SANAA, Yemen, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Yemen's ruling party said Friday security forces arrested two suspected al-Qaida operatives in southern Yemen. A source at the General Popular Congress Party said police in the province of Aden last Tuesday raided an apartment inhabited by two men after they were tipped off by the owner. The suspects, carrying forged identity cards, were arrested immediately and an initial investigation indicated they had links with the al-Qaida network, the source said on the party's Web site Moatamar Net. The source said security forces had rounded up several al-Qaida suspects within the past month.
Yemen has undertaken a nationwide search for al-Qaida suspects ever since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, which resulted in the arrests of hundreds of people. Many who were not incriminated in terrorist attacks have been released after repenting and promising to abandon violence.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/25/2005 9:32:36 AM ||
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A few weeks after his son Ahmed disappeared, Abdullah al-Shayea got a call from an Iraqi official saying the 19-year-old was an intended suicide bomber who barely survived blowing up a fuel tanker in a deadly Christmas Day attack in Baghdad.
Ahmed is one of many Saudi youths - estimates run from the low hundreds to as many as 2,500 - who have slipped into Iraq in the past two years, often traveling through Syria to join other Arab and Muslim recruits eager to translate a fiercely anti-U.S., al-Qaida-inspired ideology into strikes against Americans and their Western and Iraqi allies.
"I was stunned," said al-Shayea of his son's role in the explosion, which killed at least nine people just hours after Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld made a surprise visit to the Iraqi capital. "I had no clue he was even thinking of going there."
Some go because an aggressive anti-terror campaign in the kingdom has made it harder for them to operate in Saudi Arabia, others because they don't think it's right to risk killing Saudis and Muslims while attacking Western targets in their own country. But all of them believe their mission is a jihad, or holy war, that a true Muslim should not forsake.
"Those who cannot do jihad in Saudi Arabia go to Iraq," said Mshari al-Thaydi, a London-based Saudi writer and expert on Islamic groups. "The goals are the same, the ideology is the same and the modus operandi is the same."
Ahmed al-Shayea's journey is typical of how many Saudis end up in Iraq, said al-Thaydi and other authorities on Islamic extremism.
Ahmed's father said that toward the end of the fasting month of Ramadan - before Nov. 15 - a time of religious fervor, his son said he was going camping in the desert with friends, a typical pastime. He said there had been nothing to indicate his son had joined al-Qaida.
In December, a man who did not identify himself called Abdullah al-Shayea to tell him that his son "fell as a martyr" in Iraq, said al-Shayea. But a few days after the family held a wake, an Iraqi official - who didn't give his name - called to say Ahmed had survived.
Al-Shayea did not believe the news until Ahmed appeared in January in an interview with Al-Arabiya television, his head bandaged, his face charred.
Ahmed said a man smuggled him into Iraq from Syria in late November and introduced him to members of the al-Qaida-linked group led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
The 19-year-old said he was taken to Baghdad and told to drive a fuel tanker to the upscale Mansour district. He insisted he had no idea the militants intended to detonate the truck with him inside.
"As soon as I parked the tanker truck, it exploded," Ahmed said, adding that the force of the explosion blew him from the truck's cab.
His father believes Ahmed remains in Iraqi custody, but the elder al-Shayea got no response to a telegram asking the Saudi Interior Ministry about his son.
Hundreds of Iraqis, Americans and other Westerners have died in dozens of suicide attacks in Iraq, with many of those strikes blamed on non-Iraqi Arabs.
Saudi Arabia is taking the matter of roving Saudi fighters seriously and working closely with U.S. officials to learn how the militants were recruited and how they got into Iraq, a senior Saudi official said on condition of anonymity.
Brig. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry, said that at a terror conference held in Riyadh recently, Saudi officials asked Iraq's Interior Minister Falah Hassan al-Naqib for information on Saudis in Iraq.
"They couldn't give us accurate and precise data," said al-Turki. "They said most of the militants were Sudanese who used to work in Iraq during the rule of Saddam Hussein."
In January, Iraq's national security adviser Kasim Daoud said most of the infiltrations are from Iraq's western border, which it shares with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. He accused Syrian authorities of conspiring to assist the insurgency - something Damascus has denied. Daoud also accused Iran of "clear interference" in Iraq. "We are monitoring penetration of many insurgents crossing the border" with Iran, he said, although Tehran, too, has denied that it allows militants to cross.
The Saudi border is inhospitable for militants: Its flat, desert terrain is equipped with image-recognition technology that can detect movement across the frontier.
The Saudis say they are guarding the border stringently because they do not want a post-Afghanistan style problem with militants streaming back home to wage jihad on the ruling family. Saudis believe "Arab-Afghans" set up al-Qaida's infrastructure in the kingdom upon their return in the 1990s, and they're behind terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia during the past few years.
It's easy for Saudis to go to Syria since they are not required to get visas; tourists from Persian Gulf countries are especially welcome because of the huge sums of money they spend.
Still, Saudi militants are sent to Syria mostly via another country because airport officials might be suspicious of a man traveling alone to Damascus, according to Faris bin Hizam, a Saudi journalist who has been researching the issue of "Iraqi-Saudis" for two years.
"There, the man would be met by a contact, spirited away to a hiding place and then smuggled into Iraq," bin Hizam said.
He said more than 350 Saudis have been killed in Iraq from an estimated total of 2,000 to 2,500 men who have gone there since the war began in March 2003.
He said he arrived at those figures by asking an extensive network of contacts to report when wakes are held for Saudis killed in Iraq and when they hear of men aged 18-35 who have disappeared. Al-Turki called those figures "astronomical" and without a factual basis.
"Saudis are strictly prohibited from taking part in such (military) activities in Iraq or elsewhere," al-Turki told The Associated Press.
In the 1980s, Saudis were openly mobilized to go to Afghanistan and were even given discounts on plane tickets to neighboring Pakistan. Theirs was a mission blessed by the United States, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia because it targeted a common enemy: communism.
Now, Saudi youths who want to go to Iraq are recruited secretly. The government is closely watching preachers and has banned post-prayer meetings in mosques - once a recruiting haven.
These days, neighbors, friends and relatives meeting at weekly gatherings or on trips to the desert will sit and discuss politics, said al-Thaydi.
"Someone may say, 'Look at what the Americans are doing in Iraq. Shouldn't we be doing something?'" he said. "That would trigger a discussion in which the reaction of youths is carefully monitored."
Those who express the most zeal are surreptitiously observed by recruiters, and the anti-U.S. message is built up "in concentrated doses," said Mohsen al-Awajy, a lawyer familiar with the thinking of extremists.
"Like vaccines, messages in such doses are effective for a long time," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/25/2005 2:48:40 AM ||
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#1
Let's see - If the Saudis stay home and go boom, they're a threat the the Royal Family. If the Saudis go abroad and go boom, they're no longer a threat.
Name one good reason, beyond empty threats of the American State Department, for the Saud government to keep the kiddies home?
#2
when they start beheading Imams, they're serious. Until then, it's a game, and they're lying, not trying
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/25/2005 10:32 Comments ||
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#3
The 19-year-old said he was taken to Baghdad and told to drive a fuel tanker to the upscale Mansour district. He insisted he had no idea the militants intended to detonate the truck with him inside.
What a damned dunce. Members of a terrorist group ask someone to drive a tanker into an upscale residential district, and that guy has "no clue"???
Seems to me that this whole jihadi thing would best be addressed by promptly killing them whenever and wherever they are found.
#4
We have to go after the funding sources, and the majority of them, IMHO, come from the Saudi Arabian princes. They are the ones that finance the so-called charities. They are the ones that fund the Madarassas. They are the ones that keep the pot boiling in Thailand, Indonesia, the Phillipines, Chechnya, etc.
Do we have any real leverage on the Saudis, or have they bought too much of this country with their oil wealth and neutralized us from doing the right thing?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/25/2005 12:05 Comments ||
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#5
"I was stunned," said al-Shayea of his sonâs role in the explosion, which killed...
I am stunned too. Stunned that the Saudis expect the world to believe their hogwash, blather.
Yes. Technology that makes their oil obsolete - who cares which kind. Solar, wind, ethanol, fuel cells. The sooner we don't need their oil, the sooner these Princes won't have extra money laying around to fund madrassas and jihad.
The source of one of the most sensational accusations against an American allegedly involved in a plot to kill President Bush is dead. According to the most recent government filings in the case against Ahmed Omar Abu Ali that advocate his pretrial detention, the Virginia resident discussed a plot to kill the president with a member of Al Qaeda who was later killed in a shootout with Saudi law enforcement around September 2003. Abu Ali, 23, was charged Tuesday with the alleged plot, which prosecutors said was hatched while he studied in Saudi Arabia in 2002 and 2003. His detention hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
The detainee's family also said Thursday they want to pursue a lawsuit accusing the administration of being behind their son's imprisonment and alleged torture in a Saudi prison. Abu Ali "was tortured on orders of the USA; they are monsters," his mother, Faten, said outside a federal courtroom. The young man's father, Omar, said, "The Saudi government are slaves of the Americans" and the U.S. government is lying when it says his son was under Saudi control for the 20 months before he was flown to the United States and charged.
The U.S. government is also revealing for the first time that items confiscated from Abu Ali's home in Falls Church, Va., in the summer of 2003 include: an undated document praising Taliban leader Mullah Omar and the Sept. 11 attacks; a book written by senior Al Qaeda official Ayman al-Zawahiri in which democracy is characterized as a "new religion that must be destroyed by war"; and audio tapes in Arabic promoting jihad. The document praising the Sept. 11 attacks says the following, according to the indictment:
"In one of the most sophisticated, well-planned attacks seen in modern times, the Twin Towers, the source of providing $5 billion in annual aid to Israel, were destroyed. And what is often conveniently forgotten is that the third plane turned the Pentagon, the symbol of American military supremacy, into a rhombus, whilst the fourth plane was shot down by the US themselves."
"The defendant's possession of these items at his residence makes it clear that even before he departed the United States for Saudi Arabia in September 2002, he already had come to embrace and support the violent ideology and objectives of Al Qaeda," the government concluded. The Justice Department did not state in the court papers that Abu Ali wrote this document, but it did say that this document and other items found in his home make it "clear that even before he departed the United States for Saudi Arabia in September 2002, he already had come to embrace and support the violent ideology and objectives of al Qaeda." The Justice Department also said Abu Ali, a U.S. citizen, should be detained pending trial because he presents an "exceptionally grave danger to the community and a serious risk of flight."
Also Wednesday, a lawmaker expressed concern that Abu Ali's alma mater could be turning out Islamic radicals. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., questioned whether the academy from which the 23-year-old recently graduated was another example of schools funded by and linked to terrorism in the United States and abroad. Abu Ali's lawyers have expressed concern that the government's case may be based on evidence obtained through torture. At a hearing on Tuesday, Abu Ali offered to show the judge the scars on his back as proof that he was tortured by Saudi authorities. "He has the evidence on his back," lawyer Ashraf Nubani told the court. "He was whipped. He was handcuffed for days at a time."
In a brief court session Thursday, U.S. District Judge John Bates anticipated that the family would press the abuse lawsuit that the government seeks to dismiss. The judge set up a schedule over the next two weeks for both sides to file more court papers. The judge wrote in December that there was "at least some circumstantial evidence that Abu Ali has been tortured during interrogations with the knowledge of the United States." The Justice Department on Wednesday denied that Abu Ali was tortured, saying that such claims appear to be "utter fabrication."
