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16 U.S. Troops Killed in Afghan Crash
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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Arabia
Kuwaiti court clears former Guantanamo detainee
A former Guantanamo Bay inmate was acquitted of all terror-related charges in a Kuwaiti court on Wednesday. Nasser Al Mutairi, 27, spent nearly three years at the US detention camp in Cuba and was released in January, only to face trial at home. Al Mutairi was on trial for joining foreign military forces without permission, harming Kuwait by serving the interests of a "foreign country" and undergoing illegal weapons training. He was acquitted of all three charges in a Kuwaiti court yesterday. The charges do not mention terrorism or name any particular country or force.

"The lawyer always told me I am innocent, and I expected to be acquitted," said Al Mutairi, who had been out on bail. Al Mutairi's lawyer had previously argued that Kuwait lacked jurisdiction to try the Kuwaiti national. "He was acquitted because nothing could be proven against him," attorney Mubarak Al Shimmiri said yesterday. The case against Al Mutairi was withdrawn fully from US investigations, he said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/01/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Has per our previous correspondence on this matter, Mr. Parker wishes you to cease the use of our Chance Deck Get Out of Jail Free Card. You are aiding and abetting the counterfeting therefore and all the above. We are getting complaints from all over the NE from Police Chiefs who are suddenly confronted with SW Asians with multipule GOOJFCs, we belive this site is partialy or wholly responsible for this insidiosity.

Yous in the law.
Milton
Posted by: Milton Bradley || 07/01/2005 10:19 Comments || Top||

#2  The Kuwaiti national had pleaded innocent when his trial opened in April, claiming he went to Afghanistan for charity work in 2000, before the US-led war on terror began in that country.

Ah, yes. The "charity" work.

Posted by: tu3031 || 07/01/2005 14:53 Comments || Top||


King Fahd in 'stable condition'
Ailing Saudi King Fahd, who has been in hospital since May 27, was in stable condition, a Saudi official said Wednesday night, following rumours that his condition had deteriorated or that he had even died. "The state of the king is stable; he has actually been getting better," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Remind anyone of Monty Python?
Rumours of the king's health had earlier caused the Saudi stock exchange to drop 3.2 percent and also hit the dollar on foreign exchange markets. A medical source contacted by AFP said there had not been "any change in the condition of King Fahd" since his hospitalisation.
Posted by: Fred || 07/01/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  stabel him now. betern yet hes redy fro greener pasteurs.

Posted by: muck4doo || 07/01/2005 0:47 Comments || Top||

#2  goddamit. whatn em guy gotter do get ahed ina thes plase.

>:(
Posted by: abdoola4doo || 07/01/2005 0:47 Comments || Top||

#3  He's stable 'cause he's stiff as a spemble surfboard.
Posted by: mystery guest || 07/01/2005 0:53 Comments || Top||

#4  spemble serfdom no plase for em king. maker fine tung depreser tho.
Posted by: muck4doo || 07/01/2005 1:00 Comments || Top||

#5  Still hovering around room temp eh?
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom || 07/01/2005 3:05 Comments || Top||

#6  A Hoot Mucky! LOL,
Posted by: mystery guest || 07/01/2005 4:08 Comments || Top||

#7  Weekend at Bernies
Posted by: 2b || 07/01/2005 5:54 Comments || Top||

#8  Generalisimo Franco....
Ah well you know
Posted by: True German Ally || 07/01/2005 8:40 Comments || Top||

#9  "The state of the king is stable; he has actually been getting better," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"At least, I've always heard that well-aged meat is better than freshly dead meat."
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 07/01/2005 8:43 Comments || Top||

#10  Is Arafat still "stable"? Or has he "actually been getting better"?
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/01/2005 9:15 Comments || Top||

#11  He's still room temp too.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 07/01/2005 9:27 Comments || Top||

#12  :)
Who wasa mystery guest?
Itn obscure to me.
Posted by: Shipman || 07/01/2005 10:24 Comments || Top||

#13  ee's pinin for Mecca. Beautiful plumage.
Posted by: DMFD || 07/01/2005 23:22 Comments || Top||

#14  hope they keep the temp down or it'll be "shades of Yasser" all over again...eewwwwww
Posted by: Frank G || 07/01/2005 23:26 Comments || Top||


Report of Terrorist’s Surrender Denied
A Saudi terror suspect reportedly surrendered to the Saudi Embassy in Beirut on Tuesday. Another militant has been killed in Iraq. Both were on a new wanted list issued by the Ministry of Interior. Okaz newspaper said Faiz Ibrahim Ayub, 30, turned himself in to the Saudi Embassy in the Lebanese capital one day after the list of 36 wanted terrorists was released. The daily quoted Ayub’s brother, Salah, as saying he had received a telephone call from his brother in which he said he was on his way to the Saudi Embassy “in an Arab country” to give himself up. Contacted by Arab News, a Saudi Embassy official in Beirut said they had no idea of the surrender. “We know nothing about this. To us these reports are just rumors and are not true.” The embassy employee said he did not know what sources the press relied on when reporting such news. He added that to his knowledge, the embassy did not have any information about this matter.

Asharq Al-Awsat quoted the brother of another Saudi militant on the wanted list, Faris Abdullah Al-Dhahiry, 22, as saying his brother was killed in Iraq in November.
Posted by: Fred || 07/01/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The embassy said, it is not true .. he is not in our basement.
Posted by: 2b || 07/01/2005 7:23 Comments || Top||

#2  No, no, 2b. "We are not aware that he is in our basement." These little nuances are the bread and butter of the diplomacy trade. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/01/2005 12:48 Comments || Top||

#3  tw...that's good! I bow!
Posted by: 2b || 07/01/2005 12:58 Comments || Top||

#4  I courtesy right back atcha, 2b. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/01/2005 23:32 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Suspected bombers detained in Chechen train derailment
Two men suspected of carrying out an attack on a passenger train heading from Chechnya on June 12 have been detained, a source in the law enforcement bodies said. They reportedly belong to a radical nationalist grouping.

The train was derailed by an explosion in the Moscow region, at least 15 passengers were hurt when six of the cars left the tracks, the ITAR-TASS news agency said.

“The train driver said that an explosion took place in front of the engine,” FSB spokeswoman Diana Shemyakina said.

No one was killed in the incident when two carriages of the train heading from the Chechen capital Grozny derailed 150 km (90 miles) south of Moscow. Officials said two people were taken to hospital and more than 10 were slightly injured. Shemyakina told Interfax that a one-meter (three-foot) crater was discovered at the scene. She said investigators had also found electric wires attached to the rails.

All the passengers of the derailed train arrived safely at the Paveletsky train station in Moscow on a commuter train, Interfax reported. The passengers were met by policemen and representatives of other law-enforcement bodies, doctors and psychologists.

A regular passenger train link with Grozny has been widely advertised by Russian officials as a sign of normalization in the southern province, devastated by years of conflict.

Separatist rebels, who attack Russian troops and pro-Moscow officials almost daily inside the region, also have a record of hitting civilian targets outside Chechnya. But President Vladimir Putin’s adviser on the region suggested that Russian ultra-nationalists could equally have been responsible for the attack on the train.

“Unfortunately, there are a number of Nazi organizations who do not hide their hatred of people originating from the Caucasus region,” Aslanbek Aslakhanov, an ethnic Chechen, told Interfax.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 07/01/2005 09:49 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  “Unfortunately, there are a number of Nazi organizations who do not hide their hatred of people originating from the Caucasus region,”

Now I've heard everything. Anti-Caucasian neo-Nazis.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 07/01/2005 10:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Everbody hates somebody sometime,
everybody needs someone to maime...
Posted by: Drano || 07/01/2005 10:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Yes... everyone choses to hate someone or something at one point or another... whatever that trigger or trip-wire be. For Lol here is a link to see to believe.. it is only one of many from there:
Posted by: Fun Dung Poo || 07/01/2005 15:43 Comments || Top||

#4  What? What? What happened? here it is again: http://nsjap.net/
Posted by: Fun Dung Poo || 07/01/2005 15:44 Comments || Top||


Bombing Kills at Least 10 Troops in Russia
A truck packed with Russian troops blew up in the restive Dagestan region of southern Russia on Friday, killing at least 10 troops and wounding seven, officials said. Rashid Isayev, the head of the criminal police for the province, said the blast happened as the military truck was traveling in the provincial capital, Makhachkala. He said the truck was packed with Interior Ministry troops. Dagestan, which borders the warring republic of Chechnya, has been plagued by rising violence blamed on insurgents and criminal gangs.
Posted by: ed || 07/01/2005 07:24 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Russian Officer Sentenced for Negligence
A police captain accused of allowing two Chechen bombers to pass through airport security and bomb two passenger jets was sentenced Thursday to seven years in prison for negligence. Authorities said two Chechen women smuggled explosives onto the planes, which crashed within minutes of each other on Aug. 24, 2004, killing 90 people. The Moscow court on Thursday found that Mikhail Artamonov was guilty of "negligence" that "led to the deaths of 90 people." Artamonov worked at Moscow's Domededovo airport, where the two flights took off.
Posted by: Fred || 07/01/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well, at least he didn't report the weather incorrectly.
Posted by: Jackal || 07/01/2005 16:49 Comments || Top||


Europe
More on the missing Italian imam
A radical imam allegedly abducted by CIA agents in Italy shortly before the U.S. invasion of Iraq was identified as a key figure in a jihadi network supplying foreign fighters for Ansar Al-Islam—a terror group that the Bush administration was then seeking to link to Saddam Hussein’s government, according to Italian court records. The court records laying out the Italian case against Egyptian-born cleric Mostafa Hassan Nasr Osama, or Abu Omar, suggest possible motives for an otherwise puzzling CIA operation that has created new tensions between U.S. and European counterterrorism officials.

An Italian judge last week ordered the arrest of 13 purported CIA operatives on kidnapping charges and requested that Interpol, the international police agency, provide assistance in tracking them down. The CIA has steadfastly refused to comment on any aspect of the case, much less discuss why the agency would have undertaken such a snatch operation—known as an “extraordinary rendition”—on the soil of a major European ally. But court records in the case show that the Italian police had assembled a large mass of evidence tying Abu Omar to Ansar Al-Islam, the Al Qaeda-linked group based in the Kurdish region in northern Iraq. Administration officials say Ansar was being protected by Saddam and run by lieutenants of the notorious terrorist Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi.

