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IAF Booms Hezbollah HQ, Misses Nasrallah
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Afghanistan
Move to reinstate Vice and Virtue
The Afghan government is considering the re-establishment of the Taleban's Department for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. The move has been recommended by the Ministry for Religious Affairs.
I'll bet they're quite enthusiastic about this.
Under the Taleban, the department was notorious for its sometimes brutal enforcement of Islamic norms.
To the extent that shooting women in the head in a soccer stadium was sometimes considered brutal.
A government minister said the department would help to prevent corruption. The Afghan parliament is due to debate the issue soon. Correspondents say that under the Taleban, the department's enforcers struck fear into the population by such actions as beating women who did not observe the strict dress code.
Posted by: john || 07/14/2006 13:43 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Can President Karzai veto such things if they pass?
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/14/2006 14:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Those cockroaches really don't need to be stealing our oxygen anymore.
Posted by: Chavitch Spailing4192 || 07/14/2006 14:05 Comments || Top||

#3  gotta love the graphic. Reminds me of the video a few days ago of the 2 chattle women trying to figure out how to eat spaghetti with their masks on.
Posted by: BA || 07/14/2006 14:20 Comments || Top||

#4  They reinstate Vice-n-Virtue, we uninstate all aid $$$. I ain't paying for morality cops, other than the ninnies at FCC.
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/14/2006 14:33 Comments || Top||

#5  I'd let them go ahead with it, keeping in mind the fly paper approach, but never actually letting them go too far. What a wealth of intelligence this would be. A who's who of Talibania.
Posted by: 2Ducks || 07/14/2006 15:00 Comments || Top||

#6  Personally, I vote for Vice - the muslim world could do with a lot more of it IMO.
Posted by: Xbalanke || 07/14/2006 16:40 Comments || Top||

#7  Aye, Sea. No monies to wifebeaters and woman killers.

Meanwhile, silence from our leaders on this, all while our troops are there, our money is there, helping that new government-that bastion of democracy in South Asia, Afghanistan. Almost makes you reminisce about how we ignored the good ol "vice and virture" days leading up to 9/11, too... We can file this right alongside that classic, "Why The Government Under Pres. Bush Won't Call Talibanis Terrorists."
Posted by: Jules || 07/14/2006 16:44 Comments || Top||

#8  Vice please, virtue proved to be too boring.
Posted by: DMFD || 07/14/2006 18:45 Comments || Top||

#9  Damn, now ain't that the truth DMFD.
Posted by: 6 || 07/14/2006 20:42 Comments || Top||


19 militants killed in US air strike
(KUNA) -- A clash between Taliban fighters and coalition and Afghan forces and air strikes left at least 19 militants dead in southern Afghanistan, Afghan officials said on Thursday. Coalition officials confirmed the clashes and air strikes but did not give the exact number of casualties. Spokeswoman for the coalition Capt Julie Roberge told journalists there was a clash in the Nauzad district of the southern Helmand province. However, they did not have the casualty figure at the moment. But a provincial government spokesman said seven fighters, who attacked the district of Nauzad, were killed in exchange of fire while 12 others were killed in air strike. Mohyuddin, spokesman for the provincial governor in Helmand, said the insurgents, armed with heavy and light weapons, attacked the centre of the district last night. He said they were trying to occupy headquarters of the district.

The coalition and Afghan forces retaliated and their attack was repulsed, said the spokesman. He added seven militants were killed in the clash while the rest fled the area. As they were retreating, the coalition war-planes targeted one of their vehicles resulting in the killing of 12 more fighters and the wounding of two others said the spokesman. He said the fighting continued for several hours. Security situation in the southern provinces is slipping from bad to worse at a time when the NATO forces are about to take command from the US-led coalition forces in the troubled parts of the country. Two days back, the US Defence Secretary, during a brief visit to Kabul, admitted the insurgency was on rise in the south but vowed they would not let Taliban succeed. The British had stationed 3,300 troops in Helmand province. In face of the rising insurgency, the British government recently announced sending 900 more troops along with helicopters to the troubled region.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If the insurgency keeps "rising", there won't be a living insurgent within 500 miles. In a contest of whether they will run out, or we will run out of bullets and bombs, I am betting on us.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/14/2006 0:47 Comments || Top||

#2  the gestation period for bullets is slightly lower than Mooslim jihadis...given time, the ammo wins :-)
Posted by: Frank G || 07/14/2006 0:48 Comments || Top||

#3  Love the pic!
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/14/2006 6:24 Comments || Top||

#4  Just a few days ago I remember reading an article about the Taliwhacker command being unhappy that the media always printed the coalition side of the story. Now, all of a sudden the stories are being told from the Taliwhacker viewpoint. Curious,no?
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/14/2006 9:16 Comments || Top||

#5  Darn, and I had my bettin' money on that much feared and vaunted (by US and Euro-trash MSM) Taliban Summer Offensive!

Will have to wait for dreaded Afghan Winter, round six.
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 07/14/2006 13:24 Comments || Top||


Afghan forces kill five Pakistani nomads
(KUNA) -- Five dead bodies of Pakistani nomads, killed by Afghan security forces, were brought back home on Thursday, said an official. Five nomads of Lora Lai district, about 94 miles east of Quetta, the province of Southwestern Baluchistan province, went to Afghan eastern province of Zabul through Pakistani-Afghan Chaman border, District Mayor of Lora Lai, Sardar Jahanzeb, told KUNA by telephone. He said under unknown circumstances Afghan forces gunned them down, adding that there bodies were sent back home today (Thursday).
Is 'nomad' the PC word-of-the-day for 'Taliban'?
Following the incident, locals in Lora Lai district held protest demonstrations and observed shutter-down strike. Afghan forces last month killed four nomads of the same district in the same fashion.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yep, that be a Pakinomad
Posted by: Captain America || 07/14/2006 0:21 Comments || Top||

#2  *shrug* It's always been dangerous to wander through a war zone. That's why I try not to do so.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/14/2006 10:26 Comments || Top||

#3  The great Wazi, the land time forgot
Posted by: Captain America || 07/14/2006 15:19 Comments || Top||

#4  Nomads? A relatively new film, "Road To Gitmo," portrays three British-born Pakis who just decide to take a trip, "just a little trip" to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan shortly after September 11, 2001.

We are of course supposed to sniff, tear-up and well-up as well in full-blown pity for the three hapless idiots.
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 07/14/2006 15:41 Comments || Top||

#5  Where's Mel Gibson?
Posted by: Captain America || 07/14/2006 23:12 Comments || Top||

#6  Mel Gibson of Mad Max fame
Posted by: Captain America || 07/14/2006 23:13 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Islamists Will Not Rule Country, President Says
Mogadishu, 14 July (AKI) - The president of the Somali provisional government, Abdullah Yusuf, said on Friday that "even if the Islamists now control the whole of Mogadishu and the city of Jowhar, this does not mean that we will allow them to rule over Somalia." "I am not the weak president of a weak government. At first I welcomed the Union of the Islamic Courts' (UIC) victory which wiped away the warlords, but now they are undertaking a path which is negative for the country," he added in an interview with the Arab London-based daily al-Sharq al-Awsat.

