KABUL: Two coalition soldiers were killed during combat in Afghanistan that also left about 48 militants dead, officials said on Sunday, as President Hamid Karzai called for more coordination between coalition and tribal leaders during counter-terrorism operations.
The two soldiers were wounded during a four-hour gun battle on Saturday and later died at a hospital. One coalition soldier was also wounded. Karzai emphasised to key Western officials the need for international troops to work more closely with tribal leaders and community elders during military operations. Taliban in Nuristan province have abducted a provincial health officer and two health workers, including one with a Swedish group, police and the militants said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/26/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
foreground sentinel: Casual Black Wrap
Rocket Tender: Tartan DuRag
Talib aiming stake: Sporting Wazoo Hot Water Bottle
#4
Just another snag in the Taliban Summer Offensive. Detour around th e Marne, head towards Somme, chances for breakthrough to Paris are better there. Small diversion intended near Verdun. Schlieffen Plan still intact.
SOMALIA'S newly powerful Islamists say they will stone to death five rapists, in what some fear is the latest sign of a plan to install a hardline Islamic authority like Afghanistan's Taliban.
The punishments, like others carried out by the Islamists in their sharia courts in the capital Mogadishu and elsewhere, follow the naming of Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys - on a U.N. list of al Qaeda associates - to a top post over the weekend.
Mr Aweys, a former army colonel who in the 1990s led militant Islamists in failed campaigns in Somalia but has denied any al Qaeda links, was named head of the Council of Islamic Courts.
The United States would have no contact with him, but has made no decision about relations with the group as a whole, said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
"Of course we are not going to work with somebody like that and of course we would be troubled if this is an indicator of the direction that this group would go in," McCormack said.
"But let's wait, let's see what the collective leadership of this group does."
The council is a parliament for the Islamists, whose well-trained militias seized Mogadishu from US-backed warlords on June 5 after months of fighting that killed at least 350.
The rapists were to be stoned to death in Jowhar, which the Islamists took in the last phase of a campaign that saw them seize a strategic swathe of Somalia from the coastal capital northwest nearly to the Ethiopian border.
"Five men who raped four women on June 22 will be stoned to death today (Monday) in accordance with the Islamic sharia. They have pleaded guilty to the crime and also have been identified by the victims," Siyad Mohamed, a militia leader linked to Islamic courts, said to Reuters by phone from Jowhar.
Mr Mohamed later said the execution had been delayed as the courts looked to arrest a sixth suspect. He said it was not clear when the sentences would be carried out.
The Islamist victory dealt an embarrassing public setback to Washington's counter-terrorism campaign, as its support for the much-despised warlords gave the Islamists popular backing.
The Islamists at first tried to present a moderate face to the world, saying they only wanted to end anarchy and restore peace lost since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991.
Asked about the appointment of Mr Aweys, Somalia's interim government was circumspect: "It is the internal business of the courts," government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- The newly appointed leader of Somalia's Islamic militia said Monday he will only support a government based on Islam. "Somalia is a Muslim nation and its people are also Muslim, 100 percent," Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his home in central Somalia. "Therefore any government we agree on would be based on the holy Quran and the teachings of our Prophet Muhammad," he said.
Aweys, who is listed by the State Department as a suspected al-Qaida collaborator, was appointed leader of Somalia's Islamic militia Saturday, replacing a more moderate cleric.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/26/2006 09:42 ||
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Algiers, 26 June (AKI) - Algerian police killed 19 Islamic militants who rejected a government amnesty aimed at ending years of conflict following a civil war in the 1990s, reports said on Monday. Police reportedly raided on Sunday bases of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which has sworn allegiance to al-Qaeda, in the eastern province of Annaba. The operation followed an upsurge in attacks by Islamic fundamentalists this month which killed 31 people.
Unlike some other Islamic militant groups, the GSPC has refused to give up the armed struggle in exchange for an amnesty offered by president Abdelaziz Bouteflika. The amnesty, which came into force in February and will expire next August, gave Islamic militants six months to surrender and get a pardon, provided they were not responsible for massacres, rapes or bombings of public places. Algeria's civil war started in 1992 when authorities canceled a parliamentary election that radical Islamists were poised to win. The conflict cost up to 200,000 lives.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/26/2006 09:07 ||
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Now *that's* an amnesty!
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
06/26/2006 16:13 Comments ||
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Anti-terrorist police have been ordered to revamp security procedures after a bag containing details of bomb plots and suspects identified for surveillance was lost in the street.
The Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, has imposed strict new rules on the carrying of sensitive material after files were accidentally lost in a rucksack in south-east London. Sources yesterday told the Guardian the files held important information and that anti-terrorist officers were desperate to get them back before they fell into the wrong hands.
The Home Office and the home secretary, John Reid, are being kept informed. The officer responsible for the mistake has been moved to other duties.
Continued on Page 49
#1
An IT worker who knew Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer said he had contacted police about them because of the anti-western material they were producing
It wouldn't suprise me at all if thousands of legit tips a year to the FBI or Homeland security are never followed up on or even answered, even though they are made by local police, folks in the Muslim communuity, import export biz...
#2
The result of being forced to recruit more muslims - more f*ck-ups, more infiltration.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
06/26/2006 7:05 Comments ||
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#3
I imagine the various investigative agencies also have to follow up thousands of false leads, too, from what appear to be reliable sources. Lots of needles in a very large haystack...
#4
How the hell do you lose a rucksack in a street unless you were careless? Which brings me to the point of all of us (except the trolls) as being human and that or the lack of that will decide all the outcomes.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/26/2006 7:19 Comments ||
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#5
Who wanders around with intel files in their backpack? And why aren't they being slapped around?
#6
I think there's a serious infiltration of enemies and/or fellow travellers in most of the world's govt. bureaucracies. I still have my suspicions about that VA data theft.
June 26, 2006 -- Belarusian authorities said today they will freeze any assets that U.S. President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may hold in the country.
"Laura, do we have any charge accounts open at the Belarus Wal-Mart?"
The move is a response to Washington's decision last week to impose sanctions, including a freeze on assets, against Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and other officials deemed accountable for the fraud that Western governments believe marred presidential elections in March.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/26/2006 17:08 ||
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I can see Bush thinking, do I own anything in Belarus anything at all. :)
#8
from Andy McCarthy at the Corner:
... The New York Times immediately praised the ingenuity of Belarus's intelligence community, which appears to have tracked Bush/Rice funds by exploiting a little-known clearinghouse for international money transfers, known as "SWIFT" ...
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/26/2006 21:14 Comments ||
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I heard Lukashenka also canceled their library cards.
Belgium has been shocked by a new case of senseless violence after a 54-year-old man was beaten to death on an Antwerp bus over the weekend. The victim, Guide D., a train driver and father of two, became fed up with how six youths were arguing with each other and decided to intervene on Saturday night. But the youths attacked the man and bashed him — he died at the scene.
The youths pulled on the emergency stop and fled from the bus. They are still at large. Antwerp police are hunting the suspects on allegations of manslaughter, a crime that carries a jail term of 20 to 30 years. The suspects are aged between 16 and 21. Passengers on the bus have given police an accurate description of three of the suspects. A scant description was given of the three other suspects. Police are also searching for two passengers who were travelling at the back of the bus.
The attack is the latest in a series of violent incidents following the racist murders in Antwerp and the mp3 murder in Brussels. Belgium has again reacted in shock. "No amount of tolerance can be mustered for the brutal and senseless violence of these youths, irrespective of whether they are minors or not," Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said. The Liberal VLD leader repeated his proposal to tighten legislation in which convicted criminals can be paroled after serving a third of their jail term. "The time has come to amend the law so that culprits of severe crimes such as that on Saturday in Antwerp can be freed only after two-thirds of their sentence," Verhofstadt said. Socialist SP.A chairman Johan Vande Lanotte is prepared to take up such a debate.
Saturday's violent attack took place on the bus line 23, which runs from Luchtbal to Het Zuid. The line is not operated by transport authority De Lijn but is instead a leased line. That means that there are no safety officers on the bus because they are only deployed on bus lines operated by De Lijn. Bus 23 is considered a 'risk line'. It is also frequently used by train staff to get to another depot. "Because the line was dangerous, taxis were used for a while for train personnel.