The alleged abduction of Abu Omar on the streets of Milan took place on Feb. 17, 2003, just one month before the U.S. invasion of Iraq. It was also two weeks after Secretary of State Colin Powell had, in his speech to the United Nations Security Council, invoked Ansar Al-Islam as the linchpin of the administration’s case linking Saddam to Al Qaeda. Abu Omar, the abducted cleric, was flown to Egypt after his kidnapping, according to Italian court records that include the aircraft numbers of the rendition flights. He later phoned home to his wife and another imam in Milan and claimed that he had been tortured in an effort to turn him into a spy for the United States. Although much about the alleged CIA operation remains shrouded in secrecy, the Italian court records and the timing of the alleged snatch suggest that it may have been driven by the agency’s interest in quickly getting new information about what Abu Omar knew about Ansar Al-Islam, either to bolster the administration’s argument in support of the invasion or to disrupt a terrorist network inside Iraq that would be fighting U.S. forces once the invasion began, according to some former CIA officials. “There definitely seems to be a connection here to Iraq,” says Robert Baer, a former CIA case officer who specialized in Middle East terrorism. “We either wanted to find out information about Zarqawi’s connections to Saddam or to protect the troops. "I don’t think they knew what they were going to get.”

Still, some of the records in the Italian investigation—including wiretap transcripts of Abu Omar’s phone conversations—would seem to strengthen the administration’s arguments that Ansar Al-Islam was an increasingly dangerous organization that was becoming a new front line for anti-American jihadis around the world. The court records were recently obtained by NEWSWEEK Middle East Regional Editor Christopher Dickey, who first reported on them in his Shadowland Web column "Italy's Sleeper Cells" and “The Road to Rendition” two weeks ago. “The investigation has documented the existence of a recruitment network for sending volunteer combatants or mujaheddin to training camps situated in 
 a Kurd enclave in the northeast of Iraq under the control of the radical organization Ansar Al-Islam, along a route that began in Italy and with planned stops in Turkey and Syria,” states one Italian court summary dated Nov. 25, 2003.

The court summary identifies Abu Omar—describing him as an “Egyptian extremist”—as one of a number of suspected terror operatives who were involved in recruiting fighters for the camps in Iraq, as well as procuring and distributing false travel documents and the raising of funds. It also quotes from a June 15, 2002, wiretap of a conversation between Abu Omar and an unidentified visitor from Germany in which the two talk about a “secret meeting in Poland with the sheiks” that would help build a new jihadi organization to be financed by sympathizers in Saudi Arabia. At one point, the visitor says, “We are also waiting [for] the sheikh from Iraq”—an apparent reference, the document asserts, to Mullah Krekar, the radical cleric believed to have been a founder of Ansar Al-Islam.
Or maybe a reference to Zark...
The document states that the conversation “clearly demonstrated the intention to organize a new subversive international terrorist structure 
 that obeyed the decisions of Al Tawhid [Zarqawi’s organization] for the commissioning of attacks.” This transcripts and other records in the case show that Abu Omar was “directly in contact with the representatives of the Zarqawi group and Ansar Al-Islam,” says Jean-Charles Brisard, a Paris-based terror researcher who works closely with lawyers representing families of September 11 victims.

The Italian judge who has issued the arrest warrants for the accused CIA operatives has charged that the Americans essentially acted on their own and disrupted an ongoing Italian criminal investigation into European terror cells. But two former CIA officials familiar with the agency’s rendition operations, but who asked not to be publicly identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, say it is highly doubtful that the CIA operatives would have acted without some green light from elements of the Italian government. In every previous known case of a “rendition” or snatch by the CIA, the operations are closely coordinated with host governments, the former officials said. Moreover, among the evidence released in the case are records showing that the principal CIA operative alleged to have led the rendition team used a cell phone that was directly traceable to the U.S. Embassy in Rome—a level of openness that would have been inconceivable for a highly covert operation.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 07/01/2005 12:35 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Thank God there was no mention of a linkage between 9-11 and Iraq. We wouldn't want to do that, would we.
Posted by: Captain America || 07/01/2005 13:14 Comments || Top||

#2  How unsurprising would it be if the "kidnapping" had been closely coordinated with Italy's newly discovered "parallel police", about which an article was posted earlier today? But darling, it is so believable to pin everything on those damned Americans, you know.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/01/2005 13:42 Comments || Top||

#3  So, with the revelation of this information, do the members of the Italian public that feel resentment toward the U.S. for sweeping up Abu Omar feel any different now? Or would they still rather have the little terrorism-backing asswipe walking free on Italian soil?
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 07/01/2005 14:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Rather than have the italians totally botch a terrorism trial or give the guy 2-1/2 years, we grabbed him, watterboarded his fat ass, and learned everything he knew. What's the prob? I hope they burried him face down in a jewish cemetary.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/01/2005 16:44 Comments || Top||


Suicide bomber shot outside Turkish Justice Ministry
Turkish television showed live footage of police shooting at the man in a street in the leafy government district of the capital Ankara. Police shot dead a suspected suicide bomber at Turkey's Justice Ministry on Friday after he apparently tried to set off an explosive device. Turkish television showed live footage of police shooting at the man, said to be between 25 and 30 years old, in a street in the leafy government district of the capital Ankara. A Reuters correspondent saw the man lying dead in a pool of blood. Witnesses said the man had tried to enter the ministry, near Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's office, at around 9:15 a.m. (0615 GMT) but triggered the security sensors. Police grabbed him after he apparently set off a detonator but failed to explode his main device. The man escaped into the street where police shot him first in the leg and then in the head, the witnesses said. Police gave no immediate confirmation of the details but they gave the bomber's name as Eyup Beyaz and said he was known to be a member of Turkey's largest far-left faction, the Revolutionary Peoples Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C).

Earlier, Turkish television had given the man's name as Muharrem Akyurt from documents found on his body. Two bomb disposal experts in protective clothing examined the man's corpse after police cordoned off the area. Justice Minister Cemil Cicek, clearly anxious to avert possible criticism from the European Union that Turkish police are trigger-happy, said they had to shoot the man because he had a bomb on him. "The security forces first fired warning shots, but because the aggressor continued to run towards a crowded bus station, they had to shoot him," Cicek said in televised remarks. "Turkey will continue to improve its human rights and democracy," he added.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 07/01/2005 09:25 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If the EUnics give Turkey any shit about shooting a suicide bomber that was trying to blow up the Justice Ministry building, they are even bigger idiots than I previously thought. And that is really saying something.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/01/2005 9:36 Comments || Top||

#2  You mean, the alleged suicide bomber, don't you? How do we know he was guilty? Was he informed of his rights? Offered counsel? Offered milk and cookies? Interrogated properly? (I wonder if interrogate and terror have the same root?) I mean, if the barbarians go around shooting all the alleged suspects, they shouldn't be allowed into the Euroweenie club, right?
Posted by: Bobby || 07/01/2005 9:50 Comments || Top||

#3  head shot = good policy.....
Posted by: Frank G || 07/01/2005 9:52 Comments || Top||

#4  in the leafy government district of the capital Ankara.
Is this like the Tony Section of Jakarata?
Posted by: Drano || 07/01/2005 10:29 Comments || Top||

#5  Turkey is due to start EU entry talks in October. The EU has expressed concern in the past over police brutality in Turkey.

Well, as of this incident, there goes Turkey's EU membership hopes......hehe
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 07/01/2005 11:10 Comments || Top||

#6  A leafy district... this was mentioned twice... vewy vewy important. vewy important that it was mentioned that he was shot in the leg before the head shot... anudder vewy important factoid. If EU had found that he was shot in the leg after the head shot for good measure or for claim by one of the Turkish law enforcement/security dudes as having fired at the muderous culprit they would have a stinking cow. It goes like this, if the leg bullet is retrieved and identified as coming from another cop who did the coup de grace then both could get a bonus or special recognition for their valour of not ducking behind a woman with a stroller. My hat is off to the actions of the Turkish security dudes who quickly turned the coffins on this muderous terrorist. That was presence of mind under stress. Good job lads!
Posted by: Fun Dung Poo || 07/01/2005 15:58 Comments || Top||


Italy probes 'parallel police'
Italian police have launched a big inquiry into a "parallel" intelligence agency allegedly set up and run with public money, say Italian news reports. The Department of Anti-terrorism Strategic Studies (DSSA) was reportedly created after the 2004 Madrid bombings. Investigators based in Genoa have arrested two people and placed more than two dozen under investigation in a probe into the DSSA. Anti-terror squads have also carried out raids in nine Italian regions. It is not clear how the organisation would have been able to receive public funds if it was illegal.
Can you say "Black Ops?"

Italian media reports suggest that the members of the DSSA were carrying out investigations that usurped the powers of regular police units, possibly using clandestine surveillance techniques which were not meant to be used domestically. Many of those under investigation are said to be employed by regular law-enforcement bodies, who may have been unaware that there was anything "irregular" about the DSSA. The Genoa investigators believe the organisation was receiving money from budgets made available to fight national and international terrorism after the Madrid blasts. Prosecutors believe that DSSA employees were sometimes using official police badges and other equipment to carry out their own investigations. The alleged parallel force is also accused of illegally using the Interior Ministry database for its own purposes.

The DSSA operated its own website, which was disabled after the arrests were reported on Friday morning. Reports say the site was available in four languages - Italian, English, French and Spanish - and profiled terror organisations as well as urging the public to come forward with information. The investigation that uncovered the alleged parallel structure is an offspring of a previous inquiry into the death of Fabrizio Quattrocchi, one of four Italians kidnapped in Iraq in April 2004. Mr Quattrocchi was shot dead by the abductors, while his colleagues were eventually released.

Italian state radio Rai later reported that the two arrested men may have had links with Gladio, the Italian branch of a secret paramilitary network set up in post-war Europe with the backing of the CIA. There are also reports of a possible connection with a far-right political group.
Posted by: Steve || 07/01/2005 08:42 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yeah, we have to expose and dismantle those damned anti-terrorist organizations. They are a blight on european society. Those euro-libs have to be the smartest people on the face of the earth.
Posted by: bigjimfoot-ky || 07/01/2005 9:02 Comments || Top||

#2  link

I don't know bigjim, just like California wines, our home grown varieties are just as good, if not better.
Posted by: 2b || 07/01/2005 9:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Any comment from the Perpindicular Police? They could be next.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/01/2005 9:10 Comments || Top||

#4  They'll meet someday TU
Posted by: Drano || 07/01/2005 10:30 Comments || Top||


Turkish police shoot bomb suspect
Turkish police have shot a suspected suicide bomber outside government offices in the capital Ankara. Turkish TV said the suspect ran towards the entrance of the justice ministry before being hit by bullets. Witnesses said the man had been unable to detonate his explosives. Some reports said he died at the scene. There is no indication of the motive of the alleged militant. Turkey has been clamping down on militant groups, some with suspected links to al-Qaeda. The area, in the centre of the city, was cordoned off, as bomb squad agents searched the man. A year ago a leftist group claimed responsibility for a bomb explosion in a hotel in Ankara where US President George Bush was due to stay, before a Nato summit.

