow through now - or falter and condemn Iraq to perpetual chaos.
Posted by: .com || 08/18/2004 1:44:25 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Poor guy he is screwed no matter what he does. Since he is still doing it it proved beyond a doubt he loves his country.
Posted by: Flamebait93268 || 08/18/2004 5:12 Comments || Top||

#2  This bastard scum work for a criminal entity from 16.899.00 miles away, trying to impose political will and stilling assets from a sovereign country He and is genetic relative deserved to be not just be beat, they deserve to be wiped from that space of hearth call IRAQ
Posted by: Anonymous6101 || 08/18/2004 5:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Sheesh.. I can see the whole idea of letting people rather than the imaginary Allan decide really shits you up - we must be getting something right, asshat.
Posted by: Howard UK || 08/18/2004 5:22 Comments || Top||

#4  Al-Sadr really knows how to respect his elders, doesn't he.
Posted by: Anonymous6102 || 08/18/2004 5:27 Comments || Top||

#5  Last comment was mine. And why didn't the police chiefs relatives have guns? I would have thought they would be able to fight back.
Posted by: Charles || 08/18/2004 5:28 Comments || Top||

#6  Yeap,gougeing out eyes,beheading people,and torturing an 80 year-old man.Your friends are some real descent folks,Anonym-ASS
Posted by: Raptor || 08/18/2004 7:26 Comments || Top||

#7  Death by sniper is too kind for Sadr's horde of thugs, thieves and murderers.
Posted by: Bulldog || 08/18/2004 9:23 Comments || Top||

#8  Death by sniper is too kind for Sadr's horde of thugs, thieves and murderers.

But certainly not inappropriate.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 08/18/2004 10:47 Comments || Top||

#9  Well, it's a relief to know that each and every Mehdi fighter who is killed has their body dismembered, then buried in separate pits filled with pig fat--with a proper Christian funeral service.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/18/2004 11:18 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine
Israel strikes at Hamas activist
Wednesday, 18 August, 2004, 01:55 GMT 02:55 UK
Israel has confirmed that it was behind an explosion at a house in Gaza City which killed five people, including a number of known militants. Palestinian witnesses were divided over whether an air-launched rocket or a ground device had gone off at the home of Hamas activist Ahmed al-Jabari. A spokeswoman for the Israeli military said only that the army had "targeted a senior Hamas terrorist". It is unclear if Mr Jabari was injured in the explosion, which started a house swarm fire. Palestinian hospital sources said at least some of the dead from the blast in the city's Shajaiyeh district were Hamas members. Unconfirmed reports said relatives of Mr Jabari were among the casualties.
Three out of five is good.

'Completely on fire'
Israel has vaporized attacked a number of prominent Hamas figures with air strikes this year, killing @sshole in chief spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in March and his successor, Abdel Aziz "I'm next" al-Rantissi, a month later. "We heard a loud explosion and ran away outside," a neighbour of Mr Jabari told Reuters news agency. "We saw [Jabari's] house was completely on fire." According to conflicting reports, Mr Jabari was either wounded in the leg or escaped unharmed. Some witnesses said they had not seen or heard a missile hitting the house although they did say an Israeli drone had been hovering overhead at the time. Other Palestinians said that either the drone or a helicopter gunship had fired a single rocket at the house while there was also speculation that the drone had detonated a bomb on the ground. The Shajaiyeh district is believed to be a stronghold of Islamist corpses militants.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2004 12:26:56 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Death Ray of Hammurabi™
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2004 1:32 Comments || Top||

#2  According to conflicting reports, Mr Jabari was either wounded in the leg or escaped unharmed.

I'm going for Flash-Fried.
Posted by: Charles || 08/18/2004 5:31 Comments || Top||

#3  The Shajaiyeh district is believed to be a stronghold of Islamist militants

Then why the f*ck is it still standing?
Posted by: Howard UK || 08/18/2004 6:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Then why the f*ck is it still standing?

Patience, now. One house at a time, Howard. One house at a time.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2004 13:51 Comments || Top||

#5  Guess it's time to grab another nice bottle of wine to toast the IDF. God knows how many lives they saved with this strike.
Posted by: badanov || 08/18/2004 13:57 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2004-08-18
  Bombs found near Berlusconi's villa after Blair visit
Tue 2004-08-17
  Tater wants Pope to mediate
Mon 2004-08-16
  Terror group threatens Dutch with "Islamic earthquake"
Sun 2004-08-15
  Terrorist summit was held in Waziristan in March
Sat 2004-08-14
  Tater wants UN peas-keepers
Fri 2004-08-13
  30 Iranians, 2 trucks loaded with weapons captured en route to Sadr
Thu 2004-08-12
  Tater hollers for help
Wed 2004-08-11
  Sadr boyz attack on two fronts
Tue 2004-08-10
  Sudan launches fresh helicopter attacks in Darfur
Mon 2004-08-09
  Tater vows to fight to last drop of blood
Sun 2004-08-08
  Qari Saifullah nabbed in Dubai
Sat 2004-08-07
  Islamist Spy in the Navy?
Fri 2004-08-06
  Pakistan hunting for more al-Qaeda
Thu 2004-08-05
  Federal Agents Raid Mosque In Albany, N.Y.
Wed 2004-08-04
  British Arrest 13 in Anti-Terror Sweep

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