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10 wounded in Fatah-Hamas festivities
Today's Headlines
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Page 4: Opinion
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Afghanistan
Airstrike near Pak border kills 4 Taleban militants
KABUL, Afghanistan - Airstrikes on a cave complex near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan killed four Taleban militants and destroyed a truck loaded with rockets, the US military said.

Military officials in Pakistan at first said helicopters fired missiles into Pakistani territory, and that officials had opened an investigation into whether US aircraft were involved. But Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, Pakistan’s top army spokesman, later Monday said no missiles had landed in Pakistan. He did say that three Pakistani tribesmen were wounded on the Afghan side of the border and were taken to a hospital.

Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, a US military spokesman, said the strike was one or two kilometers (miles) inside the Afghan border. A US military statement said coalition forces were in direct communication with Pakistani forces on the other side of the border during Monday’s operation. Past US strikes into Pakistan’s territory have strained relations between the two countries.

“It was close to the border, within a kilometer (mile) or two. But we have GPS (global positioning systems). We know where the borders are of the two counties,” he said.

Before the strike, a joint team of US ground forces and Afghan soldiers observed individuals loading a truck near the cave with rockets, a military statement said. A patrol sent to investigate after the strike was fired on by one militant, who was captured, the US military said. More militants could be buried under the rubble in addition to the four militants known to have been killed, the military said.

The American military has previously fired munitions into Pakistani territory, straining relations between it and its partner in the war on terror. A failed Jan. 13 US missile attack aiming to take out Al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri in the remote northwestern Pakistani town of Bajur killed the fugitive’s relative and about 15 others, including a dozen residents. Pakistan has maintained it wasn’t given advance word of the airstrike, which the Americans have yet to confirm.

Many Pakistanis viewed the attack as a violation of the nation’s sovereignty. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry lodged a protest with the US and demanded no such attacks be launched again. The Pakistan-Afghan border, which runs through rugged mountains and deserts, is unmarked in places, and gunfire and bombs fired by US soldiers and fighter jets in Afghanistan have landed in Pakistani territory in the past.
Posted by: Steve || 05/09/2006 09:32 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Just your typical poor Pakistani rocket miners. Odds are the rockets would have been taken back and used in North Waziristan.
Posted by: ed || 05/09/2006 10:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Just your typical poor Pakistani rocket miners who got blown up

hope the miners wages were docked for the time they were up in the sky.
Posted by: RD || 05/09/2006 11:01 Comments || Top||

#3  Good one, RD. Drill ye terriers drill. And blast and fire and drill ye terriers drill. [IIRC]
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 05/09/2006 11:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Hey no fair! Rocket miners need to make a living too. Besides, it pays better than IED miner pay in Iraq, or Suicide belt mining in Israel.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 05/09/2006 14:53 Comments || Top||

#5  Many Pakistanis viewed the attack as a violation of the nation’s sovereignty. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry lodged a protest with the US and demanded no such attacks be launched again.

Dang...my "give-a-s**t" meter's reading zero.
Posted by: anymouse || 05/09/2006 15:53 Comments || Top||

#6  The article picked up most of the CentCom release, but left this out:

"U.S. Air Force A-10 fighter aircraft and a Predator unmanned aerial vehicle, assigned to the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing, Afghanistan , were directed to engage the cave complex.

"The A-10 and Predator expended precision-guided munitions against the target, effectively sealing the cave from future use.

“The immediate response by these aircraft demonstrates the effectiveness of our combined air support for joint operations in theater,” said Royal Air Force Air Commodore Mark Swan, director of the Combined Air Operations Center . “Our message is very clear to those who attack innocent civilians and coalition forces: you have a choice. If you continue your terrorist activities, we will find you, we can track you, and we will take all appropriate actions to stop you.”

I like the A-10 and think you should give credit where credit is due.
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/09/2006 18:23 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Fighting rages for the third day in Somali capital
Mogadishu 09 May. 06 ( Sh.M.Network) Heavy gun-battle has been continuing in Somali capital of Mogadishu for the third day, with using heavy-machineguns, mortars and artillery weapons after efforts to meditation between the warring sides failed. The fighting is going on at Siisii of Yaqshid district in Banadir province where the rival militias exchanging gunfire, with the resident already began to flee from battle area. “The sounds of heavy machine guns and mortars could be heard near by villages and many stray bullets hit people in their houses,” witnesses told radio Shabelle.

Reporters of Shabelle Media Network who went this morning near to scene of battle said a six years old girl has been killed and eight others including women and children have been wounded by mortar shell near former Somali past industry.

In else where in Mogadishu stray mortar shells has killed a two years old boy and injured other three years old boy of same family overnight, as one of family member said. Many families could be seen on the streets carrying their belongings, some with donkey carts fleeing from the fighting. The fighting has totally disturbed the city activities particular around the area the fighting affected.

A woman among the displaced people carrying with young baby on her back complained “if killing innocents will lead the warring sides into paradise we would see the result,” adding ‘ the warlords have been working on the hell they will plunge into for the past 15 years but what a surprise thing is what went wrongs to the courts’ clerks,”

More than 30 people were known to have been killed and dozens more were injured in the latest battles in Mogadishu.
Posted by: Steve || 05/09/2006 13:21 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  qhat must be in season
Posted by: Frank G || 05/09/2006 18:06 Comments || Top||

#2  I better protect that retirement nest egg and sell my Mogadishu Properties.

Posted by: RD || 05/09/2006 21:35 Comments || Top||

#3  wait til "demolition of existing buildings" is done for you
Posted by: Frank G || 05/09/2006 22:40 Comments || Top||


Mogadishu fighting kills 9
Rival militias battled using rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, artillery and assault rifles for control of a part of the Somali capital for a third straight day on Tuesday, killing at least nine people and wounding 27 others overnight.

The clashes between radical Islamic militiamen and secular rivals marked an escalation among combatants who usually do not fight after dusk, and raised casualty figures to at least 37 dead and more than 88 wounded since the latest round of fighting began on Sunday.

A mortar shell landed on a home containing seven members of a family, killing six people outright, witness Sheik Abdulahi Ali Guled said.

Another mortar round killed an Islamic cleric and two other people, said Tahliil Olad, who witnessed the incident.

At least 12 people were taken to the Medina hospital overnight for treatment of wounds they suffered during the fighting, said Dr Abdi Ibrahim Jiya, who works at the hospital.

Another 15 people, mostly civilians, were taken to Kaysenay hospital for treatment overnight, said Dr Ali Dile.

Somalia has had no effective central government since 1991, when warlords ousted long-time dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other -- carving this nation of an estimated eight million people into a patchwork of anarchic, clan-based fiefdoms.

A United Nations-backed transitional government has based itself in the central city of Baidoa, but has so far failed to assert itself elsewhere in the country.

Islamic fighters are seeking to boost the power of a group of radical clerics that is trying to assert itself as an alternative military and political force in the lawless country.

Seeking to curb their growing power, a group of businessmen and warlords-turned-politicians formed an armed alliance in March, and the two groups have battled for control of parts of the capital.

Witnesses said the latest fighting began when gunmen working for a militia commander linked to the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counterterrorism opened fire on a gun truck carrying the bodyguards of Islamic Court Union chairperson Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed.

Members of the alliance, however, said they were only defending themselves from an attack by radical Islamic militiamen.

The alliance and the Islamic union have been squaring off for several weeks in anticipation of a battle for control of Mogadishu. The alliance accuses the Islamic courts of sheltering foreign al-Qaeda leaders, while the courts accuse the alliance of being a pawn of the United States.

Ahmed vowed in an interview with the Horn Afrik radio that Islamic militias will continue fighting until they get the upper hand over their rivals.

Since March at least 120 people have been killed and 70 more wounded in similar clashes between the alliance and the Islamic courts. Traditional elders and local chiefs have tried to organise peaceful negotiations but have repeatedly failed.

"Whenever fighting breaks out between two rival militias, we used to sort it out through traditional means or on tribally based talks," but it is becoming more difficult to mediate between the two sides, said Garad Yussuf Dibad, a respected traditional leader.

Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, president of the transitional government, said earlier this week that he was concerned about what he believed was US support for the alliance. But US officials have refused to confirm or deny their involvement with the alliance.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 05/09/2006 04:06 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Viva los Secularistas!!
Posted by: Massa Spemble || 05/09/2006 5:27 Comments || Top||

#2  Peace loving muzzies. At least there were no Americans there.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 05/09/2006 9:18 Comments || Top||


Darfur refugees hack up AU translator, force UN aid chief to flee
Followup from yesterday.
Residents of a Darfur refugee camp hacked an African Union translator to death Monday shortly after the U.N. humanitarian chief rushed out of the same camp when demonstrators attacked another translator who was part of his entourage, U.N. spokesmen said. Both attacks were in Kalma camp near the city of Nyala in south Darfur, visited by Jan Egeland, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in New York said he was told there were two attacks.

The first attack was against a non-governmental organization staffer, which prompted the departure of Egeland and his staff, Dujarric said. The second occurred after Egeland left, when the African Union compound in the camp was destroyed by its residents, he added. "It is our understanding that an African Union translator was hacked to death," Dujarric said.

Earlier, U.N. spokeswoman Dawn Blalock said Egeland and his entourage had rushed out of the camp when demonstrators demanding the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers attacked a translator. They accused the translator of supporting the feared Janjaweed, the pro-government militia blamed for widespread atrocities in Darfur, she said.

An Associated Press reporter in the camp said Egeland was met by a huge crowd chanting pro-U.N., pro-U.S. and anti-government slogans. The demonstrators, mostly women, shouted: "Yes to international troops!" - a reference to the Western proposal for U.N. peacekeepers to be deployed in Darfur.

As the entourage was leaving, they attacked a U.N. vehicle with sticks and knives because they thought the translator had said something that did not reflect what they had said in Arabic against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. The translator was not injured, but colleagues put him into a van for his own safety, Blalock said in a phone call to The Associated Press. The translator with Egeland is employed by Oxfam, but was not further identified. The British-based NGO promptly withdrew its six staffers from Kalma camp.

"We did not evacuate," Blalock emphasized. "The program was cut short because tensions were too much."
"We just ran away, that's all."
Egeland had gone to Kalma to meet leaders of at least 90,000 residents of the camp, as well as representatives of the NGOs. His visit came days after Sudan's government and the main rebel group in the country's western Darfur region signed a peace agreement to end fighting that has killed nearly 200,000 people since 2003.

Blalock said there had been tension in the Kalma camp because of the absence of a camp co-ordinator. The government expelled the last coordinator, an official of the Norwegian Refugee Committee, in early April, she said.
See, just what they need, a bunch of Euros in charge ...
Egeland is scheduled hold meetings with U.N. and NGO officials in Khartoum, and in two days, he will head to Chad, Dujarric said.

After his arrival in Darfur on Sunday, Egeland warned that the peace treaty would not be easy to implement. "We are now in the center of the war which is still going on," Egeland told AP Television News. "The world should have no illusions that peace will break out easily here in Darfur. We have to have an enormous effort from the international community and the parties themselves to enforce this peace agreement."
Posted by: Dan Darling || 05/09/2006 03:58 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Residents of a Darfur refugee camp hacked an African Union translator to death Monday shortly after the U.N. humanitarian chief rushed out of the same camp when demonstrators attacked another translator who was part of his entourage, U.N. spokesmen said.

Nice people.
Posted by: gromgoru || 05/09/2006 5:25 Comments || Top||

#2  The PC CNN TV news report made no mention of anyone hacked to death - only showed Egeland strutting about.
Posted by: Duh! || 05/09/2006 7:54 Comments || Top||

#3  People who attack UN personnel cannot be completely bad.
Posted by: JFM || 05/09/2006 8:58 Comments || Top||

#4  "a huge crowd chanting pro-U.N., pro-U.S. and anti-government slogans."

Boy, you don't see those words together very often.
Posted by: Clavish Ulack8745 || 05/09/2006 9:07 Comments || Top||

#5  Indeed, CU8745... I had to read that 3 times before it even began to register. And I don't believe it. I'm going back to bed.
Posted by: Sneremble Elmitch8614 || 05/09/2006 9:10 Comments || Top||

#6  Wow, you're right! Pro UN (well not so sure about that one), Pro US and anti-government crowds??? There's hope for Darfur yet.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 05/09/2006 9:14 Comments || Top||

#7  it makes perfect sense.