Posted by: Howard UK || 07/01/2005 04:23 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  good shot!
Posted by: 2b || 07/01/2005 9:57 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Army to Use Fewer National Guard Troops in Iraq
The Army plans to draw far fewer reservists for Iraq duty in a new rotation of forces that has just begun, counting instead on active-duty soldiers to fill most of the deployment requirement, the Army's top officer reported yesterday.

Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, the Army's chief of staff, said in Senate testimony that the number of Army National Guard brigades in Iraq will drop from seven this year to as few as two next year. In relation to the total number of troops, that would cut the share of Guard units from 41 percent to 11 percent. "The Guard brigades will be down," the general told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The move comes not a moment too soon for the nation's community of formerly part-time soldiers, which has been badly strained by lengthy deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. With many of the better-equipped reserve units nearing a two-year maximum call-up limit declared by the Bush administration, Army leaders had warned earlier this year that they were running out of upper-tier brigades to send to Iraq.

Army officials said yesterday that the greater reliance on active-duty units has become possible as a result of the creation of new regular brigades, part of a major restructuring effort begun a year and a half ago aimed at increasing the number of active-duty brigades from 33 to at least 43, and making each more easily deployable. The Army has also sought to shift into the active force more of the jobs that traditionally had been concentrated in reserve units but are in particularly great demand in Iraq, such as those of military police, civil affairs specialists and truck drivers.

The United States has about 17 combat brigades in Iraq, totaling about 135,000 troops. Senior U.S. commanders there recently affirmed the possibility of a reduction in overall troop numbers after the Iraqi elections scheduled for December, depending on the strength of the insurgency and the development of homegrown Iraqi forces.

Nonetheless, an additional 15 Army brigades and two Marine regiments are slated to go to Iraq as replacement forces. The rotation plan, which is spread out over the rest of this year and into the first part of next year, provides for some units to be held back if a decision is made to reduce the total U.S. force level, officials said.

The bulk of the new forces is scheduled to start surging into Iraq this October, when Iraq plans to hold a referendum on a new constitution. The troop flow is intended to continue through the December elections. This changeover will allow U.S. commanders to quickly boost the total number of U.S. forces in Iraq by simply delaying the exit of some units -- a move that was employed late last year during the previous rotation when the number of brigades in Iraq grew to 20 to cover the January elections.

Sen. Carl M. Levin (Mich.), the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, noted in opening remarks yesterday that governors are concerned about whether they will have National Guard units that can respond to natural disasters. He worried that the forces are being worn thin, possibly endangering future operations.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/01/2005 00:36 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sen. Carl M. Levin (Mich.), the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, noted in opening remarks yesterday that governors are concerned about whether they will have National Guard units that can respond to natural disasters

Mr. Cueball Cover-Up Levin worries about natural disasters? How bout fightin' frickin' terrorists there so we don't face 'em here?
Posted by: Captain America || 07/01/2005 1:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Carl Levin is a natural disaster (among many).
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/01/2005 2:55 Comments || Top||

#3  One good thing is we now have a lot of Battle hardened troops on call.
Posted by: raptor || 07/01/2005 7:57 Comments || Top||

#4  Wonder if Levin considers another attack as a "natural disaster?" Much like I feel about the guys on the ground in Iraq (in a good way), I often wonder Where do we get guys like that (in a bad way for Levin and crew).
Posted by: BA || 07/01/2005 8:05 Comments || Top||

#5  More math: If 17 brigades equals 135,000 men, then an "average" brigade has 7,941.1765 men and/or women. We had 20 brigades during the elections, and now have 17, so we already have reduced troop strength by 23,823.5294 men and/or women. So either we had more than 140,000 there in January, or we have less than 135,000 there now.

Or, it is possible brigades are of slightly different sizes? In any event, don't tell Kennedy and/or Kerry that we have reduced troop strength! They'd want to send more and/or less, depending on ... oh, who knows?
Posted by: Bobby || 07/01/2005 8:07 Comments || Top||

#6  A brigade is about 3,500 troops, but double that once support troops (supply, maintenance, base security) are added. Same for a division that has about 15,000 troops will double to 30,000 when going into combat.
Posted by: ed || 07/01/2005 8:13 Comments || Top||

#7  governors are concerned about whether they will have National Guard units that can respond to natural disasters

Call home the f*cking Peace Corps.
Posted by: BH || 07/01/2005 10:02 Comments || Top||

#8  Hummm.... okay the Divison slice is nearly 50k? So what's a Brigade slice?
Posted by: Shipman || 07/01/2005 10:33 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
24 Bali bomb suspects arrested
INDONESIAN police have arrested 24 people suspected of involvement in deadly terrorist attacks, including the Bali bombings in which 202 people were killed, police and reports said today. The suspects were being held under anti-terrorism laws that allowed seven days detention without charge, police chief Da'i Bachtiar said. He refused to elaborate on the circumstances or reasons for their arrest. "We took action against them but we will announce the details later," he said.

The Jakarta Post, citing an anonymous police source, said the 24 were seized in Central Java for alleged involvement in the October 2002 Bali bombings and an attack on the Jakarta Marriot hotel in 2003. The Bali blasts killed 202 people, mostly foreigners, while the Marriot attack killed 12. Both strikes are blamed on the Jemaah Islamiyah regional extremist network, which is believed to have links with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda. Indonesian courts have convicted 35 Islamic militants for the Bali bombings, sentencing three to death.
Posted by: Spavirt Pheng6042 || 07/01/2005 02:58 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  30 days or 30 dollars. Now back to sentencing unknowing infidel Australian drug mules.
Posted by: ed || 07/01/2005 6:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Spot-on, ed. The Indo Justice System's revolving door is always available to Muzzy Big Wigs - others need not apply, and the Muzzies need not fear justice.
Posted by: .com || 07/01/2005 12:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Any idea how much money you can make selling drugs in Bali to fellow tourists?
Posted by: cingold || 07/01/2005 19:22 Comments || Top||

#4  I think the frustration of the West with Indonesia is understandable (e.g., Indonesia's top court cuts Suharto son jail term). Cronyism and corruption have long been frowned on in the U.S., and are offensive to our popular culture. Sadly, these concepts are new waters for Indonesia to navigate.

Nonetheless, I don’t think Indonesia is a “Muslims get a pass, Westerners will suffer” type country. For example, although we all get concerned to see Schapelle Corby get hit with a 20-year jail term (see, e.g., Corby's new man to apologise to Indonesia), she cetainly fared better than the [presumably Muslim] Pakistani recently sentenced to death in Indonesia for drugs trafficking (see this link). For a variety of social, health, and economic reasons Indonesia is just incredibly aggressive in attacking drug use, and will eliminate it to the extent possible -- including anybody found trafficking drugs. The people supporting these aggressive policies of Indonesia don’t look all that islamified to me . . .

By using music, drama, audio-visual aids and other youth-oriented mediums, [the Indonesian group Yayasan Cinta Anak Bangsa] YCAB has made drug prevention an enjoyable, school-based educational experience.

Indonesia is not turning a blind eye to terrorism, and is not codling islamofascism. Bashir’s outcome does not lead to any contrary conclusion, either.

The fact is that:
The case against the Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir was so weak that prosecuting him has been counterproductive . . .
Warning: protests over Bashir risk putting Indonesia offside Indonesia has hardly been passive about terrorism. For example,
the case against Bashir was in contrast to those against the Bali bombers, in which many of those convicted were sentenced to death or life imprisonment. * * * Dr Fealy also agreed with Sidney Jones, of the International Crisis Group, that one of the reasons the case against Bashir had been so thin was that the US Government refused to make available to Indonesian police Hambali, the senior JI figure the US arrested in Thailand in 2003. * * * "And the US are never going to allow Hambali to give evidence."
Warning: protests over Bashir risk putting Indonesia offside
Posted by: cingold || 07/01/2005 20:57 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Lebanese Bomb Apparent Domestic Dispute
A booby-trapped car exploded near a hotel south of the capital, seriously injuring a woman in an apparent domestic dispute, security officials said Friday. A hand grenade placed between the door and the driver's seat detonated when the woman opened the door of the car, which was parked near the Lebanon Beach Hotel in the suburb of Khaldeh, south of Beirut, one official said.
Simple, but effective
The 32-year-old woman was taken to a hospital and was in stable condition by early evening.
Is she really stable or just middle-east stable?
Officials said the motive was likely a domestic dispute.
Divorce - Lebanese style
TV video from the site of the explosion showed the driver's seat mangled and torn off, and the door and windshield riddled with shrapnel. A white handbag and what appeared to be a beach bag were seen inside the car.
Bummer of a way to start the weekend
It was the latest in a series of bombings in Lebanon in recent weeks. On June 21, former Communist Party leader George Hawi was killed when a bomb exploded under his seat as he was being driven through west Beirut. On June 2, anti-Syrian journalist Samir Kassir was killed by a similar bomb planted under his car. The opposition blamed Syria and its allies in Lebanon for both explosions.
Update: Local television stations identified the woman as Abir Harb. Some unconfirmed reports say she is a journalist
Posted by: Steve || 07/01/2005 13:43 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Next up: Suicde bomber targets next door neighbor.
Left behind tape sez: Toooo loud! Toooo long! No hala hors de orvres! No Invite!
Posted by: Shipman || 07/01/2005 14:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Is she really stable or just middle-east stable?

ME stable is about as stable as they get.
Posted by: Xbalanke || 07/01/2005 16:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Domestic dispute? I usually save my grenades for...something else.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/01/2005 16:18 Comments || Top||


US Freezes Assets of Syrian Minister
The US government yesterday moved to freeze the assets of Syria’s interior minister and a military intelligence chief, accusing them of abetting terrorism and destabilizing the region. The Treasury Department named Syria’s Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan and Rustum Ghazali, who had espionage responsibility for neighboring Lebanon, as “Specially Designated Nationals” under an antiterrorism presidential order. “Today’s designation freezes any assets the designees may have located in the United States and prohibits US persons from engaging in transactions with these individuals,” it said in a press release. The US government said it believed that Kanaan and Ghazali “have directed the Syrian Arab Republic Government’s (SARG) military and security presence in Lebanon and or contributed to the SARG’s support for terrorism.”