Following the seizing of Mogadishu's harbour by the UIC earlier this week, a key infrastructure for the commercial exchanges with and within Somalia, Yusuf stressed how his government is the only institution legitimised to rule over the country. He said he fears that the UIC want to become a parallel government and added that his cabinet "is the only government which is recognised by the Somali people and the international community." "They [the UIC] fought against the warlords with the support of the population, but they do not have statesmen among their leaders and cannot control a city such as Mogadishu," he explained.

Yusuf concluded that he will be ready to cooperate with the UIC only if they should accept the presence of international troops in the country. However, he said he will fight the UIC if they tried to conquer the town of Baidoa, where the headquarters of the Somali provisional government and parliament are situated.
Posted by: Steve || 07/14/2006 09:13 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  At first I welcomed the Union of the Islamic Courts' (UIC) victory which wiped away the warlords, but now they are undertaking a path which is negative for the country,"

Wotta surprise.
Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 || 07/14/2006 10:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Green on green
Posted by: gromgoru || 07/14/2006 13:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Mispeled yeild.
Posted by: 6 || 07/14/2006 20:43 Comments || Top||

#4  "Caution - Slow Children"
Posted by: Frank G || 07/14/2006 21:32 Comments || Top||


Somali warlords hand over weapons
I would just like to note that *this* is what actual victory looks like: your enemies standing in line to give you their weapons. I despise Somalia's new Islamobot overlords, but I must note that everybody is clear that they defeated the warlords and now give orders with the expectation that they will be obeyed.
Remnants of forces loyal to a Somali warlord alliance surrendered their weapons to Muslim militia here Thursday, cementing Islamist control of the capital, witnesses said. Gunmen affiliated with two warlords, Bashir Raghe Shirar and Abdel-Qader Bebe, turned in arms caches to representatives of Mogadishu's Islamic courts and agreed to work with them to restore order to the lawless city, they said. "The weapons have been given to the Islamic courts in peaceful manner," said Sheikh Farah Ali Hussein, chief of the Al-Irshad Sharia tribunal that has control over northern Mogadishu where the weapons transfer took place. "This is a victory for Islam, for Mogadishu and for the people of Somalia," he said after a handover ceremony. "The era of working in peace is starting and we are grateful to Allah."

The surrender came a day after the Islamists took control of Mogadishu's main port and demanded that all public property and facilities in the capital be turned over to them, warning that any resistance would be crushed. Earlier in the week, Islamist gunmen routed forces loyal to the last holdout warlord in fierce fighting that ended months of bloody battles for the people of Mogadishu.

A spokesman for Shirar, who once controlled much of northern Mogadishu, said the warlords conceded total defeat. "The Islamic courts won the battle for Mogadishu and it is their responsibility to bring peace," Omar Ali Adow told reporters. "Let us stop the continuation of bloodshed and accept that there are new realities on the ground. "If they need our help, we will offer them help for the well-being of the Somali people," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  wait til they outlaw Qhat under Sharia....
Posted by: Frank G || 07/14/2006 0:09 Comments || Top||

#2  I thought Allah chewed qhat? Go figure
Posted by: Captain America || 07/14/2006 0:23 Comments || Top||

#3  psst - the green drool wasn't Qhat in Mo's case. Less-than-ideal dental care.....
Posted by: Frank G || 07/14/2006 0:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Really good point, Seafarious.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/14/2006 7:03 Comments || Top||

#5  Any wagers that fighting breaks out again in Mog in the next ummmm... 2 weeks? This smells like an IRA weapons handover, more ritual than factual.
Posted by: 6 || 07/14/2006 7:23 Comments || Top||

#6  Only be handing over the weapons for that you cannot get ammo.

And grenades. Just can't find the pins for good grenades.
Posted by: john || 07/14/2006 9:23 Comments || Top||

#7  See, gun control works (not)
Posted by: Captain America || 07/14/2006 15:22 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Tales from the Crossfire Gazette
Two alleged criminals were killed yesterday in two separate incidents of 'crossfire' with Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in Dhaka and Naogaon.
Both turn out to be no-goodnik commies ...
Mohammad Jasim alias 'Kana' Jasim was killed in crossfire with RAB at Demra in the city, while Shahidul Islam, 38, son of Hazi Ahmed Ali of village Ratowal in Kaligram under Raninagar upazila of Naogaon district was killed in Naogaon.
RAB claimed Shahidul Islam was an alleged regional leader of banned extremist outfit Purba Banglar Communist Party as well as a listed terrorist. He was also a UP chairman.
Aren't they all?
Mohammad Jasim alias 'Kana' Jasim, an alleged criminal was killed in 'crossfire' between RAB and a gang of terrorists early yesterday beside the staff quarter area under Demra police station in the capital.
It's like watching an old episode of "Bonanza". We know Little Joe's new girlfriend is going to die, but we watch anyway.
RAB said, acting on a tip off, a team of RAB-10 arrested Jasim conducting a raid into the Ramna Chinese Restaurant inside Ramna Park area Wednesday night.
"Evening, Kana. Finish your noodles, we're taking a ride"
According to his confessions,
"The number three vicegrips, please"
Jasim was taken to Demra in the early hours of yesterday to arrest allegedly his accomplices and unearth their hidden arms dens.
This is where Little Joe's girlfriend catches a 'cold'
RAB claimed that when they reached beside the staff quarter area, the accomplices of Jasim opened fire on them from their hideouts to snatch their comrade from the clutches of the elite forces.
"Da RAB got Kana! Open random aimless fire!"
RAB also retaliated.
(See next sentance)
At one stage, RAB claimed that Jasim tried to escape and received several bullet injuries and died on the spot.
"See, there's a hole behind his left ear, another behind his right and one in each kneecap"
The accomplices of the alleged terrorist, according to RAB who opened fire on them, managed to flee the scene leaving two foreign revolvers and four rounds of bullets in the spot.
And no other traces they exist
RAB said Jasim was accused of several cases including murder and arms charges.

Our Naogaon correspondent reported that an UP chairman, who was also an alleged extremist leader was killed in 'crossfire' between the members of RAB and a gang of extremists early yesterday beside the Eidgah of Kaligram under Raninagar upazila in Naogaon.
Second story, same as the first
RAB sources said, acting on a tip off, a team of RAB-5 conducted a raid Tuesday at Gaganpur village under Patnitala upazila and arrested Shahidul Islam.
Tip off - check, raid - check, arrest - check
Following his confessions,
Check
RAB members carried out another raid along with the nabbed UP chairman Wednesday night at about 4.30 am to detain his accomplices and recover arms.
Check
RAB said when they reached beside the Kaligram Eidgah, the accomplices of the extremist leader opened fire on them. RAB also retaliated.
Double check
At one stage of crossfire, Shahidul tried to escape and died on the spot.
See what I mean?
RAB recovered a foreign pistol and five rounds bullets from the spot. RAB and police sources said Shahidul Islam was accused of seven cases including five murder charges. They said he was also a convict who has been absconding since 2.5 years.
That sentence makes my brain hurt ...
Police recovered the body Thursday morning and sent to Naogaon Sadar Hospital mortuary for autopsy.
"Paging Doctor Quincy!"
A case was filed with Raninagar thana in this connection.
Posted by: Steve || 07/14/2006 13:41 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Somehow, I don't think we'll be seeing reruns of The Crossfire Gazette on TVLand any time soon...
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/14/2006 14:15 Comments || Top||

#2  It's like watching an old episode of "Bonanza". We know Little Joe's new girlfriend is going to die, but we watch anyway.