These people are being victimized by the janjaweed, and the AU troops are not effective at protecting them. What they want is a large blue helmeted UN force on the ground, so they arent killed, and can gather firewood without being raped. They know the people who are pushing hardest for that UN force are AMERICANS (Bush called for that just yesterday, and Rice will be going to NY to ride herd on the UNSC to deliver it)


And yes, this group behaved badly. But theyre kinda at the ends of their ropes. Living far worse than the usual MSM poster children, like the Palestinians, for ex.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 05/09/2006 9:15 Comments || Top||

#8  I've been looking for pix of Egeland being chased out of the camp. No luck so far. I s'pose he didn't bring any photographers 'cos he wanted to keep a low profile and just jump in and help.

/yeah right
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/09/2006 9:48 Comments || Top||

#9  What they want is a large blue helmeted UN force on the ground, so they arent killed, and can gather firewood without being raped.

Yeah, also because, with the UN's Itty Bitty Titty for Food Program, their kids can get fed.
Posted by: badanov || 05/09/2006 14:28 Comments || Top||

#10  So UN troops are buy sex in Liberia. In Darfur women are raped when they go out for firewood.

Are you suggesting a US force, instead of a UN force? I dont think thats in the cards.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 05/09/2006 16:42 Comments || Top||

#11  Everybody knows a U.S. force would be immeasurably more aeffective than a U.N. force. But you're right LH, ther is zero chance of that happening. They're Muslim, so we don't care.
Posted by: Mike N. || 05/09/2006 17:21 Comments || Top||

#12  They're Muslim, so we don't care.

That statement is bloody nonsense, Mike N. A truer statement is, "We're awfully busy in other parts of the world right now, but at least we've been trying to get the world to acknowledge the attempted genocide that nobody else cares about." We know there are Marines in Chad, and other Special Forces units doing things to strengthen anti-terror efforts throughout North Africa -- most of whose citizens follow Mohammed rather than Jesus Christ or the local pantheon.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/09/2006 18:32 Comments || Top||

#13  Or, "We care, but not enough to send the very best."
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 05/09/2006 18:44 Comments || Top||

#14  They're Muslim, so we don't care.

Victor Davis Hanson summmed it up best:

"...I think the United States is saying look, we're willing to step forward, but we're not going to do this anymore where we get hung out to dry [as] in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Balkans, and Panama.

"Every time we try to do something to stop a dictator or a thug, we have these triangulators who want it to be done, but not us to do it.

"So I think we're sort of seeing an American zen now, where the United States is trying to say you wanted this type of world, you have it. And then yet not being completely nihilistic, in the sense that we will act, finally, if no one else will, but we want this other dialogue to play out."


What I find so absolutely ironic is the cacophony from 'Those That Care' that the "U.S. should do something". What, unilateralism is now suddenly popular and correct?
Posted by: Pappy || 05/09/2006 18:55 Comments || Top||

#15  Sudan dose not appear on the list of Axis of Evil states, so there is no way America will be drawn into the true quagmire called Darfur. Lots of lefty and transnational types would love to see America intervene, but understandably Bush is keeping his eye on the vital strategic concerns created by Iran and North Korea. The Administration can also use UN inaction in Sudan as a wedge against Kofi and Company: "You got your peace accord, so you go manage it."
Posted by: john || 05/09/2006 21:21 Comments || Top||

#16  The Sudan has been a sh*thole for a century, plus a whole lot of change. If we go in there, we will have to kill all of the bad guyz, then we will have to rewire all the screwed up citizens, which will make everyone go apesh*t, because it's a cultural thang. I feel for these people, but we are talking about a major committment for a decade at least, and there will have to be a consensus of how this will be done. Sudan is a true Quagmire™. Sorry to say, but that's the way I see it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 05/09/2006 21:50 Comments || Top||

#17  No way, no how, not us.

How about Amnesty International, Oxfam et al send their army since anyone that goes their willbe under their unwritten ROE.

Sorry we are all out of men and women to commit to this kind of charity work.Chain is pretty flush right now ask them.

Sending US personel beyond the present level or more money doesn't have my moral or political support.
Posted by: SPoD || 05/09/2006 22:06 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Egypt police detain four Islamists in Alexandria
CAIRO - Egyptian police detained four Muslim Brothers in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, bringing to 70 the number of members of the Islamist movement being held behind bars, a spokesman told AFP on Tuesday. “Four members of the Brotherhood were arrested at dawn yesterday (Monday) for their continuing campaign against the emergency law,” said Ali Abdel Fattah, the Islamist group’s representative in Alexandria.

According to the Muslim Brotherhood’s website, the four were taken after their houses were searched in the Alexandria districts of Al Gomrok and Al Manshya. “One of the four detainees, suffers from chronic bronchial asthma and is detained in unsanitary conditions without his asthma pumps which puts his life at risk,” a statement said.

The Islamist group launched a campaign last month calling for an end to the 25-year-old emergency law which grants police sweeping powers of arrest and restricts non-government political activity. The Egyptian parliament -- dominated by President Hosni Mubarak’s ruling party -- last week renewed the law for another two years.
Posted by: Steve || 05/09/2006 09:29 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Egypt kills 'Sinai militant head'
Egyptian police say they have shot and killed the suspected ringleader of an Islamic militant group blamed for last month's deadly bombing in Dahab.
Nasser Khamis al-Mallahi died in a shootout in the northern Sinai town of al-Arish, close to the Gaza border. Mr Mallahi was named as head of a group blamed for the triple bombing in Dahab, which killed at least 23 people. Authorities also suspect the group of bombing the Sinai resorts of Taba and Sharm al-Sheikh in the past 18 months.

Security forces said they surrounded Mr Mallahi in an olive grove to the south of el-Arish, after receiving a tip-off. Lt Gen Essam el-Sheikh, head of police in northern Sinai, told the Associated Press news agency that an accomplice, named as Mohammed Abdullah Abu Grair, was arrested in the same operation.
Perhaps he phoned in the tip-off?
"This is a major blow to the terrorist group," Gen el-Sheikh said.

Additional from DEBKA: (Salt alert)The Jerusalem warning midnight Monday, May 8, cited “a critical kidnap threat.” DEBKAfile’s counter-terror forces report it was issued after a concentrated Egyptian siege force failed in a long effort to pull in the al Qaeda cell responsible for bombing attacks in Sinai – in Dahab and El Arish last month and in Taba and Sharm el-Sheikh in the last two years. Tuesday, the Egyptians reported Nasser al-Malakhi was killed in a shootout in an olive grove near El Arish and an accomplice was detained.

In its latest edition on May 5, DEBKA-Net-Weekly named al-Malakhi, an el Arish lawyer of 41, as head of the Sinai network and reported that Egyptian intelligence chief, Gen. Omar Suleiman, had been put in command of the special operations dragnet for the al Qaeda cells serving under Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

DEBKAfile adds: Al-Malakhi captured alive would have been a valuable asset to the Egyptian investigation of al Qaeda’s Sinai-Egypt-Gaza network and leads to its 200-300 members - Egyptians, Palestinians and Bedouin (compared with Zarqawi’s 700-strong terrorist hard core in Iraq).
Perhaps that's why he wasn't
But because the cells are closely compartmentalized, his death is a setback. The threat of attacks and kidnapping to foreign travelers - especially Israeli - therefore remains in force.

DEBKA-Net-Weekly 252 also revealed: The failure of Egyptian security and intelligence services to track the cells and their leaders down since their first attacks on Taba and Nuweiba on Oct. 7, 2004 and subsequently at Sharm el-Sheikh on July 22, 2005, the network has been able to spread its wings across the Sinai Peninsula up to the western shores of the Suez Canal and Gulf of Suez. A cluster of operational terror cells is based in and around Ismailiya, the mouth of the key world trading waterway of Suez, lifeline of Egypt’s economy and main crossing point between Sinai and Cairo. More strongholds are located further south along the banks of the Gulf of Suez. This footholds allow Zarqawi to exert a stranglehold on the world’s commercial shipping, its oil tankers and warships..
Funny, I haven't see any reports of the blockade
A single command center controls the networks operating in Sinai, Egypt proper and the Palestinian Gaza Strip. Movements of manpower, weapons and explosives crisscross Sinai, inland Egypt and the Suez Canal. They are carried aboard small boats and tunnels running under the canal bed.
Under the canal?
Traffic between Sinai and the Gaza Strip is unrestricted.
Posted by: Steve || 05/09/2006 08:51 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Kuwait arrests Iran intelligence officers
London, May 08 – Kuwaiti security services have uncovered and arrested a group of agents belonging to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) that were spying on locations used by American personnel in Kuwait, according to an Arab-language website.
Lends credence to the previous reports about how, should the balloon go up, Iran will try to kill Americans all around the world.
At least five MOIS agents had been monitoring sites which they believed were housing Americans, the website Elaph reported on Sunday, quoting Kuwaiti security sources. The report said that several of those arrested had confessed to spying for Tehran.
"I dunn it and you can't touch me!"
Kuwaiti national security forces began investigating the group last month, it added. Iranian exiles charge that the MOIS has stepped up intelligence gathering operations against Iranian dissidents since hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office as President.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/09/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The longer this china-setting diplomacy goes on, the more time the Irantians have to prepare.
Posted by: Captain America || 05/09/2006 0:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Kuwait arrests Iran intelligence officers

The Iranian "Noise" is definatlly picking up!
Posted by: RD || 05/09/2006 1:28 Comments || Top||

#3  Cap'n - I wouldn't be overly concerned about Persian preparations - they've been doing that for the past 30 to 40 years. Fat lot of good it will do them, though. They cannot win a big war, cannot win a medium war, and really aren't doing so hot at the little war efforts.

On the other hand, decision time for the arabs is fast approaching, and has been underway for a while near both sides of the border.

Now, what the Turks decide will be most interesting.
Posted by: Omomotle Ulomoque5726 || 05/09/2006 7:40 Comments || Top||

#4  "I dunn it and you can't touch me!"
I think it's a safe bet that they were touched before they confessed -- with tools anyway.
Posted by: Darrell || 05/09/2006 11:43 Comments || Top||

#5  OU - I don't think we have been operations out of Kuwait for three or four decades. While they will not win any sized war with the U.S., I consider our losses incrementally.
Posted by: Captain America || 05/09/2006 21:04 Comments || Top||


Ministry of defense categorically denies reports on espionage
The ministry of defense emphatically denied on Monday reports published by local newspapers about arrest of an espioange cell that spied on sensitive sites in the country. Colonel Nader Shaaban, the acting director of the morale guidance of the ministry of defense, described, in a statement to KUNA, the reports as baseless. The press reports claimed that the military authorities arrested and set free five military personnel after being suspected of shooting pictures of sensitive air, ground and sea sites for the Iranian intelligence.
"Nope. Nope. Never happened. Nope."
Posted by: Fred || 05/09/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
Tales from the Crossfire Gazette
2 killed in 'shootouts' with Rab
Two criminals, including an outlaw, were killed in separate incidents of shootouts with Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and police in the capital and Jhenidah early yesterday.
They fought the law and the law won..
Raju Ahmed alias Killer Raju, 25, of old Kachukhet area in the capital was killed during a shootout with Rab at Mirpur.
Kachukhet "Killer" Killed, news at 11..
Rab-4 arrested Raju at Tongi College on Sunday night and took him to Sher-e-Bangla Primary School compound at Mirpur at about 3:30am to nab his accomplices.
Simple, abliet heavily armed schoolkids..
Sensing the presence of Rab, Raju's cohorts opened fire on them prompting the elite force to fire back.
"It's the Rab! Open fire before they nab us!"
Raju fell in the line of fire while trying to flee and died on the spot.
"Hey, don't push me out....KAPOW....there. rosebud.."
His accomplices managed to escape.
Vanished into the night like they were never even there
A shutter gun and two rounds of bullets were recovered from the scene.
Shutter gun makes it's long awaited reappearance
Kafrul police sent the body to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) morgue for an autopsy at 9:00 am yesterday.
"Paging Doctor Quincy"
Four cases were filed against Raju at Kafrul Police Station, including one for murder and two for robbery, police said.
Closing cases is easier when your suspect can't object


A correspondent from Jhenidah reports: Atiar Rahman alias Palash, regional leader of the outlawed Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP-Janajuddho) was killed during a gunfight between police and his cohorts at Jadabpur upazila of the district.
Another commie leader bites the dust
Tipped off, a Shailakupa police team arrested Atiar from near Joyonti Nagar DM College on Sunday.
Colleges seem to be a favorite lurking spot these days
Following leads extracted from him during interrogation,
"Bob, pass the Number 3 extraction device"
police took him to Milemari village at around 1:15am to recover hidden arms.
That's early for them, must have a date later
As they reached near a forest of the village, Atiar's accomplices opened fire on them forcing the law enforcers to retaliate, police said.
Just like the script sez..
Atiar was caught in the "crossfire" when he attempted to flee.
"Feet, don't fail me......BANG! Damm you feet"
He died on the spot.
"rosebud"
Police retrieved two pipe guns and five bullets from the spot.
Shutter gun being used on old Raju
The body was sent to Jhenidah Sadar Hospital. According to police, Atiar of Tiniarputa village of Harinakundu upazila of the same district was an accused in six criminal cases, including three for murder.
Posted by: Steve || 05/09/2006 11:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Maybe if the RAB changed their aftershave lotion, the cohorts wouldn't sense them so quickly. Maybe I'm missing something...
Posted by: Inspector Clueso || 05/09/2006 13:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Simple, abliet heavily armed schoolkids..