“Both Ghazali and Kanaan allegedly engaged in a variety of corrupt activities and were reportedly the beneficiaries of corrupt business deals during their respective tenures in Lebanon,” the treasury added. It said that before being replaced by Ghazali in late 2002, Kanaan served as Syrian Military Intelligence (SMI) chief for Lebanon for about 20 years.
Posted by: Fred || 07/01/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  George WALKER Bush! fuget about the Bloviaten.
Pure biotch Slap I love it.


/yes
Posted by: Red Dog || 07/01/2005 0:14 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
No Urdu McNuggets...
Because of the Pak internet disruption, Friday Times is offline. That means no Urdu McNuggets. Sorry.
Posted by: Fred || 07/01/2005 22:39 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  awwww tuna tities! :(

hopefuly bakn nex week.
Posted by: muck4doo || 07/01/2005 23:21 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks & Islam
AP: Documents Show Gitmo Inmates Defy U.S.
Let's see how much coverage this gets.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Military authorities have previously disclosed some incidents of guard retaliation at Guantanamo Bay, which resulted in mostly minor disciplinary proceedings. What emerges from 278 pages of documents obtained by The Associated Press is the degree of defiance by the terrorism suspects at Guantanamo. The prisoners banged on their cells to protest the heat. They doused guards with whatever liquid was handy — from spit to urine. Sometimes they struck their jailers, one swinging a steel chair at a military police officer. And the American MPs at times retaliated with force — punches, pepper spray and a splash of cleaning fluid in the face, according to the newly released documents that detail military investigations and eyewitness accounts of alleged abuse.
Hey, Achmed. How do you think your Koran would look shoved up your ass?
Some prisoners at the U.S. base in eastern Cuba have gone on the attack, as in April 2003 when a detainee got out of his cell during a search for contraband food and knocked out a guard's tooth with a punch to the mouth and bit him before he was subdued by MPs. One soldier delivered two blows to the inmate's head with a handheld radio, the documents show.
"Several guards were trying to hold down the detainee who was putting up heavy resistance," recounted a translator who saw the incident. "The detainee was covered in blood as were some of the guards."The soldier who struck the inmate, and was dropped in rank to private first class as a result, described it as a close call.
WHAT!
"The detainee was fighting as if he really wanted to hurt us. ... We all saved each other's lives in my opinion," he wrote. The documents, obtained under a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by AP, are far from a comprehensive look at Guantanamo and do not provide full details about each incident.
Names and some other identifying details have been blacked out by military censors. Handwriting at times isn't legible and pages appear to be missing or out of sequence. In some cases, it is not possible to decipher who did what to whom. Disciplinary measures against the troops were either relatively minor or unclear in some reports. The internal investigative reports do, however, provide a snapshot of life behind the wire at Guantanamo, depicting a tense, hostile and sometimes chaotic place.
Really? Ya think?
In one of the more serious incidents described in the documents, detainees told guards that an MP threw the cleaning liquid Pine-Sol in the eyes of a prisoner in the middle of one night in January 2004. In a written statement, another soldier said he came in immediately afterward to find what smelled like cleaning liquid dripping from the cell."The detainee could be seen rubbing his eyes intensely and moaning in pain," he said.
Documents show that the guard, from the 661st Military Police Company, did not admit throwing the cleaning fluid when questioned about it that night but did say the detainee had spit on him, and may have thrown urine. A medic on the cell block flushed the detainee's eyes with water, a witness said.
Payback sucks, don't it Mahmoud?
A Department of Defense investigative memo written six months later concluded the soldier had mistreated detainees twice — the second offense involved cursing at inmates — and that his superiors failed to report either episode.
My heavens! He cursed! Oh my!
Investigators recommended disciplinary action against the soldier and a probe into why the incident wasn't reported up the chain of command, but the outcome is unclear from the papers.
What is this...bullshit!
In a statement to investigators, one service member said he hadn't seen the Pine-Sol incident but noted that U.S. personnel have been taught to use restraint with detainees: "The training we have received here at Guantanamo Bay has always stressed ... that no matter what happens on the block do not retaliate ... it will just get you into trouble."
Still, tensions between prisoners and guards have been high since the first suspects arrived in early 2002, hooded and shackled, mostly from the battlefields of Afghanistan. The detainees' defiance discussed in the documents ranged from mild — prisoners getting matching haircuts in a show of solidarity or refusing orders to stop practicing martial arts in the exercise yard — to hostile acts like spitting or throwing unknown liquids at the MPs. One soldier used pepper spray on prisoners because, he said in a report to superiors, he feared that the unknown liquids hurled could pose a health danger.
One soldier told military investigators he punched a detainee's face because the man spit at him and hit him as he tried to put him in restraints at the prison hospital in October 2004.
"My instincts took over after the hitting and spitting," said the soldier. Documents show authorities recommended that the punishment include reduction in rank to E-4, loss of a month's pay and extra duty for 45 days, though the outcome is unclear.
In the prison camp's early days, inmates showed their anger over the heat and the practice of leaving lights on in their cells at night by banging on the bars throughout one guard shift in September 2002, the documents say. One detainee who was believed to be leading the protest threw what an MP said smelled like water from the toilet on him. The MP tried to spray water from a hose in response, but the detainee blocked it with a mat. The guard who tried to spray the detainee was charged with assault, given a reduction in rank to private first class, which was suspended, and reassigned to other duties at Guantanamo.
Unbelievable...
In another case, an inmate threw a partially full urine bottle at an MP in May 2002, apparently because he believed the soldier had intentionally kicked his hospital bed. When the soldier threw the urinal back, the detainee grabbed a steel chair and swung it at guards before they subdued him. A military witness defended the MP, writing: "I believe (name deleted) to be a good and honest soldier ... and just influenced by negative elements among us." The documents don't make clear what punishment, if any, the MP got.
Military officials at Guantanamo did not respond this week to questions about relations between guards and detainees at the camp, which has held some 700 prisoners from 45 countries since it opened. There are about 540 detainees there now.
Kick some of them loose. Send them up to Dick Durbin's and Ted Kennedy's as honored guests at their July 4th cookouts.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/01/2005 16:42 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  AP Jihadi Symp Booster Club.
Posted by: .com || 07/01/2005 17:05 Comments || Top||

#2  F*ck that sh*t. Get a chainsaw and set an example.
Posted by: BH || 07/01/2005 17:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Hang 'em with pig intestine.
Posted by: mmurray821 || 07/01/2005 17:37 Comments || Top||

#4  The Army has gotn too PC. I thought the Marines handled shore duty at Gitmo. Put them in charge of the Club. Or some of those DIs who got busted. Get fire hoses down there and blow away any jerk who wants to get some action.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 07/01/2005 17:38 Comments || Top||

#5  Any inmate fighting the guards needs to be shot. I rather doubt there will be much resistance then. Show the inmates that attacking a US soldier has 1 result-Instant gruesome death.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 07/01/2005 18:03 Comments || Top||

#6  THE AP and the rest of the mainstream media is a treasonus cabal. Screw their lying arses.

As far as these "prisoners" go.
Get a pig. Kill it, and render it down right in front of these Johnny Jihads. Let them see the dipping of the bullets in the pig fat. Pull one out at random and shoot his worthless ass. Explain that he will be sewn up in the pigs hide after being doused with pig entrals and fat. Explain his dead ass will be pointing towards Mecca and will not be buried for a week. Explain that this is the fate of all who defy the "rules."

Gitmo is not a regular prison. Persons kept there by all rights should have been shot on capture. That they are still breathing is just their good fortune. Their lives can be lawfully taken at any time. Screw the whinging liberals and MSM that support this death cults attacks on civilization.
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom || 07/01/2005 18:18 Comments || Top||

#7  prisoners getting matching haircuts in a show of solidarity

I'd mandate they get matching haircuts -- bald as a cueball.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 07/01/2005 18:35 Comments || Top||

#8  Almost all Muzzies you see have a burr or near-bald haircut. They have to in order to wear the little doily / bra cup they wear under the kaffiyeh.
Posted by: .com || 07/01/2005 18:41 Comments || Top||

#9  and they attract lice like fellow vermin
Posted by: Frank G || 07/01/2005 18:55 Comments || Top||

#10  My son spent a year guarding prisoners at what he called a "day-care center for terrorists", Camp Bucca in Iraq. The kind of shit described here-- both the violent behavior of the detainees and the timid, PC behavior of the command-- was typical after Abu Ghraib. After that, in fact, the harshest punishment they were permitted to inflict on detainees, under any circumstances whatsoever, was a "time out" in an isolation room-- air conditioned, with Al Jizz on the TV. Even swearing at detainees, or insulting them, was a punishable offense.

He came out of that experience firmly convinced of two things: Muslims are little more than animals; and Democrats and reporters are scumbags.

Frankly, I agree.
Posted by: Angry G.I. Dad || 07/01/2005 18:57 Comments || Top||

#11  Yep - he's nailed it, on both counts.

Our sincere thanks for his service, Angry G.I. Dad - please let him know. I hope he got one of the A/C units from Operation A/C - I support Frankie's outfit!
Posted by: .com || 07/01/2005 19:06 Comments || Top||

#12  Give 'em all mullet haircuts. and play "achy breaky heart" out loud 24/7.
Posted by: Slineng Ebbuter5452 || 07/01/2005 19:56 Comments || Top||

#13  From these excerpts, I am pleased with the actions of those running GITMO on several levels:

1. These documents include the details about exceptional cases of abnormal reactions by guards. What incredible discipline the guards have where one midnight Pinesol attack is the worst offense over several years of incarceration.

2. Some type of action seems to have been taken against any guard that lost composure.

3. Expectations for the guard force conduct seem to be exceptional - exactly what we need when every idiot in the world wants us to fail.

4. There is no evidence of sloppiness in guard behavior. No evidence of systematic poor behavior by junior enlisted. We remain strong.
Posted by: Super Hose || 07/01/2005 20:01 Comments || Top||

#14  What is funny the AP is so clueless they don't know this same kind of prisoner and guard interaction goes on in state and federal prisons everyday. It's no big thing. The Military seems to be more restrained in their reaction that is the only difference. These most of these AQ "heavyweights" would be punked out in seconds in a real prison.
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom || 07/01/2005 20:45 Comments || Top||

#15  Might I suggest the following response for recalcitrant Gitmo "detainees" (per Pulp Fiction):

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee." BANG!
Posted by: DMFD || 07/01/2005 20:57 Comments || Top||

#16  I repeat. USE THEM FOR SHARK BAIT!
Posted by: 3dc || 07/01/2005 23:24 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
US finds al-Qaeda's winter stronghold
NBC News has learned that a mud compound in remote Pakistan is part of what U.S. intelligence called the winter headquarters of al-Qaida. Senior officials say U.S. intelligence discovered the location early this winter and that al-Qaida's No. 3 leader, Abu Faraj al-Libbi, stayed there much of January and was captured after moving to another location. Seen from a satellite, the compound is close to the Afghan border, near six mountain passes and accessible mostly by motorbike. A relative of the house's owner, who says he knows Osama bin Laden, says lots of people come and go and al-Libbi may have been among them. He and others say they saw Pakistani troops recently move in, seizing bombs, weapons, CD-ROMs and satellite phones.