I don't supposes anyone thought of actually, like, putting an end to the violence?? Silly me ...
But this was scrapped for financial reasons," a spokesman for the Independent Union for Railway Personnel, Hugo De Rycke, said. Personnel have requested improved safety measures and Antwerp Mayor Patrick Janssens, Flemish Transport Minister Kathleen Van Brempt, unions and De Lijn management will meet on Monday to discuss the issue.
Unions are demanding a second staff member to travel with the bus driver on busy routes and risk lines. The additional staff member should have the ability to issue fines and other penalties, they said. Unions are also demanding security cameras on buses, but do not want their own security service. ACV union spokesman for public services Freddy De Wilder said the buses operate in all four corners of Flanders, stressing it is more efficient to improve co-operation with local and federal police, a long-term demand from unions.
#4
That means that there are no safety officers on the bus...
Apparently there are safety officers on other buses - must be a tough town. I thought the EUros were all peaceful, touchy-feely types;)
ANKARA - Two Turks and two foreigners were killed, and around 25 others injured, in an explosion at a waterfall in southern Turkey popular with tourists, CNN Turk television said.
A Norwegian man, a Ukrainian man and two Turks were those killed by the blast at Manavgat, a seaside resort, the channel said. An earlier toll of three dead was given by local authorities to the Anatolia news agency. “The security forces are continuing their work at the site,” Fikret Dayioglu, Manavgat’s sub-prefect, was quoted as saying, suggesting that a gas cylinder might have exploded.
The falls at Manavgat draw many of the tourists who flock to TurkeyÂ’s southern seaside resorts each summer.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/26/2006 00:00 ||
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And I thought only civil engineers were allowed to blow up waterfalls and other bits of the landscape...
Mr. Bill Keller, Managing Editor
The New York Times
229 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036
Dear Mr. Keller:
The New York Times' decision to disclose the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, a robust and classified effort to map terrorist networks through the use of financial data, was irresponsible and harmful to the security of Americans and freedom-loving people worldwide. In choosing to expose this program, despite repeated pleas from high-level officials on both sides of the aisle, including myself, the Times undermined a highly successful counter-terrorism program and alerted terrorists to the methods and sources used to track their money trails.
Your charge that our efforts to convince The New York Times not to publish were "half-hearted" is incorrect and offensive. Nothing could be further from the truth. Over the past two months, Treasury has engaged in a vigorous dialogue with the Times - from the reporters writing the story to the D.C. Bureau Chief and all the way up to you. It should also be noted that the co-chairmen of the bipartisan 9-11 Commission, Governor Tom Kean and Congressman Lee Hamilton, met in person or placed calls to the very highest levels of the Times urging the paper not to publish the story. Members of Congress, senior U.S. Government officials and well-respected legal authorities from both sides of the aisle also asked the paper not to publish or supported the legality and validity of the program.
Indeed, I invited you to my office for the explicit purpose of talking you out of publishing this story. And there was nothing "half-hearted" about that effort. I told you about the true value of the program in defeating terrorism and sought to impress upon you the harm that would occur from its disclosure. I stressed that the program is grounded on solid legal footing, had many built-in safeguards, and has been extremely valuable in the war against terror. Additionally, Treasury Under Secretary Stuart Levey met with the reporters and your senior editors to answer countless questions, laying out the legal framework and diligently outlining the multiple safeguards and protections that are in place.
You have defended your decision to compromise this program by asserting that "terror financiers know" our methods for tracking their funds and have already moved to other methods to send money. The fact that your editors believe themselves to be qualified to assess how terrorists are moving money betrays a breathtaking arrogance and a deep misunderstanding of this program and how it works. While terrorists are relying more heavily than before on cumbersome methods to move money, such as cash couriers, we have continued to see them using the formal financial system, which has made this particular program incredibly valuable.
Lastly, justifying this disclosure by citing the "public interest" in knowing information about this program means the paper has given itself free license to expose any covert activity that it happens to learn of - even those that are legally grounded, responsibly administered, independently overseen, and highly effective. Indeed, you have done so here.
What you've seemed to overlook is that it is also a matter of public interest that we use all means available - lawfully and responsibly - to help protect the American people from the deadly threats of terrorists. I am deeply disappointed in the New York Times.
#5
How about some Warren Buffet sized fines? Say for every innocent civilian or soldier of any nation killed after their publication, they reimburse the family $1.5b per year?
#8
How much longer will the NY Times shareholders tolerate the shenanigans and pandering of this fossil? When will the Sulzbergers be called to account for their management fiasco?
#9
Okay, folks, the fact that Mr. Keller hasn't been arrested in the last four hours doesn't mean things aren't happening. They might not happen but this needs time to play out.
Mr. Snow writes a letter. Mr. Snow then forwards a complaint to the DoJ. The DoJ has to conduct an investigation; then forward results to a federal DA, which means further investigation. At some point a grand jury would be empaneled. That would take weeks to months.
Remember the investigation launched after the NSA leak? There was one, remember? Haven't heard much lately. These things take time.
Mr. Keller and Mr. Risen will get theirs, eventually, but it won't happen in 24 hours.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/26/2006 21:32 Comments ||
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#10
In the meantime, Steve White, let them go to bed every night listening for a knock at the door, and wake each morning to fear an unscheduled meeting with a few very seriously dressed officials.
#12
BTW - your email addy for requesting the DOJ to prosecute these bastards is: askdoj@usdoj.gov
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/26/2006 22:02 Comments ||
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#13
Who leaked TO the NYT reporters in the first place? None of these Times pieces are possible without someone on the inside of the program passing information to them. A Congressman? Someone with SWIFT? Someone in Treasury? It could have even been innocent - 'good' reporters are talented at guessing, and then telling you in a way that makes you think they already know, such that you somehow (maybe even unconciously) confirm that they are right (seems like the case on the Plame incident). Nah, it was probably another BDS sufferer.
#14
The fact that your editors believe themselves to be qualified to assess how terrorists are moving money betrays a breathtaking arrogance and a deep misunderstanding of this program and how it works.
A very straightforward and diplomatic way to lay it on the line as who they are: arrogant f*cks with an agenda.
I would like to see GOOD, THOROUGH homework done by the DoJ. Not the half-baked sh*t that won't stand up in court. Hire some top of the line people outside the govt to do the heavy lifting, if you don't have the heavyweights internally. This thing in many ways is like purse seining in commercial fishing. Go around the school of fish, giving them a wide berth with a seine net. Get them encircled, then steadily and swiftly close in the net and you have the whole shebang. Take them out of circulation, heh. Send a message to the rest. Take out the govt leaker, too.
I would also pull the NYT press credentials for entering the White House press briefings, and fergawdsake, DO NOT allow the NYT personnel on Air Force 1 or other govt flights. There has to be serious consequences to leaking classified information. Get the NYT on the defensive, lock them out of govt news outlets, and get them in court. Tie them up. Their circulation will tank, their reporters will be locked out, and become quite pi$$ed at Pinchy and Co and quit, and you will sink the MF'ers and EVERYONE will learn a valuable lesson. The world will then be a better place.
My 2 inflation-riddled cents.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/26/2006 22:23 Comments ||
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#15
I suspect most of us have a few bucks in mutual funds either directly or through 401K's. Here is a list of mutual funds that owned over a million shares of NYT stock as of the end of March. Perhaps the fund managers would be interested in hearing from us.
Posted by: Matt ||
06/26/2006 22:26 Comments ||
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#16
I can't cancel my subscription to the NY Times - I don't subscribe. But I plan to avoid about.com - which is owned by the Times.
#17
I have to go with Steve W on this -- there's stuff going on about that NSA and prisons leaks. With this cry of "freedom of the press" the AG's office has got to be sure that have dotted every i and crossed every t. Between the lines, you kinda get the feeling they are pretty close. And I for one, want to be sure, they have dotted every i and crossed every t, so we don't get something like a perjury indictment instead of the real deal, of releasing classified documents to the media. Remember, they have the Mary lady from the CIA that got fired. Seemingly, she knew lots.