In the Urdu edition Hoss does the honor killin.
Posted by: 6 || 07/14/2006 16:03 Comments || Top||

#3  "beside the Eidgah of Kaligram"..or is it Kaligram Eidgah... this is so confusing. And what's with the alledged absconding extremist bit?
...and notice the bullets were recovered first inthe spot and nextonthe spot. hmmmmm
Posted by: Inspector Clueso || 07/14/2006 16:35 Comments || Top||

#4  Union Pacific?
Posted by: USN, ret. || 07/14/2006 18:04 Comments || Top||

#5  2 revolvers and 4 rounds of ammo.
Not exactly packin' heavy were they?
WTF are they going to do with 2 rounds of ammo each?
Shoot one at the good guys and kill themselves with the 2nd.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/14/2006 19:28 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
13 militants killed in operation on Chechnya border
(RIA Novosti)-A total of 13 militants have been killed during an operation on the border of Chechnya and Daghestan in southern Russia, Chechnya's Interior Ministry official said Thursday. He said another two had been arrested. The ministry representative said reports that a militant group was trying to break through from Daghestan into Chechnya had arrived Wednesday night and police had set ambushes in the mountainous areas in Chechnya where the gunmen were most likely to appear.

"As a result, the group of about 20 bandits was discovered in the [southeastern] mountainous Nozhai Yurt district of Chechnya at 4:30 a.m. Moscow time (12:30 a.m. GMT)," the source said. "Thirteen militants were killed and two captured. A great number of small arms and grenade launchers were seized at the scene." He said no law enforcers had been killed or injured.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  so...15 dead, eventually
Posted by: Frank G || 07/14/2006 0:10 Comments || Top||

#2  I protest the use of disproportional force!!!
Posted by: gromgoru || 07/14/2006 14:06 Comments || Top||


Great White North
Interview with Mubin Shaikh
On July 13, CBC News aired an interview with a paid police informant who said he infiltrated a group of men and youths arrested on June 2, 2006, in connection with an alleged plot to bomb targets in southern Ontario. The informant, who spoke to Linden McIntyre of CBC's The Fifth Estate, is 29-year-old Mubin Shaikh, a prominent member of Toronto's Indo-Canadian Muslim community. He was born in Canada to immigrant parents. Shaikh is expected to testify at the trials of the 12 men and five youths who have been charged in the case. The following is a transcript of the interview: The rest is at the link, for anyone who's interested. Good work CSIS!
Posted by: 2Ducks || 07/14/2006 14:19 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Shaikh is expected to testify"
I hope he has good protection working - I wouldn't want to be him, with who knows how many Muslims looking to kill me as a traitorous apostate. Especially in Canada, where I can't even legally have weapons to defend myself.
Posted by: Glenmore || 07/14/2006 17:12 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Cleveland Imam Jailed Pending Deportation
CLEVELAND (AP) -- An Islamic religious leader convicted of concealing ties to terrorist groups remains jailed in Michigan seven months after he reached a deal with the U.S. government to be deported. The agreement called for Fawaz Damra's deportation to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Egypt or the Palestinian territories. But so far, no one has been willing to take the former imam of the Islamic Center of Cleveland, officials said.

There is no definitive rule on how long Damra can be held in jail, according to his attorney, Robert Birach. "If there was progress, he'd be gone by now," said Birach, who declined comment on whether any other countries were being asked to take Damra. "We haven't gotten a country yet to say yes." A spokesman with the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately return a call seeking comment Friday.

Damra, 44, was convicted in June 2004 of concealing ties to three groups that the U.S. government classifies as terrorist organizations when he applied for U.S. citizenship in 1994. That conviction was upheld in March 2005, clearing the way for the U.S. to begin deportation proceedings. In Damra's trial, prosecutors showed video footage of him and other Islamic leaders raising money for an arm of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which has been listed as a terrorist group by the State Department since 1989. The Palestinian-born Damra immigrated to the United States in the mid-1980s.

Damra is having a difficult time in jail and misses his wife and three children, who still live in the Cleveland area, friend Haider Alawan said. "He's a man without a country," Alawan said.
My heart bleeds. [Urp!]
Posted by: Steve || 07/14/2006 09:57 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I hear Gitmo is nice this time of year. And they have some vacancies, too.

Damra is having a difficult time in jail and misses his wife and three children, who still live in the Cleveland area, friend Haider Alawan said.

Be nice if they went with him.
Posted by: Quana || 07/14/2006 10:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Throw him overboard off the Gaza coastline.
Posted by: Darrell || 07/14/2006 10:35 Comments || Top||

#3  He is such a rabid supporter of Paleos. Dump him there. They need good Lions (cannon fodder) for the battle right now. Why are we still feeding this SOB ?
Posted by: SOP35/Rat || 07/14/2006 10:59 Comments || Top||

#4  Put him a CHUM BAG!!
Posted by: ARMYGUY || 07/14/2006 11:02 Comments || Top||

#5  ARMYGUY, sharks are gettin picky these days, suggest gators
Posted by: Captain America || 07/14/2006 15:23 Comments || Top||

#6  Rough and cuff his ass, put some serious lumps on his head with a stick, fly him to Israel and kick his butt through the Erez crossing gate. Give him a good swift kick to the nuts for a last present and tell him "Let's see how well you like the good life in Gaza. AMF."
Posted by: mac || 07/14/2006 19:31 Comments || Top||

#7  Don't forget the press release announcing his medal and congratulating and thanking him for his assistance to the CIA and Shin Beit.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 07/14/2006 19:45 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Letter to NYT: their editorial returned w/ 'suspicious white powder'
The New York Times on Friday received a letter containing a suspicious white powder and a copy of a recent editorial in which the paper defended its coverage of the Bush administration's anti-terrorism programs.

The incident, which helped push U.S. stocks lower, raised fears of a possible recurrence of anthrax-tainted letters sent to newsrooms and other offices in late 2001.

"At about 12:30 p.m. (1630 GMT) this afternoon ... an employee opened an envelope that contained a white powdery substance. The envelope was handwritten and addressed to the New York Times, not to any individual. The postmark was from Philadelphia with no return address," said Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis.

Emergency vehicles and an ambulance responded to the newspaper's offices on 43rd Street and Mathis said the man who opened the envelope was taken to hospital for precautionary tests and treatment.

Conservatives have criticized the Times in recent weeks for writing about the Bush administration's covert anti-terrorism programs. This week protesters rallied outside the newspaper to object to its decision to publish details about terrorism financing and secret government programs to monitor phone conversations of U.S. citizens.

Mathis confirmed that the envelope included a copy of a June 28 editorial entitled "Patriotism and the Press" with an "X" marked through it.
more at link
Posted by: lotp || 07/14/2006 17:33 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Who would be surprised if the looser's at the Times sent some baby powder to themselves for a little sympathy?
Posted by: Omeager Charong4012 || 07/14/2006 17:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Literary critic?
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/14/2006 17:49 Comments || Top||

#3  The incident, which helped push U.S. stocks lower,...