Terror experts say these successes are pivotal. “It tells us we've turned a significant corner in identifying the remaining elements of al-Qaida's leadership in Pakistan,” says NBC News analyst and terrorism expert Roger Cressey. Another victory: Eight days ago, sources say a Hellfire missile fired from a Predator drone killed another top al-Qaida operative, Haitham al-Yemeni, near Mir Ali, more than 100 miles away. “I think you're dealing with a combination of us getting very good at what we're doing, and they're also getting very tired after a number of years of being chased to the ground,” says Ron Marks, a former CIA operations officer. In 2000, an unarmed Predator captured pictures of bin Laden, beamed back live to the CIA. But then, the United States had no military assets standing by to act. Now, the Predators are armed, and President Bush has given the CIA's counterterror center authority to fire without clearing it with him or top CIA officials.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 07/01/2005 12:29 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Motorbike? So we're dealing with mechanized troops?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 07/01/2005 12:32 Comments || Top||

#2  If true, then why not have a dozen B-2s visit one night. It's not like the mighty Pak Air Force would see them.

The burning mountain they could maybe discover. Maybe.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats || 07/01/2005 12:35 Comments || Top||

#3  If one of the MSM jerks compare this to Valley Forge, I'm killing all of 'em.
Posted by: mmurray821 || 07/01/2005 12:36 Comments || Top||

#4  Why do I get the distinct feeling that MSNBC "reported" this for the benefit of someone other than the public? Sheesh, gotta do something about the heartburn that symp stories brings on.
Posted by: .com || 07/01/2005 12:37 Comments || Top||

#5  Seen from a satellite, the compound is close to the Afghan border, near six mountain passes and accessible mostly by motorbike.

Well, that sure explains the Talibs' motorcycle fondness.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 07/01/2005 12:58 Comments || Top||

#6  I'm hoping that long before the leaker told NBC, our forces had cleared that compound and collected any information (and people) inside it.

Because if NBC is leaking stuff we haven't been able to exploit yet...
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 07/01/2005 13:24 Comments || Top||

#7  Didn't see the bit about the Pakistanis clearing the place.

Still doesn't make me feel warm and fuzzy, considering.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 07/01/2005 13:25 Comments || Top||

#8  Napalm does wonders to warm up those cold winter nights...
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/01/2005 13:26 Comments || Top||

#9  Lol, tu! Even the Brutal [insert memified country here] Winters™, heh.
Posted by: .com || 07/01/2005 13:52 Comments || Top||

#10  Roger Cressey was the stooge that used to sharpen pencils for Richard Clarke. But leave it to the No Brains Channel (NBC) to title him "terrorism expert."

And he is sooo insightful "It tells use we've turned a significant corner...". Now, that's sure newsworthy.
Posted by: Captain America || 07/01/2005 14:12 Comments || Top||

#11  you don't have to change much
On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of cameldung, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the iman call
And I was thinking to myself,
'This could be Heaven or this could be Hell'
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say...

Welcome to the Hotel Al Queda
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel Al Queda
Any time of year, you can find it here

Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget

So I called up the Iman,
'Please bring me my pita'
He said, 'We haven't had that spirit here since september oh one'
And still those
Posted by: mhw || 07/01/2005 14:45 Comments || Top||

#12  Why is it called the Hindu Kush when it was dominated by Muslims long before the British got there. Didn't the Muslims bother to rename the region? Or did they and the British kept the old term to spite them. Enquiring minds want to know.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 07/01/2005 16:59 Comments || Top||

#13  hindu kush means "killer of Hindus" or "Hindu slaughter"

why would the moslems rename it
Posted by: Gleresing Whomotch5559 || 07/01/2005 17:47 Comments || Top||

#14  perhaps they should more accurately call it "killer of unarmed women and children hindus"?

Our brave Lions of Islam™ won't face real men...too many consequences
Posted by: Frank G || 07/01/2005 18:32 Comments || Top||

#15  It was named this by muslims. It celebrates their conquest of the kaffirs.

The earliest known use of this name was by the famous Arab traveller Ibn Battūta

"Another reason for our halt was fear of the snow, for on the road there is a mountain called Hindūkūsh, which means "Slayer of Indians," because the slave boys and girls who are brought from India die there in large numbers as a result of the extreme cold and the quantity of snow."
- Ibn Battūta, 1334,
Posted by: john || 07/01/2005 22:46 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Soddies top dead jihadis in Iraq
An NBC News analysis of hundreds of foreign fighters who died in Iraq over the last two years reveals that a majority came from the same country as most of the 9/11 hijackers — Saudi Arabia. Among the suicide bombers was Ahmed al-Ghamdi, a one-time medical student and son of a Saudi diplomat. In December 2004, he climbed into a truck in Mosul and blew himself up. On an Internet video, another Saudi says goodbye to his mother, then drives an ambulance full of explosives into a building. They are among more than 400 militants from 21 countries whose deaths were celebrated on Islamic Web sites over the last two years. "By far the nationality that comes up over and over again is Saudi Arabia," says Evan Kohlmann, an NBC News terrorism expert.

The NBC News analysis of Web site postings found that 55 percent of foreign insurgents came from Saudi Arabia, 13 percent from Syria, 9 percent from North Africa and 3 percent from Europe. The U.S. military also says Saudi Arabia and Syria are the leading sources of insurgents. An Army official provided a list of the top 10 countries to NBC News but would not release the numbers of foreign fighters from each. The top 10, alphabetically, are: Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen. "You have some from poor families, some jobless," says Kohlmann. "You also have individuals that come from wealthy families, that come from a life of privilege and substance and material goods and material wealth."

Why do they go? Saudis captured in Iraq say it's because of pictures on Arab television network Al-Jazeera. "We saw the Americans massacring the Iraqis," says one Saudi prisoner in Iraq via translation. Radical Saudi clerics urge them to go to Iraq to kill Americans. "I read the communique of the 26 clerics," says another Saudi prisoner in Iraq.

Saudi officials insist they've made great strides in the war on terror and are doing everything possible to stop men from going to Iraq. "When we have the evidence, we arrest those people and we put them in jail and take them to court because this is illegal," says Mansour al-Turki, spokesman for the Saudi Ministry of the Interior. Monday night, a senior Saudi official expressed skepticism — especially about the Internet eulogies of slain fighters — saying he won't believe that many Saudis have died in Iraq until he sees the DNA evidence to prove it.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 07/01/2005 12:27 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  a senior Saudi official expressed skepticism — especially about the Internet eulogies of slain fighters — saying he won't believe that many Saudis have died in Iraq until he sees the DNA evidence to prove it.

Because there is so much material available for DNA testing after the fool has exploded himself, his bomb-laden ambulance, and a building full of people. Ass.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/01/2005 12:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Next time, scoop up a bucket of it and have it dumped on this asshole's desk.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/01/2005 13:15 Comments || Top||

#3  "The NBC News analysis of Web site postings found that 55 percent of foreign insurgents came from Saudi Arabia, 13 percent from Syria, 9 percent from North Africa and 3 percent from Europe ... Saudi officials insist they've made great strides in the war on terror once the Al-Qaeda elements made the mistake of biting the hand that fed them, namely setting off bombs in Saudi and are doing everything possible to stop men from going to Iraq."

Always the Saudi denial factor. The Nile is a river next door in Egypt, it is not a proper state of mind when the evidence is overwhelming.

The reason that Soddy official could make such an assinine comment is because Soddies seldom if ever take a Census, so they have no idea how many Soddies actually live in the shitty Kingdom.
Posted by: Omavitch Cravitch1380 || 07/01/2005 14:42 Comments || Top||

#4  "55 percent of foreign insurgents came from Saudi Arabia" -- Well GAAA-LEEE! SU-PRIZE, SU-PRIZE, SU-PRIZE! We've been exterminating in the wrong place!
Posted by: Tom || 07/01/2005 19:22 Comments || Top||

#5  Let's get oil output stabilized in Iraq first, Tom. Then the Saudis will have to discontinue this particular method of protecting their status as the world's oil supplier of first resort.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/01/2005 20:33 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Five Pakistanis held for planning attack in southern Afghanistan
Five Pakistanis suspected of planning attacks in the south of war-shattered Afghanistan have been arrested, Afghan police said yesterday. They had crossed from Pakistan into the Afghan province of Zabul and were arrested on Wednesday while travelling by bus to the former Taleban stronghold of Kandahar, provincial police chief Alah Yar told AFP. The men were arrested on a tip-off from US-led forces who had kept them under surveillance, said Ghulam Mohammed Aka, chief of police in Shahr-e-Safa district where the arrests were made.
Posted by: Steve || 07/01/2005 10:20 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hmmmm ... let me see: Pakistan has the nerve to stand up to India but can't patrol even a small part of its lawless border with Afghanistan?

And what self-respecting sovereign country concedes entire areas of its territory as "lawless" and ungovernable? Since areas like Waziristan are essentially beyond the sovereign rule of Paki-skank-land, why not let us send some B-52s to resolve the issue?

Then again Paki-skank-land IS one giant lawless region! Mucho bombings to do!
Posted by: Omavitch Cravitch1380 || 07/01/2005 11:55 Comments || Top||


Tales from the Crossfire Gazette
Outlaw killed in 'crossfire', trader shot dead
Kushtia:A cadre of underground Gono Mukti Fouz (GMF) was killed in 'crossfire' between police and his accomplices and unidentified assailants gunned down a businessman in the early hours yesterday.
Ok, by the numbers: One
Detective Branch (DB) of police arrested the GMF cadre, Sahinur Rahman alias Sahin, 35, of Jagannathpur village in sadar upazila, from the town on Wednesday.
Two
Police took him to his village to seize firearms..
Three
at around 3:30am..
Four
where GMF cadres opened fire on the law enforcers, sources said.
Five
The police said they returned fire..
Six
and Sahin was bullet-hit..
Seven
and killed on the spot..
Eight
when he made an attempt to escape.
Nine
They seized a shutter gun and nine bullets from the scene. Sahin, son of Haq Ali, was accused in nine cases including three for murders, the police added.