Heh heh heh, close, very, very close.
Posted by: 6 || 05/09/2006 16:26 Comments || Top||

#3  Did you know the RAB has a very swish and flash enabled web site?

Check it out :

RAB website

At the bottom of this "picture gallery" page, there's a wonderful picture of the sort of "gun" they might come across :

gallery

More a danger to the person at the trigger I suspect.

Perhaps someone should write to them and settle once and for all the nature of a "shutter" gun?

Posted by: Alastair || 05/09/2006 19:07 Comments || Top||

#4  >Two criminals, including an outlaw,<

Two Criminals and an outlaw - wouldn't that be three guys?
Posted by: davemac || 05/09/2006 21:17 Comments || Top||


Britain
Court rules Guantanamo Brits can sue
A US court has ruled four Britons can take court action claiming their religious freedoms were infringed while they were detainees at Guantanamo.
The four, who were released in 2004 without any charges, are claiming $US10 million ($13.04 million) in damages from US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other senior military officials.

A US District Court in Washington ruled yesterday action could go ahead under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which says US government officials must not stop any person carrying out their religious beliefs.

The action by Shafiq Rasul, Asif Iqbal, Ruhal Ahmed and Jamal al-Harith also alleges the Pentagon chain of command authorised and condoned torture and other mistreatment.

The US government argued at a hearing that the action should be dismissed.

But Judge Ricardo Urbina ruled the Britons' claims that they were mistreated and stopped from practicing their religion while incarcerated at the Guantanamo Naval Base could proceed under the 1993 act.

His decision said the allegation was that US government officials committed a "direct affront to one of this nation's most cherished constitutional traditions".

US courts have previously dismissed actions brought on behalf of Guantanamo detainees under the Geneva conventions and other actions claiming the behaviour of the US military at Guantanamo had been unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court is currently considering a case challenging the legality of military tribunals held at the base.

"Mr Rasul and the other plaintiffs in this case were denied basic rights to worship as part of a systematic attempt to denigrate them as human beings," said their lead lawyer Eric Lewis.

"Judge Urbina's decision sends a strong message that Secretary Rumsfeld and the Generals who implemented these policies will be held accountable," said Mr Lewis.
Posted by: tipper || 05/09/2006 20:50 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What bullshit. Are we at war or not?
Posted by: Captain America || 05/09/2006 21:06 Comments || Top||

#2  I am guessing Clinton appointment but to lazy to look it up. All lawyers and Judges are 2 bit scumb INMSHO as everyone knows. I am a reall hard ass on it. I am extreme about it.

According to just about everyone in the Democrat party and on the left we are not in a war. By claiming that they are free to cut and run and act like it's police work. The WoT is not the "unjust illegal war" in Iraq but just police work an giving away state serects and treason is not a criminal act.

If the plantifs are dead can they still sue? Just saying, you know because, I want to know thats all.
Posted by: SPoD || 05/09/2006 21:23 Comments || Top||

#3  The dishonorable District Jerk Urbino was appointed by guess who, elevating him from divorce court?

Judge Urbina was appointed to the United States District Court in July 1994. He received a B.A. in 1967 from Georgetown University and graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1970. He served as staff attorney for the D.C. Public Defender Service from 1970 to 1972 and then entered private practice. From 1974 to 1981 he taught at Howard University Law School and directed the University’s Criminal Justice Program. He was appointed Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in April 1981, and served as Presiding Judge of the Court’s Family Division from 1985 to 1988.


For all you tempted to vote third party, enjoy all the Urbinos who get on the bench courtesy of your self centered statement.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 05/09/2006 21:25 Comments || Top||

#4  How can someone who qualifies for summary execution have any rights?
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 05/09/2006 21:40 Comments || Top||

#5  How did we ever manage to win WWII?
Posted by: doc || 05/09/2006 21:50 Comments || Top||

#6  execute them now. Satisfies law and forgoes future appeals.
Posted by: Frank G || 05/09/2006 22:30 Comments || Top||

#7  I doubt they'll win - US laws apply only to US citizens, legal rsidents, the 50 States, and any area under US jusrisdiction. As Brtons, they only genuine claim they MIGHT have is not being immediately released to Brit authorities after capture, plus of course the infamous US Ninth's ruling that America is an illegal and unconstitutional nation to begin with, i.e. any and all US Governing/Public Authorities is illegal andor unlawful to begin with ergo the USA has no right to wage wars, or defend from war or attack, let alone prosecute or investigate anyone for anything. IN THE REAL WORLD, HOWEVER, AND AS FOREIGN NATIONALS, IFF THEY WERE CAUGHT IN REAL OR ALLEGED ARMED COMBAT AGAINST US FORCES, THE ARMY-USDOD CAN HOLD THEM INDEFINITELY UNTIL THE ARMY-USDOD AND ONLY THE ARMY-USDOD IS SATISFIED OF THEIR ROLE IN THE ACTION. I'd be surprised if this article amounts to anything mnore than the usual anti-Dubya/GOP, "error-prone America =wilful Imperialist America" MSM bluster.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/09/2006 22:38 Comments || Top||

#8  I demand that we immediately enforce the Geneva Convention, as regards to illegal combatants. Give them a military tribunal, execute the guilty.

I mean, how is it possible that we did not allow them to practice their religion? We gave each prisoner a Koran in his native language, put up signs pointing to Mecca, provided Muslim chaplains, halal food, prayer rugs. They probably broadcast the call to prayer five times a day. About the only things we didn't give them were radical imams preaching jihad, infidels to kill, and suicide belts.
Posted by: Rambler || 05/09/2006 23:17 Comments || Top||

#9  Not only can they Sue they can Joan or maybe Glenda. With a little imagination anything's possible.......
Posted by: Dorf || 05/09/2006 23:36 Comments || Top||


Islamic cleric fights deportation
A radical Islamic cleric who has been accused of being a leading figure in al-Qaeda is starting a legal attempt to prevent his deportation from the UK. Abu Qatada, who is currently in prison, will try to persuade the Special Immigration Appeals Commission that he should not be sent to Jordan. It is the first test of a government agreement with another country meant to guarantee a deportee's safety. However Abu Qatada's lawyers will argue that it does not guarantee his safety. The SIAC has already described Abu Qatada as "a truly dangerous individual" at the centre of terrorist activities associated with al-Qaeda in the UK.

Abu Qatada came to the UK with his family as a refugee in the mid-90s. He was originally detained under anti-terrorist measures in 2002. After the Law Lords ruled that detention unlawful, he was released and put on a control order. He was then re-arrested, with a view to deportation to Jordan, where he has been convicted of terrorist offences. The UK has signed an agreement with Jordan that anyone sent back there will not be tortured or killed. Abu's lost a lot of weight since he's been away from the welfare cheques.
Posted by: Howard UK || 05/09/2006 03:36 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Down Under
Army manual 'at accused's home'
A UNITED States army officer today identified material allegedly found at the home of accused Sydney terrorist Faheem Khalid Lodhi as excerpts from a US army training manual.

Prosecutors in Lodhi's NSW Supreme Court trial say the extracts, under the heading "The Mujahid's Handbook", were among material inciting jihad allegedly seized during an ASIO search of his home in October 2003.

The manual was recommended as "a great resource for those of us travelling to the battlefield or for those wanting to learn more on the tricks or methods used by our enemies, so that we may defeat them", the jury has previously been told.

Lodhi is accused of plotting to bomb the national electricity supply system or several Sydney defence sites.

The 36-year-old architect has pleaded not guilty to four terrorism-related charges.

His trial today heard evidence from Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Croteau, the US army's liaison officer based at Sydney's Victoria Barracks.

Crown prosecutor Richard Maidment SC showed him four lever-arch folders of material downloaded from the internet.
Lt Col Croteau, who has served in the army for almost 30 years, said they were accurate copies of the US Army Field Manual used in military training.

The field manual was available to the public through US freedom of information laws and was accessible on the Internet, he said.

Cross-examined by defence counsel Phillip Boulten SC, Lt Col Croteau said the material was not secret.

"You can confirm that the material is circulating on the Internet at various sites and therefore is absolutely freely available to anyone in the world?" Mr Boulten asked.

"That's correct," the officer replied.

The trial continues tomorrow before Justice Anthony Whealy.
Posted by: Oztralian || 05/09/2006 17:46 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "We not only found a copy of Army Field Manual 21-20 in his home, but he had circled the passage about Army Conditioning Drill 1, Exercise 4, 'The Push-Up'. Such information, in the wrong hands, could result in significant improvements in the enemies' upper body strength, which could be used to directly menace our soldiers!"
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/09/2006 22:06 Comments || Top||

#2  We'll be screwed when terrorists take up baseball.
Posted by: ed || 05/09/2006 22:08 Comments || Top||


Europe
Bomb attack targets local politicians
A late-night attack on the home of a local politician raises concerns that public officials are increasingly finding themselves the target of intimidation. Elected officials fear that a culture of political violence is emerging in Denmark after a firebomb was thrown at the home of a councillor in the city of Korsør in western Zealand on Monday night.
Culture of political violence?
The bomb missed its target, and Fritz Neumann, a member of the Danish People's Party, and his family escaped unharmed, but police say the attack is just the latest in a string of similar incidents.
Do tell..
Six other city council members in Korsør have received written and electronic threats signed 'Allah is great' and 'Al Qaeda-network' in the past three months. Police believe they were related and could have to do with a rejected application for asylum.
Asylum? Not the Allan cartoons?
The latest bombing renewed concerns that Denmark's relaxed politicial culture made politicians particularly vulnerable to attacks.

Monday's attempted arson brought back memories of a similar attack on the home of the minister of integration, Rikke Hvilshøj, last year. In two separate incidents, police also recently arrested young men who issued death threats to PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Social Liberal MP Naser Khader.
Any details on those young men? Hello?
Political observers were unable to single out a motive for the attacks. Many of the incidents have targeted right-of-centre politicians, but they dismissed the idea that left-wing militants could be the source.
"No, certainly not!"
'The crisis about the cartoons of Mohammed could have been a clear chance for more militant groups to make an impact, because there was such a clear polarisation. Nevertheless, you didn't see those groups step forward,' René Karpantschof, a socioligist at Copenhagen University, told daily newspaper Berlingske Tidende.
Just because they didn't include a note, doesn't mean they didn't do it
Lack of respect was one likely cause, according to Niels Jørgen Cappelørn, the director of the Søren Kierkegaard Research Centre.
Lack of respect for law and order, freedom of speech, freedom of religion.....oh, that's not what you mean?
'I don't think this is an expression of a political rebellion. I think it's a desperate yell by people who cannot figure out how to communicate in a society that's racing ahead with the speed of a bullet train,' said Cappelørn.
Or a cry of "Kill the Infidels" by a society that communicates with fire and the sword
Posted by: Steve || 05/09/2006 14:55 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  western Zealand
I always wondered where "New" Zealand came from. Rantburg is more educational than National Geographic pictures.
Posted by: ed || 05/09/2006 16:07 Comments || Top||

#2  I wonder if the Islamist, figure threats work, because they have so far. The people who stand up to the Islamists seem to be the ones who are punished the most. Send those people here.