WTF? What makes Reuters think this incident pushed stocks lower? Like there's nothing going on anywhere else that might explain it? If they know the market this well they should get out of the news business and get into securities.
Posted by: Xbalanke || 07/14/2006 17:55 Comments || Top||

#4  Suspicious white powder...Cocaine?
Posted by: HammerHead || 07/14/2006 18:01 Comments || Top||

#5  I think it was the leftover of a powdered doughnut.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/14/2006 18:07 Comments || Top||

#6  White powder for the editors - that explains a lot of the recent NYT editorials.
Posted by: DMFD || 07/14/2006 18:39 Comments || Top||

#7  Dowd must have jock itch
Posted by: Captain America || 07/14/2006 23:26 Comments || Top||

#8  down there? Dry skin
Posted by: Frank G || 07/14/2006 23:35 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Prominent Pakistani Cleric Killed by Bomb
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) -- A suicide car bomber killed a prominent Shiite Muslim cleric and one of his relatives in this southern Pakistan city on Friday, police said. Allama Hassan Turabi had narrowly escaped an attempt on his life in April, and his killing will raise sectarian tensions in Karachi, which has often been the site of clashes between rival Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

Turabi was the leader of a Shiite party, Islami Tehreek Pakistan. He also was chief of the southern province of Sindh for Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal or United Action Forum, a hard-line opposition religious coalition. One of Turabi's guards also was seriously hurt in the blast that shook downtown Karachi, said Manzoor Mughal, a senior police investigator. The attacker was also killed, he said. Turabi died of his injuries at Patel Hospital, Mughal said. Dr. Abdul Rashid at the private hospital confirmed the cleric's death.
"He's dead, Jim"
One of the cleric's relatives also was killed, according to Turabi's son, Murtaza, who spoke to The Associated Press by telephone.
"What the Doc said"
Pakistan has been beset for years by sectarian attacks of extremist elements among the majority Sunni and minority Shiite sects.
What we refer to here as "Popcorn time"
Posted by: Steve || 07/14/2006 10:02 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  After reading this I don't feel anything. Nothing.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/14/2006 10:19 Comments || Top||

#2  The RB archives document at least one other attempt on Mr. Turabi's life, in April. Too bad it wasn't the Sunni Turabi, the one in Sudan.
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/14/2006 11:01 Comments || Top||

#3  Lets hope the revenge by his relatives/adherents will be overwhelming.
Posted by: gromgoru || 07/14/2006 13:29 Comments || Top||


Pak's ISI masterminded 7/11, says intelligence
Forty-eight hours after bombs ripped through Mumbai, the needle pointed to Pakistan. Intelligence agencies on Thursday confirmed that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was the “mastermind” of the blasts that killed about 200 people.

Have we had enough yet?

The Mumbai Police, meanwhile, identified the trio who planned and executed 11/7: Rahil, Zahibuddin Ansari and Faiyaz, linked to the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) and the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). Of them, Rahil had reportedly made an abortive bid to trigger a blast at Byculla railway station on March 11 — the eve of the anniversary of the 1993 Bombay blasts.

The agencies, which briefed National Security Adviser MK Narayanan and Cabinet Secretary BK Chaturvedi, said the blueprint for Tuesday’s blasts was made by the ISI while the “plan” was executed by “local Indian operatives”.

A senior intelligence officer said the synchronised explosions had the “hallmark” of an ISI operation. Militants operating in Kashmir were not capable of such meticulous planning and could only carry out fidayeen attacks or plant bombs in crowded places like markets.

“A lot of planning went into the blasts. This is typical of an ISI operation, as was revealed during the 1993 Bombay blasts,” said an officer.
"Look at these blast points. Only Imperial Storm ISI Troopers are so precise."
Rahil, Ansari and Faiyaz could be the local operatives the intelligence agencies hinted at. Mumbai Police Commissioner AN Roy told HT: “We’re looking for Rahil, Ansari and Faiyaz who orchestrated the seven blasts.” Roy said Rahil, “a SIMI old-timer”, had been leading a LeT module, while Ansari and Faiyaz were wanted in the Aurangabad explosives-seizure case.

KP Raghuvanshi, chief of the Mumbai PoliceÂ’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), said Ansari and Faiyaz had brought in the RDX from Pakistan. Though the ATS arrested 16 operatives from AnsariÂ’s module, he and Faiyaz gave the police the slip. Apparently, the module was receiving instructions from Junaid, reportedly ISIÂ’s operations chief for India.

The police said the blasts could have been in retaliation of Gujarat riots.
Posted by: Captain America || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A senior intelligence officer said the synchronised explosions had the “hallmark” of an ISI operation.

Interesting statement.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/14/2006 0:42 Comments || Top||

#2  plenty of examples in Kashmir, India proper, and Afghanistan...
Posted by: Frank G || 07/14/2006 0:47 Comments || Top||

#3  plenty of examples in Kashmir, India proper, and Afghanistan...

Britain, Spain, the US, Iraq...

BTW, guys -- my surprise meter melted on this one. According to an FAQ on the manufacturer's site, that can only happen when the news merits a reading of -100,000,000 flabbergasts.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 07/14/2006 7:05 Comments || Top||

#4  Hey! Nice Medals!
Did he get those for his humanitarian campaign in East Pakistan? circa 1971
Posted by: Thraiger Ebbavise9094 || 07/14/2006 9:05 Comments || Top||

#5  Intelligence agencies on Thursday confirmed that PakistanÂ’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was the “mastermind” of the blasts that killed about 200 people.

So, what India is going to do about it?
Posted by: gromgoru || 07/14/2006 13:43 Comments || Top||

#6  Burqa Man Questioned

In Mumbai, the man arrested wearing a burqa at the airport was questioned. "When we asked Ahmed the reason for wearing a burqa at the airport, he said that he was waiting for his girlfriend, who was supposed to arrive on a British Airways flight. But when his girlfriend, who arrived at 12 am on Friday, was questioned, she said that Ahmed was her neighbour in Surat. She denied being his girlfriend," said inspector Chavan. Ahmed said that since he did not want her to see him he wore a burqa, but as he was in love with her, he wanted to see her.

Ahmed hails from Navsari in Surat and has lived in Mumbra for the past 20 years. He had recently moved into a guest house on Chakla Street near Dongri, the police said. Police sources added that Ahmed frequently changed his profession during interrogation. "At times he said he was a commercial pilot, while at other times he spoke of running a stock-trading business at L.T. Marg," a police official said on condition of anonymity. Ahmed was produced before a metropolitan magistrate court in Andheri on Friday and was remanded to police custody till July 21. When asked whether Ahmed had any links to TuesdayÂ’s serial blasts, inspector Chavan said, "It is too early to comment. We are still investigating AhmedÂ’s records."
Posted by: john || 07/14/2006 18:21 Comments || Top||