Again, let's get the i's and the t's right. We want this one to stick!
Well, whether or not this pans out, we knew there was a threat via Latin America, either from converts or from Islamacists working there.
The Port of Hueneme in Ventura County was closed off Monday afternoon while authorities investigated a possible terrorist threat on a cargo ship, a port official said.
The action came just before noon after a dockworker discovered a possible threat written in the cargo hold of a ship carrying bananas from Guatemala, said Will Berg, the port's marketing director.
Berg said the message read: "This nitro is for you Mr. George W. Bush and your Jewish cronies."
The message, scrawled in marker on a metal pillar within the ship, was being investigated by federal authorities, including the FBI, as well as local officials, Berg said.
About 20 people aboard the ship, a 30,000-ton refrigerated vessel that arrived from the Port of Quetzal in Guatemala, were evacuated, he said. Workers already outside the port were being kept out, though anyone inside was allowed to remain.
The 135-acre port, which consists of two terminals, is northwest of Los Angeles.
FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said agents were at the scene but wouldn't comment further.
DENVER -- An investigation is under way to determine why a Safeway warehouse employee walked into work and opened fire on his coworkers Sunday afternoon, killing one person and injuring five, including a Denver police officer.
The suspect, tentatively identified by witnesses as Michael Ford, was shot and killed during a shootout with SWAT officers inside the massive Safeway Denver Distribution Center, located near Interstate 70 and Colorado Boulevard.
"The officers confronted the suspect who was armed with the handgun. He fired at us, we fired at him," said Denver police Chief Gerry Whitman. "It was pretty quick ... I don't expect (officers) to negotiate when you get shot at."
Ford's mother and sister told reporters that Ford had just returned to work after a three-month leave of absence for personal reasons. They said Ford was a kind, caring person, who wouldn't hurt anyone but that he said he was being teased at work because he's a Muslim and he couldn't take it anymore.
His sister said when he came to visit them Sunday morning, he looked scared and nervous but she didn't know why. She told reporters that his last words to her were, "Allah will decide. I love you."
#4
Years ago, 'Spy' Magazine did a collection of friends, family and neighbor comments about murderers, which featured how somebody had remarked that "He was a good boy..."
They had about fifteen vicious killers on the list.
#6
I know The Q'u'o'r'a'n trumps US criminal law, but Michael Ford should have consulted Colorado state statutes concerning the use of deadly force. Teasing is not a defendable use of deadly force, last time I looked.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/26/2006 16:31 Comments ||
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#7
Ebbogum Graiper6226 that posted this story was me, firewall/cookie monster nailed me it looks like.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
06/26/2006 16:37 Comments ||
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#8
Well, Rats! #7 Lawrence. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/26/2006 17:28 Comments ||
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#9
Al-Aska Paul, he was being humiliated, which of course allows for Dire RevengeTM.
(Well, hokay, I am just one of those wimminfolks, but my owner husband gave me permission to speak, so it's all good.)
#13
Killing your coworkers is a proportional response to teasing of muzzies. Now, if they had taunted him or, gasp, employed sarcasm, then he would have had to nuke the place.
Posted by: Scott R ||
06/26/2006 18:05 Comments ||
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#14
His sister said when he came to visit them Sunday morning, he looked scared and nervous but she didn't know why. She told reporters that his last words to her were, "Allah will decide. I love you."
I can't find this quote at the link. Has abc7NEWS deleated this line or was it from somewhere else?
#16
They had about fifteen vicious killers on the list.
I was going to say that you very, very seldom get some rat bastard's relatives to admit what a rat bastard he was.
For example, a couple of years ago some idiot rammed head-on into a van, wiping out a whole family of illegal immigrants on their way to grandma's funeral (or deathbed, or birthday, or something). Cops said he was "under the influence", and his relatives popped up right away to say nuh-uh, no sir, he didn't ever do anything like that.
He turned out to have pretty much every drug ever known to man coursing through his veins, and just minutes earlier the friend riding with him had taken advantage of a brief stop to bail from the car, fearing for his life.
I kinda wished there was a crime like, "Stupid statements made in support of a lowlife scum," with a penalty of light flogging.
#17
I just watched 9News Denver (TV) family interview and the quote was in there. So 7 sanitized their article but 9's interview played it straight. Didn't see 7's (TV) interview.
Radical Islamists may not know it but their global jihad has more to fear from Shannen Rossmiller, an American mother-of-three, than from a squadron of F16s.
The former cheerleader doesn't phrase it quite like that. That isn't her style.
Yet a summary of case histories and transcripts seen by The Daily Telegraph reveals that she has uncovered the whereabouts of al-Qa'eda fighters in the lawless highlands of Pakistan, shopped groups of would-be terrorists from Liverpool to Lebanon, tracked down an Islamist designing a nuclear device and much, much more.
For four years, she has alternated her day jobs of mother and magistrate in the mountain state of Montana with a night-time role as a hunter of terrorists. Mrs Rossmiller first turned freelance spy after September 11.
Donning a range of virtual disguises, she uses her functional, self-taught Arabic, and customised software that masks her true identity and whereabouts, to navigate into radical internet chat rooms frequented by real terrorists or any fanatic with a computer and a grudge.
In her first interview with a British newspaper, the 37-year-old said that at first she kept her nocturnal sleuthing secret: "I didn't want my family to know because they'd call me crazy and this was just too damn interesting."
Now she finds it hard to escape the world she has entered. Asked whether she seeks a way out, she said: "I've tried a couple of times to back off, but it just hasn't been the right time.
"I remember the time I screamed 'Can't these guys take a weekend off?' But humanity is such a precious thing that you don't want to see [terrorist attacks] happen to anybody, to any country, any people."
She has proved increasingly useful to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which now supplies her with handlers, Arabic translators and security, in case the terrorists seek revenge.
They have reason to be angry: in America alone, the authorities have made several arrests based on Mrs Rossmiller's work.
In her best known case, she secured a life sentence for a treacherous soldier, Pte Ryan Anderson, who was trying to transmit the weaknesses of the M1 Abrams tank to al-Qa'eda. It was when she was called to give evidence in that case that her cover was blown. "I didn't have the choice of remaining anonymous," she said, despite earlier pledges from the authorities that her name would never be made public.
On many occasions she has encountered terrorists overseas. Three times she has lured young British Islamists into unmasking themselves, including one group in Liverpool. The FBI passed the material to British intelligence, after which she heard nothing more.
She brushes off the possible threat to her and her family from terrorist reprisal. She pointed out that in Montana's little towns, strangers stick out and the locals are armed. "There have to be risks taken, otherwise you can't get anything done."
The FBI refuses to comment on her work and she has not been offered public thanks by members of the Bush administration. Behind-the-scenes however, intelligence staffers acknowledge her role.
One American newspaper reported that "federal intelligence sources confirmed that for several years she has provided the FBI and the CIA with useful information". Another was told "she's legitimate" by an unnamed FBI agent.
That has helped to make Mrs Rossmiller a star of Right-wing internet sites, but she disavowed any political motivation beyond plain patriotism. "I'm not a Republican, I'll tell you that right now. But at the same time you get tired of seeing your government looking like a bunch of walking idiots."
Mrs Rossmiller is understandably discreet about her current operations, but said that as the years have passed she has become more ambitious and made "her" fictional Islamists more senior.
But when things get sticky she can be ruthless. "I kill off certain identities, make them martyrs, so [the radicals] think 'so-and-so is dead'. When I've had an idea that's worked well for some time but things are getting fishy, I'll move him into Ramadi or Basra and have him martyred."
#2
I remember this lady.
I tried to get more info from her and her "group", but she never came through. I'm thinking she likes being low-key.
Back in 04 or '05 she had a little group of online analysts. They were the ones that broke that traitor that was trying to sell M1A2-SEP Abrams plans to jihadis.
#3
She's not the only one. There's an Iranian Jewish woman (I think?) who goes to meetings in full burqa regalia, tapes the screechings, and reports back to the authorities -- again, as a response to 9/11. I seem to recall that she hunts the websites, too. (Sorry I don't have the details, they are buried somewhere in the Rantburg archives.) There have been a lot of big arrests lately, surely some of that information came from amateurs like Mrs. Rossmiller.