In Daulatpur, unidentified assailants killed aged businessman Arzan Ali for not giving them toll. Family sources said criminals had demanded Tk 50,000 from Arzan, a tea shop owner, threatening him with death on failure.
"Your money or your life!"
Police said the assailants stormed the businessman's house, took him to a nearby road and shot him to death at about 4:00am.

Husband slaughters wife in Satkhira SATKHIRA, June 30:–A husband allegedly slaughtered wife for raising objection to his extra-martial activities at Ramjibonpur village in Shyamnagar upazila on Thursday, says UNB.
I hate it when they do that
Neighbours said Mujibur Rahman used to harass his wife Shahanara Khatun (45) , mother of four daughters, for her objection to his bringing women home for anti-social activities.
Too cheap to pop for a motel room
He brought a woman on Wednesday night and slept with her, which was strongly opposed by Shahanara.
Ya think?
This angered Mujibur. He slaughtered Shahanara on her bed early in the morning and went into hiding, neighbours said.
That'll teach her
Police said Mujibur is an identified terrorist and an accused in a number of criminal cases. He is engaged in dacoity, deer and tiger hunting in the Sundarbans. Police held Jahangir and Shahjahan, two brothers of Mujibur, in connection with the murder.
Posted by: Steve || 07/01/2005 09:34 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Defintely a case for the RAB.
Posted by: Shipman || 07/01/2005 10:08 Comments || Top||

#2  He is engaged in dacoity, deer and tiger hunting in the Sundarbans.

Ah, I remember dacoity hunting in the Sundarbans, when the mem'sahib would sit on the veranda sipping punch, and the men would come home, a freshly-killed dacoity slung on a pole, and the servants would roast it and serve it with chutney. Yum.

Which illustrates how the British practice of not putting a comma after the penultimate item in a series can trip you up. "Dacoity", it turns out, is banditry by a group of dacoits. A "dacoit" is a bandit in India or Burma (and therefore dacoity is banditry by a group of bandits). Do not google for "dacoity" and expect to find pictures of antelope.
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 07/01/2005 11:02 Comments || Top||

#3  LoL Steve, I'll bet you just phone these reports in?
Posted by: Red Dog || 07/01/2005 11:29 Comments || Top||

#4  Droll, droll, droll, Angie :-)
Posted by: Steve White || 07/01/2005 11:31 Comments || Top||

#5  I have roasted bandit.
English rules ( actually styles) are for breaking.


Nothing like a good Crossfire $#157
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom || 07/01/2005 12:24 Comments || Top||

#6  Um darn..

Thats Crossfire ™
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom || 07/01/2005 12:27 Comments || Top||

#7  Thanks much for the grammar disquisition, Angie. Now I know why I was always uncertain of the placement of that final comma -- I grew up bilingual (Brit and Amer. English).
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/01/2005 12:38 Comments || Top||

#8  The AP Stylebook changed in the late 70's / early 80's to adopt this confusing bit of illiteracy. I, of course, being of sound mind, lacking the AP gene, and intuitively being able to recognize the difference between readability and shit, refuse to conform.

Parse me and I bleed, lol!
Posted by: .comma || 07/01/2005 13:01 Comments || Top||

#9  LOL Angie! Superior yet understandable drollery.
Posted by: Shipman || 07/01/2005 14:41 Comments || Top||

#10  I wonder how much money was saved by eschewing the small amount of printer's ink needed for each comma? Is that why the New York Times is still in business today? (I didn't know that bit of historic trivia, .com. So they changed the rules while I was learning them. Coupled with my linguistic handicap, no wonder I have problems!)
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/01/2005 20:20 Comments || Top||

#11  sounds like an act of Dacoitus
Posted by: Frank G || 07/01/2005 20:53 Comments || Top||

#12  tw - My Ex was a reporter, back then, so we were painfully aware of the change. Her as reporter, me as her unpaid copyeditor, lol.
Posted by: .com || 07/01/2005 21:59 Comments || Top||

#13  But it's so much fun to do the editing, I find. Darling Mr. [Chemical Engineer] Wife still brings his important memos and reports for my comments, and now both trailing daughters' friends are enjoying the results of what they've learned from my endless red pencil. Then too, the editor doesn't have to do any original work, so it suits those, like me, who are not highly energetic these days.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/01/2005 23:31 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
American soldiers targeting journalists
After a long list of complaints about municipal services in Baghdad that can only be solved by the legislature giving the mayor more money (sounds like American democracy to me) and a sentence or two on successful, they claim, Marine ops, Mr. Griffiths of the AP gets to the big issue.

In other developments Thursday, Knight Ridder identified an Iraqi journalist who was shot and killed in the capital last week when his car approached an U.S.-Iraqi military patrol as one of its special correspondents.

Yasser Salihee, 30, was killed while driving alone in Baghdad on June 24, his day off. A single bullet pierced his windshield and struck him in the head. It appeared that a U.S. sniper shot him, but Iraqi soldiers in the area at the time also may have been shooting, the California-based newspaper company said.
It was the Americans, their Xray vision saw his press credential and the highest bider got to take the shot.
Knight Ridder Inc. (KRI), which publishes 31 dailies in the United States and is the second-largest newspaper publisher in the country, hadn't reported on Salihee's death until now because his family feared reprisals from insurgents, who often target Iraqis working for foreign media organizations.
Why doesn't KR try explaining why its reporter was behaving in such a fashion as to dray fire? And why does the family fear reprisals from insurgents when they are on the same side as KR?
The U.S. Army was investigating the incident. Two other journalists were killed in similar incidents a few days later.
More journos shot. When will it end? when they're all dead?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 07/01/2005 09:38 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  if only they would.
Posted by: 2b || 07/01/2005 9:48 Comments || Top||

#2  If this was not an accident, there'd be a whole lot more dead Leaders-of-the-inquisition-searching-for-moral-perfection-and-equality

a.k.a Ragwriters.©
Posted by: Bobby || 07/01/2005 9:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Of course, you know - One man's journalist just might be another man's terrorist collaborator....
Posted by: SteveB || 07/01/2005 9:57 Comments || Top||

#4  A single bullet pierced his windshield and struck him in the head.

Credit the shooter, either side...moral=don't gift a look horse in the smile.
Posted by: Red Dog || 07/01/2005 11:48 Comments || Top||

#5  Can we put NBC's Brian Williams at the top of the target list?

Yesterday, he equated our Founding Fathers with modern-day terrorists like Iran's newly elected President (see www.MichelleMalkin.com).
Posted by: Omavitch Cravitch1380 || 07/01/2005 11:48 Comments || Top||

#6  KR like many newsppaer congoloms is financially circling the drain. It's fun to watch in a pull-the-wings-off-the-fly kinda way, the local paper, the aptly named Tallahasssee Democrat is KR.
Posted by: Shipman || 07/01/2005 14:52 Comments || Top||

#7  I'm no ballistics expert, but - from what I've seen - if one of our snipers got him the damage would be pretty distinctive.
Posted by: Xbalanke || 07/01/2005 16:33 Comments || Top||

#8  If I were a member of the media it would really give me nightmares to know that (a) the American public totally dismisses stories such as troops targetting the media because other stories have been so outlandish in the past as to degrade credibility (b) Americans shrug and think if so who cares anyway.

It bothers me that targetting the media doesn't bother me and it should. Perhaps if they didn't hire stringers working with the bad guys in order to get the shot of freshly bloodied Americans I'd care more about the actual targetting and not about my own feelings on the situation.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 07/01/2005 17:03 Comments || Top||

#9  He may have been just a cross-fire victim.
Posted by: radrh8r || 07/01/2005 17:52 Comments || Top||

#10  It bothers me that targetting the media doesn't bother me and it should.

I'm with you rj. As they say, live by the sword, die by the sword. All things equal, I'd prefer they die by the pen, and as someone said, they are all circling the drain. But sometimes I feel we should learn from our own revolution, and stop marching in line with our red coats on, just cause that was how it was done in the past. If they produce propaganda, they are combatants. It's time we treated them, and their producers as such. I understand it is a fine line, and I am uncomfortable with it...but as they also say, pornography is difficult to define, but I know it when I see it. If the reporters want to fight the war with propaganda, then we need to understand they too are combatants. How we deal with it, like torture, is a difficult question. Time we discuss it.
Posted by: 2b || 07/01/2005 19:58 Comments || Top||

#11  Me as well, but I trace it to the journos using their writing as war against America by otehr means. Sometimes they catch one. I try not to celebrate, (see: Michael Kelly, who WAS a real journo and hero...dammit) but fuck it, some expect to be treated like royalty while they damage the American efforts deliberately
Posted by: Frank G || 07/01/2005 20:48 Comments || Top||

#12  I'm so glad there have been so many responses in support of troops. As far as I can tell, a whole bunch of so called "journalists" have been doing their damndest to put our troops in harm's way. (Maybe they were abused as children) I work in an industry that tries to determine what assets are worth in dollars. Some of the media appears to value their assets in terms of how many lives can be lost by their telling....could you blame somebody for trying to even the score ??
Posted by: WITT || 07/01/2005 21:05 Comments || Top||


Gunmen Kill Influential Iraq Cleric's Aide
EFL: BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Gunmen killed an aide to Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric and two bodyguards in a drive-by shooting outside a Baghdad mosque Friday - an attack likely to further increase tensions between the Shiite majority and the Sunni minority, officials said. Shiite cleric Kamal Ezz al-Deen al-Ghuraifi was shot as he was about to leave al-Doreen mosque after leading prayers, according to his son, Hamid Kamal. Police Lt. Thair Mahmoud confirmed the attack. "Gunmen in a speeding car sprayed him with machine guns," Mahmoud said. Two bodyguards were killed and another four were wounded, he said.
Al-Ghuraifi, in his 60s, had been a Baghdad representative of Iraq's leading Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, for the past decade, said Amer al-Hussaini, a friend of al-Ghuraifi's and a member of al-Hawza al-Ilmiyah, the Shiites' ancient seminary in the southern city of Najaf. It was the third attack on al-Sistani aides in recent weeks.
Last week, gunmen killed Samir al-Baghdadi, who represented al-Sistani in Baghdad's predominantly Shiite al-Amin district. In May, attackers assassinated Shiite cleric Mohammed Tahir al-Allaq, al-Sistani's representative in the Jurf al-Nadaf area near Madain, about 14 miles southeast of Baghdad. "These attacks are aimed at stoking sectarian tensions between Iraqis," al-Hussaini said.

Separately, five masked gunmen stormed a Sunni mosque in the same neighborhood and kidnapped an imam, Sheik Amer al-Tikriti, during Friday prayers, police 1st Lt. Mohammed al-Hiyani said. A Sunni-dominated insurgency has killed about 1,380 people - mostly civilians and Iraqi forces - since Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari announced his Shiite-dominated government April 28.