18 rockets fired on check posts
QUETTA: Suspected tribal militants fired 18 rockets at security check posts in the Pirkoh area of Dera Bugti district on Thursday. Security forces retaliated and the militants fled. No casualties were reported.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Nepalese police arrest 4 Pakistanis
Nepalese police have arrested four Pakistanis on charges of possessing powerful explosives, police officials said on Thursday. Two men were arrested from a downtown Kathmandu hotel on Wednesday and another two from the popular Thamel tourist area on Thursday, police said. Police Superintendent Dhak Bahadur Karki said the two men detained at the Everest Hotel on Wednesday were arrested "in connection with possessing explosives five years ago".
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Tribal militant offers peace for prisoner release
KHAR: Wanted local Taliban leader Maulana Faqir Muhammad offered peace to the government on Thursday in exchange for the release of tribal militants. The offer came during a public meeting in Mamoond Tanari, which was addressed by Faqir Muhammad. Tribal elders welcomed the move and urged the government to seize the opportunity.
"Yup. Yup. Sounds good to us."
The wanted Tehrik-e-Nifaz Shariah Muhammad (TNSM) leader survived a deadly US missile attack in Damadola, in which 13 tribesmen were killed earlier this year.
That was the "dinner with Ayman" strike, so we know where their sympathies lie...
"Our aim is to fight the international terrorist America. We do not want bloodshed in our home country," he told hundreds of tribesmen at the meeting. He said that all issues could be negotiated if the government accepted his offer. "The tribal elders and paramilitary force are our brothers. We do not want to confront them," he said. "For the sake of peace, we are ready for any kind of negotiations." But he warned that he would retaliate if the government attempted to "harm" him. "I will harm anyone who harms me," he said.
TNSM were the dipschitz who loaded up their pickup trucks with young turbans waving AKs and drove off to help the Taliban defeat the evil Merkins. The young turbans who weren't wiped out were later ransomed. Tribal attention spans being marvelously short, the TNSM leadership hasn't been tarred and feathered, though the organization is officially banned by the gummint — which is obviously just as effective as can be.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Our aim is to fight the international terrorist America.
I think he's going to get his wish, and wish the he$$ he never opened his mouth. Time to carpet-bomb the NWFP.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/14/2006 15:21 Comments || Top||


Mumbai police release sketches of Tuesday's blast suspects
(KUNA) -- Police in Western Indian city of Mumbai Thursday released sketches of four suspects based on eyewitness accounts of the serial train blasts in the city that killed 198 and injured 714 Tuesday. Mumbai police have also detained more than 150 people for questioning, news agency Indo-Asian News Service reported.

On Wednesday night and Thursday morning, the Anti-Terrorism Squad of Mumbai Police that been assigned the task of investigating the blasts conducted a series of raids in several parts of Mumbai. "We have detained some people for questioning and raids are being conducted in many places. However, no one has been formally arrested," city police told reporters Thursday. "Sketches of four suspects seen at some of the bomb sites have been prepared and we are working on several leads," Mumbai Police Commissioner A N Roy told the news agency Thursday.

He said that there had been widespread search operations and many people have been detained from several pockets of the city and its suburbs.He said he was not in a position to disclose anything about the investigation at the moment. To strengthen its investigation, the city police has asked former crime branch officers who investigated the 1993 Mumbai blasts that killed 250 people to join in, the news agency reported. "We are sure that the perpetrators of the blast have at some stage taken the aid of the underworld and this could be vital clue in the probe," Police Commissioner Roy said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  leenk to skech
Posted by: muck4doo || 07/14/2006 0:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Ha!
Posted by: 6 || 07/14/2006 7:29 Comments || Top||


Kashmir Korpse Kount
(KUNA) -- Gunmen killed five people in two separate incidents early Thursday in continued violence in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. Four people, including two children, were killed in Magnar village in the border district of Poonch, news agency Indo-Asian News Service reported. A woman and her daughter were also injured in the attack.

In another incident, militants slit the throat of a young woman in Chendriyal village in the border district of Rajouri of Jammu and Kashmir early Thursday, the news agency reported. No group has claimed responsibility for both incidents. However, Kashmir police suspect the Lashker-e-Taiba to be behind the killings. Indian security forces have started massive search operations to trace the terrorists responsible for the killings.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Seven killed in mosque blast
A BOMB planted in the street has killed at least seven people and wounded five as they left a Sunni mosque in northern Baghdad after Friday prayers, police said.

Further details of the incident at the Ismail al-Qubaisi mosque were not immediately available.

Scores of people have been killed in tit-for-tat sectarian violence beteen Shi'ite and minority Sunni Muslims over the past week in the capital.
Posted by: Oztralian || 07/14/2006 07:40 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Muslims who kill bad Muslims are themselves bad Muslims who need to be killed by the good Muslims, and that makes them bad Muslims which means they need to be killed by the good Muslims who now become the bad Muslims. Is that it?
Posted by: plainslow || 07/14/2006 8:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Sigh! Good and Bad PS, must you be so judgemental?
Posted by: john || 07/14/2006 9:26 Comments || Top||

#3  Go, go Shia! Go, go, Sunni!
Posted by: gromgoru || 07/14/2006 13:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Interesting that it was a buried IED. Someone probably saw it being buried, did they think it ws a Sunni bomb team & ignored them?
Posted by: Throger Thains8048 || 07/14/2006 14:55 Comments || Top||


Iraqi, MNF forces kill insurgent, arrest 17 others in Western Baghdad
(KUNA) -- An insurgent was killed and 17 others were injured after a joint unit from Iraqi security and the Multi-National Force (MNF) stormed the insurgents' hideout in Al-Ameria western Baghdad, the US army said Thursday. A statement by the US army said that according to military intelligence, the insurgents, who are involved in the killing of four Iraqi policemen, were seen near the Muluki mosque in Al-America. The Joint forces launched an attack on the hideout and managed to kill an insurgent while the others fled the scene. The forces then stormed houses near the hideout and captured 17 insurgents.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Al-America?
Posted by: 3dc || 07/14/2006 19:35 Comments || Top||


About 28 people killed, wounded in separate incidents across Baghdad
(KUNA) -- Up to three members of a local council were killed and three others wounded Thursday in the northeastern Abu Seida village in Baghdad. A source in the Iraqi Interior Ministry told KUNA that unidentified men entered the courtyard of the council driving a motorcycle that contains a bag carrying an explosive device. The explosion killed three members and wounded three others, including the chairman of the council, where also parts of the council were destroyed, the source added. Meanwhile, about 22 people were wounded during two separate attacks across Baghdad.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Three Iraqis killed, eight injured by booby trapped car blast
(KUNA) -- Three Iraqis were killed and eight others were injured on Thursday by a booby trapped car blast near a gas station on Baghdad. Iraqi police said the blast took place 100-meters away from the station that had scores of cars waiting in line to refuel. They noted that these casualties are only preliminary. Earlier, five cleaning workers were killed by a bomb while performing their regular tasks in south-eastern Baghdad's Al-Ghadeer quarter.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Three Iraqi soldiers killed, three wounded in armed attacks in Kirkuk
(KUNA) -- Three Iraqi soldiers were killed, three others were wounded on Thursday when a military checkpoint came under attack in Kirkuk, northern Iraq. Chief of Aqdhiya Police in Kirkuk Brigadier Sarhad Qader told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that unknown gunmen opened fire on a checkpoint in western Kirkuk, killing three Iraqi soldiers and wounding three others.

In another attack, unknown gunmen assassinated Chief of Police Mahmoud Abdulaziz in Al-Wasiti neighborhood. The source added that another policeman was wounded when he came under gunmen fire and was transported to hospital for treatment.

Iraqi Police in Azadi found an unidentified women's dead body in the area of Barod Khanah, noting that the body was shot and burned.

Meanwhile, four Iraqis were killed, among them was a policeman, and seven others were wounded in two separate bomb attacks in Kirkuk. An Iraqi Police source told KUNA that an explosive device went off targeting an Iraqi police patrol in the area of Arafah in central Kirkuk, killing two Iraqis and wounding seven civilians. After the blast, the source added, an explosive-laden car parked on the side of the road exploded after policemen and civilians gathered at the site. The blast killed one policeman and a civilian, and damaged three cars and a police vehicle. The Iraqi Police and the Multi-National Force executed a burst and search campaign in eastern Kirkuk and arrested a number of gunmen.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I thought we were being told the north end was peaceful. Is this the normal condition of existence to be expected ? Why should we worry about killing these fools ?
Posted by: SOP35/Rat || 07/14/2006 11:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Where is the casualty report on the attackers?