And I'd love to know how many of the martyred Lions of Islam are wholly figments of someone's imagination. ;-)
#7
right Seafarious :-) Why don't they hire us? We can play too.
That said, I do think this is another bit of treason by the papers - endangering her and her families lives as well as the work that she does. The only good thing I can say about the NYT, LA TIMES and other intelligence gatherers and providers is that the word "treason" is no longer out of vogue. Even a year ago - to call the papers and the anti-Americans treasonous caused one to flirt with the label of crackpot. It prevented good people for speaking openly about what they could see as occuring. That has changed and will remain changed until long after this war is over.
#13
Nothing more dangerous than a woman scorned. America has a full history of women who take matters into their own hands.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/26/2006 12:34 Comments ||
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#14
In her best known case, she secured a life sentence for a treacherous soldier, Pte Ryan Anderson, who was trying to transmit the weaknesses of the M1 Abrams tank to al-Qa'eda. It was when she was called to give evidence in that case that her cover was blown. "I didn't have the choice of remaining anonymous," she said, despite earlier pledges from the authorities that her name would never be made public.
Her cover's already been blown, so the story does no great harm . . . besides, she's not the only one. There could be dozens out there . . . not that that's any reason to be paranoid, Mahmoud.
Posted by: Mike ||
06/26/2006 14:01 Comments ||
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#15
Not that what we do is as dramatic, but I like to think that some of the comments are helpful to some of Rantburg's many anonymous lurkers -- beyond getting the real news long before the New York Times notices, I mean, or appreciating really clever snark.
*happily waves to the watchers in dark glasses and classic suits... and that other one who can only be assumed from the spot of invisibility in which he/she can't be seen*
#17
There are Rantburgers doing some work covering many areas of the WoT. Volunteering. Nuff said.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/26/2006 18:48 Comments ||
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#18
I'd gladly take on a decent workload if someone (hint, hint) would provide the imagery. I haven't lost any of my skills, even if it's been 16 or 17 years since I worked full-time as an imagery analyst. I did some volunteer work during the tsunami last year, and I've done some minor work here and there. I'd love to keep track of Basra or Ramadi, and locate the bad guys for the Buffs. Of course, with Buffs, you don't have to be terribly precise... 8^)
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/26/2006 20:38 Comments ||
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#19
Think I've got an old light table up in the garage loft Patriot. I'll dust if off and send it to ya.
MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan (AP) -- A suicide car bomber attacked a military checkpoint Monday in tribal-dominated northwestern Pakistan, killing six soldiers and wounding 10 others, officials said. The attack happened near Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal region, where al-Qaida and Taliban-linked militants have been routinely targeting Pakistani forces, said Pakistan's chief army spokesman, Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan.
"It was probably a car laden with explosives that has been driven and hit a (military) post," Sultan said. Sultan said six Pakistani soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in the attack in the village of Isha, about four miles east of Miran Shah. The bombing came a day after a purported militant spokesman in North Waziristan announced that fighters will observe a monthlong cease-fire if authorities withdraw soldiers from roadside checkpoints back to their barracks.
Suicide attacks have been rarely used in this volatile region, where militants have tended to detonate explosives near Pakistani troop positions by remote control or launch ambushes using small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. The last suicide attack occurred June 2 when two militants rammed their explosives-packed car into a military convoy in North Waziristan, killing four Pakistani soldiers and wounding seven. "This is not a welcome trend we are starting to see," Sultan said. Military officials have said that hundreds of Arab, Afghan and Central Asian militants with al-Qaida links, along with local pro-Taliban fighters, operate in North and the adjoining South Waziristan tribal regions.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/26/2006 09:47 ||
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#5
Pak is in an untenable position. They have enemies on three sides, and more enemies within. They're going to have to ask for help (US military type), or go under. If Mussharif goes under, the US should totally level six main cities - Miran Shah, Quetta, Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi, and Rawalpindi. Follow that up by taking out every mosque, madrassah, and any gathering of more than five people. That will get rid of 99% of the trouble in Afghanistan, Kashmir, and India.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/26/2006 20:43 Comments ||
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Unidentified masked gunmen have killed a suspected bandit in Pakistan's tribal region of North Waziristan, the authorities say. The tribesman, Goldor, was shot dead in his home early on Monday, along with five others, officials say.
The incident happened in a valley west of Miranshah, the region's main town.
Correspondents say that bandits in the region have been targeted by Islamist militants who carry out vigilante attacks because of rising lawlessness. The authorities say the dead man's home was attacked by several heavily-armed men.
He was accused of several armed robberies and had been warned about his criminal activities by Islamic militants, reports say.
Pot, meet kettle
Correspondents say that family and tribal feuds are commonplace in Waziristan, where many people own guns and where the police are rarely seen. Those accused of carrying out such attacks include the Taleban who have recently started to mete out their own brand of Islamic law in areas out of reach of the security forces. Last year, local militants killed dozens of suspected extortionists and hung their bodies in Miranshah.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/26/2006 09:21 ||
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Four Islamic militants and a federal policeman were killed on Sunday in ongoing clashes in Indian Kashmir, an army spokesman said. A member of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and a militant were killed in a clash in the southern town of Kulgam, spokesman Hemant Joneja told AFP. "The fighting erupted when army soldiers, backed by CRPF raided a rebel hideout in the area," he said, adding the operation by the troops was continuing. Three more rebels were killed jointly by the army and local police's counter insurgency Special Operations Group in the southern Pulwama and northern Kupwara districts early on Sunday, Joneja said. "The fighting has stopped at both the places but search operations are on to find out more possible hiding rebels," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/26/2006 00:00 ||
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QUETTA: The city was rocked on Sunday night by three rocket attacks, one of which hit a house close to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in the Quetta Cantonment. Unidentified men fired three rockets at around 10pm. One hit a house in front of the CMH, the second hit a hotel on Jinnah Road while a third landed on Muno Jan Road in the Kili Arbab aea. "The first rocket hit a residence located in front of CMH on Nizamuddin Lane. The boundary walls of the house were damaged and a man was injured," a source told Daily Times.
Police officials said that they had defused another rocket found on Muno Jan road. They said that all the rockets had been fired from the Western Bypass and had been aimed at military installations in Quetta Cantonment. Meanwhile, an official said that unidentified people had attacked the gas pipeline in Dera Bugti district on Sunday, disrupting supply to neighbouring areas. Meanwhile, Frontier Corps officials said they had detained 15 Afghan nationals in Chaman district.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/26/2006 00:00 ||
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PESHAWAR: Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) leaders in NWFP have received threatening letters asking them to either publicly announce their support for Taliban and Al Qaeda or face the "consequences". Non-government organisations operating in areas such as Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Bannu and Lakki Marwat have also been warned to stop their work. Sources said the letters accuse MMA leaders of "using Islam and the Taliban to win elections, but forgetting their promises after assuming power". Some MMA leaders had also received Rs 1,000-Rs 1,500 with the letters to "buy their coffins if they fail to announce their support for Taliban and Al Qaeda".
Posted by: Fred ||
06/26/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Exactly when did the MMA not support Taleban/al-Qaeda? Jamaat-i-Islami invited bin Laden and Mullah Omar to the JI's 1998 convention. They didn't attend in consider of what happened to Abdullah Azzam, when he left his Afghanistan haven, for a trip to Pakistan.
Did you ever notice how Pak-mullahs photograph like they have never worked a day in their life. To me, they are social parasites who live off the hard work of others?
MIRANSHAH: Three Frontier Corps (FC) troops were injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire on their convoy in North Waziristan on Sunday morning, officials said. The FC convoy had stopped near Banda village to fetch water from a nearby spring, some five kilometre south of Miranshah. "The FC men retaliated but the assailants escaped after firing on the FC convoy," the sources said. The FC men were deployed at Banda Picket and frequently go to the spring to fetch drinking water. The injured jawans were air-lifted to Bannu Combined Military Hospital by an army helicopter, the sources added. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.