This is the kind of people I respect, too bad the Dutch don't.
Posted by: plainslow || 05/09/2006 16:45 Comments || Top||

#3  http://www.slate.com/id/2141276/
Link I meant to put on last comment.
Posted by: plainslow || 05/09/2006 16:46 Comments || Top||

#4  - seeth - The "socioligist" whatever the fuck that is, should study danish history and danegeld, gelded whiney quitters. - seeth -
Posted by: pihkalbadger || 05/09/2006 19:15 Comments || Top||

#5  Culture of personal destruction - ala Clinton
Posted by: Captain America || 05/09/2006 21:08 Comments || Top||


'Suicide Note' Handed To Foreign Office
Islamabad, 9 May (AKI/DAWN) - Germany on Monday shared with Pakistan the alleged suicide note of Amir Cheema, who was found dead in a Berlin prison while he faced a trial for allegedly trying to attack the editor of a German publication which published the cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. The move came a day before a team of the Pakistan Federal Investigation Agency was scheduled to leave for Berlin to investigate the circumstances under which the 28-year-old student had died.

Sources in the German embassy told the Pakistani daily Dawn that the suicide note had been handed over to the Pakistani Foreign Office. They claimed that the note written in Urdu showed that that Cheema had committed suicide.
Or they found someone else who can write Urdu
The sources said that it appeared from the note that Cheema was under immense psychological pressure because of the cartoons and he had preferred death over life.
I felt the same way when "The Far Side" was cancelled, but I got over it
The note also included a will of the deceased, they said.

Cheema's family in Rawalpindi has claimed that he had been tortured to death by German authorities. On Friday, Pakistan's state run APP news service, reported that three opposition lawmakers from Pakistan's six-party religious alliance Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) introduced a motion in the national assembly, asking for a debate on the death of Cheema in his Berlin cell. They said the student had been tortured to death. The assembly speaker, Chaudhry Ameer Hussain, allowed the motion to be debated at an unspecified date.
Posted by: Steve || 05/09/2006 08:39 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


15 "youths" terrorize bus passengers in France
This is the Google translation from the French press. Link goes to the original article en Francaise. Hat tip to No Pasaran.
The driver of a bus and several passengers were attacked Saturday afternoon in Pontoise (Valley of Oise) by several young people armed with teargas grenades which then escaped.

“About fifteen encagoulés young people” are gotten into the bus towards 14H and waited until it starts for gazer “the driver and three teenagers”, in the district of Louvrets, before leaving the bus to the following stop, according to a police source. On the whole, six people whose driver were poisoned to differing degree. One of the three teenagers aimed, more touched to the eyes that the others, was taken along to the hospital. The driver of the bus, “slightly touched”, could resume his work little time after the aggression.

The reason for the aggression remains unknown

The reason for the aggression was not established Saturday evening and the attackers not having made flights, it seems that it is about a “purely free act”, according to the police force. The attackers would be old less than 18 years. One of between-them would have been recognized by one of the victims whose mother must carry felt sorry for, according to the prefecture of the Valley of Oise.

The district of Louvrets where the incident proceeded, includes/understands “a little sensitive” cities and connait “sometimes problems”, but “it is not a cut-throat”, one commented on police source. The police force had still carried out no interpellation Saturday at the end of the afternoon. The investigation was entrusted to the police station of Cergy.
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/09/2006 00:43 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The reason for the aggression remains unknown

priceless
Posted by: Captain America || 05/09/2006 0:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Do you think you need 3 guesses to figure out who done it?
Posted by: SPoD || 05/09/2006 1:50 Comments || Top||

#3  National origin: 2nd/3rd generation North African

Religion: Secular Muslim

Occupation: unemployed

Source of income: Government of France Welfare
Posted by: anymouse || 05/09/2006 1:55 Comments || Top||

#4  Ladies and Gentlemen we have a winner.
Posted by: SPoD || 05/09/2006 2:23 Comments || Top||

#5  The joys of surrender.
Posted by: gromgoru || 05/09/2006 5:26 Comments || Top||

#6  "Source of income: Government of France Welfare"

WRONG! Source of income: French Taxpayers.

The Government signs checks IN YOUR NAME. If you want to fight the vileness of socialism, then you have to avoid slip-ups like this.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 05/09/2006 7:01 Comments || Top||

#7  Does anyone have a translation for encagoulés?
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/09/2006 8:16 Comments || Top||

#8  Sea - 'hooded-up' - I guess...
Posted by: Howard UK || 05/09/2006 8:18 Comments || Top||

#9  BTW - this frequently happens in London - usually predominantly black street gangs/ some asian/whites also.. more a working-class teenage crime thing than anything to do with religion. Should still shoot them though..
Posted by: Howard UK || 05/09/2006 8:20 Comments || Top||

#10  Texas' answer: Concealed Carry License.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 05/09/2006 8:56 Comments || Top||

#11  Some kids through rocks at a city bus I was on in Baltimore, once. White kids, IIRC. Wonder what that was about.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 05/09/2006 9:17 Comments || Top||

#12  The future of France is upon them.
Posted by: wxjames || 05/09/2006 9:46 Comments || Top||

#13  I'd say the french get what they deserve, their country is going down the toilet due to decades of uncontrolled muslim immigration, and good riddance. BUT, it occurs to me that the muslims know nothing about making a decent Bordeaux or Beaujolais, to say nothing of Champagne. Me thinks me hath a paradox....
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 05/09/2006 10:11 Comments || Top||

#14  How were the teargas grenades able to escape, that's what I want to know
Posted by: Graiter Claling1714 || 05/09/2006 12:10 Comments || Top||

#15  #11 LH,

I got the same welcome riding a bus through a housing estate in Dublin, Ireland, once. The smiles on those cute little Irish bastards as they hurled rocks at our windows could've been on a tourism poster.
Posted by: JDB || 05/09/2006 15:09 Comments || Top||

#16  JDB - 'cute little Irish bastards' --- too funny.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 05/09/2006 15:13 Comments || Top||

#17  It's when they start blowing them up that you've really got to worry.
Posted by: Howard UK || 05/09/2006 15:41 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
U.S.A cancels deployment of 3,500 troops
PENTAGON officials said today 3500 fresh US troops will not be deployed to Iraq as had been planned for early this month, as commanders monitor security on the ground. "The Second Brigade, First Infantry Division, based in Schweinfurt, Germany, will not begin its deployment to Iraq in early May as scheduled," the Defence Department said in a statement.

The statement said the decision would "not affect the current number of US troops in Iraq, which is numbering approximately 133,000".

Commander of the coalition forces, General George Casey, recommended last year substantial troop reductions for 2006. Late last month, he said selection of new Iraqi Prime Minister Jawad al-Maliki was an important milestone in that respect. The Pentagon statement said more than 254,000 Iraqi troops have been trained and equipped.
Posted by: Oztralian || 05/09/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sounds reasonable, 387,000 trained troops should be able to do something.
Posted by: Hupinemble Jaling1017 || 05/09/2006 7:58 Comments || Top||

#2  So they said they were going to deploy troops and now they aren't? Aha! Bush Lied and .....uh, people stayed home! I look forward to seeing how this gets spun in the media as a lack of progress in training the Iraqi forces.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/09/2006 9:14 Comments || Top||

#3  The news seemed to be all over this yesterday on TV. Going off on how "this could be a sign that the US is starting to withdraw" blah blah blah.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats || 05/09/2006 9:22 Comments || Top||

#4  it IS the start of withdrawl. Thats how we'll do it - the forces there will rotate out on schedule, but wont be replaced man for man.

Now what this means depends who you talk to. Alot of the MSM, and far too many Dems, have taken the tack of "if there really is as much progress as you say there is, why cant you take US troops out" This would say "see, we can"

But for the folks like the Weekly standard, or Greg at Belgravia dispatch, who think we dont have adequate force, and that the Iraqi forces should complement US forces, rather than substitute for them, this is a sign Bush is caving to the pressure, and putting a win in November ahead of the situation in Iraq. Where the insurgency, its pretty clear, is barely contained, and, if its long run prospects are poor, is still almost as lethal as ever.

Myself, Im not sure.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 05/09/2006 9:28 Comments || Top||

#5  Better check the AQ memos lib. They are finished. Even AQ admits it.
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/09/2006 9:37 Comments || Top||

#6  If they aren't going to Iraq, bring them home.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 05/09/2006 9:45 Comments || Top||

#7  I like to think of it as the US playing an immense game of chess against 100 opponents at the same time. The US is far ahead, with 100,000 pieces in play to their opponents combined 25,000 pieces. But the US can never withdrawl, anywhere, and cede just one little part of the board or soon that little piece of territory will be covered with enemy queens, venturing forth to wreak havoc elsewhere.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/09/2006 9:54 Comments || Top||

#8  When we start bringing soldiers home, the MSM will have an awards program and pass out gold plated statues of peace doves to all the lefties.
They will claim victory over American imperialism.
At that time, we should machine gun them into hamburger meat. Then we can proclaim victory and have a keg party.
Posted by: wxjames || 05/09/2006 10:01 Comments || Top||

#9  DV - AQ may not be able to win.

If you think that an Iraq with an ongoing low level insurgency, a govt that cant really govern, leading either to a new authoritarian govt, or a division of the country, which each piece under the dominance of a neighbor, and each piece not a democracy (except maybe Kurdistan), and a situation where Iraq is NOT a model for anyone in the region, and where the US is seen as having withdrawn with its goals unaccomplished, at the cost of several thousand American lives and billions of dollars, and the use of assets that could have been used elsewhere, is an acceptable outcome, by all means support withdrawl without regard to the situation on the ground in Iraq. After all, if Zawahiri cant get a new training ground in Iraq, thats all that matters, right?

I think we need to do better than that to win. and i think failing to WIN, will leave us worse off than had we not gone in the first place.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 05/09/2006 11:01 Comments || Top||

#10  NS---If they aren't going to Iraq, bring them home.

I say, If they haven't left, bring them home. The Ulitmate LLL Oxy-Moroon™.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 05/09/2006 11:20 Comments || Top||

#11  Drawing down the OIF force levels significantly (more than the 3.5k noted in the article) is a good way of getting an official vote in the Iraqi parliment. The most likely things are:

--- the Iraqis say "please don't withdraw any more" which would take away (or weaken) one of the LLL's talking points.

=== the Iraqis say, "OK you can withdraw a few more but no more than that" which accomplishes almost the same thing.

Posted by: mhw || 05/09/2006 12:55 Comments || Top||

#12  Things are continuing to improve in Iraq as the Iraqis take on more of their own protection, and perhaps our troops will be needed elsewhere soon. Else, some can be sent off to start their Special Forces training.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/09/2006 18:44 Comments || Top||

#13  Send them to eradicate poppy in afghanistan.
Posted by: pihkalbadger || 05/09/2006 19:20 Comments || Top||

#14  Fewer US troops in Iraq also means a smaller target in the case of an Iranian first strike.
Posted by: mrp || 05/09/2006 20:20 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Troops in Jammu and Kashmir to be increased
Troop presence in Jammu and Kashmir will be "numerically enhanced" to deal with the increased terrorist violence in remote areas and sophisticated weapons provided to village defence committees to make them capable of staving off militant attacks, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Jammu on Tuesday.

"The situation in the state is under constant review and if attacks by terrorists on soft targets continue, we will numerically enhance troop presence," Mukherjee said after wittnessing emotional scenes at Tawa village in Doda and Basantgarh in Udhampur district where terrorists gunned down 32 Hindus last week.

"Terorists have now stepped up senseless killings and we have to induct more troops to make the people secure," he said.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who accompanied Mukherjee on the tour, called on more people to join the village defence committees.