In the Justice Department filings, the government points out that the seriousness of the charges against Abu Ali "militates strongly in favor of detention," adding that the suspect is a flight risk because he faces more than 80 years in prison and has "substantial ties overseas." In addition, the Justice Department said that Abu Ali lived in Jordan from 1993 to 1997 and that he has close family members residing there. The United States claims that Abu Ali "admitted that he possessed a Jordanian passport that he had kept secret from the United States government."
As for Abu Ali's claims of torture, the Justice Department "submits that there is no credible evidence to support those claims, and that they are untrue." The government points out that an American doctor gave Abu Ali a "thorough" physical exam on Feb. 21, after he had been transferred by the Saudi government to U.S. custody. "The doctor found no evidence of any physical mistreatment on the defendant's back or any other part of his body," the Justice Department says in the court filing. "Moreover, the doctor specifically asked the defendant if he had been abused or harmed in any way, and the defendant said no."
The Consul at the U.S. embassy in Riyadh also met with Abu Ali while he was detained in Saudi Arabia, and "on no occasion did the defendant complain of any physical or psychological mistreatment," the Justice Department said. Abu Ali had been detained for nearly two years by the Saudi Arabian government. His family sued the U.S. government shortly after his arrest there, claiming the Saudis were essentially holding him at the U.S. government's request. He was returned to the United States and made an initial appearance in U.S. District Court shortly after his arrival Tuesday at Dulles International Airport. He did not enter a plea, but his lawyer said he would plead innocent.
His father said Ahmed was born in Houston and raised in northern Virginia, just a few miles from the nation's capital. He attended the Islamic Saudi Academy and graduated as valedictorian. The private school's teachings have come under scrutiny since the Sept. 11 attacks. Federal court documents in a case against another academy graduate suspected of terrorism indicate that student discussions following Sept. 11 took an anti-American bent and that some students considered the attacks legitimate "payback" for American mistreatment of the Muslim world. Last year, the school also faced criticism for using textbooks that taught first-graders that Judaism and Christianity are false religions.
Schumer spoke to reporters Thursday, voicing the concern expressed in his letter to Bandar and the Justice Department about the school. "The Saudis have through the years set up madrassas, usually in poor countries like Indonesia ... that teach Wahabi fundamentalism," Schumer said. "In part [those teachings include] that Muslims who are not fundamentalists ought to be scorned ... and they often teach that it's [the students'] purpose to die for Allah. It looks like this school appears to be Saudi funded. I want to find out if this school was one of those maddrassas ... [because I believe] if there were no madrassas, there would have been no 9/11."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/25/2005 2:51:24 AM ||
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#1
While in Saudi in the late 90's, I remember reading in the Arab News how the some folks objected to the building of an ISA structure. Town meetings, etc. Community speakers, Muslim speakers. Terrorism, racism, unjust, etc. Local zoning board OK'd construction. Shumer should look at the transcripts.
Posted by: chicago mike ||
02/25/2005 21:21 Comments ||
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The law-enforcers are hunting at least 20 Islamist militant leaders including Bangla Bhai in the northern region as part of the ongoing crackdown. Border forces have been put on high alert and instructed to keep vigil so that the militant leaders cannot leave the country, well-placed sources said. The photos and profiles of the militant leaders have been sent to different border points, the sources added but declined to disclose the names. Intelligence sources said all the leaders are still hiding in the country and they have spread rumours of leaving the country only to deceive the law-enforcers. The government has launched the crackdown following investigation that found the militant groups' link with the series of bomb blasts across the country.
The Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) is learnt to have been given special instructions for intensifying operations to net the militant leaders as the police failed to do so. "Operation has been intensified in the whole northern region," said Captain Shahriar of Rab-5, when asked about the combing operation against militants. The government on Wednesday banned Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) and Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) as the first step to halt militant activities. Sources said the list of 20 militant leaders has been prepared on the confessional statements of their operatives arrested in the last few weeks from different districts. The arrestees have confessed to their involvement in bomb blasts at social, cultural and religious functions as well as Brac and Grameen Bank offices across the country.
During interrogation, the arrestees disclosed several names including those of JMJB leader Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, his spiritual leader Moulana Abdur Rahman and Ahle Hadith Anodolon Bangladesh (Ahab) chief Dr Asadullah al Galib. A government press note issued on the ban of the militant organisations JMJB and JMB on Wednesday said the series of murders, bomb attacks and robbery incidents prompted the government to intensify police vigil all over the country. The press note mentioned the arrest of a number of suspects in Bogra, Joypurhat, Sirajganj, Gaibandha, Moulvibazar, Gopalganj, Dhamrai and Savar and seizure of explosives and "objectionable books and booklets". Some of the suspects said they all are members of JMJB and JMB and engaged in criminal activities. In identical statements, they claimed Bangla Bhai and Rajshahi University teacher Galib to be their leaders, the press note read. Several high officials on condition of anonymity said the government has engaged Rab in cracking down on the militant leaders following the failure of the police.
Besides, the reports of some police officials' relations with Bangla Bhai and patronage of his activities also prompted the government to deploy Rab, said sources. Our Rajshahi correspondent reports: Red alert has been announced in all 16 districts of Rajshahi division amid intensified watch on militant-prone areas. Police were seen patrolling at different points of Rajshahi town. Armed Police Battalion men have been deployed at Dr Galib's madrasa at Naodapara area to stop agitation by Galib's men.
This article starring:
BANGLA BHAI
Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh
Captain Shahriar
DR ASADULLAH AL GALIB
Ahle Hadith Anodolon Bangladesh
MULANA ABDUR RAHMAN
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
Rapid Action Battalion
SIDIQUL ISLAM
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
Ahle Hadith Anodolon Bangladesh
Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
Posted by: Steve ||
02/25/2005 9:07:56 AM ||
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Three pro-Russian policemen were killed in a clash with rebel guerrillas in southeast Chechnya, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported Friday quoting a police source. The source said the clash occurred Thursday while police and the Chechen president's security guard "were conducting patrols in the Nozhay Yurt region". One policeman and two presidential guards were also wounded, the report said. "The site of the incident has been blocked off and the guerrilla losses are being estimated," the source added.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/25/2005 3:19:04 AM ||
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The reputed leader of a violent Honduran gang was using an alias, but the tattoos on his body gave him away. Further checking revealed the man arrested in Texas on Feb. 10 was Ever Anibal Rivera Paz, known as ''El Culiche" -- The Tapeworm. Rivera Paz had escaped Jan. 23 from a Honduran prison where he was being held on charges of masterminding an armed attack on a bus that killed 28 people, including six children.
The bus had been filled with Christmas shoppers and workers heading home when it was attacked Dec. 23 in San Pedro Sula, about 125 miles north of the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa. The attackers left behind a note saying they were part of a previously unknown revolutionary group opposed to the death penalty. Executions were stopped in Honduras in the 1950s. Officials from the Homeland Security Department and the Honduran government said Wednesday that Rivera Paz was the leader of the Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, gang in Honduras.
Rivera Paz, 26, and fellow gang leader Alvaro ''El Snoopy" Acosta, 27, who escaped with Rivera Paz, are ''dangerous Mara members, capable of committing any kind of coldblooded crime," Security Minister Oscar Alvarez of Honduras said. A $10,000 reward had been offered for their capture. Rivera Paz, who uses the alias Franklin Jairo Rivera-Hernandez, was arrested by the Texas Highway Patrol about 100 miles north of the US-Mexican border after authorities suspected the car he was in was smuggling undocumented immigrants. He gave a false name, but his tattoos suggested he was an MS-13 gang member.
US Border Patrol agents stationed in Honduras had alerted authorities in the United States that Rivera Paz might be trying to enter the country, Border Patrol spokesman Salvador Zamora said. ''At booking when his information was entered into a computer, his name did give off red flags as far as an extensive criminal history," said John Guinn, spokesman for the McAllen, Texas, sector of Customs and Border Protection. ''He had tattoos on his body, pretty extensive tattoos similar to those found on members of" MS-13.
The Honduran government said that Rivera Paz's first US arrest was in San Francisco on Nov. 30, 1993, while he was a juvenile, and that he had been arrested several times since on US charges including drug trafficking, car theft, robbery, and assault. Rivera Paz remains in federal custody. The Central American gang has members in the United States, and US officials are concerned that they might sneak Al Qaeda terrorists into the country, although they have no evidence of that.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/25/2005 2:59:58 AM ||
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#1
More like this gang from the United States has members in Central America. He'll be extremely fortunate if the U.S. keeps him because if he's extradited he's a dead man. Salvatrooch-that!!
via Instapundit
By Stephen Schwartz In Alexandria, Va., on Tuesday, a 23-year-old Northern Virginia man of Saudi Arabian background named Ahmed Omar Abu Ali was charged with conspiring to assassinate President Bush. Abu Ali and his accomplices are accused of plotting to kill the president by gunfire or a car bomb. The indictment also spells out such criminal activities as assisting and receiving support from Osama bin Laden's band of murderers. Abu Ali was extradited to Virginia after many months in a Saudi jail. What's most remarkable about this case is the degree to which this would-be assassin is a Saudi creation.
In 1999, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali was the valedictorian for the Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA), a K-12 school with campuses in Fairfax and Alexandria, Va., that is directly controlled by the Royal Saudi Embassy in Washington. ISA is dedicated to teaching Wahhabism, the hate-cult that serves as the de facto Saudi state religion. The curriculum: defiance of the authority of "unbeliever" governments, including ours; repudiation of democracy; cultivation of hatred of non-Muslims as well as Muslims who do not follow the fundamentalist Wahhabi creed. Last year, the Saudi Institute, a dissident human-rights monitoring agency in Washington (saudiinstitute.org), exposed the use at ISA of a textbook for 6-year-olds titled "Monotheism and Islamic Law," which instructs Muslim children, attending first-grade classes, in hatred of Christianity and Judaism. The textbook is produced by the Saudi Ministry of Education. Ali Al-Ahmed, head of the Saudi Institute, points out that instructors at the school are Saudi government employees.
But Abu Ali is also a familiar figure to U.S. law-enforcement officials and terrorism experts. In mid-2003, federal authorities shut down a Northern Virginia a network of born Muslims and American converts to Islam, headed by convert Randall (Ismail) Royer. Known as the "paintball jihad," the defendants in the case were supporters of Lashkar-i-Taiba, a violent Wahhabi militia fighting against Indian authorities in Kashmir. They practiced for jihad by playing paintball in the woods, went to Kashmir to carry and use weapons, and then tried to explain away their weekend activities near Washington as harmless fun. In April 2004 Royer was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Of his codefendants, six pled guilty, three were convicted and two were acquitted. One got a life sentence and another got 85 years. Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, described by federal prosecutors as a member of the group, escaped the initial crackdown and fled to Saudi Arabia, where he was arrested later in 2003.
I was among those harassed by this group; some of us were inclined to write them off as marginal cases, but Saudi dissident al-Ahmed warned me at the time of their arrest that the group was capable of killing people. Now we know how far their sinister ambitions extended: to the president of the United States himself.