In the attack on the Islamic Dawa Party offices in Baghdad's Mansour neighborhood, the suicide bomber detonated the car near a checkpoint about 80 feet from the building, which used to be al-Jaafari's house.
Interior Ministry administrative affairs undersecretary police Maj. Gen. Adnan al-Assadi had left the building about a half-hour earlier, al-Nedawi said. It was not clear if he was the target. A neighbor was killed and four armed guards for the compound were wounded, al-Nedawi said. Following the blast, U.S. troops blocked roads leading to the offices.

Also Friday, a roadside bomb struck a police patrol at a checkpoint on Baghdad's outskirts, wounding two policemen, 1st Lt. Mohammed al-Hayali said. Another roadside bomb missed a U.S. military convoy in the New Baghdad district but killed a civilian and wounded three others, police Capt. Mohammed Izz al-Deen said.
Posted by: Steve || 07/01/2005 09:09 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Iraqi Shiite Muslim martyr watch
Posted by: liberalhawk || 07/01/2005 9:39 Comments || Top||

#2  I suspect the Evil Zionist Superpowers are involed in this!
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/01/2005 9:39 Comments || Top||

#3  say buh-bye, al-tikriti
Posted by: Frank G || 07/01/2005 10:15 Comments || Top||

#4  Expect a few Baghdad area Sunni clerics to be targetted in the next week or so.

As I understand it, the attack on the Shia party violates a brokered cease fire.
Posted by: mhw || 07/01/2005 11:49 Comments || Top||

#5  Maybe after a few Sunnis get snatched and axed, their leaders will realize their "wasting asset" is all used up and they'll turn over Zarko-boy, and Dick Cheney will turn out to have been correct.

Well, I can dream, can't I?
Posted by: Bobby || 07/01/2005 12:21 Comments || Top||

#6  Sistani has lost several aides over the last few years. This business gets very personal.
Posted by: buwaya || 07/01/2005 13:01 Comments || Top||


Pod turns pilots into Iraq 'beat cops'
WASHINGTON, June 30 (UPI) -- It turns out one of the best methods of finding roadside bombs in Iraq may be U.S. Air Force pilots. Pilots recently returned from four months in Iraq say a new targeting pod -- an optical camera and infrared sensor housed in a long tube affixed under the wing of an F-15E -- built by Lockheed Martin dramatically improved their ability to help troops on the ground.
The Air Force has been largely sidelined in the war in Iraq. Fighting a counterinsurgency requires boots on the ground more than it does bombs on target. Indeed, the entire 494th Fighter Squadron based at Lakenheath, Britain, dropped just eight bombs over the course of 120 days in Iraq, said its commander Lt. Col. Daniel Debree. But the F-15E squadron ran 787 reconnaissance missions over the heads of soldiers and Marines from January to May. The Sniper pod, which is still in operational testing, empowered Air Force pilots to serve as "beat cops" -- scanning terrain around U.S. troops to look for tell-tale signs of dug in or hidden improvised explosive devices and fleeing fighters. Roadside bombs and car bombs now inflict about 70 percent of the injuries and deaths on U.S. forces in Iraq.
Capt. Joseph Siberski, a weapons systems officer in the squadron, told of an incident last April in Mosul. Ground troops had gotten a tip from an Iraqi that an improvised explosive device, or IED, may have been hidden at a certain location. One young pilot -- a lieutenant -- using the Sniper pod's infrared camera to tune into displaced dirt identified a carefully dug, squared-off hole in the ground from the cockpit of his plane. He then glanced out the window and saw a group of Iraqi men emerging from the tree line. He alerted an Army Stryker team to the men's presence, and two soldiers approached to talk to the group. They were eventually taken into detention, discovered in the woods behind them were 150 C-4 shaped charges, washing machine timers and other equipment commonly used against U.S. and Iraqi forces. "The traditional thing we are used to doing is providing ordnance," Debree acknowledged. "Here we're more like cops on the beat than traditional F-15s."
There are 14 Sniper pods now in Iraq, according to Air Force officials. The 10 assigned to the 494th fighter squadron have been returned to Lockheed Martin for evaluation, repairs and retrofitting with new equipment. The pods were scheduled to make their operational debut this month, but they were rushed out of operational testing to deploy with the squadron last winter as the IED problem continued to grow in Iraq. The 10 pods logged 5,500 operational flying hours and performed, in Debree's words, superbly. Subsequent operational test have revealed maintenance problems with the pods that earned them the label of "operationally unsuitable" from the Pentagon's independent testing office, Air Force officials said.
As those maintenance problems are addressed -- or accepted by the Air Force as a reasonable risk given the apparent advantages of the pod -- the Air Force is moving forward with plans to purchase 300 for a program cost of $820 million through 2011. Debree said the pods -- which have four times the range of the Lantirn pod they are slated to replace -- offer another useful feature: an infrared marker. A pilot flying above a target -- for instance, a house being raided by U.S. forces -- has a bird's eye view as well as an infrared sensor that could alert it to anyone fleeing the scene on the ground. The pilot could then engage the IR marker -- essentially a light -- on the target. The marker would only be visible to someone wearing night-vision goggles, so the person on the run would not know he had been spotted. Troops on the ground wearing goggles would suddenly see a beam of light from the sky, and could follow it to their quarry.
In another adjustment to the untraditional battlefield that Iraq has become, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper last year offered up C-130 aircraft to transport supplies within Iraq. The flights lift some of the burden of traveling on Iraq's dangerous roads from the Army and Marines Corps.
Posted by: Steve || 07/01/2005 08:57 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ... the person on the run would not know he had been spotted. Troops on the ground wearing goggles would suddenly see a beam of light from the sky, and could follow it to their quarry.

If the quarry could see the light from the sky, he'd have to fall down immediately and pray.
Posted by: Bobby || 07/01/2005 10:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Capt. Joseph Siberski
That rings familiar...
Posted by: Shipman || 07/01/2005 10:36 Comments || Top||

#3  Why doesn't the Air Force wise up and put these on an A-10?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 07/01/2005 10:46 Comments || Top||

#4  That is one fine idea, Mrs D. I certainly wish the AF Brass (read: morons) would get over it, already, regards the A-10. The A-10's are no different than the Sandies (ignoring the extra firepower, of course) - low 'n slow is the groundpounder's friend.
Posted by: .com || 07/01/2005 12:27 Comments || Top||

#5  In regards to the A-10 Thunderbolt II they are getting it. The A-10 fleet is slowly being retrofitted an upgraded to fly another 25 years.

The kind of work is work that can and should be done by rotor craft and slow moving prop driven aircraft. Putting hours on fighter airframes is a waste of money. Put this "pod" on the right craft is it's so much better than the traditional FLIR most law enforcement and the army use.
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom || 07/01/2005 12:38 Comments || Top||

#6  Excellent info, SPo'D - Thx! Very happy to hear it, but not .01% as happy as the 11B's and 0311's.
Posted by: .com || 07/01/2005 13:50 Comments || Top||


Two down

Blog entry; more news on the swedish guy and his bounty hunters... It's very clear Mr. Ulf Hjertström didn't suffer from the infamous Stockholm syndrome...
“They’re not twiddling their thumbs,” declares Hjertström, revealing that he has “received confirmation that two of [the kidnappers] have already been taken care of.” When asked to elaborate on the fate of the purportedly captured men, the Swede says he “hasn’t inquired” but has his “suspicions.”

Many in Sweden have expressed shock and dismay at Hjertström’s eye-for-an-eye approach. But the plucky pensioner claims that revenge is not his primary motive. “I just want the people of Baghdad to feel safe on the streets.”

Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/01/2005 08:16 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I like how he says he's lived in Iraq for a long time and this is just how things are done there. Maybe grow a bit of a beard, eat with the correct hand and make sure you hunt down and kill those who kidnap you.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
Posted by: JAB || 07/01/2005 9:06 Comments || Top||

#2  He sounds very progressive for a Swede. 25 years in the real world seems to have done him a world of good.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/01/2005 9:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Ah, a swede of the old school! I can appreciate his viewpoint. Best of luck and godspeed I say! Happy hunting Ulf!
Posted by: Tkat || 07/01/2005 9:13 Comments || Top||

#4  so his $50,000 had been put to good use. um-huh!
Posted by: 2b || 07/01/2005 9:14 Comments || Top||

#5  If we can't get Bolton through Congress, the Bush should appoint THIS guy our U.N. Ambassador (yes, I know, there's the whole "nationality" thing).

The image of him sitting at the Security Council table with his "aides" Louie & Jake flanking him is splendid!!
Posted by: Justrand || 07/01/2005 9:20 Comments || Top||

#6  This guy deserves Honorary Citizenship.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 07/01/2005 9:23 Comments || Top||

#7  He doesn't need honorary citizenship, he's a born American, the rest is just paperwork.
Posted by: Shipman || 07/01/2005 10:38 Comments || Top||

#8  Going back to Gustavus Adolphus, guys like this were the reason even the Nazi's and Soviets did not take on Sweden. Glad to know their sort is still around.
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/01/2005 11:25 Comments || Top||

#9  And why stop there...

The statement has been made here by many, in differing ways, but the one sure thing that takes the Bad Guyz off the street, permanently, is targeted hunter/killer teams.

I don't care what mechanism is used, Letter of Marque and Reprisal, Bounty Hunters, whatever, it works. Start with the Wolf Brigade. 10 confirmed kills = eligibility. Existing members, once it's up and running, must unanimously approve new members. Etc. I'd donate Yankee Dollars to that effort, too.
Posted by: .com || 07/01/2005 12:32 Comments || Top||

#10  Some argue that the Magna Carta owes a lot to the fierce independence of Viking nobles who "settled" in England from 1066 onward... They never liked the notion of unlimited power, even when it came to their gods.
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) || 07/01/2005 12:40 Comments || Top||

#11  where's the little viking video...comeon I know you have it. AHHHHHahhhahhhha AHH! I come from the land of the ice and snow....
Posted by: 2b || 07/01/2005 12:42 Comments || Top||

#12  The kittens?
Posted by: .com || 07/01/2005 13:25 Comments || Top||

#13  :) Still funny.
Posted by: Shipman || 07/01/2005 14:55 Comments || Top||

#14  Aaaaaaaaa-ah! Thank you dot com. You are our overlord!
Posted by: 2b || 07/01/2005 20:10 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Team of U.S. GIs Missing in Afghanistan
EFL
A small team of U.S. soldiers was still missing Friday in the same mountains in eastern Afghanistan where a special forces helicopter was shot down earlier this week, and U.S. forces are using "every available asset" to find them, a U.S. military spokesman said.
The MH-47 Chinook helicopter — with 16 people on board who all died in the crash — had gone into the mountains Tuesday to "extract the soldiers." The team on the ground has been missing since the chopper was downed, U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Jerry O'Hara said.