Tell 'em not to worry. There's a ceasefire in effect.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/26/2006 00:00 ||
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So porous
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/26/2006 8:45 Comments ||
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PESHAWAR: Militants in North Waziristan have announced a month-long unilateral ceasefire to allow a tribal jirga to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the security problems in the volatile tribal agency. Abdullah Farhad, who claims to be the spokesman for Taliban in North Waziristan, said on Sunday that the truce was temporary and the militants had the right to defend themselves if attacked. He demanded the return of security forces operating in the agency to their bases during the ceasefire period and that the forces leave the tribal area within the next month.
Farhad also demanded abolishing all new check posts in the tribal areas and said that only the Khasadar force should be deployed at check posts established before the military operation. The Taliban spokesman also demanded the release of “all people” arrested by the authorities during the military operation and said the government should also revive incentives to tribal elders which were stopped because of the elders’ “non-cooperation”.
“We welcome the announcement made by the militants and the government will reciprocate accordingly,” NWFP Governor Ali Mohammad Jan Orakzai told reporters while commenting on the development. He said the grand tribal jirga would also consider the militants’ demands. Earlier on Saturday, Arbab Shahzad, a senior official at the Governor’s FATA Secretariat, had told Daily Times that the nation would hear good news regarding Waziristan shortly. However, Shahzad had refused to give details of the ‘good news’.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/26/2006 00:00 ||
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Bullshit, just trying to get some wriggle room.
Keep killing them.
MONDAY, June 26, 2006 --- Under a blue sky with rainclouds on the horizon, the body of Pfc. Kristian Menchaca arrived at the Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport. By chartered jet
The coffin was carried in a polished, black hearse down Ruben Torres Sr. Boulevard and to the Brownsville Events Center where services will be held this week.
Well-wishers lined the streets and traffic was at a standstill as the procession of about 100 vehicles pulled into the Events Center on Paredes Line Road. Full police escort in video
Before his body entered the venue, Henry Valdez stood on the sidewalk away from the crowds, alone. He shook his head and said, "So young."
Menchaca, and two other U.S. soldiers, were killed last week while on duty in Iraq. Menchaca, whose mother lives in Brownsville, was 23 at the time of his death. He leaves behind a young wife, 18-year-old Christina Menchaca who resides in Big Spring, Texas.
Visitation will begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday and continue until 7 p.m. A rosary will take place between 7 and 9 p.m., with Rev. Alfonso Guevara officiating the services.
Seven Sunni Arab insurgent groups have contacted the government to declare their readiness to join in efforts at national reconciliation, a key Shiite legislator said Monday.
The seven lesser groups, most of them believed populated by former members or backers of Saddam HusseinÂ’s government, military or security agencies, have said they want a truce, Hassan al-Suneid, a lawmaker and member of the political bureau of Prime Minister Nouri al-MalikiÂ’s Dawa Party, told The Associated Press.
The contact by the insurgent organizations, which could not be independently verified, would mark an important potential shift and stand as evidence of a growing divide between Iraqi insurgents and the more brutal and ideological fighters of al-Qaida in Iraq, who are believed to mainly be non-Iraqi Islamic militants. Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
06/26/2006 10:20 ||
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They forgot to coordinate with their boss Saddam. The Americans are supposed to ask for his help before they throw in the towel.
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) -- Saddam Hussein believes the United States will have to seek his help to quell the bloody insurgency in Iraq and open the way for U.S. forces to withdraw, his chief lawyer said Sunday. Khalil al-Dulaimi argued in an interview with The Associated Press that the former leader is the key to returning stability to Iraq. "He's their last resort. They're going to knock at his door eventually," the lawyer said. Saddam is "the only person who can stop the resistance against the U.S. troops." There is no indication U.S. officials have considered seeking his help. While Saddam's once dominant fellow Sunni Arabs are the backbone of the insurgency, the Shiite Muslim majority and Kurds repressed by his regime would be enflamed by his presence.
The comments from Al-Dulaimi, the head of Saddam's defense team, portrayed a deposed leader who seems to hold out hope he can bargain his way out of trials that threaten him with the death penalty. Al-Dulaimi said Saddam brought up the topic during a meeting Tuesday, and indicated he would be willing to help the United States - "for the sake of saving both peoples - the Iraqis and Americans."
He quoted Saddam as saying:
"These puppets in the Iraqi government that the Americans brought to power are helpless. They can't protect themselves or the Iraqi people. The Americans will certainly come to me, to Saddam Hussein's legitimate leadership and to the Iraqi Baath Party, to rescue them from their huge quandary."
Although he would not say exactly what Saddam might ask in return for helping, al-Dulaimi said it would not necessarily involve being reinstated as president of Iraq - a nation he ruled brutally and plunged into three devastating wars.
The lawyer suggested, though, that Saddam might be willing to negotiate such help by making the verdict in his trial a bargaining chip. Saddam and seven of his former officials are on trial in the deaths of 148 people during a crackdown on a Shiite village, and Iraqis widely expect the ousted leader to be sentenced to be hanged. He also is due to begin a second trial that could end with the death penalty.
When Saddam mentioned he expected the Americans to seek his help, al-Dulaimi said he asked the former leader if he would really be willing to help the country who toppled him from power. Saddam replied that he would, said al-Dulaimi, a Sunni who considers Saddam to remain Iraq's legitimate president.
"We will do that for the sake of preventing more bloodshed, for the liberty of all Iraqis," al-Dulaimi quoted Saddam as saying. Saddam predicted Iraq would "flourish within five years," saying that was the time that would be needed for reconstruction that would transform the country into the envy of the region, the lawyer said.
He said Saddam also believes he will be given the death penalty in the current trial, which began in October. The prosecution summed up its case last Monday, and defense lawyers are to begin their final arguments July 10, after which the five judges are expected to take several months to reach a verdict. Al-Dulaimi claimed the outcome of the trial has already been determined. "The ongoing trial and verdict, which are already decided by Washington, are expected to result in the death penalty," he said. "The death penalty is political blackmail to pressure President Saddam to help the American forces out of their predicament in Iraq and to rescue it from the mess it created there."
Al-Dulaimi said Washington also should look to Saddam as the only person who can stop the growing influence of Iran and radical Shiite Muslims in the region.
Pointing to Saddam's 1980-88 war with Iran - a conflict in which the United States and others backed Iraq - he said Saddam served as a counterbalance to Iranian power. The Bush administration should recognize the "hard reality" that the U.S. invasion of Iraq delivered the mostly secular Arab nation into the hands of Shiites strongly sympathetic to their larger Iranian neighbor, the lawyer said. "Iran is the enemy of Arabs, Islam and the United States, and the only person who can stand in the face of Iran is Saddam Hussein," he said.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/26/2006 09:50 ||
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#1
Cuckoo? No doubt. Even so, what is he supposed to conclude after witnessing our Democratic Party's headlong, panicked rush to get us out of Iraq?
For that matter, what is the rest of the world to conclude?
Posted by: Dave D. ||
06/26/2006 10:11 Comments ||
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#2
Saddam must read the New York Times and watch CNN.
#4
For that matter, what is the rest of the world to conclude?
Just what Murtha and Kerry and their ilk want them to conclude - that the US lacks resolve and staying power, and that if they resist the war on terror long enough the Dems will be able to get elected and dismantle the whole thing.
#5
Clearly he hasn't seen the article above, where his people are seeking to surrender. Regardless whether they call it national reconciliation or a truce. If they were winning, they wouldn't bother -- like someone wrote here the other day, winners don't commit suicide.
#9
Oh FFS! is this guy *still* using up oxygen? He's had an awfully big bite of the cherry of justice, and it's about time for him to choke on the pip...
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
06/26/2006 13:53 Comments ||
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#11
UNSCOM and a host of concerned nations "asked for the buggers help" back in the 90's. He flipped veryone off and .... did it his way. Doubt anyone will be asking him for much in the future.
Baghdad, 26 June (AKI) - Seven Iraqi resistance groups have so far adhered to the national reconciliation plan presented by the new prime minister Nouri al-Maliki in parliament on Sunday according to Shiite MP Hussein Sanidi, considered close to al-Maliki. He told local daily al-Sabah that "there are seven armed groups who have accepted the proposal, responding to al-Maliki's appeal and confirming that they have not been involved in atrocities against Iraqi civilians." The plan also outlines a programmed to disarm militias and beef up Iraqi security forces ahead of a takeover from coalition forces and envisages the phased release of 2,500 detainees from Iraqi prisons and creates a national commission for reconciliation.