Asked about the government's recent announcement on reduction of troops from Kashmir and the reasons prompting the re-induction of forces, Mukherjee told reporters, "When we reduced the troops we did it voluntarily and even then we had made it clear that if the situation warranted we could change our stand."

The defence minister saw a sinister design behind the terrorist strikes against remote villages and defenceless people, saying they were aimed at sabotaging the upcoming round table conference in Srinagar on May 25.
Posted by: john || 05/09/2006 19:56 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Troops in Jammu and Kashmir to be increased

Wife: "Honey call the exterminator, the roaches are back!"

The obedient one: Yes dear I already took care of it.
*
Troop presence in Jammu and Kashmir will be "numerically enhanced" to deal with the increased terrorist violence in remote areas and sophisticated weapons provided to village defence committees to make them capable of staving off militant attacks, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Jammu on Tuesday.

Good news. Good luck men and good hunting!
Posted by: RD || 05/09/2006 21:24 Comments || Top||


Police kill 'Varanasi militant'
Police in Indian-administered Kashmir say they have killed a militant who they allege was involved in bomb attacks in the holy city of Varanasi. They have identified the dead militant as Mohammad Zuber and say he was killed in the frontier town of Handwara, near the ceasefire line with Pakistan.

Mohammad Zuber was shot dead in a gun battle with police near the Line of Control which divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan, they say. Police say they are trying to investigate what he was doing in the area. "Perhaps he was trying to flee to Pakistan," Inspector General of Police K Rajendra Kumar is quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

In April police in the state of Uttar Pradesh, where Varanasi is located, arrested a man they alleged was the mastermind of the blasts. The man, Vali Ullah, ran a religious school and was associated with a famous seminary in the state, the police said. The police had earlier freed two men they arrested in connection with the blasts.

A wedding party took the brunt of the attack at Varanasi's famous Sankat Mochan temple. Nine people died on the day of the temple attack and five at the city's Cantonment railway station. A child died two days later. Varanasi, also known as Benares, is about 670 km (415 miles) south-east of Delhi. It is the religious capital of Hinduism and is usually packed with Indian pilgrims and foreign tourists.
Posted by: Steve || 05/09/2006 08:55 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Taliban rule openly in Waziristan
The BBC News website gets behind the scenes in an area where the Pakistani Taleban are digging in, despite the efforts of thousands of Pakistani troops. Taleban fighters battling Pakistani security forces declared a unilateral ceasefire last week to accommodate a religious gathering near Miranshah, the largest town in North Waziristan. The ceasefire began on 2 May to allow tens of thousands of devotees from all over the region to attend the annual ritual organised by the Pakistan-based Tablighi Jamaat. The ceasefire ends on 11 May. What happens after that is anyone's guess.
I can guess. Can you guess?
But a day-long trip to Miranshah enabled us to get a glimpse of how the protagonists, as well as ordinary locals, are using the 10-day respite to prepare for the days beyond the current ceasefire. Along the road from Bannu, the last town before North Waziristan, to Miranshah, Pakistani security forces could be seen fortifying their bunkers. Paramilitary troops that would ordinarily not step out of their bunkers for fear of attacks from Taleban fighters were filling fresh sandbags to shore up their defences.
The Pak army can guess too.
In Mirali, the first major town on the road inside North Waziristan, Taleban fighters can be seen patrolling the main bazaar. Thanks to the ceasefire, they can walk past military checkpoints without triggering a confrontation. The Taleban seem to be enjoying the ceasefire: the customary tension on their faces replaced with easy smiles.
Color me delighted that the Talibs can strut around looking relaxed. Why don't the Paks unilaterally declare a unceasefire? I know, I know. The bazaars are full of bunnies and ducklings, maybe even a kitten or two.
The venue of the religious gathering, a place called Tablighi Markaz (location of the nutbags) (preaching centre), is barely two kilometres past the main bazaar of Miranshah. `The last time outsiders had come into the area was a couple of weeks ago when the Pakistan army flew in a helicopter full of foreign journalists to demonstrate what it said was its control over the area. Area commander Maj Gen Akram Sahi had told the foreign journalists that he was "hurt" to read in the media that the government had no writ over much of North Waziristan. He said his men were "everywhere".
"My men as far as the eye can see. If you squint a little. And get out a magnifying glass. And a kaleidoscope."
It was difficult to spot Gen Sahi's men anywhere in or around the congregation near Miranshah but those who were "everywhere" were scores of Taleban fighters armed to their teeth.
Nice going, General.
Barely 200 metres from the venue of the gathering was a large blue tent where the main Taleban commanders were based. I was allowed inside the tent where Taleban leader Haji Omar was sitting with several area commanders. He was just settling down after bidding farewell to Maulvi Sadiq Noor, one of the most feared Taleban commanders in North Waziristan.
Oh, he's so feared! Oh Ethel, the smelling salts!
Taleban fighters guarding the tent seemed to be carrying more than their own weight in arms and ammunition. A young boy who barely looked 15 had eight ammunition magazines and four grenades dangling from his camouflage vest. Because of his relatively frail frame, the young man was probably carrying half the ammunition compared with his comrades. Most were carrying short range wireless sets with clip-on antennas. "No, no interviews and no photographs," another fighter told me sternly. "Not during the ceasefire." Sitting in the tent and surrounded by Taleban fighters, I couldn't help dreading a possible missile strike from a US predator.
You had the same idea? Great minds think alike.
But no such fears seemed to bother the Taleban. They were apparently too confident of their ideological affinity with the tens of thousands of devotees they were guarding.

The Tablighi Jamaat has historically discouraged any kind of political symbols at its gatherings - but not now in North Waziristan. As the congregation concluded with a collective prayer for a Muslim renaissance, hundreds of devotees could be seen buying posters of Afghan commander Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Mr Hekmatyar has recently declared his intent to team up with al-Qaeda to fight the US forces in Afghanistan.
Hand him a box of grenades and we can solve two problems.
It was difficult to find a place anywhere in Miranshah where one would not come across some measure of resentment against Pakistan security forces. The main bazaar was bustling - the ceasefire means a temporary end to the long hours of curfew imposed by the security forces. But it was not just the debris left behind at various places in the bazaar by government bombing that spoke of local resentment against the Musharraf government. Locals were open and vocal with their views. "It is no fun living here any more," a shopkeeper said.
"I have a cousin who lives in Detroit. He tells me Detroit is a paradise. Is there any chance you can help me get to Detroit?"
"This bazaar would open with sunrise and shut at sunset. Now, people trudge in at around noon and leave after doing a few hours of business." But aren't the Taleban equally to be blamed for the war-like situation, I ask. "No. They are mujahideen waging a jihad against the Americans. They have no reason to disturb the peace in Waziristan if left to themselves," was the reply.
Yup, the evil 'Merkins, we done it.
There was not a single newspaper available anywhere in Miranshah. Angry at being portrayed as "terrorists and miscreants", the Taleban had recently set newspapers on fire in Mirali. After that, no transporter was willing to bring newspapers into the tribal territory.
That would tend to put a damper on readership.
Not only that, most local journalists have given up journalism after failing to convince their publishers based in Peshawar or Bannu not to call the Taleban terrorists or miscreants.

Such banning of newspapers would have led to a fierce debate anywhere in the world. It is barely mentioned in Miranshah, where people just seem happy that they can roam around freely once more. It doesn't seem to matter that this freedom is only assured until 11 May when the ceasefire announced by the Taleban comes to an end.
And, of course, as long as you do as the Taleban tells you to do.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 05/09/2006 04:08 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What a perfect, missed opportunity for a napalm strike. Few survivors, lots of secondaries.

Pakistan is not going to do anything to control the situation. It's time to quit playing and totally annialate these tribal "territories". If we have to take out Rawalpindi and Karachi at the same time, gee, too bad.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/09/2006 13:32 Comments || Top||

#2  "...failing to convince their publishers Peshawar or Bannu not to call the Taleban terrorists..."

Perhaps these publishers know something the US DOS doesn't. Then again, maybe they're just willing to call a spade a spade.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 05/09/2006 14:23 Comments || Top||

#3  Sew the Wind reap the Whirlwind in action. Pakistans pay back for hosting Ossma and Mullha One eye. They have gone and recruited a new baggy pants army. Afghanistan will be in for a difficult time too. All thanks to the ISI whom funded and allowed to flourish this particular brand of asshattery in Paksitan.

Good Luck with that.
Posted by: SPoD || 05/09/2006 15:43 Comments || Top||


Kashmir Korpse Kount
SRINAGAR, India - Suspected Muslim terrorists rebels hanged a young woman and shot dead two former comrades, police said on Monday, as the state capital made its annual summer move to the main city Srinagar.

Police blamed terrorists rebels for hanging a 22-year-old Muslim woman in northern Baramulla district. “She was abducted some 20 days ago and later hanged by terrorists militants. Her body was recovered late Sunday,” a police spokesman said.

He said suspected terrorists rebels also shot dead two former colleagues in the district of Baramulla and Pulwama in the south, but gave no further details. No group claimed responsibility for the killings.
Do they need to?
Posted by: Steve White || 05/09/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Indian police kill Muslim militant in New Delhi
Indian policemen killed an Islamist militant on Monday after a gun-battle in the heart of New Delhi, police said. The Indian capital has been the target of many attacks by Muslim militants fighting Indian rule in the Kashmir region in the past few years, and police have killed several guerrillas in the city over the last decade.

Times Now Television said that the militant had been killed in the sprawling Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium complex — one of India's best known sporting arenas — after being surrounded by police. "Our police team challenged him and he tried to run and fire at the same time ... after a brief encounter he was injured," senior police officer Karnail Singh told reporters. The militant died later in hospital, he said.

Television footage showed a pistol lying on the ground and bloodstains on leaves and on a wall. Singh said that two other militants were arrested on Monday evening at a railway station with 4 kilogrammes of RDX explosive and detonators. He said police suspected that the detained men and the killed militant belonged to the Pakistan-based Laskhar-e-Taiba militant group.
Posted by: Fred || 05/09/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Policeman killed in Bajaur Agency
A policeman was killed by a landmine blast in a remote area of Bajaur Agency, local officials told Daily Times on Monday. Officials said the incident took place at Inayat Kili, around 15 kilometres west of Khar. "We are not sure whether the incident is linked to recent attacks carried out by Al Qaeda," they said.
In any other country, with the possible exception of Yemen, that statement wouldn't make any sense.
The tribal region bordering Afghanistan has a history of landmines being used in inter-tribal enmities.
"I must have Dire Revenge™! Honey! Where are the land mines?"
"In the kitchen, next to the refrigerator, where they always are!"
Meanwhile, suspected tribal militants fired two rockets at a Bajaur Scouts security camp in Khar on Sunday night. The rockets fell in open spaces and did no damage. Local authorities have detained eight people on suspicion of being involved in the attack.
"Awright, you eight! Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!"
"Hey! We din't fire no rockets!"
"Yeah! We wuz out settin' landmines!"
"Oh. Hokay. You eight, then! Into the paddy wagon!"
Unidentified assailants also fired rockets at a security post in Inayat Kili. No casualties were reported. Armed men stormed a security post in Bajaur killing three policemen last week. Authorities fear the recent surge in attacks had been set off by the death of Al Qaeda explosive expert Abu Marwan al-Suri during a clash with policemen at a checkpoint.
I guess that's as good an excuse as any.
Posted by: Fred || 05/09/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


3 Pakistanis Injured in US Missile Strike
US helicopter gunships wounded at least three Pakistani laborers in a missile strike against suspected Taleban fighters in the South Waziristan tribal region yesterday, according to security officials. The three were brought to the Pakistani border town of Angoor Adda from a nearby mountain where they had been mining for minerals, but another eight men were unaccounted for, said the officials, who requested anonymity.