A purported Taliban spokesman, Mullah Latif Hakimi, meanwhile, claimed the rebels had captured a U.S. soldier in the area, near the town of Asadabad, close to the Pakistani border. "One high-ranking American has been captured in fighting in the same area as the helicopter went down," he told The Associated Press. "I won't give you any more details now." Reacting to the claim, O'Hara said, "We have no proof or evidence indicating anything other than the soldiers are missing."
I assume a 4-8 man recon team was spotted by a much larger Pakistani/Taliban group. Let's hope they were able to evade and the claim of a captive is false.
Posted by: ed || 07/01/2005 06:36 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm sure the enemy will observe the 'Geneva Convention' in the treatment of any prisoners. Time for blowback on the mouths that roared for the past months on Gitmo. If they're not on it like a flea on a dog or try the 'well you deserve it' line, they're history.
Posted by: Cravish Angomons3644 || 07/01/2005 8:59 Comments || Top||

#2  I Can't help but wonder if this is the team that those soldiers in the Chinook were rushing to help. If this is the case, not only do we need to consider a new strategy, but look into the possibility that someone leaked the soldiers whereabouts to Al-Q. We don't just suddely loose some of the best soldiers in our country has like this.
Posted by: Charles || 07/01/2005 9:13 Comments || Top||

#3  The Army Times is reporting that it is a 4 man recon team from SEAL Team 10 that is missing. Marines have established blocking positions around the area to prevent escape or reinforcement and Army Rangers have secured the crash site and recovered the crash victims.
Posted by: TomC || 07/01/2005 10:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Sounds like very bad luck.
Posted by: Shipman || 07/01/2005 10:10 Comments || Top||

#5  Also, go read former Seal Froggy at http://froggyruminations.blogspot.com/
Scroll down to Thursday update...
Might be wise for the Taliban to just surrender. These guys have ways of taking care of their own.
Flying my flag for them this weekend.
Posted by: Sherry || 07/01/2005 10:15 Comments || Top||

#6  Guys, if you only knew the resources being directed to get the OP/LP team out of there... You'd be amazed.

If nothing else, 9/11 has brought at least part of the Ranger Creed across to parts of the intelligence community:

Never shall I fail my comrades.

We are busting ass on this one. Guaranteed. Time for me to drive back to the SCIF for a meeting.

Job 1. We know what it is.
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/01/2005 12:00 Comments || Top||

#7  I find it very hard to believe that a Seal team member was taken hostage. More than likley I would say that maybe they were hit hard and thier is a lone or small goup of survivors missing communications that the Taly's are trying to box up before we get in to extract. I would say that if they really had a US troop hostage he would be live on TV beat half to death and who know what else front page on every news and TV across the world today yesterday and tommorrow.
Posted by: C-Low || 07/01/2005 12:05 Comments || Top||

#8  ...close to the Pakistani border

Might be time to tell Perv we wanna go sightseeing. Whether he likes it or not.
No Cambodias in this war.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/01/2005 12:07 Comments || Top||

#9  Hey, I went to Cambodia once. Never forget it, it was Christmas Eve...
Posted by: JF Kerry || 07/01/2005 13:30 Comments || Top||

#10  I know our Indian friends are into indiginous tank production, but perhaps we can help them out with some of the warehoused M1A1s. They could up grade them to their specifications and then design an analog buildable to the region.
Posted by: Shipman || 07/01/2005 14:45 Comments || Top||

#11  God bless bless them and their families.
Posted by: Fun Dung Poo || 07/01/2005 15:47 Comments || Top||


Pakistan Nabs Three Alleged Terrorists
Three men suspected of ties to Usama bin Laden's terror network have been arrested in Pakistan, a major newspaper reported Friday. The suspects were traveling in a vehicle when they were caught Thursday in Mardan, a deeply conservative town in northwestern Pakistan, according to The Jang, Pakistan's largest circulation newspaper. That is the same region where Pakistani intelligence agents on May 2 caught Abu Farraj al-Libbi, reputedly No. 3 in the Al Qaeda terror network. The Jang said an army officer supervised this operation, but gave no other details. No government official was immediately available to confirm the arrests.
Posted by: Howard UK || 07/01/2005 06:37 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


All 16 U.S. Troops Killed in Afghan Crash
All 16 U.S. troops on a special forces helicopter were killed when the chopper was shot down by insurgents, the U.S. military said Thursday after rescuers recovered the bodies from the wreckage in a mountainous ravine. The MH-47 Chinook helicopter went down Tuesday in eastern Afghanistan while ferrying troops to a battle against militants — the deadliest single blow to American forces who ousted the Taliban in 2001 for harboring al-Qaida and are now grappling with an escalating insurgency. "At this point, we have recovered all 16 bodies of those servicemen who were onboard the MH-47 helicopter that crashed on Tuesday," Lt. Gen. James Conway, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon. The dead on the helicopter included eight Navy SEALs and eight Army air crew, a U.S. official said in Washington. Authorities initially reported 17 people were on board, but the manifest included a person who apparently missed the flight, military officials said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/01/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I f**kin' hate helicopters.
Posted by: R || 07/01/2005 0:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Hummmm?
Posted by: Slomons Jainter2582 || 07/01/2005 0:16 Comments || Top||

#3  For some more details from a Seal, go to http://froggyruminations.blogspot.com/ and scroll down to Thursday's Update -- WOW -- as VDH says, "where do we find these guys?"

Only wish my prayers were more powerful.
Posted by: Sherry || 07/01/2005 0:29 Comments || Top||

#4  May God Bless them all and may he comfort their families.
Posted by: Tibor || 07/01/2005 2:40 Comments || Top||

#5  We need to bring the hurt to the neighborhoods next to Afghanistan and Iraq to stop these terrorists from regrouping. They are going all out to put the hurt on us, we need to do the same to their bases.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/01/2005 2:53 Comments || Top||

#6  Another report from Delaplane:

June 29, 2005
Aircraft Down
A helicopter has gone down near the Pakistan border. This has already been on the news, but there are some inaccuracies being reported.
This is not a "Big Windy" Chinook, all of our Task Force Sabre friends are in Blackhawks and Apaches, and all of our LTF folks are on the ground.
There's not much more that can be said right now except that, as Fox News reports, there is reason to believe that this is still a rescue mission.
There are some very urgent and difficult actions underway right now and our continued prayers are with these folks.
*************************
IF, if a 47 was used for emergency reasons,

Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, who attributed the loss of the Chinook [the last one] to the high altitude, noted that "the helicopters are right up against their operational capabilities."
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld echoed Myers during a press conference when he said, "these helicopters are not really designed to fly at those altitudes."

"Big Windy"? huh
Posted by: rojo perro || 07/01/2005 3:55 Comments || Top||

#7  looks like Delaplane got it wrong...too bad I was still hoping.
Posted by: rojo perro || 07/01/2005 4:41 Comments || Top||

#8  Our tears and appreciation to those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Our prayers for those still out there. And may each send a large bodyguard of the enemy to their hell before them.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/01/2005 7:00 Comments || Top||

#9  Well said, Mrs. Wife! A special time out and prayer for these 16 souls and their families goes up right now! Especially timely in light of the 4th weekend. Where do we get these guys?
Posted by: BA || 07/01/2005 8:01 Comments || Top||

#10  Anybody know how old those Chinooks are that they're using over there? I heard recently that the Sea Knight that pulled the last embassy Marine guards out of Vietnam was still being used in Iraq which amazed me.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/01/2005 8:13 Comments || Top||

#11  The first CH-47A's entered service in the early 60's. The MH-47E's the SOF uses are about 10 years old or newer.
Posted by: ed || 07/01/2005 8:29 Comments || Top||

#12  Son-in-law was 'warrior,' mayor says of Afghanistan crash victim

"Sgt. 1st Class James "Tré" Ponder III, a 36-year-old flight engineer based out of Fort Campbell, was riding in a Special Forces helicopter when it crashed into a mountain ravine in eastern Afghanistan earlier this week."

"Not real tall, somewhat thin, but tough as nails," said his father-in-law, Franklin Mayor Tom Miller. "He was a warrior, and the warrior in him is what has made this whole situation somewhat comforting for the family."
Posted by: Psycho Hillbilly || 07/01/2005 9:57 Comments || Top||

#13  Farewell by brothers.

NSDQ!
Posted by: 49 pan || 07/01/2005 10:15 Comments || Top||

#14  God bless them, their comrades & their families!
Posted by: Fun Dung Poo || 07/01/2005 15:48 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine
Soldiers Expel Jewish Militants From Gaza
Posted by: Fred || 07/01/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan/South Asia
Kashmir Korpse Kount
Terrs Militants skulking hiding in a village home in Indian-held Kashmir exchanged gunfire with police and paramilitary soldiers on Wednesday, leaving four dead and one injured. One terr militant, two police officers and a paramilitary soldier died in the clash, and a paramilitary soldier was injured, said Police Inspector-General SP Vaid.

Separately, terrs suspected militants lobbed a grenade at police officers in Srinagar. Six people were injured, including two policemen and four civilians, said police officer Hasib Ahmed.
"Legume! Those beturbanned men in ski masks are lobbing grenades in a peculiarly girlish manner! I suspect they may be militants!"
"Inspector! How do you do it?"
Posted by: Fred || 07/01/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:



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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2005-07-01
  16 U.S. Troops Killed in Afghan Crash
Thu 2005-06-30
  Ricin plot leader gets 10 years
Wed 2005-06-29
  The List: Saudi Arabia's 36 Most Wanted
Tue 2005-06-28
  New offensive in Anbar
Mon 2005-06-27
  'Head' of Ansar al-Sunna captured
Sun 2005-06-26
  76 more terrorists whacked in Afghanistan
Sat 2005-06-25
  Ahmadinejad wins Iran election
Fri 2005-06-24
  132 Talibs toes up in Zabul fighting
Thu 2005-06-23
  Saudi Terror Suspect Said Killed in Iraq
Wed 2005-06-22
  Qurei flees West Bank gunfire
Tue 2005-06-21
  Saudi 'cop killers' shot dead
Mon 2005-06-20
  Afghan Officials Stop Khalizad Assassination Plot
Sun 2005-06-19
  Senior Saudi Security Officer Killed In Drive-By Shooting
Sat 2005-06-18
  U.S. Mounts Offensive Near Syria
Fri 2005-06-17
  Calif. Father, Son Charged in Terror Ties

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