Sanidi did not specify which groups had signed up to the plan which was endorsed by most parties in parliament except the main Sunni force, the Iraqi Concord Front which is prepared to back it only on the condition that the militia of Shiite imam Moqtada al-Sadr are disbanded.
The announcement came as rebels linked to al-Qaeda said they had killed four Russian diplomats they were holding.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/26/2006 09:11 ||
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What? These f*cking losers are now willing to climb out of the cesspools and stop killing innocent children, women, and the elderly?
All to become model citizens?
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/26/2006 14:38 Comments ||
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From England's Royal Military Police
Wives and family members of soldiers fighting in Iraq have received telephone calls, believed to include death threats, from insurgents, according to military documents seen by The Sunday Telegraph.
The "nuisance" calls have been made with increasing frequency over the past few weeks after insurgents managed to obtain home numbers from soldiers' mobile telephones.
The growing number of calls has led to an investigation by the Royal Military Police, which has issued a warning to all soldiers in Iraq to take great care when using mobile telephones to call home.
The extent of the problem emerged in a restricted Army document issued to soldiers of the London Regiment, a Territorial Army unit, which has soldiers from its ranks serving in Iraq.
The document warns soldiers preparing to take part in operations that insurgents in southern Iraq have managed to obtain the home telephone numbers of soldiers by using electronic intercept devices to hack into mobile phone systems.
It is understood that the threats range from claims that a husband or son is dead or will be killed fighting in Iraq, to verbal abuse. Many of those who have received calls say that they were made by people with a poor command of English or with a Middle Eastern accent.
The military document states that there have been "many instances in the last weeks of relatives and friends of personnel serving abroad on operations getting nuisance phone calls" from Iraq.
It adds: "Investigations indicate that the 'callers' of these nuisance calls have acquired the numbers from personnel using their own mobiles to phone. This is fairly easy using today's technology. It makes no difference whether the mobile is of UK origin or sourced abroad.
The MoD is keen to establish the extent of these nuisance calls, to determine whether there is a pattern to them. All ranks are to be aware of the possibility of receiving nuisance calls if using mobiles to phone home."
Since the start of the war in Iraq, a number of high profile soldiers are believed to have received death threats from opponents of the war.
Cpl Mark Byles, who won the Military Cross in 2004 after leading members of the 1st Bn of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment in a bayonet charge, received a death threat after his story appeared in the press. Abu Baker Mansha was later sentenced to eight years imprisonment for plotting to kill the soldier.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed that families of soldiers serving in Iraq had received "nuisance calls", including people calling the homes of soldiers from Iraq then hanging up.
The spokesman said: "We would not describe this as sinister. We have no evidence of anyone receiving any death threats."
#1
I'm sure most army wives are more than capable of dealing with Brave Lions of Islam™ - most of them will be confused with cold-calls from India anyway.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
06/26/2006 4:12 Comments ||
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#2
Information warfare. Of course, this is just a nuisance, but it's the kind of thing that I would do if I were a phone phreak jihadi.
#3
The real threat is that having intercepted these phone numbers, the terrorists might inform their fellow co-members of the Religion of Peacetm in Britainistan. Those thugs could locate the addresses and actually take action.
Posted by: DanNY ||
06/26/2006 6:22 Comments ||
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Maybe this has already happened - the intelligence for the Forest Gate raid was supposed to have come from a UK jihadi imprisoned for possesssion of a war-hero's address - presumably he intended to pay the soldier / his family a visit...
Posted by: Howard UK ||
06/26/2006 6:32 Comments ||
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#5
people with a poor command of English or with a Middle Eastern accent.
#8
These would be the lions of Islam braver than those who attack cemeteries, but not quite as brave as those who attack grade schools or retirement homes.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/26/2006 7:33 Comments ||
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#9
If they can get our guys phone numbers, I am sure we can get the numbers they're calling from, and the geographical location too, with a little luck. Enter as JDAM coordinates and proceed.
But not if they are calling from the US - not kosher to track those calls.
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/26/2006 8:47 Comments ||
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#14
This used to happen in the 90's to certain SOF troops. Our wives would get calls that we were dead or injured. They learned quickly that if it did not come from someone they knew it was just crap and the FBI would deal with it. I'm sure the Britt families and police have this under control.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/26/2006 8:51 Comments ||
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#15
Iraqs fault for having GSM cellphones. With CDMA that is near impossible to do.
#19
3dc knows a lot more about this than I do, but ...
There's a standards battle going on IIUC, tw. GSM is the preferred standard in Europe. In the US, TDMA and CDMA have traditionally dominated, but as companies buy networks and technology from around the world, there's a battle for which approach will gain market share everywhere.
Cingular and T-Mobiles use GSM, since AT&T bought one of the Japanese? (I forget) networks based on it. Other networks here use CDMA or a later version WCDMA. Qualcomm, a US company that holds the patents on CDMA, filed for them based on military radio techniques (some Europeans would say, rather agressively) and has been vigilant about protecting its intellectual property. So phone mfgrs like GSM because they can get higher profit margins from phones with those chips.
At least, that's my understanding. But 3dc can maybe bring his expertise to bear more authoritatively on this.
#21
CDMA is hard encrypted one direction lightly encrypted the other. A few of us know in general terms how to crack it both ways but it would be real hard to do without a $1,000,000 test tool thats been out of production for 6 years. (the CDMA form of a LTMS - good luck finding one of those custom puppies).
To just harvest stuff like you can with CDMA - not so easy.
Now... CDMA is the most bandwidth efficent commerical method of communicating so its better for CellPhone Providers and since you have multiple connections (hard handoffs are rare) dropped calls are much lower than with GSM or various TDMA methods. So if you own some spectrum in an area you provide better service and make more money with CDMA.
All that said.... the best current method to communicate is TimeDomains ultra wideband pulse tech with low duty cycle. The problem is I don't see any nation permitting it for civilan use as your average power output is below the noise threshold. This means transmissions are stealthy and you are almost impossible to locate. (see wwww.timedomain.com)
Given my druthers I would choose timedomain. It's elegant, simple and beats all current solutions hands down.
#23
I should point out that the LTMS development manager was transfered to a different division and most of the other folk were laid off. One of the key hardware designers now works as a security guard at a nearby office complex/hotel.
It's another example of the current business practice of rewarding good work.
Too bad the Russians didn't oppose the Iraq war; then this would never have happened.
An Iraqi al Qaeda-led group said on Sunday it had killed four Russian embassy staff it had taken hostage, according to a statement posted on the Internet. The statement said the posting included footage of the "execution". The group had demanded that Russia withdraw its troops from Chechnya and release all Muslim prisoners.
The Chechens actually had a posting on Kavkaz.com where they disassociated themselves from the demands and the groups making the demands.
The Web posting showed video footage of the killing of two men it said were Russian hostages and the beheaded body of a third man. It showed two militants beheading one of the men and the shooting of a second, after showing four men speaking in Russian in video statements dated June 13, 2006. In Moscow, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman could not immediately confirm the report of the deaths. The four embassy staff were kidnapped and a fifth was killed when gunmen blocked their vehicle in Baghdad on June 3.
"This is the video for carrying out God's ruling against the Russian diplomats...in revenge for our brothers and sisters for the torture and killing they received at the hands of the infidel Russian government," a statement by the Mujahideen Shura Council said. The al-Qaeda-led Council said in an Internet posting last week it was holding the four Russians and had decided to kill them after Moscow failed to meet its demands.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/26/2006 00:00 ||
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Maybe ol' Pooty-Poot will remember some of his previous training.
As I recall, back in the days of the Evil Empire, there was a Russian who was taken hostage in Beirut back in the early 80's. A few KGB guys found one of the hostage taker's "associates" and chopped off an ear a la Van Gogh, and did a few more things outside of the Geneva Conventions. Amazingly enough, the Russian was freed shortly afterwards.