The real issue remains official, Saudi-backed terrorist teaching, financing, recruitment and other support on American soil. Civic organizations examining the materials available in American mosques, as well as the textbooks used in Islamic schools, recognize that an amazingly-extensive network of such indoctrination centers exists right here, three and a half years after the horrors of 9/11. Freedom House, based in New York, recently issued a shocking report on Muslim extremist religious literature distributed in American mosques. According to the report, along with other evidence, day after day, Saudi-educated imams in the Saudi-owned, Saudi-constructed and Saudi-controlled mosques in the United States, and teachers in Saudi-built schools using Saudi-produced textbooks, continue to spew hatred of the freedoms that permitted them to find a place in our country to establish their evil dominion over American Muslims, and of their neighbors in our communities. Story after story appears in our media, and Saudi subjects continue to figure at the center of terrorist conspiracies.
Americans have the right to say: Enough. The U.S. government has the duty to roll up the Saudi-Wahhabi hate conspiracy in this country once and for all, and to demand that the kingdom turn off the flow of cash that keeps it going.
Posted by: ed ||
02/25/2005 6:22:29 AM ||
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Federal prosecutors denied Wednesday that Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, 23, the Falls Church man accused of plotting with Al-Qaeda to assassinate President Bush, was tortured in Saudi Arabia, but called him a "grave danger" to the United States and said he should be held without bail. In papers filed in the US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, US Attorney Paul McNulty said that Abu Ali saw a doctor Monday and that the physician found no evidence of torture or harm. Abu Ali never made any claims of abuse to Americans officials when he was being returned to the United States from more than a year's detention in Saudi Arabia on Monday, he said. The prosecutor added Abu Ali was allowed to play soccer and work out while in Saudi custody and called his allegations of mistreatment "an utter fabrication."
A federal judge recently ordered the government to provide information on whether the US had a role in Abu Ali's detention. Abu Ali's attorney said in court this week that his client was whipped and handcuffed while detained in a Saudi prison from June 2003 until he was flown back to the US earlier this week. Abu Ali is the first person charged in this country with supporting Osama Bin Laden's organization in seven months.
A former Justice Department official in the Clinton administration, Michael Greenberger, said the case might not even have been prosecuted if not for a lawsuit, filed by Abu Ali's family against the government, seeking his return to the United States. Abu Ali, a US citizen, grew up in Falls Church and was active in Northern Virginia's Muslim community. His family denies the charges against him and describes him as a student of Islam who went to Saudi Arabia to pursue his studies. He was taking his final exams on Islam at the University of Madinah when Saudi authorities arrested him in class in June 2003, as part of a crackdown after the May 12, 2003 bombing of three Western residential compounds in Riyadh that killed 23 people.
Abu Ali's arrest has been complicated by the news that the only person who accused Abu Ali of terrorist ties is dead. The suspected member of Al-Qaeda, who was not named, was killed in a crossfire shootout with Saudi authorities 17 months ago, the Justice Department said Wednesday. "It now turns out the only witness to these supposed conversations about killing the president is dead, and that raises questions about how the government is going to prove its case," said Edward MacMahon, a lawyer for Abu Ali. "I think they've got a problem."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
No problem Abu Ali..for you we can arrange a meeting with the witness on the other side.
Posted by: wack em ||
02/25/2005 0:39 Comments ||
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#2
what is this islamodork taquiyyaing about--he wants sharia--and got the taste of the lash in the land of the two holy mosques--he's going to make some G a nice bitch in a u.s. prison--its halaal to shave your ass right?
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
02/25/2005 1:59 Comments ||
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#3
Maybe somoeone who is familiar with Wahabism can answer this question. Do practioners Wahabism engage in self flagellation? (settle down in the peanut gallery please, serious question) Some Islamic sects and many other religous sects as well do to the point of darn near bleeding to death.
THE MILITARY is on the hunt for at least 10 Abu Sayyaf members in Metro Manila who have "laid low" after two of their peers were arrested for allegedly bombing a bus in Makati City last Valentine's Day, an official said. But Lieutenant General Allan Cabalquinto, chief of the military's National Capital Region Command (NCRCom), assured the public that security measures were in place to prevent future attacks. "This is not a big group. We are monitoring their possible hiding places," Cabalquinto told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo.
When asked what the bandits were planning, Cabalquinto said: "They are lying low but we can't erase the suspicion that they're up to something." Cabalquinto said a Marine battalion was deployed to help Metro Manila police guard malls, hotels, and transport terminals. "We are more concerned right now in seeing to it that population is well informed so as not to cause panic," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/25/2005 3:25:20 AM ||
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Philippine troops have captured a major camp of the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group, a military commander said Friday. The mountain stronghold of the Muslim extremist group outside Indanan town on southern Jolo island was overrun Thursday by about 400 soldiers from the army's 53rd Infantry Battalion, said Jolo military chief Brig. Gen. Agustin Dema-ala. About 100 Abu Sayyaf defenders broke up into small groups as troops, backed by helicopter gunships firing rockets, assaulted the camp on top of the Budkaha mountain, about 940 kilometers (580 miles) south of Manila, Dema-ala said. He said there were no government casualties.
Civilians fleeing the fighting reported seeing some wounded gunmen. The camp "is the symbol of power of the Abu Sayyaf group, which provided sanctuary to lawless elements on Jolo,'' Dema-ala said. The capture of the base "shows the will of the government to assert itself in imposing the laws of the law and the determination of the government to go after violators of the law,'' he said. Treetops cover the mountain hideout from the air. The camp, which could accommodate as many as 1,000 people, is also used for guerrilla training and includes a network of foxholes, trenches and bunkers, Dema-ala said.
The military pounded the area with artillery two days earlier to prepare for the assault on the camp, which has been used by Umbra Jumdail, alias Dr. Abu, who was among the Abu Sayyaf leaders involved in the abduction of Western tourists from the Malaysian resort of Sipadan in 2000. The camp is also a sanctuary for local Abu Sayyaf commander Albader Parad, whose gunmen killed three soldiers on security patrol in Indanan on Feb. 19. On Tuesday, Misuari told a group of lawmakers that he had no role in the clashes, calling them retaliatory attacks for alleged army abuses and anti-insurgency operations that left innocent civilians dead. The military claims pro-Misuari rebels were in alliance with the Abu Sayyaf, but Misuari has denied the link.
This article starring:
ALBADER PARAD
Abu Sayyaf
Brig. Gen. Agustin Dema-ala
DR. ABU
Abu Sayyaf
UMBRA JUMDAIL
Abu Sayyaf
Abu Sayyaf
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/25/2005 3:12:18 AM ||
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It sounds like the Philippine army may finally be getting serious about their role in this war. Isn't this the second Abu Sayyaf camp they've taken recently?
Police have detained two al-Qaeda-linked Indonesians and a Malaysian who were training militants to mount car bomb attacks in the Philippines, an official said Thursday. Police named the detained suspects as Ted Yolanda of Malaysia and Indonesians Mohamad Nasir Hamid and Mohamad Yusuf Karin alias Pais.
"My brothers call me Pais. The infidels call me a mastermind."
They were arrested as they stepped off into the port of Zamboanga in December. Foreign governments had tipped off Manila about the suspects' movements, he told reporters. The suspects had come from Tawi-Tawi. The three are members of Jemaah Islamiya (JI), a Southeast Asia-based proxy of the Abu Sayyaf behind the October 2002 Bali bombings that claimed about 200 lives, said Chief Supt. Ismael Rafanan, intelligence chief of the Philippine National Police. Rafanan said the group was headed for a known JI training base in the Mount Kararao region in Mindanao.
"They were preparing to go into car bombs," Rafanan said. "They have reached that level of sophistication. They are ready to do it." He declined to identify the targets, saying only that they planned to "train people to do that."
"We'll let you when they start singing."
He suggested that the car-bomb trainees would be foreign militants, saying that "Filipinos at this point are not yet ready."
Pinoy not ready to "insurge" just yet.
Western intelligence agencies had previously warned that Mindanao camps, some run by radical members of Muslim separatist guerrilla groups operating on the island, were providing sanctuary and training facilities for al-Qaeda-linked militants. Rafanan said the authorities seized guns, explosives and training manuals from the detained suspects. The three were arrested before a series of bomb blasts in Makati and two Mindanao cities that killed 12 people on Valentine's Day.
The military last week arrested two members of the Abu Sayyaf—another al-Qaeda-linked militant group—for the bombing of a bus in Makati City on February 14, when two other bombs ripped through a bus depot in General Santos and a shopping mall in Davao City. Rafanan, director of the Philippine National Police Intelligence Group, said it is too early to link the four suspects to the Valentine bombings. He said there was a delay in revealing their arrest because follow-up operations were still going on and the police would like to pinpoint the suspects' local contact.
The two Indonesians also yielded $7,000 in cash, which authorities believed would be used to finance their operations. The four have been charged with illegal possession of explosives and firearms. The three foreigners have also been charged with violating immigration laws. Lt. Gen. Allan Cabalquinto, chief of the military's National Capital Regional Command, said at least 10 other members of the Abu Sayyaf, all believed to be explosives experts, continue to case targets in Metro Manila. Despite the recent arrests of suspected terrorists, President Arroyo is still not satisfied with the antiterrorism campaign. In her speech following the swearing in of the newly promoted officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Malacañang, the President reiterated the need to have an internal security or antiÂterrorism law. "We have met consistent success in the antiterrorism campaign. But it is time to bring the issue to a higher plane of preemptive security," Mrs. Arroyo said. Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, who attended the oath taking of the officers, said the arrested foreigners would not be deported yet. "Since their charges are nonbailable, they will be detained, and the evidence that is in will be the basis of continuous operations to get more of their cohorts," Cruz said.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/25/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Belmont Club has a very good analysis of the Philippine situation.
A Palestinian suicide bomber carrying 20 pounds of explosives blew himself up in a crowd of young Israelis waiting outside a nightclub near Tel Aviv's beachfront promenade just before midnight Friday, killing at least four other people, wounding dozens and shattering an informal Mideast truce.
Israeli officials indicated that the blast would not derail the tentative peace efforts. But the bombing put new pressure on Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to take action against militants who have not accepted the cease-fire he worked out at a carefully orchestrated summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Early Saturday, Abbas pledged to track down those responsible for the bombing, the first suicide attack in Israel since a bomber killed two people in a Tel Aviv market on Nov. 1.
"The Palestinian Authority will not stand silent in the face of this act of sabotage. We will follow and track down those responsible and they will be punished accordingly," Abbas said in a statement after an emergency meeting with his security chiefs.
"What happened tonight was an act of sabotage toward the peace process and an attempt to ruin the efforts to establish a state of calm," Abbas said.
There were conflicting reports of who was behind the attack. Initial reports said Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility. But the group, as well as other Palestinian militant groups Hamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, all issued denials of involvement.
Palestinian security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is funded by Iran and has been trying to disrupt the cease-fire, orchestrated the explosion. The Palestinian officials said they had tracked recent communications between Hezbollah militant Kais Obeid and a Palestinian who they believed was the attacker.
A Hezbollah official in Beirut denied involvement. "As far as we are concerned, there is no need to respond to such lies that we have become used to it," the official said. Hezbollah's television station, Al Manar, reported that Islamic Jihad had claimed responsibility.
Hezbollah has emerged as the biggest threat to the fragile Israeli-Palestinian truce, with the Lebanese guerrillas offering West Bank gunmen thousands of dollars to attack Israelis. Hezbollah has hundreds of West Bank gunmen on its payroll.