(Hint: they did take casualties)
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/14/2006 13:32 Comments || Top||

#3  OS, you silly goose. That hasn't been leaked de-classified yet!
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/14/2006 16:07 Comments || Top||

#4  Wild perhaps, but not silly.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 07/14/2006 16:11 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel continues pounding Beirut


ISRAEL bombed the home of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut today in what the Israeli media said was an assassination attempt on the third day of relentless attacks on Lebanon that have killed 60 people and ignited fears of all-out war in the region.

Nasrallah escaped "alive and well" after Israel launched air strikes on his home and office in Hizbollah's stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Shi'ite militia group's television station Al-Manar said.
The action came as the UN Security Council was holding an emergency meeting on the conflict that has left Lebanon virtually cut off from the outside world after Israel imposed an air and sea blockade, attacked the only international airport and bombed the main highway to neighbouring Syria.

Hezbollah forces claimed a rare victory overnight, with an explosives-laden drone hitting an Israeli warship. The Israeli military said only that the ship had been 'lightly hit'.

Israel had earlier issued a direct threat against the Hezbollah chief after blaming the group's main backers, Iran and Syria, over the crisis unleashed after Nasrallah's militants captured two Israeli soldiers on Wednesday.

An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed an attack on the "Hezbollah terror organisation headquarters in southern Beirut" but would not elaborate on whether it was an assassination attempt.

"Nasrallah decided his own fate," Interior Minister Roni Bar-On said earlier. "We will settle our accounts with him when the time comes."

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had earlier given the green light to further raids in Lebanon, following a blitz of Hezbollah rocket attacks across the border that left another two people dead.

The international community has issued urgent appeals for calm and is sending envoys in a bid to avoid another full-scale Middle East war, with Israel under fire in some quarters for using "disproportionate force".

Israel, apparently taken aback by the extent of the criticism, said Mr Olmert has set three conditions for a ceasefire called for by Lebanon: the release of soldiers, a halt to rocket fire and the disarmament of Hizbollah.

"If these conditions are met, we are ready to cooperate with a delegation from the United Nations," a spokeswoman said.

In a wave of strikes today, Israeli jets hit the main highway linking Beirut and Damascus and an airport hangar and fuel tanks, pounded Hezbollah's command headquarters in Beirut and a Palestinian guerrilla base in eastern Lebanon, as well as bridges and other roads.

Latest reports suggest that nine people were killed by the bombardment today in Beirut, bringing to 88 the death toll in Lebanon since Israel unleashed what the military has called "Operation Just Reward".

In one of the strongest statements from a world leader on the conflict, President Jacques Chirac of France, the former colonial power in Lebanon, said Israel appeared to "wish to destroy" Lebanon.

Lebanon said US President George W Bush had called Prime Minister Fuad Siniora to voice support for his government and pledged to "exert pressure on Israel to limit damage inflicted on Lebanon".

Prime Minister Siniora, interviewed on CNN, accused Israel of destroying his country. "It's sparing nobody, in no area of Lebanon. Actually it is cutting the country into pieces, whereby more than 20 bridges in the country have been destroyed," said Mr Siniora overnight.

World powers are due to discuss the crisis at the Group of Eight meeting starting tomorrow in Moscow after the deadliest violence between Israel and Lebanon in a decade opened up a dangerous new front in the Middle East conflict following the massive Israeli onslaught against Gaza.

The latest crisis was triggered when Hezbollah guerrillas seized two Israeli servicemen in a deadly attack on the volatile Lebanon-Israel border on Wednesday, leading to Israel's first ground incursion since it withdrew in 2000.

The abduction came less than three weeks after a similar raid by Palestinian militants, including members of the ruling Islamist movement Hamas, on the Gaza border that resulted in the capture of an Israeli corporal.

Washington - which regards Hezbollah as a terror group - said Israel, its closest Middle East ally, had the right to defend itself but urged restraint, while several European powers openly criticised the scale of the Israeli offensive as disproportionate.

Lebanese President Emile Lahoud called on Arab League ministers, due to meet tomorrow, to help avoid Israel's "systematic destruction" of the country.

UN chief Kofi Annan has said he was "profoundly worried" by the conflict, while the Vatican said it "deplores the attack on Lebanon, a free and sovereign nation".

In northern Israel, where the army ordered about half a million Israelis in northern towns into bomb shelters, scores of rockets were fired on more than a dozen towns today.

Another two people were killed, bringing the toll over two days to four dead. Two rockets fired from south Lebanon also penetrated deeper than ever inside Israel yesterday, hitting its third largest city of Haifa.

Israel has pointed the finger of blame at Syria and Iran, saying its two arch-foes form an "axis of terror" along with Hizbollah and Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Bush also said yesterday that Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, who was forced to end 29 years of military domination in Lebanon last year, should be held to account over the escalation of violence.

With Lebanon's airport shut and Israel blockading its ports, thousands of tourists, mostly Gulf Arab nationals, fled across the border to Syria and a number of foreign governments issued travel warnings.

Lebanon has been mired in its own political crisis since the murder of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri in 2005 and is still rebuilding after the devastating 1975-1990 civil war.

The Lebanese government - which includes two Hezbollah ministers but is led by anti-Syrian politicians - denied any involvement in the Hizbollah action and demanded a "complete and immediate ceasefire".

Israel also pressed on with its air assault on Gaza but withdrew ground troops from the centre of the territory after the United States vetoed a UN resolution calling on Israel to halt its military operations there.

The air force carried out at least two overnight raids, hitting the house of a Hamas MP, while ground artillery and naval gunboats pounded the territory.

At least 76 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier have been killed.
Posted by: Oztralian || 07/14/2006 19:29 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Where did the UAV come from?

A firecracker on a a paper airplane?
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/14/2006 19:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Skidmark-

It ain't that tough. Hobby shops all over the world stock everything you need to build, say, a 1/6 F-16, complete with a ducted-fan motor - this beast could move fast and carry enough explosives to hurt somebody or something.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 07/14/2006 20:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Copy of a captured US or Israeli design.
Posted by: Clumble Angath2541 || 07/14/2006 20:12 Comments || Top||

#4  More likely a shitty Iranian version of one of ours.
Posted by: Phaigum Ulomose6136 || 07/14/2006 20:39 Comments || Top||

#5  Dayum, I just love seein' pics of M109A6's firing. On FOX, they were showing footage of a battery of them firing. Sa-weeet.
Posted by: Brett || 07/14/2006 20:40 Comments || Top||

#6  so the international comm is saying the israelis are using too much force? Wouldn't that be like telling someone too bring a knife too a gunfight.
Posted by: Thromort Glomoger4987 || 07/14/2006 21:01 Comments || Top||

#7  Specs on Mohajer - Iranian UAV given to Hizbollah.
Posted by: DMFD || 07/14/2006 23:21 Comments || Top||


Pajamas Media Hosts Israel Round-up
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/14/2006 16:21 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A priority right now for Israel should be a major disaster in Teheran. Some act of sabotage that would perhaps kill hundreds, hopefully that would look like it was caused by government incompetence.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/14/2006 17:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Or nice massive earthquake, courtesy of G-d.
Posted by: Omeager Charong4012 || 07/14/2006 17:54 Comments || Top||