We may never know about how they will respond to this (and if I know anything about Russians, they will....), but I would be very shocked to see Russians targeted again in the future.
I'll have to ask me sweetie how this is being portrayed over there. (He's in Moscow right now.)
In 1985, when terrorists took over the Soviet embassy in Beirut, a Spetsnaz strike team infiltrated the embassy, abducted four of the terrorists and sent one of their decapitated heads in a bag to the terrorists' leader. The following day all the hostages were released.
Who knows?, but seeing as how Chechnya still exists after Beslan, perhaps they aren't the same as in the 1980's ?
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
06/26/2006 16:10 Comments ||
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#8
but seeing as how Chechnya still exists after Beslan
Shakes head, can't figure it out either. I figured there was gonna be a once-in-a-lifetime Russian raid somewhere. Very telling. They don't have much between an assault battalion and an SS-18
ISRAELI troops massed on the Gaza border Monday as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered commanders to prepare a major offensive after the kidnapping of a soldier, igniting fears of a sharp escalation in the Middle East conflict.
The 20-year-old Israeli corporal, who also holds French nationality, was snatched on Sunday in a dawn raid on an army post on the Gaza Strip border in which two other Israeli servicemen and two Palestinian fighters were killed.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, under intense international pressure to resolve the crisis, ordered his security services to launch a massive manhunt for the kidnapped conscript to avert a possible widescale Israeli assault.
Meanwhile, three Palestinian groups, including the armed wing of Hamas, called for the release of all Palestinian women and children from Israeli jails in exchange for information on the kidnapped soldier, a demand Mr Olmert promptly rejected.
"The question of freeing (Palestinian) prisoners is in no way on the Israeli government agenda," Mr Olmert said during a speech in Jerusalem.
"There will be no negotiations, no bargaining, no agreements," he said.
The premier also vowed that a "large-scale military operation is approaching" and that Gaza had been sealed off by Israeli forces.
"We will not wait indefinitely, because we have no intention of being blackmailed by Hamas."
Earlier Monday, Mr Olmert said he had "instructed the heads of the army to deploy our forces in order to be ready to prepare for a prolonged and extensive military operation in order to strike the terror organisations and commanders.
"We will reach everyone, anywhere and they know. There will be no immunity for anyone," he vowed.
Sunday's attack, which saw gunmen tunnel their way under the border, was the deadliest militant assault in the area since last year when Israel left Gaza, which has since become plagued by lawlessness and deadly political feuding.
"We consider the Palestinian Authority on all its senior levels, from the chairman down to the prime minister, as the element responsible for this operation (Sunday's attack) and everything that it implies," Mr Olmert said.
A high-ranking security official also threatened that Israel would work to topple the Hamas-led government - boycotted financially and politically by the West since taking office in March - unless the soldier is freed alive.
"We will make sure that the Hamas government ceases to operate if the kidnapped soldier is not returned to us alive," the source said.
"President Mahmud Abbas ordered prime minister Ismail Haniya, interior minister Said Siam and security service commanders to immediately launch a serious search today to release the soldier," an official said.
Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said the Palestinian president, who condemned Sunday's attack and ordered a manhunt for the missing soldier, Gilad Shalit, was locked in an intense round of contacts to stave off threatened Israeli retaliation.
Outside the Kerem Shalom gate into Gaza, near the site of Sunday's attack, the army was amassing tanks, ground troops and artillery, waiting for the green light from political leaders for any possible strike.
While the Hamas-led government, boycotted by both Israel and the West as a terrorist organisation, has also demanded the immediate release of the soldier, its armed wing was among three militant groups which claimed Sunday's assault.
A representative of the Popular Resistance Committees, which admitted carrying out the attack together with the Hamas wing and the previously unheard of Army of Islam, said in a telephone call to AFP that it was holding the soldier.
"He is alive and in good health," the representative of the group said on condition of anonymity. "He is not seriously injured."
But the representative gave no indication as to the whereabouts of Shalit, whose bloodstained flak jacket was found near the scene of the attack.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said it was Israel's "natural and legitimate right" to use military force to retrieve its missing soldier.
As the international community called for Shalit's immediate release, the United States and the European Commission urged Israel to show restraint amid fears of an all-out disintegration in the fragile Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"We urge both sides to exercise restraint and avoid steps which further escalate the situation," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
"As we have said all along, it is the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority government to stop all acts of violence," McCormack said.
Israeli Housing Minister Meir Sheetrit said that the government would first give diplomacy a chance.
"We decided not to have an immediate military reaction and give diplomacy a chance," he said. "We will not let anger dictate our reaction."
#5
There will never be any peace between the "palestinians" and Israel. The entire Middle East fuels the flames of hatred and discord in the area. The only solution is to militarize the original Balfour border area, and evict by force all muslims from the State of Israel. Follow that up with a threat to nuke any capital of any country that defies Israel, or attacks its people. Once you make the threat, follow through if needed. I will personally back anything Israel does to end the constant drain on its people and resources, including the deaths of tens of thousands of arabs.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/26/2006 21:12 Comments ||
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#6
Hamas pucker factor ought to be getting high about this time unless they are completely whacked out.
#7
Nobody else wants the Palestinians. They won't accept them into their countries in any quantity, even sometimes for valid medical reasons! The only reason they put up with them is because they are a useful tool to screw with Israel. Otherwise, they'd have been history long ago.
Posted by: grb ||
06/26/2006 23:09 Comments ||
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Israel massed troops Monday along the Gaza Strip border in preparation for what Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said would be a "broad and ongoing" operation against Palestinian militants following the abduction of an Israeli soldier.
Olmert issued the threat as Israeli and Palestinian officials furiously worked diplomatic channels to gain the release of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, a dual French-Israeli citizen who was seized in a cross-border raid on Sunday.
Speaking to a tourism conference in Jerusalem, Olmert said Israel's patience was wearing thin and that he held the entire Palestinian leadership responsible for Shalit's safety. "I gave the orders to our military commanders to prepare the army for a broad and ongoing military operation to strike the terrorist leaders and all those involved," he said. "It should be clear. There will be immunity for no one."
Militants affiliated with the ruling Hamas party and tiny allied factions abducted Shalit early Sunday after tunneling into Israel and attacking a military post. Two other soldiers were killed, and three militants died in an ensuing shootout.
The attack was the first successful infiltration by militants since Israel withdrew from Gaza in September and threatened to plunge the region into a major flare-up of violence.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was working intensely with Egyptian mediators to locate the soldier, officials said, while a spokesman for the rival Hamas-led Palestinian government said he had information Shalit was alive and urged his captors to keep him safe. Note how he didn't say to release him immediately. Can't do that.....that would be civilized.
Despite Abbas' ongoing efforts to pressure his Hamas rivals into moderation, Olmert said he blamed the entire Palestinian leadership, including the president, responsible for the spiraling violence. "It should be clear that we see the
Palestinian Authority on all its levels, from the chairman on downward, as the responsible element for this operation and all that happens from it," Olmert said, referring to Abbas.
Palestinian lawmaker Saeb Erekat, a close aide to Abbas, called for restraint "at a time when President Abbas is exerting maximum efforts in order to acquire the release of the soldier, alive and unharmed."
The tensions have raised the possibility that Israel could renew its policy of assassinating Hamas political leaders, a practice Israel halted after a February 2005 cease-fire.
Hamas lawmaker Mushir al Masri warned Israel against any "stupid acts." "Yeah! We gots the monopoly on stupidity in these here parts!"
The kidnapping delivered a blow to Abbas' efforts to coax Hamas into accepting a plan that implicitly recognizes Israel. Abbas, elected separately last year, has endorsed the plan in the hope of lifting crippling economic sanctions against Hamas and opening the way for new peace talks.
Some Hamas political leaders privately complained that they were not warned ahead of time of the kidnapping plans. Note how they don't condemn the act, they are just pissed that they were not informed first. Charming people, no?
A high-ranking military intelligence official, Yossi Beidatz, told a parliamentary committee Monday that Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas was in close contact with Hamas' Syria-based leader, Khaled Mashaal, and Shalit's captors to secure his immediate release, said lawmaker Ran Cohen.