The explosion took place as about 20 to 30 people were waiting to get into the Stage nightclub on Herbert Samuel street, close to the promenade.
"I was near the club. There were about 20 people outside. Suddenly, there was an enormous explosion," said a witness, identified only as Tsahi.
Tel Aviv police chief David Tzur said security guards outside the club spotted the bomber and didn't allow him in. "The impact, if he would have gone inside, would have been tragic," he said.
He said four people were killed and dozens wounded. Israeli media said more than 50 people were wounded, many of them seriously.
Israel army radio said the attacker was packed with 20 pounds of explosives. The blast ripped off the front of the nightclub, shattering windows of nearby restaurants and blackening cars. Dozens of ambulances and rescue workers pored through the scene, and police scoured the balconies of nearby buildings for evidence. Several covered bodies and a pool of blood lay on the ground.
A neighborhood shopkeeper, who identified himself only as Shlomo, said the blast was so powerful that it knocked a row of bottles off a shelf onto his head. "Immediately we knew it was an attack. It's a terrible feeling. We saw the people scattered all over," he said.
The Tel Aviv promenade has been hit before by Palestinian militants, including explosions in 2001 outside the Dolphinarium disco and Mike's Place, a popular pub.
The explosion shattered several weeks of calm. At the summit at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik on Feb. 8, Abbas and Sharon called for a halt in violence, pledging to break the four-year cycle of bloodshed and get peace talks back on track.
The two largest and most powerful Palestinian militant organizations, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have so far refused to join a cease-fire officially, but have pledged to maintain the fragile calm.
The radical Palestinian factions are expected to hold talks with Egyptian officials next week on the cease-fire with Israel, a senior Hamas official said on condition of anonymity.
Gideon Ezra, the Israeli public security minister, called on the Palestinians "to do much more to prevent such attacks." But he said contacts with the Palestinians should continue.
Israel has so far welcomed Abbas' efforts to persuade militants to halt violence. But it wants the Palestinian leader to begin to take steps to dismantle militant groups.
"What we need now is action, and not words," said Gideon Meir, a senior Foreign Ministry official
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/25/2005 21:58 Comments ||
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The PA will have to shut down Hamas, IJ, Hizb'Allah if there will be a real peace between the Paleos and the Israelis. Tht is ooonnnnneee talllll order. How do you feel about being the leader now of the PA, Mr. Abbas?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/25/2005 22:46 Comments ||
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An explosion went off late Friday among Israelis waiting in line outside a night club near Tel Aviv's beachfront promenade, and police reported some 30 casualties, including several dead. Israel Army Radio said the blast was set off by a suicide bomber, but police said the bomb might have been planted by assailants. The explosion shattered a Mideast truce declared earlier thsi month by Israel and Palestinian leaders. Police said the explosion went off outside the "Stage" club. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The Tel Aviv promenade has been hit before by Palestinian militants, including explosions outside the Dolphinarium disco and Mike's Place, a popular pub. Dammit.
We knew it was going to come. The only question is which bunch did it. And what Abbas' reaction is going to be. I'm guessing the boomer was from Islamic Jihad — they're closest to Iran.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
02/25/2005 5:51:59 PM ||
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can't have that fun and frivolity. They must DIE!
#3
Don't assume this is just another Paleo boomer. Will this take the intense heat off Syria? How will Abbas respond to this spit in his eye? Would this take the pressure off in removing Gaza settlements....so many suspects, so many motives....
After speculating, it's probably just another typical Paleo Fatah or Hamas or IJ boomer, but...
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/25/2005 18:46 Comments ||
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I'd wait to see what Abbas does before leaping to a conclusion. It is a suspect rich environment.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/25/2005 18:52 Comments ||
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Just heard on FOX News that there are 5 dead. The Jihadi walked into an area of young people queueing up to enter 'Stages' nightclub. They also said there are indications that a PIJ/AAMB group from the West Bank did it for revenge on some arrests the Israelis did.
CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, Iraq — Iraqi and U.S. forces continued increased security operations by raiding a mosque, detaining 17 suspected insurgents and seizing several weapons caches throughout the Al Anbar province as Operation River Blitz rolled on for a fifth day. Those detained Feb. 24 bring to 104 the number of suspected insurgents detained since Operation River Blitz began Sunday.
In Haqlaniyah, Iraqi soldiers from the Freedom Guard Battalion, Iraqi National Guard, and U.S. Marines from Regimental Combat Team-7, 1st Marine Division, conducted a joint raid on a mosque that produced six detainees and insurgent propaganda at approximately 12:30 p.m. The Freedom Guards cleared the mosque as U.S. Marines provided security outside.
North of Ar Ramadi, a local civilian directed a U.S. Marine combat patrol to an improvised-explosive device, which consisted of four 105 mm artillery rounds that were daisy-chained together in a brown bag hidden underneath a pile of leaves at approximately 10:00 a.m.
At approximately 11:15 a.m. in the central portion of the city, insurgents shot an Iraqi citizen in the abdomen when they fired a rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire at U.S. Marines. The Marines provided medical treatment to the injured civilian after immediately returning fire at the insurgents, who fled the area.
In southern Fallujah, an Iraqi civilian guided a U.S. Marine patrol to a weapons cache, which consisted of one 82 mm mortar round, seven 57 mm rounds, three 23 mm rounds and one 30 mm round at approximately 1 p.m. Earlier in the day, another Iraqi civilian guided another U.S. Marine patrol to a weapons cache in the southeastern portion of the city that consisted of one missile warhead, 100 pounds of TNT and one 120 mm mortar round.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/25/2005 3:18:02 PM ||
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.."a local civilian directed" encouraging news!
-snip-
Election day. RCT-7 is assisting the Iraqi Security Forces and IECI at two polling sites located within 10 kilometers of the city of Fallujah. Much work and preparation has gone into this day---a strong effort to ensure that those Iraqis who chose to vote can vote in safety. Polls open at 0700. At 0915 I am at the easternmost polling site in my AO. And not a single voter has come to the polls. At 0930, a man, two women, and two children walk up to the security gate, into the polling station, and then depart. As they are leaving the man walks up to the Iraqi Army Colonel standing with me and tells us that there is a "group" of people gathered in the nearest city who want to come vote, but want to be reassured it is safe. He informs us he is going to go tell them it is safe. 20 minutes later, 1500 Iraqi men and women come over the hill and take their place in line. For the next 7 hours, the scene in this photograph remained unchanged as 5000 people from the surrounding community walked over the hill and into history. Over 7000 voted in the city of Fallujah itself. 12,000 in an area that 3 months before was the hells acre of terrorists and vicious criminals. It is now the safest area in the Sunni Triangle. And it will remain so.
Twice in the course of this day the enemy fired mortars at the polling station. In both cases the mortars flew harmlessly overhead and impacted as duds in the field beyond. The women prayed, the men held their children close. But they all calmly held their places in line, and they cheered when we located and killed both mortarmen.
Women cried as they walked out after voting. Both women and men walked up to and hugged the Marines as they walked out of our perimeter. -snip- About 1300, as the line showed no sign of diminishing, one of the Corporals walked over to me and said "Sir, we knew they would come." And we did. Those of us here knew they would come. You don't often get a chance to see a nation show its courage. On 30 Jan 2005, the people of Iraq reminded us of the virtue of self-determination. We continue to win. Little by little, success comes until it tips inexorably towards victory. And it has tipped. There is much to do still. But it will be said---of those who have fought this last year for the future of Iraq and the destruction of the terror that threatens our nation---it can and will be said that they ventured into hell, and did not return with empty hands.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/25/2005 12:46:50 PM ||
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it can and will be said that they ventured into hell, and did not return with empty hands
Indeed, they passed the baton off to the other oppressed people of the region.
Posted by: Mac Suirtain ||
02/25/2005 13:52 Comments ||
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Women cried as they walked out after voting. Both women and men walked up to and hugged the Marines as they walked out of our perimeter.
Hello, Peregrine? Would you look those people in the eyes and tell them what they did meant nothing?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/25/2005 13:55 Comments ||
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I've been following your Peregrine comments, RC, and I suspect you have more experience - if not education - than the Columbia ...um, person. But, ya gotta remember - from Peregrine's perspective, these are adrenalin-crazed, video-game-playing, deluded wackos. Like my son, the Marine. He hopes to be able to tell his children that he was there for the historic elections in Iraq. And Prergrine - you'll just have to wait to see if history agrees with him - or you. I have my opinion.....
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/25/2005 14:11 Comments ||
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Wow! And the other stories, about the brain surgeon from Chicago, and the brave Americans who tried to save an Iraqi woman...and were cheered by the Iraqis who witnessed it...
All worth reading, and all the TRUE face of America's military!
Second, I dunno about the experienced part. I've got a few years on "Peregrine", but I've never been farther outside the US than Canada. I don't claim to be an expert on anything, though, just an amateur student of history. Despite his being a grad student in foreign affairs, I have no doubt I've read more -- at least more honest -- history.
I can recognize brainless cant when I read it, too. And that's what Peregrine was mouthing -- the same empty slogans we've been hearing since Sep. 12, 2001. Oh, the bit about peace between democracies being an "allusion" was a new, pseudo-scholarly spin, but it's still pure crap.
And let me say that if that's at all representative of what goes into the Foreign Service bureaucracy, we're in deep, deep trouble.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/25/2005 14:52 Comments ||
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His Mom and Dad, and the rest of the family are very proud of him. His grandfathers fought in the big one, but we are not a military family by any means. We are proud that he's making a difference, instead of making a mess!
In the late 60's two self-described radicals came to college (I didn't go to Columbia, however). When I got a chance to ask them a question, I asked, "If the government is run by the big corporations, why do they let the EPA make them install catalytic converters?" Having read the newspapers at that time, I knew the automakers were dead set against that â and fuel efficiency standards. The radicals only had hot air. Iâm not even sure they understood the question. I left the room, and havenât heard much intellectual from their ilk since. The beat goes on.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/25/2005 15:25 Comments ||
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The Cabinet is reportedly planning to send 150 commandos to Afghanistan to fight alongside US soldiers in secret operations against terrorists holed up along the Pakistan border. The elite troops would be deployed for initially one year as part of the US military's Enduring Freedom operation aimed at flushing out and destroying radical-Islamic Taleban fighters and the terrorist network al-Qaeda of Osama bin Laden, newspaper De Telegraaf reported on Friday. Foreign Minister Ben Bot and Defence Minister Henk Kamp want the soldiers to engage in combat operations with US and British troops, plus those from other willing nations such as Denmark and Australia. They will be involved in destroying terrorist training camps along the rugged Afghan-Pakistan border. Preparations for the mission are believed to have been secretly discussed between the US and the Netherlands. Political sources claim Bot and Kamp will present their proposal during the cabinet's weekly meeting on Friday. But neither the Defence Ministry nor the Foreign Affairs Ministry has officially confirmed the report, news agency ANP reported.