The attack came on the heels of criticism by a senior US official of Pakistan's efforts to stop Taleban fighters crossing into Afghanistan to attack US and Afghan forces. Security officials said the attack was launched during the early afternoon on the slopes of a mountain called Khawaja Khizer. Military and government spokesmen could not be immediately contacted, and it was unknown whether the US side had consulted Pakistani forces before carrying out the attack inside Pakistani territory.
Posted by: Fred || 05/09/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well at least they got the mining part right. I bet they were Talaban planting real mines in Afghanistan. No one is wasting expensive rocketry on "Pakistani laborers" except other Pakistani's
Posted by: SPoD || 05/09/2006 2:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Another version from The Nation:
US fires on Angoor Ada hills

WANA (Agencies) - Three persons were killed and eight missing, believed to be dead, when US gunship helicopters pounded a tribal district of South Waziristan on Monday where security forces have fought pitched battles with Al-Qaeda militants. A local private TV channel reported that American gunship helicopters violated Pakistani airspace and bombarded in the vicinity of dusty Angoora Ada leaving three labourers dead while eight others were missing, believed to be killed.
The victims were extracting chromite stones at Khawaja Khizer hill, near the town of Angoor Ada Monday afternoon. The dead have been identified as Khawaja Khan, Amir Khan and Ibrahim Khan.
Local notables had launched search for the eight missing tribesmen.

AFP quoted officials as saying that three labourers working on a hillside were injured when jets fired at them in tribal district of South Waziristan. “US-led military planes fired at people who were extracting chromite stones at Khawaja Khizer hill, near the town of Angoor Ada Monday afternoon,” a security official told AFP.

Military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan denied reports that US choppers violated Pakistani airspace saying three persons were injured inside the Afghan territory. “There is no violation of Pakistani airpspace. Three wounded person crossed into Pakistan at 7:00 pm and are in custody of Pakistani forces and are being questioned,” DG ISPR Shaukat Sultan told a private TV channel late Monday when asked about reports that US gunship helicopters had pounded Angoor Ada in which three persons were killed and eight others were missing, believed to be dead.

He insisted that the operation was being carried out within Afghanistan’s territory adding that he had no information about the nature of the operation as it was being conducted in Afghanistan. The injured had been given medical treatment, he added.
Posted by: Steve || 05/09/2006 9:29 Comments || Top||

#3  The victims were extracting chromite stones
Simple miners, albeit heavily armed and seemingly well versed in small unit tactics.
Posted by: 6 || 05/09/2006 16:32 Comments || Top||

#4  oooohhh "gunship" helicopters!
Posted by: Frank G || 05/09/2006 17:21 Comments || Top||

#5  Simple miners, albeit heavily armed

6 dear, it isn't nice to show off, even if we are proud that you spell so nicely when you try. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/09/2006 22:35 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Ansar al-Islam chemical expert killed
Snip, duplicate.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 05/09/2006 04:13 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He shall be missed


NOT!
Posted by: Hupinemble Jaling1017 || 05/09/2006 7:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Rot In Peace
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/09/2006 8:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Rest in pieces
Posted by: Captain America || 05/09/2006 21:12 Comments || Top||


Al-Qaeda memo warns of Shi'ites, Iraqi Sunni concerns
Al-Qaeda in Iraq is concerned about disorganization within its cells in the Baghdad area, with one extremist describing them as simply a “daily annoyance” to the Iraqi government, according to documents released Monday by the U.S. military.

The military said the documents were seized during April 16 raids in the Youssifiyah area, 12 miles south of the capital. The documents indicate the group is worried that its forces are unable to secure solid footholds within Baghdad, U.S. military officials said.

Notably absent from the documents were the usual derogatory references to Shiites as heretics, and the Americans as either “crusaders” or “occupation forces” – language common to most militant postings that appear on the Internet.

“This information confirms what the government of Iraq, coalition forces and ultimately the people of Iraq already know – that al-Qaeda in Iraq's role only attempts to impede Iraqis in following the road to prosperity, security and national unity,” U.S. military spokesman Brig. Gen. Rudy Wright said in a statement.

In one document as released by the U.S., an unidentified al-Qaeda member writes that the influence and power of Iraq's Shiite majority cannot be taken lightly, especially in Baghdad, “particularly when the power of the ministries of Interior and Defense is given to them, compared to the power of the mujahedeen” in the city.

The document says that the Baghdad cells are capable of only “hit and run” operations, leading the public to conclude that “the Shiites are stronger in Baghdad and nearer to controlling it, while the mujahedeen ... are not considered more than a daily annoyance to the Shiite government.”

Release of the documents appears part of a U.S. campaign to deflate the image of al-Qaeda in Iraq and its leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The documents were released four days after the U.S. military aired what it said were clips cut from a previously released al-Qaeda in Iraq video which showed a bumbling al-Zarqawi fumbling with an unfamiliar, American-made machine gun.

The version of the tape posted on the Web showed al-Zarqawi as a confident, skilled warrior.

The other document released Monday outlined the group's strategy in Baghdad. It said al-Qaeda should focus on the capital while reducing attacks on Sunni areas “in order to reduce pressure on the Sunnis ... while cleansing (Sunni areas) of spies and Shiites.”

U.S. military officials have said that militants are expected to mount more attacks in Baghdad as lawmakers struggle to form the country's first democratically elected national unity government – a process that has been rife with sectarian and ethnic tension mirroring the violence around Iraq.

Focusing on Baghdad, as explained by the strategy document, would force the U.S. military to shift resources there and allow militants to regroup in their traditional bases, including Anbar province, which includes the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. It also reiterates al-Zarqawi's long-stated goal of targeting the country's majority Shiites.

But the strategy document complains that “the strength of the brothers in Baghdad” is based mostly on car bombs and “groups of assassins lacking any organized military capabilities.”

The writer complains that the Americans and the Iraqi government forces “were able to absorb our painful blows,” raise new recruits and “take control of Baghdad as well as other areas, one after the other.”

“This is why every year is worse than the previous year, as far as the mujahedeen's control and influence over Baghdad,” the document said.

It also charged that the major Sunni groups – the Iraqi Islamic Party and the clerical Association of Muslim Scholars – have “anesthetized” the Sunni population. It warned that “we will have a problem” if the government succeeds in raising all-Sunni army units.

Insurgents have recently targeted recruits from the first all-Sunni unit, killing at least seven of them in two separate attacks last week.

“Either we let them go beyond the limits, or fight them and risk inciting the Sunnis against us through the channels of the party and the association,” the document says.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 05/09/2006 04:04 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Full transcript here
Posted by: tipper || 05/09/2006 6:33 Comments || Top||


IEDs in mosque compound
BAGHDAD, Iraq – An explosion occurred in a building within the Sheik Abdel Kader mosque compound at approximately 6 p.m. May 7 in Rusafa, a neighborhood of east Baghdad. According to the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Division, the bomb exploded, causing a fire. The Iraqi fire department responded and began suppressing the fire when firefighters noticed an improvised explosive device inside the mosque.
No! Reeeeeally? That's never happened before, has it?
The Iraqi police explosive ordinance disposal team arrived at the mosque to clear the holy site of bombs and bomb making materials. The team dismantled six IEDs. Initial reports indicate that two terrorists were wounded and another one was killed in the blast. Iraqi army officials are engaging local leaders to gain more information about the mosque and activities occurring there.
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/09/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Iraqi army officials are engaging local leaders to gain more information about the mosque and activities occurring there.

One hopes they are engaging them.... vigorously
Posted by: DanNY || 05/09/2006 0:04 Comments || Top||

#2  The Iraqi police explosive ordinance disposal team arrived at the mosque to clear the holy holey criminal lair site of bombs and bomb making materials. The team dismantled six IEDs.
Posted by: RD || 05/09/2006 1:32 Comments || Top||

#3  The "holy site" crap goes by the wayside once munitons are found within the precincts. This holy site ought to be bulldozed after all the "korans' are removed by "holy" men not affiliated with the Mosque.

I hope the "holey" men from this place are down town for some RAB style interviewing.
Posted by: SPoD || 05/09/2006 2:45 Comments || Top||

#4  Update (also CentCom - I'd link but I seem to break things when I try it in comments):

The explosion originally reported as occurring in the Sheik Abdel Kader Mosque {who runs this mosque? Who attends it? How big is it? How 'important'?} turned out to be a fire at the mosque’s school, which is located in an adjacent building.

According to Iraqi Army officials, at approximately 6:43 p.m. May 7, Iraqi firefighters responded to a fire in the mosque’s school in the Rusafa neighborhood of east Baghdad.

The firefighters notified the Iraqi Army they had discovered explosives in the parking lot of the school.

Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, and an Iraqi police explosive ordnance disposal team, arrived and discovered an assortment of rockets, rocket-propelled grenades, C-4 explosives and other bomb-making materials in the school.

As reported earlier by the Iraqi Army, indications are the school was being used as an improvised-explosive devise production and staging area. Iraqi Soldiers reported finding several completed IEDs staged in vehicles and ready to be taken to an emplacement site. According to Iraqi Army officials, the guards at the mosque were observed by firefighters running away from the scene.
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/09/2006 7:16 Comments || Top||

#5  a fire at the mosque’s school, which is located in an adjacent building.

A fire in the chemistry department's hazmat storage facility, no doubt. Funny the firemen didn't see the colored diamond upon arrival.

Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 05/09/2006 8:00 Comments || Top||

#6  I wonder if it would occur to these idiots to round up the worshipers and question them.
Posted by: wxjames || 05/09/2006 10:17 Comments || Top||

#7  Bomb-making madrassas. Such good holy students.
Posted by: Shuns Uleating3851 || 05/09/2006 12:14 Comments || Top||

#8  For safety's sake, the firemen really should have detonated the IEDs in situ so as to avoid the possibility of accidental explosion during any attempts to disarm or move them.
Posted by: Zenster || 05/09/2006 15:10 Comments || Top||

#9  Just being good muslim students and doing what their book says. This is normal Talab/A.Q. islamic teaching at work.
Posted by: SPoD || 05/09/2006 17:11 Comments || Top||


Series of blasts in Iraqi capital, notorious insurgent gunned down
A booby-trapped car blew up near a court building in the Baghdad district of Al-Karakh on Monday killing one civilian and wounding 10 others, a security source. The source told KUNA that the explosives-laden car was parked on side of a road close to the court building.

Earlier on Monday, a bomb blast on Palestine Street in the city wounded 17 people, and another identical blast on Al-Rabee street wounded four civilians. Elsewhere, five civilians were killed and 10 others were wounded in an explosion in Al-Tayaran public square in the center of the city. Also today, a bomb planted at a water fountain in a public square in the capital blew up killing five civilians and wounding 10 others, a security source said. The source told KUNA that the explosion occurred at the noon rush-hour at the usually crowded spot of the city. Policemen evacuated the victims to hospitals.

The Iraqi Government, in a statement, said security troops killed Ali Wali, 38, a leading member of the radical group, Ansar Al-Islam, in an operation in the district of Al-Mansour, two days ago, adding that the man had joined warriors in Afghanistan, imprisoned for falsifying documents and received training for terror and bombing attacks. Later, police in the capital reported locating dead bodies of two journalists, who worked for the Iraqi Al-Nahrain satellite television station, in the south of the capital. The two men, who were kidnapped yesterday, were shot with gunfire.
Only his Mom and his fleas will miss him, and Mahmoud the Scurrilous Weasel gets a battlefield promotion.
Posted by: Fred || 05/09/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


First British servicewoman killed in action in Iraq
The first British servicewoman to die in action in Iraq was named Monday with four other flight crew killed when their helicopter crashed over last weekend.

Flight Lieutenant Sarah Mulvihill died in the crash in Basra, southern Iraq, along with Wing Commander John Coxen, Lieutenant Commander Darren Chapman, Lieutenant David Dobson and Marine Paul Collins, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed. Serious clashes between troops and locals erupted after the Lynx helicopter smashed into a two-storey house in the centre of the city last Saturday. An Iraqi policeman at the scene claimed it had been shot down.