#3  OC, I bet that Haliburton Seismic Division can be as effective.
Posted by: twobyfour || 07/14/2006 18:37 Comments || Top||

#4  "G-d"

Peace be upon him.
Posted by: PC || 07/14/2006 18:39 Comments || Top||

#5  Hey, we could give 'em the olde St. Vitus Dance trick.
Posted by: 6 || 07/14/2006 18:39 Comments || Top||

#6  Or paper ballons in the trade winds carrying thermite grenades with no traceable serial numbers, maybe a new pattern, yeah!
Posted by: 6 || 07/14/2006 18:41 Comments || Top||


Palestinians Stream Into Gaza From Egypt
More on the story below ...
Militants forced open a border gate between Egypt and Gaza on Friday, wounding an Egyptian officer and letting hundreds of Palestinians who had been trapped on the Egyptian side of the border to get into Gaza.
Curiously going the wrong way ...
Armed militants stood by as people carrying suitcases crossed into Gaza. Some walked through on crutches while others walked or ran through the gate.
Suitcases full of money, plaster casts full of mortar rounds, crutches full of small caliber ammo ...
Egyptian police Capt. Mohammed Abdel Hadi said masked Palestinian militants firing guns broke into the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, clearing the way for the trapped Gazans. One Egyptian border policeman was wounded when the militants stormed the frontier, said Abdel Hadi, who heads police on the Egyptian side of Rafah.
How many Paleos did the Egyptian border guards shoot dead? None? Hmmmm, doesn't sound like much resistance to me ...
The crossing, Gaza's main gateway to the outside world, has largely been closed since June 25, when Palestinian militants carried out a raid on a military outpost, killing two Israeli soldiers and capturing one. Hundreds of people have been stranded on the Egyptian side, unable to get to their homes in Gaza.

Rafah's closure left hundreds of Palestinians who work and study in Egypt stranded, while preventing hundreds of others from leaving the coastal area to receive medical treatment abroad.
Sympathy meter hasn't twitched a bit, surprise meter says "0.000000000", and my patience meter is pegged on "empty".
Posted by: Steve White || 07/14/2006 14:05 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This is that crap I was talking about yesterday. They are not Paleos! They are Iranians, the Brigade that went into the Sudan two months ago. Good to hear Israel shot the Beiruit airpot up. Now they are going to infiltrate as people wanting to go home. Be aware, these are troops on the march.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 07/14/2006 14:46 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm thinking lemmings for some reason. Are y'all thinking lemmings?
Posted by: N guard || 07/14/2006 14:54 Comments || Top||

#3  There was an article here just after the Shalit kidnapping about a large number of Palestinians caught in No Man's Land between Egypt and Gaza. The story told of whole families sitting in the sun, locked out of Gaza and not permitted back into Egypt. Lots of them were on the way to visit relatives for their summer vacation from the salt mines of Dubai and such, as I recall. No mention of armed men in that article, though. Ah well, I s'pose by now they've lost the jobs they were vacationing from.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/14/2006 15:06 Comments || Top||

#4  Jobs? Salt mines? Palestinians doing work? You must be making thsi up. Paloes don't "work" - they "whine" - and they wear masks, seethe a lot, and shoot bullets into the air.

No - I can certinly gree that paleos may have been practising their characteristic "idlenesss" at the beach - being professsionl "loiterers". But syaing that they are returning to "jobs" is a real stretch.
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 07/14/2006 19:15 Comments || Top||

#5  49 Pan's Iran Rev Guards viewpoint has a lot to offer.
Posted by: 3dc || 07/14/2006 20:04 Comments || Top||


Flood of people crossing into Gaza after gunmen blow hole into Egypt border wall
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) _ Witnesses say militants blew a hole in the wall at the Egypt-Gaza border, and a stream of Palestinians have begun entering Gaza from Egypt.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/14/2006 12:34 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They WANT to be targets???
Posted by: Glenmore || 07/14/2006 12:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Yup. Death cult. They're embracing the martyr virgin myth.
Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 || 07/14/2006 13:03 Comments || Top||

#3  Seems to me the opposite is more likely. Still, I'm sure the Egyptians are doing their best to shove them through as fast as they can and ready to seal the breach the second the last Pal has gone through.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 07/14/2006 13:07 Comments || Top||

#4  A couple of weeks ago, the cockroaches blew a hole in the Gazan-Egyptian Wall to escape. Now they're dying to get in?

Oh ... note how MSM cares little in the irony that the Gazan-Egyptian Wall exists.
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 07/14/2006 13:17 Comments || Top||

#5  Reinforcements and heavy weapons.
Posted by: buwaya || 07/14/2006 13:33 Comments || Top||

#6  This is the equivalent of what we in Alaska call the Salt Chuck. In a deep valley, a stream flows with fresh water into a tidal basin. At low tide, the tidal basin is fresh water. Then at high tide, the basin fills with sea water and the basin becomes saline. This ebb and flow works the same with the Paleos.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/14/2006 13:59 Comments || Top||

#7  Its like a car swarm... but much much bigger!
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/14/2006 14:09 Comments || Top||

#8  Call me skeptical but I want to see pictures of people streaming INTO Gaza.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 07/14/2006 16:20 Comments || Top||

#9  Saw the video, Sarge. A LOT of them were openly carrying weapons.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 07/14/2006 17:07 Comments || Top||

#10  Enhancing a target rich environment.
Posted by: kelly || 07/14/2006 18:44 Comments || Top||

#11  Ok, so it's perfectly fine for Egypt to have a wall with the Palis, but not the Israelis?

Must be that fabulous Palestinian logic at work again.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie || 07/14/2006 19:02 Comments || Top||


Israel threatens to eliminate Hezbollah leader
JERUSALEM, - Israel threatened Friday to eliminate Hassan Nasrallah, the Lebanese Hezbollah leader who has long been a thorn in the side of the Jewish state, after the latest crisis over the seizure of two Israeli soldiers. “Nasrallah decided his own fate,” Interior Minister Roni Bar-On announced on public radio. “We will settle our accounts with him when the time comes.”

The threat came as Israeli forces intensified attacks on Lebanon in pre-dawn raids, striking at the heart of HezbollahÂ’s command headquarters in BeirutÂ’s suburbs, amid world concern that the escalation could spark a regional war.
Hezbollah, a fundamentalist Shiite Muslim movement whose name means Party of God, has retaliated against what it has branded ”massacres” with a wave of rocket attacks against northern towns in Israel.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve || 07/14/2006 09:49 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'd be concerned.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/14/2006 10:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Nasrallah Delenda Est
Posted by: mojo || 07/14/2006 10:39 Comments || Top||

#3  No threats. No publicity. Just.Do.It. All the Hiz leaders deserve a dirt nap. Wherever the are.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/14/2006 11:23 Comments || Top||

#4  “We will settle our accounts with him when the time comes.”

I'd nearly donate my left nut to hear someone in our administration or congress say something like that.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/14/2006 11:27 Comments || Top||

#5  Why threats?!
Posted by: Flavick Sholusing1772 || 07/14/2006 11:51 Comments || Top||

#6  Faster please.
Posted by: SR-71 || 07/14/2006 12:01 Comments || Top||

#7  Just do it. Quickly.