The mission is politically sensitive, with government coalition party Democrat D66 labelling the cabinet's plans "a radical intention", demanding guarantees over the safety of the troops. It also said the plan must not be a form of redemption with the US for the withdrawal of Dutch peacekeeping troops from Iraq. Theoretically, the cabinet does not need to discuss the mission with the Parliament because of its secret nature. But government coalition party Christian Democrat CDA is demanding the Lower House be informed, possibly also in secret. And because the 150 commandos and marines will be deployed in "the highest theatre of war", the mission warrants a decision by the parliament, CDA MP Henk Jan Ormel claimed on Radio 1 on Friday. He is not opposed to the mission, but is demanding more information. The Dutch military union VBM/NOV said it is concerned about the legal position of the elite troops and wants to prevent any possible prosecution of the soldiers. A spokesman for the union denied that the commando mission will lead to confusion due to the fact that there is also a Dutch peacekeeping force in the nation. He told Expatica that the population is happy the Taleban regime has been forced out of power and that the Afghan people will look upon the peacekeeping mission and the Dutch combat operations as being one and the same.
The Netherlands was only previously involved in the Nato-led peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan. There is an Apache combat helicopter deployment and 135 soldiers in the Afghan capital Kabul and a further 130 soldiers deployed in the north of the country. But it was also revealed on Thursday that the Netherlands is expected to dispatch four F16 fighter jets and 100 air force personnel to Afghanistan for a mission of at least one year. The fighter jets will replace the combat helicopters — which are due to return home on 31 March — and the cabinet is expected to make a decision later on Friday. The cabinet is also planning to send 600 to 750 marines to the central Asian nation to maintain security during parliamentary and regional elections later this year. The troops are currently part of Nato's strategic reserve.
Welcome, and thank you.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/25/2005 10:46:59 AM ||
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It seems that military cooperation in Afghanistan has been great with NATO as compared to Iraq with even Germany and France helping out significantly.
I have noticed though that the Danes, Dutch and even Norwegians at various times have really pitched in. Am I correct? Any ideas why?
From my anecdotal experience citizens of these countries are no more likely to support what we're doing in Afghanistan than the Germans or French.
#2
One guess would be that it's a very good way to run your troops through some "real" training without having to declare war. I suspect that the units involved pick up some gear from our stores while there, so go home with more experience and some different gear.
None of these nations lost any bling-bling in the overthrow of the Taliban, not so with the overthrow of Saddam, what with the Oil for Food scam and other lucrative activities.
From my anecdotal experience citizens of these countries are no more likely to support what we're doing in Afghanistan than the Germans or French.
Indeed, because the citizens were not personally on the take. They just blindly despise Amerikkka and hate Bushitler.
Posted by: Mac Suirtain ||
02/25/2005 13:45 Comments ||
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Excellent news! Just the training the Dutch need to go after the JITM (Jihadists in their midst).
#7
I don't know why more countries don't send their special forces to work with the US in Afghanistan and Iraq. They can really learn a lot in a short time and it's a very low profile way to get on our good side. The ties that would be built for future operations in the GWoT would be invaluable. I hope our military and political leaders are seeking this type of help.
Posted by: Tibor ||
02/25/2005 15:51 Comments ||
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Not meaning to turn away the help from the Dutch, but perhaps their special forces would better serve their country by taking care of a few, ah, internal troublemakers in the Netherlands.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
02/25/2005 17:24 Comments ||
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Iraqi forces have captured a man described as a trusted aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born terrorist. The captured man was identified as Talib Mikhlif Arsan Walman al-Dulaymi, also known as Abu Qutaybah, a government announcement said. He arranged safe houses and transportation for the Zarqawi network as well as passing packages and funds to Zarqawi himself, it said.
Excellent, they grabbed a logistics type. Ahmed, break out the good truncheons!
Just happen to have a brand-new Turkish #7 right here, sir ...
A man said to be one of Mr al-Zarqawi's drivers was also arrested. The captures were made on Sunday in the town of Anah, 160 miles northwest of Baghdad, in a comparatively lawless region 35 miles from the Syrian border.
Tap, tap..nope
Mr al-Zarqawi's terrorist organisation has claimed responsibility for virtually all the worst atrocities in the Iraqi insurgency. There is a $25 million dollar reward for his capture. His group claims to be affiliated to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. "Security forces in Iraq conducted a raid in Anah on February 20 resulting in the capture of Talib Mikhlif Arsan Walman al-Dulaymi, aka Abu Qutaybah, a trusted lieutenant of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," said the official statement. "Ahmed Khalid Marad Ismail al-Rawi, aka Abu Uthman, was captured during the same raid. Abu Uthman arranged meetings for Zarqawi and occasionally acted as his driver.
Then he'd know where he went and what he looks like these. Barkeep, a double giggle juice for Abu!
"Abu Qutaybah was responsible for determining who, when and how terrorist network leaders would meet with al-Zarqawi. His extensive contacts and operational ability throughout western Iraq made him a critical figure in the Zarqawi network."
And a really big catch.
In recent weeks Iraq's government has claimed to have captured several of Mr al-Zarqawi's aides and associates. On Thursday, it said that it had detained Mohammed Najm Ibrahim, alias Mohammed Najm, another top aide, in the town of Baquba, north of Baghdad. He was responsible for the beheading of several citizens and for attacks against Iraqi security forces, it said. Mr al-Zarqawi's gang has claimed responsibility for bombing the UN headquarters in Baghdad, and numerous massacres of Iraqi policemen. Since the fall of Fallujah, previously his base, he is thought to have been operating from Mosul in northern Iraq. Iraqi police in nearby Kirkuk recently said they were on his trail. The vast Iraqi province of Anbar, which stretches to the Syrian, Jordanian and Saudi Arabian borders, has been a hotbed of the Sunni Muslim-led insurgency over the past 18 months. It had one of the lowest voting turnouts in the country's recent elections. US and Iraqi forces are currently engaged in a security sweep in the province, moving along the Euphrates river valley towards Syria in search of insurgents. Anah is one of those valley towns. "Abu Qutaybah was a known associate of other detained Zarqawi lieutenants including Abu Abdul Rahman, Abu Ahmed and Abu Ali, who were captured by coalition forces," the Iraqi government said.
This article starring:
ABU ABDUL RAHMAN
al-Qaeda in Iraq
ABU AHMED
al-Qaeda in Iraq
ABU ALI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
ABU MUSAB AL ZARQAWI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
ABU QUTAIBAH
al-Qaeda in Iraq
ABU UTHMAN
al-Qaeda in Iraq
AHMED KHALID MARAD ISMAIL AL RAWI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
MOHAMED NAJM
al-Qaeda in Iraq
MOHAMED NAJM IBRAHIM
al-Qaeda in Iraq
TALIB MIKHLIF ARSAN WALMAN AL DULAIMI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Posted by: Steve ||
02/25/2005 10:26:04 AM ||
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Is Sen. Boxer or Sen. Kennedy going to oversee the interrogation? I understand that they have very precise ideas on what is proper in these circumstances.
A roadside bomb blast killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded eight others north of Iraq's capital Friday, the military said. Lt. Col. Clifford Kent, a spokesman for the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division, said a U.S. patrol was hit by an improvised explosive device, or IED. That is the term the military uses for roadside bombs. Witnesses said the attack took place around midday in Tarmiyah, 20 miles north of Baghdad.
Posted by: ed ||
02/25/2005 9:20:35 AM ||
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At least 22 rebels and troops have been killed in a renewed surge in violence in Afghanistan, U.S. and Afghan officials said on Friday. Gunmen killed nine Afghan troops in southern Helmand province near the border with Pakistan, a provincial government official said on Friday, in one of the bloodiest attacks against Afghan forces for months. The soldiers were killed while on a night patrol in the Chakool Ghar area of the province. "Two of those killed were officers and the other seven were soldiers," said Haji Mohammad Wali, spokesman for the provincial governor. "The car they were traveling and their weapons have gone missing, too."
Wali said it was not clear who was behind the attack but a Taliban spokesman said their fighters were responsible. "Our mujahideen (holy warriors) killed the soldiers in an ambush," Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi said by telephone from an undisclosed location.
The U.S. military said seven Taliban rebels also died on Thursday during a U.S. helicopter raid in the southeastern province of Khost after five Afghan soldiers were wounded in an ambush. Afghan officials said their forces killed six more Taliban guerrillas after the ambush. A Taliban spokesman said five Taliban fighters died. A U.S. military statement said there were no casualties among U.S.-led forces. Helmand was a bastion of the Taliban until they were driven from power in late 2001 and it is also one of Afghanistan's major drug producing areas. Last week, gunmen killed two Afghan aid workers and stole their vehicle in the province.
Wali said the Taliban also killed an Afghan soldier and wounded three others in an attack on their post in a mountainous area near the eastern city of Jalalabad on Friday. Taliban activity has eased over the winter, and U.S.-led forces operating in the south and southeast have kept up the pressure on Afghanistan's vanquished rulers following their failure to disrupt an historic presidential election in October.
This article starring:
ABDUL LATIF HAKIMI
Taliban
Haji Mohammad Wali
Taliban
Posted by: ed ||
02/25/2005 9:22:55 AM ||
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JCD cadre escaped from custody
CHITTAGONG, Feb 24: A JCD cadre escaped from the custody after inflicting heavy blows on the face of police officer at Sitakunda Thursday, reports UNB. Mozammel Haque taken into custody from Kadam Rasul was being brought to the thana under escort of OC Kamrul Islam. On way dare devil Mozammel punched the OC and escaped jumping into the Ichhamoti river.
"Take that, copper! I'm out of here!"
Mozammel was convicted in absentia in three criminal cases and faced ten others.Meanwhile, an alleged robber was lynched and another badly wounded in mass beating at Churamoni village of Satkania upazila early Thursday. An announcement over mosque mike about the attack of a house by dacoits alerted the villagers who rushed in a gheraoed them. Abdul Aziz (25) and Shahjahan (27) were held while others managed to flee. Hailed from Gunagari of Banshkhali upazila the robbers were beaten mercilessly resulting in death of Aziz.
"Ouch, ouch...rosebud! ...
Shahjahan was admitted to the hospital, police said.
Bangla boomers busted
HABIGANJ, Feb 24: A magistrate court here Wednesday granted a seven-day remand to two more youths, who were arrested in connection with the grenade attack at Boidderbazar on January 27 that killed former Finance Minister Shah AMS Kibria and four others, reports UNB. They were identified as Nazrul Ahmed of Nizampur village and Kajal Miah of Syedpur village in Sadar upazila. A total of 10 people have been arrested so far in connection with the grenade attack and nine of them are in police remand. Meanwhile, police suspecting his involvement in the grenade attack also arrested Chhatra League Brindaban College unit president Kawsar Ahmed Rumel
Posted by: Steve ||
02/25/2005 9:12:06 AM ||
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Prime Minister Khaleda Zia yesterday instructed the home ministry and the intelligence agencies to root out the Islamist militants, their hideouts and subversive activities. She also decided in principle to set up an additional bench at the High Court to ensure speedy trial of cases on subversive acts, highly placed sources said. Khaleda held several rounds of meetings with officials of home ministry, police and intelligence agencies yesterday and asked them to take strong actions against all activities in the name of jihad. The prime minister said those who have been creating anarchy in the name of religion are the enemies of the nation and the country, adding all of them will be punished. These extremists must not be bailed out, she told police officials during a meeting at the International Conference Centre at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
So far it sounds like she means business
Khaleda instructed the law enforcers to arrest anyone involved in crime, even if he belongs to a ruling party. She also warned that any misuse of power and corruption by police will not be tolerated. The prime minister observed, with an improvement in law and order scenario, the country's image will improve and foreign investment will increase. State Minister for Home Lutfozzaman Babar, Inspector General of Police Ashraful Huda and high officials of different intelligence agencies were among those who met the prime minister yesterday. Khaleda also asked the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), Armed Police Battalion and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) to keep a close watch on their areas of operations. A highly placed source at the home ministry said intelligence networks have been strengthened across the country and special teams of BDR and police have been put on standby in all districts, prepared to strike quickly upon information on any secret congregation.