Shalit was the first Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants in 12 years, and the fate of the quiet, bespectacled teen gripped the country and its news outlets.
Large pictures of Shalit's boyish face appeared on the front pages of local newspapers. "Free Gilad," said the banner headline of Yediot Ahronot, the country's largest daily.
In Tel Aviv, the French Embassy confirmed the soldier holds French citizenship and said Paris was working to win his release.
Shalit's family broke its silence on Monday to plead with his captors to treat him humanely and to remember he has a loving family who misses him dearly.
Noam Shalit, in an interview with Associated Press Television, described his son as a quiet, helpful boy who followed his older brother into the military's armored corps. "The only thing we have left right now is hope, nothing more," he said.
In Gaza City, dozens of relatives of the 8,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons urged militants to hold Shalit until Israel agrees to a large-scale release of jailed Palestinians. "Kidnap a soldiers and free 100 in return," the crowd said. "Twist the Zionists' hands. Hope they can learn." Israelis can learn. We're not sure about you, though.....
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/26/2006 8:48 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Abbas doenst seem to be that bad of a guy to me. Impotent and powerless as a leader, but not a bad guy. They should give him an hour's warning before they crush the Paleos.
#3
I disagree. Israel agreed to arm his personal guard after they broke open the Hamas assassination plot, and he promptly handed the weapons over to Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade and other associated baddies.
#4
In Gaza City, dozens of relatives of the 8,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons urged militants to hold Shalit until Israel agrees to a large-scale release of jailed Palestinians.
Release them via the morgue. Seriously. Start shooting one an hour until the IDF guy is returned.
#8
they might as well as much as i hate too say that the guy is probably dead. So lets get on with the fireworks i'm sick of hearing about the paleos for years now. Their arab pae=rtners even think they are pieces of shit and don' t won't them so go ahead and just do the damn thing
#12
Most likely, given that he reportedly was shot in the stomach and chest. It's not likely these factions could give him much effective medical care even if they wanted to, although I suppose it's possible they have a doctor who could do enough to keep him alive for a little while.
PANIPITIYA, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - One of Sri Lanka's top generals was killed on Monday by a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber who rammed his motorcycle into an army convoy near the capital killing three other people, officials said. Army deputy chief of staff Major-General Parami Kulatunga was traveling to army headquarters when the attacker approached his vehicle and an escorting army pickup truck in rush-hour traffic around 12 miles from Colombo. The blast left the car a twisted wreck.
"The general is dead. Two others (soldiers) are also dead," police Chief Inspector Chaminda Bamunuarachchi told Reuters at the scene. A civilian was also killed. "I think it was a suicide attack against the general."
The attack comes on the heels of a rash of ambushes and military clashes that have killed around 700 people -- half of them civilians -- so far this year. Many fear the violence could reignite a two-decade civil war with the rebels.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have long used suicide bombers both in battle and assassinations. An April attack by a female suicide bomber on army headquarters wounded the army commander and prompted government bombing raids on the rebels.
By mid-afternoon, there was no report of new military action against the Tigers. There have been no air strikes on the rebels since earlier in the month and the Tigers have warned of military retaliation if they resume. "No decision has been made yet on retaliation," head of the government peace secretariat Palitha Kohona told Reuters. "This is sheer terrorism. I think the Tigers have lost the plot. They don't seem to realize that terrorism is not an acceptable way to achieve political ends."
Posted by: DanNY ||
06/26/2006 06:52 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
KABUL: Two coalition soldiers were killed during combat in Afghanistan that also left about 48 militants dead, officials said on Sunday, as President Hamid Karzai called for more coordination between coalition and tribal leaders during counter-terrorism operations. 
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- The newly appointed leader of Somalia's Islamic militia said Monday he will only support a government based on Islam. "Somalia is a Muslim nation and its people are also Muslim, 100 percent," Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his home in central Somalia. "Therefore any government we agree on would be based on the holy Quran and the teachings of our Prophet Muhammad," he said.
Anti-terrorist police have been ordered to revamp security procedures after a bag containing details of bomb plots and suspects identified for surveillance was lost in the street.
June 26, 2006 -- Belarusian authorities said today they will freeze any assets that U.S. President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may hold in the country. 
Belgium has been shocked by a new case of senseless violence after a 54-year-old man was beaten to death on an Antwerp bus over the weekend. The victim, Guide D., a train driver and father of two, became fed up with how six youths were arguing with each other and decided to intervene on Saturday night. But the youths attacked the man and bashed him — he died at the scene. 
Radical Islamists may not know it but their global jihad has more to fear from Shannen Rossmiller, an American mother-of-three, than from a squadron of F16s.
Four Islamic militants and a federal policeman were killed on Sunday in ongoing clashes in Indian Kashmir, an army spokesman said. A member of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and a militant were killed in a clash in the southern town of Kulgam, spokesman Hemant Joneja told AFP. "The fighting erupted when army soldiers, backed by CRPF raided a rebel hideout in the area," he said, adding the operation by the troops was continuing. Three more rebels were killed jointly by the army and local police's counter insurgency Special Operations Group in the southern Pulwama and northern Kupwara districts early on Sunday, Joneja said. "The fighting has stopped at both the places but search operations are on to find out more possible hiding rebels," he said.
QUETTA: The city was rocked on Sunday night by three rocket attacks, one of which hit a house close to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in the Quetta Cantonment. Unidentified men fired three rockets at around 10pm. One hit a house in front of the CMH, the second hit a hotel on Jinnah Road while a third landed on Muno Jan Road in the Kili Arbab aea. "The first rocket hit a residence located in front of CMH on Nizamuddin Lane. The boundary walls of the house were damaged and a man was injured," a source told Daily Times.
PESHAWAR: Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) leaders in NWFP have received threatening letters asking them to either publicly announce their support for Taliban and Al Qaeda or face the "consequences". Non-government organisations operating in areas such as Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Bannu and Lakki Marwat have also been warned to stop their work. Sources said the letters accuse MMA leaders of "using Islam and the Taliban to win elections, but forgetting their promises after assuming power". Some MMA leaders had also received Rs 1,000-Rs 1,500 with the letters to "buy their coffins if they fail to announce their support for Taliban and Al Qaeda".
MIRANSHAH: Three Frontier Corps (FC) troops were injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire on their convoy in North Waziristan on Sunday morning, officials said. The FC convoy had stopped near Banda village to fetch water from a nearby spring, some five kilometre south of Miranshah. "The FC men retaliated but the assailants escaped after firing on the FC convoy," the sources said. The FC men were deployed at Banda Picket and frequently go to the spring to fetch drinking water. The injured jawans were air-lifted to Bannu Combined Military Hospital by an army helicopter, the sources added. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.
PESHAWAR: Militants in North Waziristan have announced a month-long unilateral ceasefire to allow a tribal jirga to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the security problems in the volatile tribal agency. Abdullah Farhad, who claims to be the spokesman for Taliban in North Waziristan, said on Sunday that the truce was temporary and the militants had the right to defend themselves if attacked. He demanded the return of security forces operating in the agency to their bases during the ceasefire period and that the forces leave the tribal area within the next month. 
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) -- Saddam Hussein believes the United States will have to seek his help to quell the bloody insurgency in Iraq and open the way for U.S. forces to withdraw, his chief lawyer said Sunday. Khalil al-Dulaimi argued in an interview with The Associated Press that the former leader is the key to returning stability to Iraq. "He's their last resort. They're going to knock at his door eventually," the lawyer said. Saddam is "the only person who can stop the resistance against the U.S. troops." There is no indication U.S. officials have considered seeking his help. While Saddam's once dominant fellow Sunni Arabs are the backbone of the insurgency, the Shiite Muslim majority and Kurds repressed by his regime would be enflamed by his presence. 
PANIPITIYA, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - One of Sri Lanka's top generals was killed on Monday by a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber who rammed his motorcycle into an army convoy near the capital killing three other people, officials said. Army deputy chief of staff Major-General Parami Kulatunga was traveling to army headquarters when the attacker approached his vehicle and an escorting army pickup truck in rush-hour traffic around 12 miles from Colombo. The blast left the car a twisted wreck. 