An MoD spokesman said Flight Lieutenant Mulvihill, 32, was the first woman to die in action during "Operation Telic." "Another woman has died but it was not as a result of enemy action," he added.
Posted by: Fred || 05/09/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Rest in peace. And thank you.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/09/2006 18:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Condolences to the family, Gone but not forgotten.
Posted by: pihkalbadger || 05/09/2006 19:26 Comments || Top||


Clashes between Iraqi army and gunmen in northern Baghdad
Violent clashes erupted in the Aazamiyah district in northern Baghdad, eyewitnesses said. They told KUNA that unidentified gunmen attacked army checkpoints in Aazamiyah, using light weapons and rocket-propelled grenades. A number of civilians were wounded in the clashes. The eyewitnesses said US troops intervened to help the Iraqi army and helicopters were seen hovering overhead. They noted that clashes were still raging despite the US intervention.
Posted by: Fred || 05/09/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Same neigborhood as two weeks ago? Sunni / Shia festivities with us as the referee.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 05/09/2006 10:00 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
EU aid offer includes contacts with Hamas
Posted by: ed || 05/09/2006 20:59 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


U.S., Allies Agree to Palestinian Aid
The United States bowed to pressure from its allies Tuesday and agreed to support a new program to temporarily funnel additional aid directly to the Palestinian people.

A surprise statement by Mideast peacemakers, issued after a day of closed-door diplomatic meetings, did not say precisely how much or what kind of aid they would provide. But the agreement seemed to underscore a concern that months of withholding most aid from the Palestinians, part of an effort to pressure the new Hamas-led government toward a more accommodating stance with Israel, was harming the Palestinian people.

The new fund represents a slight softening of the hard U.S. line against financial engagement with Hamas, the militant Islamic group that has conducted numerous terrorist attacks. The United States, the European Union and Israel list Hamas as a terrorist organization.

The United States and European Union have cut off direct aid to the Palestinian government while pledging to help meet the crushing humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people through charities and other means.

Israel has also refused to transfer $55 million in monthly tax revenues it collects for the Palestinian Authority. Overseas donations, mostly from Europe, have long sustained the cash-strapped and bloated Palestinian government.

The new fund is supposed to administer only money for basic human needs. But both European and U.S. diplomats said that at some point it might be used to pay salaries for urgently needed doctors or teachers or for other services that the Hamas government otherwise would be expected to provide.
...
They pressed the United States to agree to the new humanitarian fund, even though that kind of assistance may be an indirect benefit to Hamas. The United States agreed on condition the fund be temporary and limited to programs that meet basic needs, a senior State Department official said "It would be against our values to let people starve," said Marc Otte, the EU's special envoy for the Mideast.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the European Union would take the lead in setting up the new fund. The United States is not expected to contribute. The United Nations and Russia, the other partners in the Quartet peacemaking group along with the U.S., also endorsed the program.

The international group issued a warning to Hamas three months ago that it risked a loss of international aid if it did not change its policies. "The thrust of this is the international community is still trying to respond to the needs of the Palestinian people," Rice said.

The European Union has proposed sending money directly to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to be spent on hospitals, schools and humanitarian needs. While the U.S. says it wants to keep sending humanitarian aid, it has been cool to the European proposal. Even greater differences exist between the U.S. and Russia. "We're not for cutting off any aid," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters Tuesday.

The U.S. says it respects the democratic elections that produced the Hamas victory and has no express policy to oust the militants. Its financial strategy, however, seems aimed at undermining public support for Hamas and making it difficult or impossible for the militants to govern.

Although the EU has also cut aid, public opinion in Europe often favors Palestinian causes and governments are leery of looking too harsh. The EU and its 25 member states were the biggest source of aid to the Palestinians, granting some $634 million a year. ...
Posted by: ed || 05/09/2006 20:44 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Weasels, Inc.
Posted by: Captain America || 05/09/2006 20:58 Comments || Top||

#2  And the frogs will fold on Iran, too. The Anglosphere is alone again. We don't even have a Stalin we can work with this time.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 05/09/2006 20:59 Comments || Top||

#3  I say again. This gets us...what?
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/09/2006 21:52 Comments || Top||

#4  dead joooos
Posted by: Frank G || 05/09/2006 22:00 Comments || Top||

#5  With the exception of Britain and the East, I am not sure that the EU is worth a bucket of warm spit.
Posted by: RWV || 05/09/2006 22:56 Comments || Top||


IDF Navy keeps smuggled TNT out of Gaza
An attempt to smuggle explosives into the Gaza Strip from Egypt was thwarted on Independence Day by navy warships patrolling the Mediterranean, it was released for publication on Tuesday. At 3:40 a.m. on May 3, a Davor navy ship spotted a suspicious fishing boat crossing from Egyptian waters into the fishing water off the Gaza Strip coast. Palestinian fisherman are not allowed to enter the IDF-designated buffer zone around Rafah and Gaza, which encompasses several hundred meters.

The navy ship called out for the Palestinian boat to stop. When the boat attempted to evade the navy patrol, the navy opened fire. The Palestinian boat hid behind another fishing boat, and the crew began to heave large sacks into the water. The navy commander decided not to pursue the boat and ceased fire from fear that innocent Palestinian fisherman in the vicinity would be harmed. The fishing boat then slipped away into a crowd of hundreds of Palestinian craft.

Two days ago, the navy sent an underwater retrieval unit to inspect the sacks' contents. A robot was sent down, located the sacks them at a depth of 30- meters, and took a sample. The thirteen sacks contained a total of 550 kilograms of TNT. According to Maj. Oren Raba, head of the navy underwater retrieval unit, the explosives had been scavenged from dismantled mines.

Col Yoram Lex, commander of the Ashdod Naval Base, said that the explosives could have been used to manufacture Kassam rockets to be employed in attacks on IDF troops. "This attempt is significant, since the high-quality explosives discovered could have been used in devastating terror attacks against Israel." Lex told The Jerusalem Post. According to a senior IDF officer, Palestinians in Gaza have recently encountered a shortage of TNT. Security officials recently estimated that the explosives used in the recent al Qaida bombing in Sinai were also constructed from mines left over from previous wars that were dismantled by Beduins living in Sinai.

Since Israel's disengagement from the Gaza Strip in August 2005, the Israel Navy has thwarted three attempts to smuggles explosives and weapons into Gaza, as well as an attempt to detonate a bomb near an Israeli warship.
Posted by: Steve || 05/09/2006 11:46 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  a shortage of TNT? On top of the money crisis and shortages of Zam Zam Cola? A least the EU will come through on the money
Posted by: Frank G || 05/09/2006 13:56 Comments || Top||

#2  a crowd of hundreds of Palestinian craft
Who knew? Opening of scallop season?
Posted by: 6 || 05/09/2006 16:42 Comments || Top||

#3  "find the crate" season!
Posted by: Frank G || 05/09/2006 17:37 Comments || Top||

#4  TNT® is Palestinian for fishing gear.
Posted by: ed || 05/09/2006 17:44 Comments || Top||

#5  Dumb question, but does this stuff have any salvage value for the Israelis?
Posted by: someone2 || 05/09/2006 18:42 Comments || Top||

#6  That would depend on the price Med. Mullet Someone2. Ifn the price of Lisa is high enough it might well be that... naw. Never mind.
Posted by: 6 || 05/09/2006 19:02 Comments || Top||

#7  " The navy commander decided not to pursue the boat and ceased fire from fear that innocent Palestinian fisherman in the vicinity would be harmed."
Moral relativism anyone? Ok! Then hand me the suicide belt Aisha.
Posted by: pihkalbadger || 05/09/2006 19:30 Comments || Top||

#8  Not worth the salvage value. Even with high nat gas prices, ammonium nitrate (bulk) is less than $0.20/lb and toluene is $2.00/gallon.
Posted by: ed || 05/09/2006 19:39 Comments || Top||


Popcorn Alert: Ten wounded in Fatah-Hamas clashes
Ten Palestinians were wounded early Tuesday in renewed clashes between the Hamas and Fatah factions in downtown Gaza City, witnesses and paramedics say.

The clashes erupted after Hamas gunmen arrived at the home of a top Fatah official and opened fire at Fatah activists inside, witnesses said. The Fatah gunmen returned fire and nine were injured in the exchange, including five schoolchildren, hospital officials said. At least one of the wounded was a Hamas gunmen, officials said. No further details were available regarding the identity of the wounded.

According to Hamas officials, bodyguards working for Samir Mashrawi, a top Fatah leader in Gaza, kidnapped three members of the Hamas military wing earlier in the morning and the Hamas gunmen had arrived on the scene to free them. Fatah officials denied the accusations.

Tuesday's clashes follow Monday's events, in which war as three people were killed as gun battles erupted between armed Hamas and Fatah militias in the southern Gaza Strip.

Following the incidents, Palestinian leaders and spokesmen warned of a civil war. The violent clashes were the worst since Hamas formed its new cabinet in March.

They took place only hours after Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh failed to settle their differences during a meeting in Gaza City, the second of its kind in 48 hours.

Egyptian security officials who are in the Gaza Strip were trying to mediate on Monday between the two sides, sources close to Abbas said.

Hamas said the clashes began after Fatah gunmen kidnapped three of its men near Khan Yunis. Dozens of Hamas gunmen later surrounded a building where the kidnapped men were being held, but refrained from storming the place to avoid bloodshed, a senior Hamas official told The Jerusalem Post.

He said the Hamas gunmen instead kidnapped four Fatah militiamen to secure the release of the abducted Hamas activists. Following the intervention of clan leaders and notables in the area, both sides agreed to release the hostages, he added.

According to the official, hundreds of Fatah gunmen later went on a shooting spree in the area, targeting the homes of some Hamas members. He said 23-year-old Wasfi Shahwan, a member of Hamas's armed wing, Izzadin Kassam, was shot and killed during the attack.

Following the incident, a fierce gun battle erupted between the two sides and two Fatah gunmen were killed - Muhammed al-Jaraf and Hamadeh Ismail. At least five other people were wounded.

Fatah leaders accused Hamas of initiating the confrontation and accused the Islamic movement's heads of inciting against Fatah. Radwan al-Akhras, a spokesman for Fatah in the Gaza Strip, said recent statements by some Hamas leaders against Fatah had increased tensions and triggered the armed clashes.

He was referring to statements made by Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, who accused Abbas of conspiring with the US and Israel to bring down the Hamas cabinet.

"These statements have increased tensions and created confusion on the Palestinian street," the Fatah spokesman said. "Fatah wants to conduct a national dialogue with Hamas. But Hamas has responded by using rockets and automatic rifles."

He also lashed out at Hamas for establishing a special security force to assist the PA security forces in the Gaza Strip. "Was this force set up to kill Palestinians?" he asked. "This force does not belong to the government, but to Hamas. It's an illegal force that was responsible for Monday's clashes in Khan Yunis." He said the clashes erupted when members of a Hamas force, manning a checkpoint in the area, kidnapped a Fatah gunman.
Posted by: phil_b || 05/09/2006 04:07 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Fatah gunmen returned fire and nine were injured in the exchange, including five schoolchildren

Widespread international condemnation in ...
Posted by: gromgoru || 05/09/2006 4:25 Comments || Top||

#2  the wiser statesmen on both sides will issue a call for calm.

they'll sit down together to discuss their respective grievances because they realize nothing will be accomplished through violence.

they'll....

I'm sorry. I can't finish this. I'm laughing too hard.
Posted by: PlanetDan || 05/09/2006 8:12 Comments || Top||

#3  Talk about an excellent time for Israel to play Clint Eastwood.

"The Baxters on the one side, the Rojos on the other and me right square in the middle."
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/09/2006 9:34 Comments || Top||

#4  I need a new score card.
And, one question; In case of a tie, do they have a shootout ?
Posted by: wxjames || 05/09/2006 9:40 Comments || Top||

#5  In case of a tie, do they have a shootout ?