She praised the RAB (aka Crossfire Gang) earlier this week for their good work. Guess we can look forward to more "unfortunate incidents" of people being shot during "encounters".
Posted by: Steve ||
02/25/2005 9:00:56 AM ||
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#1
Sounds like the guberment is actually going to get serious. I hope these actions will have great success. It would be nice to see Bangladesh as more than a source of cheap clothing and jokes at their expense.
Iraqi forces have captured the leader of an al Qaida-affiliated terrorist cell allegedly responsible for carrying out a string of beheadings, the government said. The government identified the cell leader as Mohamed Najam Ibrahim and said he had been arrested by Iraqi National Guardsmen in Baqouba, 35 miles north east of Baghdad. It gave no date for the arrest. A government statement said Ibrahim's operation was linked to Jordanian-born terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who leads a shadowy uprising linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaida network.
Ibrahim had carried out the beheadings with his brother, the government said. "The two beheaded a number of citizens in addition to launching attacks against Iraqi security forces," the statement said. The government said Ibrahim was being interrogated by authorities for more information they hoped would lead to other arrests. Last week, police said they had arrested two other leaders of the uprising in Baqouba, including a top aide to al-Zarqawi, Haidar Abu Bawari.
This article starring:
ABU MUSAB AL ZARQAWI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
HAIDAR ABU BAWARI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
MOHAMED NAJAM IBRAHIM
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/25/2005 3:09:42 AM ||
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A suicide bomber disguised as a policeman killed at least 10 people when he blew his car up at an Iraqi police headquarters, as Ukraine said it would pull out its 1650 troops from the war-torn country.
Violence around the country killed at least 23 people on Thursday, including two US soldiers, but the deadliest attack occurred when the bomber managed to drive his explosives-rigged car into the main police compound in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit as police gathered for their morning parade. The director of Tikrit hospital, Emad Juburi, said they had received 10 dead and 35 wounded, all policemen. "The suicide bomber managed to get into the headquarters' courtyard because he was wearing a police lieutenant's uniform. He detonated his vehicle in the middle of police who had gathered for the morning parade," Juburi said, citing the accounts of survivors.
In a potential blow to the US-led coalition in Iraq, the sixth-largest foreign military contingent in the country, Ukraine, said it would pull all of its 1650 troops out of the country by the end of the year. "I believe that our troops will be withdrawn this year," Interfax news agency quoted Defence Minister Anatoly Hrytsenko as saying. New pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko promised during his election campaign late last year to pull Ukrainian troops out of Iraq, where 18 of their number have been killed. A Ukrainian withdrawal is sure to displease Washington, with Poland already having decided to pull out a third of its 2400 soldiers because of strong domestic opposition to their deployment. The United States, which backed Yushchenko during the "orange revolution" standoff with Leonid Kuchma's regime that eventually brought him to power, has said any withdrawal should be made gradually and in a coordinated way. Kuchma opposed the US-led war in Iraq but later agreed to deploy troops there in what observers said was an attempt to mend fences with Washington, which accused him of approving a sale of military equipment to Saddam's regime despite an international embargo.
In Germany, a court martial which convicted three British soldiers of abusing Iraqi civilians near the main southern city of Basra was due to deliver sentences on Friday. The soldiers face jail terms of up to two years after being found guilty of abusing suspected looters in May 2003. The Times newspaper in London reported that as many as 11 more British soldiers could face a court martial over the case of a fatal beating of an Iraqi civilian and other allegations of abuse.
In Paris, a reporters rights group said French journalist Florence Aubenas and her translator Hussein Hanoun, who disappeared in Iraq 50 days ago, are alive. "They are probably being held outside Baghdad. Right now, by a loose and unidentified group. There's been no claim and there is no established intermediary," said Robert Menard of Reporters Without Borders.
In further violence, two Iraqi soldiers were killed and one wounded when mortar fire hit their base in Dhuluiyah, north of Baghdad, while two Iraqi policemen and a child were killed in a car bombing south of the capital. Four more Iraqi soldiers were killed in a bomb attack at Qaim, near the Syrian-Iraqi border, while in the northern oil centre of Kirkuk, a police chief escaped an assassination attempt in which two other policemen were killed.
The US military said two of its soldiers had been killed in separate bomb blasts north of Baghdad. Their deaths brought to 1476 the number of US military personnel killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion of March 2003, according to a Pentagon tally. And the bodies of two Iraqi brothers who worked as interpreters for the US army were found near Baiji, north of Baghdad, having been shot in the head.
As continued insurgent attacks on Iraq's fledgling security forces put back the possibility of US-led troops leaving the country to fend for itself, persistent sabotage of Iraqi oil infrastructure have damaged the economy. But the Iraqi government said a top aide to Al-Qaeda's frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has been arrested in Baquba, north of Baghdad. "The terrorist Mohammed Najm Ibrahim, alias Mohammed Najm, who with one of his brothers runs a Zarqawi cell, is responsible for the beheading of several citizens and for attacks against Iraqi security forces," a statement said.
An oil ministry spokesperson said exports from the northern oilfields around Kirkuk through the Turkish port of Ceyhan were ready to resume after earlier sabotage had been repaired, but that no date had yet been set. Assem Jihad said rebels had carried out two more attacks on oil and gas pipelines on Wednesday. Insurgent sabotage has cost Iraq between seven and eight billion dollars in lost revenues since the 2003 invasion, according to ministry estimates.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/25/2005 3:03:57 AM ||
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#1
I think that "Suicide Bomber disguised as policeman kills ten" would have been a better wording for the headline.
Posted by: Jim K ||
02/25/2005 15:13 Comments ||
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#2
Now the question is...was he a local or a al-Ghamdi?
The bearded man in a gray jacket and shirt who appeared on the U.S.-funded Iraqi state television station Wednesday had a stark message about the insurgency -- he was a Syrian intelligence officer who helped train people to behead others and build car bombs to attack American and Iraqi troops. "My name is Anas Ahmed al-Essa. I live in Halab. I am from Syria," he said by way of introduction -- naming what he said was his home in Syria.
"What's your job?" he was asked by someone off-camera. "I am a lieutenant in intelligence." Then a second question. "Which intelligence?" The reply: "Syrian intelligence."
And so began a detailed 15-minute confession broadcast by al-Iraqiya TV, in which the man, identified as 30-year-old Lt. Anas Ahmed al-Essa, said his group was recruited to "cause chaos in Iraq ... to bar America from reaching Syria. We received all the instructions from Syrian intelligence."
The man appeared in the propaganda video along with 10 Iraqis who said they had also been recruited by Syrian intelligence officers. Later, al-Iraqiya aired another round of interviews with men it said were Sudanese and Egyptians who also trained in Syria to carry out attacks in Iraq. Syrian officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the claims, which were not possible to authenticate independently. Iraqi officials also were unavailable for comment after the broadcasts, which aired late in the evening.
The videos were broadcast as the Bush administration steps up pressure on Syria to stop meddling in Iraqi affairs by allowing insurgents to cross into the country to fight coalition troops and by harboring former Iraqi regime members. Syria has denied the charges. Wednesday was the first time the channel showed someone it claimed was a Syrian intelligence officer. All those interviewed in the first video apparently were detained in the northern city of Mosul. It was not known where the interviews were made, and no date was provided.
A man identified as one of al-Essa's aides, Shehab al-Sabaawi, said the group used animals for training in beheadings. Al-Essa said it required "at least 10 beheadings" for a member to be promoted to a group leader. "I had to send a report to Syria about how the operations are going," he said. Weapons, explosives and equipment were all provided by Syrian intelligence, the man claimed, adding that group members received $1,500 a month.
Al-Essa said money was his motive for accepting an offer by a Syrian intelligence colonel he identified as Fady Abdullah to carry out attacks inside Iraq. "I was trained on explosives, killing, spying, kidnapping ... and after one year I went to Iraq with Fady Abdullah," al-Essa said. He claimed he infiltrated Iraq in 2001, about two years before the U.S. invasion, because Syrian intelligence was convinced that American military action loomed.
An unidentified Iraqi officer introduced the video, saying all insurgent groups in Iraq were covers for Syrian intelligence. He named a number of well-known groups, including one which has killed and beheaded foreigners. Al-Essa claimed to be leader of the al-Fateh Army, a group that had not been heard of previously. Al-Sabaawi described himself as a former lieutenant colonel in Saddam's army. He said he was recruited at an Iraqi mosque in 2001 by an Iraqi man named Abu Bakr, whom he described as the al-Fateh Army's leader. "He offered to take us on a training trip to Islamabad," the Pakistani capital, al-Sabaawi said. "He told us that we could develop our skills, give us information about how to make car bombs and carry out kidnappings."
Before returning to Iraq, al-Sabaawi said he spent 11 months in Pakistan. He did not say who trained him there. After Saddam's fall in 2003, al-Sabaawi said he spent a month in Syria, where he claimed to have received training from Syrian intelligence on how to behead hostages. "Syrian intelligence officers were supervising our training. We were ready to fight the Americans because any Iraqi and any Muslim can't live under occupation," he said.
Afterward, he crossed the border and carried out attacks against U.S. military targets. He said the group started by making car bombs targeting American troops and Iraqi National Guardsmen before beginning a campaign of kidnapping and beheading Iraqis. The Sudanese and Egyptian nationals in the video broadcast later in the day did not belong to al-Fateh, the station said.
This article starring:
ABU BAKR
al-Fateh Army
ANAS AHMED AL ESA
al-Fateh Army
ANAS AHMED AL ESA
Iraqi Insurgency
FADY ABDULLAH
Iraqi Insurgency
SHEHAB AL SABAAWI
Iraqi Insurgency
al-Fateh Army
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/25/2005 3:24:09 AM ||
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#1
Santa is getting lots of intel on who is being naughty. Assad aint gonna make it to 2006 alive.
#3
This kind of behavior by Syria should be condemned by all governments. In a lot of ways, it is worse than the assasination in Lebanon.
However, even the US hasn't condemned it yet, perhaps because the info isn't verified.
If the Iraqis had an operating govt and a capable armed forces with offensive capacity, this Syrian work would be an act of war. Of course, if Iraqi had the govt and army, Syria wouldn't do this.
#6
Chuck
Yes we are quiet about Syrian work in Iraq - much quieter than we could be.
There are a number of factors here.
1. As you say the Alawites are a small minority - maybe 10% of the population and they are are the controlling force. Perhaps another 5% of the country are mainline Shiites who sympathize with the Alawites (who in turn are an offshoot of Shiitism).
2. The Syrian govt is not totalitarian and not Islamic. You can critize the govt (although not the leader). You can even critize Islam (people from Saudi Arabia consider Syria the land of religious liberty).
3. We may be waiting for an Iraqi govt to put together a solid case against Syria for presentation at the UN.
4. Some of the confessions have goofy details in them that make you distrust the whole thing and we may not have evidence in the form of monitary transactions or corroberation.
5. Syria isn't the only country playing dirty in Iraq. There is Iran and the Saudis.
6. We may be counting on getting Syria out of Lebanon as a first step toward weakening the Assad regime after which we could hope he would be replaced by a 'reform' military govt.
#7
It's not like Bush needs more information that Syria is run by bad men. I have to believe Bush has a plan for them and it will play out. Why detract from the European trip by blowing this out of proportion now when it really won't change anything?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/25/2005 10:51 Comments ||
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#8
remember getting Syria out of Lebanon (all the way out, the intell guys as well as the ground pounders) has major implications. It leaves Hezbollah out in the cold in a largely hostile (IIUC) Lebanese polity, and takes away much of Syrias leverage over Israel, and ability to interfere with the peace process.
OTOH that doesnt help us much in Iraq. Although a weaker and more isolated Syria, without Lebanon, may be more careful. And will have less direct benefit from an Iranian alliance. Might be more possible to turn Syria in that instance - think Libya, rather than Iraq or Ukraine.
Syrian internal democracts are coming slowly out of the wood work, but Syrian opposition is likely to be mainly (sunni) Islamist. While there are arguments for letting them rule, and holding them to responsible behavior, I dont know if Bush-Condi et al will take that chance. I also doubt that France would support it (dont snicker - france cooperation with the US on Lebanon is quite important, and a real danger to Syria) and Im not too sure Sharon would support it at this point - better a chastened Assad than an unpredictible Muslim Brotherhood, with the peace process at a delicate stage.
MHWs point about a reform military govt is good though - i know too little about the internal politics of the Syrian military/security establishment to comment.
On February 22, 2005 Algeria's Salafist Group for Call and Combat (al-Jam'a al-Salafia lil-Dawa was Qital) claimed responsibility for an ambush operation waged against Algerian troops in the state of Batna on February 18th. The Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC) has in recent years taken over the role once held by the Algerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA) as the preeminent Jihadist group in Algeria. Designated by the United States Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control in March of 2002, the group currently boasts upwards of 4,000 fighters. While they do not always claim responsibility for their operations, the GSPC is considered responsible for most of the over 900 individuals killed within Algeria from Jihadist violence.
After detailing their most recent operation, the group closes its message with a promise to all those opposed to its cause: "You, the enemies of God, the defectors (from Islam), there will be no truce, no dialogue, no conciliation, no security agreement and no covenant of protection with you, but rather the destruction, the ruin, the assassination and the devastation. Assassination, Assassination be upon you. You, the enemies of God!"
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/25/2005 3:34:01 AM ||
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A top aide to al-Qaeda's frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has been arrested, the Iraqi government said on Thursday. "The terrorist Mohammed Najm Ibrahim, alias Mohammed Najm, who with one of his brothers runs a Zarqawi cell, is responsible for the beheading of several citizens and for attacks against Iraqi security forces," it said in a statement. Ibrahim was arrested in the town of Baquba, north of Baghdad, it added, without giving the date of his arrest. On February 21 police in Baquba announced the arrest of another member of the Zarqawi group.
This article starring:
ABU MUSAB AL ZARQAWI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
MOHAMED NAJM IBRAHIM
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2005 00:00:00 ||
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US Marines fought their way into the insurgent stronghold of Haqlaniya on Wednesday, intensifying a campaign to bring Iraq's restive western province of Al Anbar under control. A column of tanks and armoured vehicles rolled into the town, about 240km west of Baghdad on the Euphrates river, before dawn and were immediately ambushed. Marines' forces responded with heavy machinegun fire and several tank rounds. "We were hit by an IED (improvised explosive device), a daisy chain [three IEDs linked together] and then we took a rocket propelled grenade," said Sergeant Larry Long, speaking as occasional shots and blasts echoed across the western desert.
Three Iraqis were killed when they drove towards a building occupied by the Marines. There were no US casualties. "A pick-up truck drove towards the building. Iraqi soldiers waved at it to stop but they didn't stop. They didn't pay attention. They turned around, and that's when we shot them," said Major Richard Seagrist.
The offensive was part of Operation River Blitz, launched this week to tackle insurgents hiding out in the huge western province of Al Anbar that stretches to the borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. "The situation in Al Anbar has gone too far which is why we enacted River Blitz. We don't want to present a weak spot to the insurgent," Lieutenant Colonel Greg Stevens of the 1st Marines Expeditionary Force told his troops on the eve of the assault. "We're going into the city and we're staying." Haqlaniya has been a hotspot for months. Four Marines were killed in an ambush near the town in January. The US military said it was expecting strong resistance from foreign fighters who they say have links to Al Qaida. But in the event insurgent resistance was fairly weak. "You don't bring a rifle to a tank fight," Stevens said yesterday.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2005 10:21:57 PM ||
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#1
A column of tanks and armoured vehicles rolled into the town..
#4
4 IEDs going off like that, right on the column, and no casualties?
The column was all armored vehicles, buttoned up looking for a fight. Most of the casulaities from IEDs come from "soft" vehicles on convoy duty.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/25/2005 8:16 Comments ||
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#5
Great picture, everytime I see our boys doing dirty work it makes me prouder than ever to be an American. God Bless the USA and the protetors of freedom. Thank you so much guys - come home safe.
My wife and 4 children thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
#7
Can we stop with the pathetic nationalism. We've got innocent (read, did not ask for war on terrorism) Iraqi men women and children getting pummeled in Iraq, and we're glamorizing "our boys" - who have signed legal documents to kill and die - like we're in a John Wayne Western. This aint Hollywood boys, get your head out of your @%$# and connect the dots. You go riding in to town on your big steel horse, kill innocents and shove "universal" values down people's throats, with an Abrahms to boot, and you're gonna get a IUD up yours; and that just may be justice of a lasting sort
#10
Peregrine probably does put her IUD up her ass. And that's probably where it belongs.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/25/2005 11:20 Comments ||
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#11
Iraqi men women and children getting pummeled in Iraq,
yes, its most unfortunate, but now the Iraqi people are fighting back against the jihadi terrorists - they still need our help though, in places like Anbar province. G-d bless the troops, and may they be successful and come home safely.
#13
Peregrine... "...and shove 'universal' values down people's throats"
Which "universal values" do you find most reprehensible...maybe we could edit the list of values to suit you.
- democracy
- freedom in general, to speak and think and travel freely
- respect for women
- respect for religions OTHER than Islam
- for that matter, respect for different FLAVORS of Islam
- freedom from rape and pillage by Baathists, Jihadists, or whichever faction has the upper hand on any given day
- freedom to NOT attend "spontaneous" protests against the Great Satan (i.e., US)
etc...
I can't wait (ok, I can) to read which of these values you find so horrible that making it possible for people to enjoy and embrace them equates to "shoving it down their throats.
#16
Mrs Davis: Nicely put. Peregrine...where were you when Saddam was stuffing families into shredders? STFU
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/25/2005 12:47 Comments ||
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#17
Other belligerents, please go on beating your hairy chests, and patting each other's hairy asses. You seem to be great at it!
Justrand, let's take your wishful thinking one by one:
Democracy: Get real, give me one country that has "embraced" democracy at the end of gun, just one . . . ? It's a failed record, my friend. Democracy is home grown, not transplanted.
Freedom: Give me one city in Iraq that is "free". US administered illegitimate police state-policies; trigger happy shooting at anything that moves - reminds me of video games with other billegerent pals - has turnd Iraq into a haven for some really nasty terrorists. What about freedom to be tortured outside any international law? What about freedom for your house to be pollaged in the night, your family detained - by adrenaline-crazed soldiers?
Respect for women: who the helll are we to tell Iraqis how to treat thier women? You'd like an Iraqi to force his way into your country and tell you how to treat your women? I don't think so...
Your wishes are very (seemingly) altruisitc, bring culture to the Iraqis. That was the center of civilization, people. And our own Rumsfeld was selling those WMS's and supporting Saddam's atrocious acts when it suited our national interests.
So get real, drop the facade and come clean (it would be much less hypocritical) these are Realist opportunities to make money for our military industrial complex, and the country as our economy is more and more precarious, to get hands on some good oil and maintain a hand on the last few spickots that's producing oil, and in reasserting bellicose rightist policies of enshrouding it in "spreading democracy".
#19
"...give me one country that has "embraced" democracy at the end of gun..."
Peregrine, you stupid ass, how about Germany, Japan, South Korea, Afghanistan, and Iraq??? Sheeesh, what an idiot!
Posted by: Tom ||
02/25/2005 13:01 Comments ||
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#20
give me one country that has "embraced" democracy at the end of gun, just one . . . ?
Germany, Japan.
Give me one city in Iraq that is "free"
Basra. Never had Americans in it.
Is the IUD in your larnyx?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/25/2005 13:02 Comments ||
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#21
Peregrine, you are definitely out of your league here. Be gone, only to return when you have facts and a brain to process them.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/25/2005 13:05 Comments ||
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#22
Japan? German? Embraced?
Are you a fool? Both countries received massive injections of foreign aid that basically paralized thier political mechanisms Japan was basically a one party system with no opposition in govenment until just very recently. Japan is still a US pawn in geopolitical terms. Opposition? I don't think so.
Germany? We're talking a internationally sanctioned effort to completely rebuild a sister-city that has recognized it's defeat and is essentially a part of the European world order.
You call buying and coercing democracy 'granting freedom' Give me a bag . . .
#23
Democracy: Get real, give me one country that has "embraced" democracy at the end of gun, just one . . . ? It's a failed record, my friend. Democracy is home grown, not transplanted Um, Japan? Nazi Germany? Facist Italy? Post-colonial India?
Freedom: Give me one city in Iraq that is "free Try any of the Kurdish ones. They have supermarkets and city councils and lots of other nice stuff.
to get hands on some good oil and maintain a hand on the last few spickots that's producing oil So what is wrong with oil? Oil-based fertilizers help keep 6x10^6 people alive on this cozy little planet of ours? Plus it makes plastic, which I assume the keyboard upon which you are pounding out your freedom of speech is made unless you have one of those special ones made from hemp resin.
So do you actually think for yourself or do you always just spout off whatever others tell you at the last ANSWER rally? Have you ever taken a class in statistics? Economics? Strategy? I'll close with an apocryphal story that strikes right at the heart of your arguments, such that they are.
A British Indian Colonial official came across a funeral pyre where the widow was about to be burned alive. Members of the funeral party said that burning widows alive was their customs. The Brit responded: "Well in my country, the custom is to hang chaps that burn women alive."
#24
To the fool who said Afghanistan: Have you taken a look at a newspaper lately? The warlords that the CIA paid off to work the Taliban post 9-11 have turned their backs and said they want to challenge central power. Hey guys: ELECTIONS ARE NOT DEMOCRACY, get it? Holding one measly election (ala Iraq) is not democracy. It's shortsighted US foreign policies that get us into these messes (Nicaragua, Iran, Iraq, Vietnam, Angola, Guatemala, Afghanistan) Read your history: You think that htese green kids - US marines - are the first time the Middle East has has a foreign aggressor tellign them how to run things? The Middle East has had too much meddling since 1830 with Frenchies comng in and rebuilidng thier schools under colonial policies. You tell me how this is different? Cause we are America? give me a break!~
#25
Mindless babble. I'll give you ten bags, Peregrine. Nine for all your crap and one to go over you head.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/25/2005 13:14 Comments ||
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#26
US administered illegitimate police
state-policies;
Liar.
trigger happy shooting at anything that moves
Liar.