"Sudden Death Overtime" rules apply
Posted by: Steve || 05/09/2006 10:47 Comments || Top||

#6  I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the 1967-87 Israeli "occupation" was the best thing that ever happened to the Paleos. They're just too dumb to realize it.
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 05/09/2006 11:18 Comments || Top||

#7  The paleo : a phony national entity created by the arabs and the soviet union, with the approval seal of the EU, to fight Israel through a "national liberation struggle" and present the 250 millions oil-rich arabs as the weak side, devolving back into the amorphous, chaotic mob it was drawn upon.
To quote a RB macro : faster, please.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 05/09/2006 12:51 Comments || Top||

#8  Following the intervention of clan leaders and notables in the area,

I notice the notables remain annonymous. Pass the popcorn, please.
Posted by: Inspector Clueso || 05/09/2006 13:55 Comments || Top||

#9  Where's the salt? Did someone leave it in the kitchen again? Thank goodness this batch was made with real butter!
Posted by: Zenster || 05/09/2006 14:05 Comments || Top||

#10  Go get 'em guys. We're all behind you.
Posted by: Matt || 05/09/2006 14:20 Comments || Top||

#11  Turn Gaza into a tourist attraction. A preserve to study the bizarre behaviorisms of Ababicus Naturalis. Just add bullet proof polycarbonate viewing windows in the wall. At feeding times, throw ammo over the wall.
Posted by: ed || 05/09/2006 15:44 Comments || Top||

#12  I'm starting the RB napkin concession© since everyone's asking for extra butter. First 100 napkins free, then you pay up or deal with a sticky mouse Bwahahahahaa
Posted by: Frank G || 05/09/2006 17:14 Comments || Top||

#13  Gottem tooth picker and floss concession.
Posted by: 6 || 05/09/2006 19:04 Comments || Top||

#14  I'll take the beer concession, anything you want sold at cost plus 10 cents (To pay for Ice), provide wish list here.
(More salt., More sales)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 05/09/2006 20:40 Comments || Top||

#15  One caveat, absolutely no "Lite" anything (Bleeagh)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 05/09/2006 20:44 Comments || Top||

#16  The Pals. are acting like Jimbo "But-t-t the Soviets promised/told me they wouldn't .." Carter, vv depending on MadMoud of the Apocalypse and Radical Iran's Mullahs to protect their society and rights. * BREAKING NEWS ON FNC - FATAH and HAMAS have agreed to stop fighting and work together. Looks like they wanna try the Billary Clintons' method and destabilize/destroy Israel from within, prob to include support to anti-Israel Israelis!?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/09/2006 21:05 Comments || Top||


Three dead as Hamas and Fatah loyalists exchange opinions
Three gunmen were killed on Monday when fighting erupted in the Gaza Strip between Fatah forces backing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas loyalists, in the most serious internal strife since Hamas came to power. The street battles in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis broke out after Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas failed to resolve security disputes in talks at the weekend. The clashes began overnight when, according to Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, Fatah security men “kidnapped” three members of Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz El Deen Al Qassam brigades. Gunmen from the brigades then surrounded the area where the men were being held and captured four Fatah men, Abu Zuhri said. A Hamas gunman was shot dead in an initial round of fighting and two Fatah men were killed in a second clash, he added. At least 11 people, including a 16-year-old youth, were wounded.
Posted by: Fred || 05/09/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Love the headline, Fred.
Posted by: Darrell || 05/09/2006 11:44 Comments || Top||


Sri Lanka
11 killed in Sri Lanka
At least 11 people were killed in Sri Lankan factional fighting on Monday, defence officials said, as a Japanese envoy sought to salvage the island’s faltering peace process. A breakaway faction of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched a pre-dawn attack against a base of the main guerrilla group in northeastern Trincomalee district Monday, killing 11 and wounding four, defence sources said. There was no immediate word from the Tigers or the faction led by V Muralitharan, aka Colonel Karuna, but official sources said the attack appeared to be a retaliatory strike after an LTTE attack on Karuna’s forces last month. The defence ministry said they had no further details of the latest violence because the fighting occurred in rebel-held territory.

The reports of violence emerged as Japanese envoy Yasushi Akashi met President Mahinda Rajapakse on Monday after the government imposed a curfew on Sunday in the northern Jaffna peninsula. Defence Ministry spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe said the curfew would be lifted later on Monday. The main entry and exit points to rebel-held territory in the island’s north have also been closed since Sunday. “We hope to be able to open the entry and exit points very soon,” Samarasinghe said without elaborating. On Sunday, security forces imposed the curfew in Jaffna ahead of protests over last week’s killing of seven men the army said were suspected Tamil Tigers, but rebels described as civilians. The security measures also followed reports that eight men were missing in Jaffna on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred || 05/09/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Bomb explodes in governor’s office in western Iran
Tehran, Iran, May 08 – A blast went off on Monday in the governor’s office in the western city of Kermanshah, the official news agency reported. Three people were injured in the blast, which occurred at 13:45, according to the Governor of Kermanshah Hossein Khosh-Eqbal.

Khosh-Eqbal said that parts of the building were damaged and some of the windows were shattered. The cause of the blast was being investigated, according to his deputy Ali Ta'ala.

Kermanshah, close to the Iraqi border, has a large Kurdish population and has been a hotbed of anti-government activities since early 2005.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/09/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  may they rest in pieces
Posted by: Captain America || 05/09/2006 0:56 Comments || Top||

#2  The first reaction I had was good. Then I think about if this was London, Dublin, Sacremento in Bagdad or Tel Aviv. Then I say to myself another gutless bomb.

Bombs like this are the work of cowards. They are more apt to kill the inocent than the guilty. It's terrorism even if it's against those who I foster ill will. I foster ill will towards Iran. I Hate the M²s But when someone is killed by a cannon or gravity bomb it's not random and not more apt to kill someones mother or child and those guilty of only life and being at the terrorists target at the wrong time.
Posted by: SPoD || 05/09/2006 2:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Sock...I hear you, and I agree. My only caveat would be bombs disrupting Iranian infrastructure that do not directly harm innocent life. I think the oil terminals are fair game.
Posted by: anymouse || 05/09/2006 2:10 Comments || Top||

#4  Industrial sabotage and disruption is a whole different story. Blowing up the highway, taking out bridges in the middle of the night, cutting the phone lines, blowing power distribution infrastructure. Taking ouiut TV and Radio transmission instlations Thats a whole different story. Just don't foul the water or the food.
Posted by: SPoD || 05/09/2006 2:31 Comments || Top||

#5  What goes around
Posted by: gromgoru || 05/09/2006 5:41 Comments || Top||

#6  Gotta disagree. This is a war. When the history books are written, what they will record is who won and who lost. And you better hope your children and grandchildren are allowed to read those histories. If they are, you should thank a soldier.
Posted by: phil_b || 05/09/2006 6:37 Comments || Top||

#7  Attacking civies is off limits. attacking armed military guys is the essence of war. Is it terrorism to attack, say, a group of military officers who are commanding forces, but not actually carrying guns? The USAF certainly does that, from Belgrade to Baghdad. How about a civilian governor? Does the governor of Kermanshah have security responsibities?

At some level the MSM is right - NOT all insurgents are terrorists. Note well - that does NOT mean that insurgents who are NOT terrorists are "right" or "just like the minutement" etc. If an Iraqi insurgent kills an Iraqi general, or even an Iraqi prov governor, the insurgent may not have committed an act of terror. But he HAS attempted to overthrow, by force, the elected govt of the country, and reduce it to chaos. The same act against a totalitarian regime might be justified.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 05/09/2006 9:22 Comments || Top||

#8  But if they're not wearing uniforms themselves and relying mainly on blending with the civilian populace for their protection, they're still unlawful combatants.

And besides, in order to get away with doing that, they wind up having to practice extorsion and terrorism against the civilian population.
Posted by: Phil || 05/09/2006 9:45 Comments || Top||

#9  We don't know what the governor has been up to. He could be the biggest bastard on earth.
I agree with phil_b.
Then again, this is the world of Islam, where people go boom in the night, day, weekend, anytime, anywhere.
Posted by: wxjames || 05/09/2006 9:53 Comments || Top||

#10  phil is correct. Not all unlawful combatants are terrorists, though all terrorists are unlawful combatants.

But i was thinking in the context of Spods posts. Suppose the guys who bombed the govs office in Kermanshah are unlawful combatants. What follows from that? If the Iranians catch them, and fail to treat them as EPWs under the laws of war, then the Iran govt has commited no war crime. I can buy that. You become an unlawful combatant, you do so at your own risk. Doesnt mean we cant root for them to succeed in their attack on the Iranian authorities.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 05/09/2006 10:48 Comments || Top||

#11  I'm not sure.

Can you tell me where that attack had any military significance whatsoever? Did it _accomplish_ anything?
Posted by: Phil || 05/09/2006 11:30 Comments || Top||

#12  Can you tell me where that attack had any military significance whatsoever? Did it _accomplish_ anything?
Well, I'd bet the governor of the province is sweating in his knickers after this attack, and a few others may also feel just a tad insecure. Sometimes it's not what's done but how it's percieved that is the real accomplishment. I'm all for making the MMs and their cohorts feel VERY uncomfortable and unsafe.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/09/2006 13:49 Comments || Top||

#13  Any military significance? Accomplish anything? Yes sir. It's called command and control disruption. Basic military tactic.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 05/09/2006 15:15 Comments || Top||

#14  Like blowing up an electrical power line?
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 05/09/2006 15:29 Comments || Top||

#15  "Can you tell me where that attack had any military significance whatsoever? Did it _accomplish_ anything?"

Well not as much as it would have if theyd GOTTEN the governor, d'uh.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 05/09/2006 16:38 Comments || Top||

#16  is Bob Mugabe offlimits, LH? Kimmy?
Posted by: Frank G || 05/09/2006 16:41 Comments || Top||

#17  IIUC theres been considerable debate about the issue of killing a head of state. I havent followed it. I dont think the Zimbabwe opposition is doing violence, YET. And I dont think there IS a serious NKOR opposition.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 05/09/2006 16:44 Comments || Top||

#18  Not what I meant.

The governor may have just been a figurehead, and not had much to do with military or police command and control.
Posted by: Phil || 05/09/2006 17:05 Comments || Top||

#19  re: the debate - I was asking for YOUR position, you condemned SPOD, I'd like to know where YOUR line is. Would Hitler have been a valid target? Sure he wore a uniform, but how about '38? Would he have beeen a valid taget? Don't weasel on me....
Posted by: Frank G || 05/09/2006 17:24 Comments || Top||

#20  Are you sure, Frank? I thought he agreed with SPoD.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/09/2006 19:02 Comments || Top||


Police commander killed in northern Iran
Tehran, Iran, May 08 – A senior commander of the State Security Forces, Iran’s paramilitary police, in the northern province of Golestan was killed by unknown assailants, state media reported on Monday.

Hassan Mohammad-Pour, the deputy commander of the SSF in Golestan Province, was killed while driving in his car on Saturday. The incident occurred on the road to Tapeh-Zibashahr in the province.
Coincidentally a region that is heavily Azeri and Kurdish.
Prior to receiving his post in Golestan, Mohammad-Pour was a senior police commander in the southern Iranian city of Zahedan.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/09/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Golestan has a Turkmen minority and a few other minorities like Baluchis. No Kurds or Azeris to speak of. Link

Sounds like an assasination.
Posted by: phil_b || 05/09/2006 0:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Thanks for the corrrection.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/09/2006 0:44 Comments || Top||

#3  You're welcome, Steve. Getting the facts straight is something that the Burg does a pretty good job of and I personally appreciate it.
Posted by: phil_b || 05/09/2006 7:04 Comments || Top||

#4  very interesting.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 05/09/2006 9:31 Comments || Top||

#5  Faster, please. I look forward to the day when I can greedily rub my hands together.
Posted by: Mike N. || 05/09/2006 15:05 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2006-05-09
  10 wounded in Fatah-Hamas festivities
Mon 2006-05-08
  Bush wants to close Gitmo
Sun 2006-05-07
  Israel foils plot to kill Abbas
Sat 2006-05-06
  Anjem Choudary arrested
Fri 2006-05-05
  Goss Resigns as CIA Head
Thu 2006-05-04
  Sweden: Three men 'planned terror attack on church'
Wed 2006-05-03
  Moussaoui gets life
Tue 2006-05-02
  Ramadi battle kills 100-plus insurgents
Mon 2006-05-01
  Qaeda planning to massacre Fatah leadership
Sun 2006-04-30
  Qaeda leaders in Samarra and Baquba both neutralized
Sat 2006-04-29
  Noordin escapes capture by Indonesian police
Fri 2006-04-28
  Iraqi forces kill 49 gunmen, arrest another 74
Thu 2006-04-27
  $450 grand in cash stolen from Paleo FM in Kuwait
Wed 2006-04-26
  Boomers Target Sinai Peacekeepers
Tue 2006-04-25
  Jordan Arrests Hamas Members

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