- reminds me of video games with other billegerent pals -
Delusional liar.
has turnd Iraq into a haven for some really nasty terrorists.
Idiot. Iraq was a haven for terrorists when Saddam was in power. He was one of the biggest donors to Palestinian terrorist groups, sheltered Abu Nidal and his terrorist group, gave refuge to the last of the 1993 WTC bombers, and ran training camps for international terrorists.
And our own Rumsfeld was selling those WMS's and supporting Saddam's atrocious acts when it suited our national interests.
First, what's a "WMS"? If it means "Weapons of Mass Stupidity", you seem to have been an early test subject.
Second, you don't know what the hell you're talking about.
Respect for women: who the helll are we to tell Iraqis how to treat thier women?
"Their" women? As in "their property"?
Democracy is home grown, not transplanted.
You mean like in the US? There was never a democracy in the US until European settlers arrived and brought with them Ango-Saxon traditions and ancient Greek ideals.
Your wishes are very (seemingly) altruisitc, bring culture to the Iraqis. That was the center of civilization, people.
In the days of Hammorabi, yes. Things have gone down hill there since then. You may have noticed. Then again, you probably didn't. So long as Saddam's rape squads were in operation, you didn't give a rat's ass because it didn't interrupt your quiet little life.
Jesus, do idiots like this ever learn anything new? This is the same crap they were spouting two years ago!
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/25/2005 13:17 Comments ||
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#27
Are you a fool? Both countries received massive injections of foreign aid that basically paralized thier political mechanisms You say that like it's a bad thing. So they didn't embrace democracy at the end of a gun? We bribed them into becoming democracies? So what should have happened? The vanguard of the proletariat should have bravely led them into the communist promised land?
#29
I see the tactic. Upon being confronted with any evidence, the fool denies its existence by redefining terms. Yawn -- another Chomsky-deluded brain that is useful only for fertilizer.
I'd love to hear what TGA has to say about this fool saying Germany is not a democracy.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/25/2005 13:21 Comments ||
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#30
Kreist....Moonbat alert!
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/25/2005 13:22 Comments ||
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#31
History my friends, it's history that we're talking about.
The democratic peace theory is bunk.
Stats. Econ. Strategy: Hmmph: Christopher Layne: Kant or Cant, the myth of democratic peace: "The zone of international democratic peace is an allusion There is no evidence that demoracy at the structural level negates the structural effects of anarchy at the level of the international political system . . . Those who want to base american foregn policy on the extension of democracy abroad invariably disclaim any intention to embark on a "crusade" . . . These these reassurances are link American security to the nature of other states' internal polical systems: Democratic peace theory's logic inevitably pushes the the United States into a interventionist posture.
Oh, I'm a grad-student studying U.S. foreign affairs at Columbia University and will be going into the U.S. Foreign Service in one year. Change comes from within. Enjoy your e mail chat's buddies.
#34
"...will be going into the U.S. Foreign Service in one year..."
Send this troll's IP address and quotes to the FBI. They need to get it before the application is processed.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/25/2005 13:25 Comments ||
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#35
Ha ha...Peregrine you ass! Better look for another line of work. I hear Wendy's is hiring.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/25/2005 13:29 Comments ||
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#36
Oh, I'm a grad-student studying U.S. foreign affairs at Columbia University
That explains it. You're a moron!
will be going into the U.S. Foreign Service in one year
Going for the Saudi Pension Plan, I see. Already have some of their talking points memorized.
The zone of international democratic peace is an allusion
To what?
(Christ -- a barely literate twit like this is in graduate school? Does Columbia grant admissions in cereal boxes?)
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/25/2005 13:29 Comments ||
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#37
Now that I think about it, though. This certainly explains a lot about the State Department rank-and-file. The ones that don't have the brains to be in the military go to State.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/25/2005 13:30 Comments ||
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#38
Come on, Peregrine. Use the word Zionist. Please? Make my day. Settle my prejudices.
#39
Oh I get it Peregrine. We just have the wrong narrative. Thanks for clearing all of that up. After all, who needs to study the hard subjects with all of that math and logic when reality is just a construct created by the dominant narrative of the ruling class. Other narratives, that involve enslaving people (There I go using value laden teminology again. Sorry, but it will take me a while to reprogram my pre-post-modern illusions), stealing their wealth, and corrupting their morals are just as valid.
Given that you don't know the difference between allusion and illusion, I somehow doubt you passed the FSWE, but I have no doubt you are a grad student at Columbia.
#40
Peregrine>>bastard begot,bastard intended, and bastard everything promised.
Posted by: out bitch ||
02/25/2005 13:38 Comments ||
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#41
Columbia....New York.... Hillary.... Schumer. Was Rudy the only one who learned anything from 9/11? What did YOU learn from 9/11 Peregrine? That we deserved it? Is that why they hit New York?
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/25/2005 13:39 Comments ||
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#42
Freedom: Give me one city in Iraq that is "free". US administered illegitimate police state-policies; trigger happy shooting at anything that moves - reminds me of video games with other billegerent pals - has turnd Iraq into a haven for some really nasty terrorists. What about freedom to be tortured outside any international law?
What about the freedom to break international law by failing to act within the Geneva Conventions? How do you defend against illegal combatants?
What about freedom for your house to be pollaged in the night, your family detained - by adrenaline-crazed soldiers?
Saddam is out of business. None of that is happening now.
Respect for women: who the helll are we to tell Iraqis how to treat thier women? You'd like an Iraqi to force his way into your country and tell you how to treat your women?
I'd say we'd have a buncha Iraqis with their balls or penises cut off with the menfolk looking on. That's if they mess with my second ex-wife.
I don't think so...
Your wishes are very (seemingly) altruisitc, bring culture to the Iraqis. That was the center of civilization, people.
The operative verb here is 'was' It is now a shithole but with a real cchance to recover and become part of the free world. The Iraqis themselves are seeing to it they don't return to their blood-sodden glorious past.
And our own Rumsfeld was selling those WMS's and supporting Saddam's atrocious acts when it suited our national interests.
I would need a link. And don't worry: I won;t wait for it.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/25/2005 13:57 Comments ||
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#44
Peregrine - It luks lyke yewr secundairy educashun didnt due you many favers. I ges Columbia wil tak just about any1. Look owt, forin survis.
Posted by: ET ||
02/25/2005 14:14 Comments ||
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#45
Mrs. Davis, please. Aris has too much self-respect to become a Columbia University grad student.
BTW, passing into the Foreign Service is easy, as long as when you are taking the interview you never, never insinuate that the host country in the role-playing situations ever has an unreasonable grievance. Take it from someone who's been there, done that.
#48
Peregrine - Robert Crwford thinks you ought to go look at the "Fallujah Persepective" posting - about the men and women voters hugging the Marines. Of course, the guy who wrote that was actually there, not sitting in a lecture hall....
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/25/2005 14:27 Comments ||
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#49
The troll idiot Peregrine, doctrinaire authoritarian conformist, opens with a series of dismissive ad hominems, then demands logic and facts, then demonstrates its manifest ignorance of these as well.
You will change nothing, Peregrine, you have embraced a dying cause, a narrative of the past. You have sold your soul for power, and will find that you were cheated.
#50
You're too late, SPoD and Bobby. The troll was repelled by the horror of facts that didn't fit its arguments.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/25/2005 14:31 Comments ||
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#51
Peregrine-you are besmirching one of my ancestor's names. Find another name-this one is for those who fought in our country's struggle for freedom. But then, struggling for freedom sounds like it might be out of your league.
#52
Peregrine says: who the helll are we to tell Iraqis how to treat thier women? You'd like an Iraqi to force his way into your country and tell you how to treat your women?
Their women? Your women?
Um, Peregrine, dear, your male chauvanism is showing.
Anyone who still refers to women as being property, or as a subset of men, or who will not stand for the moral rights of women in a global context, needs to shut up. Either that, or they could subject themselves to the conditions women suffer under totalitarianism and come back and tell us how they liked it.
Communist/Socialist/Facist "agents" of change (i.e. sociopolitical deconstructionists) always sound the same, don't they? Peregrine is a shining example of truly a truly pathetic outlook--troll extraodinaire.
#53
Is it really true? Could someone capable of such error; such forests of strawmen, such thickets of ad hominem, such bogs of pidgin logic, such a howling wilderness of idiotarian conformity, linguistic illiteracy, and barbarous grammar; really be a graduate student at any kind of university; nay, at any kind of college, including those for clowns and barbers?
Alas, it named Columbia, so we have our answer.
#54
peregrine is so polysyllabic i think its done some time in the joint--my god it sounds like mikhail suslov and paul sweezy with a little castro thrown in for bravado--remedy is to force feed it steyn, hanson, locke, ,madison,von mises,hayek, friedman and franklin--otherwise it will implode from intellectual self immolation like quang duc
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
02/25/2005 14:46 Comments ||
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#55
OK, DB. JM with the caps lock off.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/25/2005 14:47 Comments ||
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#60
Yep, looks like the peregrine has gone away, probably to vandalize "Support Our Troops" stickers or plan for the upcoming 30th anniversary of the doper-left's victory over South Vietnam.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
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The source of one of the most sensational accusations against an American allegedly involved in a plot to kill President Bush is dead. According to the most recent government filings in the case against 
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Philippine troops have captured a major camp of the al-Qaida-linked 
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CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, Iraq — Iraqi and U.S. forces continued increased security operations by raiding a mosque, detaining 17 suspected insurgents and seizing several weapons caches throughout the Al Anbar province as Operation River Blitz rolled on for a fifth day. Those detained Feb. 24 bring to 104 the number of suspected insurgents detained since Operation River Blitz began Sunday. 
Iraqi forces have captured a man described as a trusted aide to 
The U.S. military said seven Taliban rebels also died on Thursday during a U.S. helicopter raid in the southeastern province of Khost after five Afghan soldiers were wounded in an ambush. Afghan officials said their forces killed six more Taliban guerrillas after the ambush. A Taliban spokesman said five Taliban fighters died. A U.S. military statement said there were no casualties among U.S.-led forces. Helmand was a bastion of the Taliban until they were driven from power in late 2001 and it is also one of Afghanistan's major drug producing areas. Last week, gunmen killed two Afghan aid workers and stole their vehicle in the province.
Meanwhile, an alleged robber was lynched and another badly wounded in mass beating at Churamoni village of Satkania upazila early Thursday. An announcement over mosque mike about the attack of a house by dacoits alerted the villagers who rushed in a gheraoed them. Abdul Aziz (25) and Shahjahan (27) were held while others managed to flee. Hailed from Gunagari of Banshkhali upazila the robbers were beaten mercilessly resulting in death of Aziz. 
Iraqi forces have captured the leader of an al Qaida-affiliated terrorist cell allegedly responsible for carrying out a string of beheadings, the government said. The government identified the cell leader as 
A suicide bomber disguised as a policeman killed at least 10 people when he blew his car up at an Iraqi police headquarters, as Ukraine said it would pull out its 1650 troops from the war-torn country.
On February 22, 2005 Algeria's 