Painfully is optional.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 07/14/2006 12:17 Comments || Top||

#8  Not a threat, a promise. Guess they followed through, Hassan is worm food.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 07/14/2006 12:54 Comments || Top||

#9  Justice Minister Hamon Ramon told army radio Israel would fight Hezbollah with the “same means used by the Americans against Osama bin Laden,” the leader of Al-Qaeda, or employed by the Russians against “Chechen terrorists”.

So, they're gonna carpet bomb Beirut (like Tora Bora) or bury 'em in pig skins (a'la Pooty Poot's suggestion after Beslan). Me? I'd prefer both. Mr. Cause is meeting Mr. Effect head on and it's scheduled to be held in Beirut/Damascus.
Posted by: BA || 07/14/2006 13:20 Comments || Top||

#10  They need to whack Damascus, a few specific residences in mind - Hezbullah's guy, Assad's house, head of the Syrian Intelligence appartus, Hamas HQ.
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/14/2006 13:27 Comments || Top||

#11  Don't see it as a threat, more an advanced notice to the world that one black turban will soon be vacated
Posted by: Captain America || 07/14/2006 15:29 Comments || Top||

#12  Treat Hezb like the SS. Kill as many as you can catch without any compunction whatsoever.
Posted by: mac || 07/14/2006 19:35 Comments || Top||


Al-Aqsa Brigades storms Sdeort settlement with five rockets
(KUNA) -- Al-Aqsa Brigades, the military wing of Fatah, launched Thursday five rockets at the Jewish settlement of Sdeort. The brigades said in a statement that the attacks came to avenge the death of 24 civilians in the Gaza strip. The brigades called up all militant groups to intensify their attacks and operations on Israeli targets.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


'IAF is ready for any operation'
"The air force is ready for any operation that will be necessary during the current military campaign against Lebanon," Brig.-Gen. Yohanan Locker, Commander of the IAF's Air Division, told The Jerusalem Post Thursday night. The officer revealed that IAF fighter jets, helicopters, and AWACs had participated in hundreds of airborne operations over Lebanon since two soldiers were kidnapped and eight others killed in a Hizbullah attack along the northern border on Wednesday. He said that the IAF F-15Is, F-16s, Apache helicopters, and other surveillance aircraft were participating in Operation Just Reward against Lebanon.

The air force, he said, has struck dozens of homes in southern Lebanon that were also used as cover for Katyusha launchers as well as other strategic sites, including the Beirut International Airport, a fuel depot in Beirut, and two other airports in Lebanon. Regarding the homes, the officer said the roofs were sometimes removed and the Katyushas were fired from inside, landing in Nahariya, Safed, and other communities in northern Israel. In other cases, he said, the Katyusha rockets were leaned against the walls of the homes and fired from there. The officer stressed that there was no distinction between Hizbullah and Lebanese targets. "Lebanon is responsible for what has happened," the officer said. "The air force is prepared to continue operating around the clock over Lebanon during this operation."
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Gotta love the name: "Operation Just Reward." Kinda sums it all up nice and tidy-like. Almost brings tears to my eyes.
Posted by: USN,Ret || 07/14/2006 0:06 Comments || Top||

#2  "Operation 'You asked for it, you're gonna get that and more'"

was deemed too long
Posted by: Frank G || 07/14/2006 0:13 Comments || Top||

#3  I kinda favor Operation "After 58 Fucking Years It's About Fucking Time To Settle This Fucking Sumbitch Once And For All", but that's just me.
Posted by: Therong Ulaising6138 || 07/14/2006 0:34 Comments || Top||

#4  I would like to think that the IAF is supressing Hezbollah's command and control intrastructure and taking out as much of it's tactical and operational mobility (by taking down bridges) as it can in preparation for something bigger. With the Saudis and Egyptians apparently declaring their neutrality (you never know with Arabic... they might have actually said they were going out to the kebab shop) and the Americans sitting on top of Iraq, the Israelis might be able launch something decisive. Now if we can convince the Soddies that Hamas has secretly converted to Shiism as the price for all that Iranian aid, we'll be golden.
Posted by: 11A5S || 07/14/2006 0:44 Comments || Top||

#5  TL - can you make that into an acronym?
Posted by: Captain America || 07/14/2006 1:25 Comments || Top||

#6  How about ..... Operation Stuck on Stupit.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/14/2006 1:52 Comments || Top||

#7  Is it just me, or is Iran using Hamas and Hizballah to deliberately provoke Israel, drawing them out so as to have an excuse to test a nuke on Tel Aviv?

On one hand, it seems a tad premature. On the other hand, I don't see the utility of kidnapping 3 Israeli soldiers without some larger objective in mind. Saudi and Egypt seem to sense something larger they want nothing to do with as well. Or am I just being paranoid?
Posted by: ST || 07/14/2006 2:21 Comments || Top||

#8  I wonder if the IAF has got that long range autonomous bomber operational yet.

Sorry, couldn't find a link, but we discussed it a while back.
Posted by: phil_b || 07/14/2006 2:57 Comments || Top||

#9  ST, yes, this are deliberate moves of chess pieces on the board by Iranians.

I doubt that Iran has nukes ready, but they may try some other nasties, chemical and/or biological. Of course, one wonders what Ahmadinutjob has on his mind for August 22.

Not necessarily atacking Israel, I think. Perhaps a test detonation somewhere in uninhabited area in Iran, to announce that Iran as nuke power is 'fait accompli'. The actual test may happen several days earlier, say about 18th, he just wants enough buffer if something fizzles first so there is enough time to recalibrate and try again.

Ahmadinutjob calculated that the Arab world would line up against Israelis when they would respond to Hizbollah provocation, and that he would use them as proxies in his war with Israel. Then becoming a nuke power would provide a leverage, prestige and power to become a leader in the war against Israel, but still rather pulling the strings from the distance.

He miscalculated. Soddies and Egyptians smell a rat and the stench is so overwhelming that they keep as much distance as possible. Syrians are wetting themselves and feeling like a pawn that they are.

What's next? Ahmadinutjob cannot risk losing face. Iran would be drawn prematurely into the conflict, once Syria is the next stage of the war in maybe 10 days or so.

That would scramble his carefull choreography and the table would turn.

Meanwhile... One of the missiles fired agains Israel by Hizbollah was long range. I have no doubt it was a test. There is probably a warhead, C/B, that is waiting to be unleashed on Iran's command. That means Israelis don't have much time and need to go first for possible locations of WMDs, rather than clean the border area first and push northward, meaning they have to sustain some katyusha barrages.

When the WMD missile(s) is/are destroyed within Lebanon, Iran would ask Syria to fire one from the proximity of Lebanese border. Two possibilities... either it would hit Israel, or it would be shot down. In either case, it would be the casus belli for Israel to get medieval on Pencilneck and settle the score.

For a long time, we were stuck at 1938. It is now mid-summer of 1939. My crystal ball says so.
Posted by: twobyfour || 07/14/2006 3:18 Comments || Top||

#10  Two things to consider: Iran has to be looking over its shoulder at the US forces that will almost certainly stomp them flat if they mess with Israel. They have to be nuts or just talking trash. And what if Saddam handed its CB weapons to Syria just before the US stomped them flat? If they existed, could those weapons have ended up in Iran's hands, and possibly be contributing to their current behavior?
Posted by: gorb || 07/14/2006 4:08 Comments || Top||

#11  Thx, 2x4. Gorb raises an interesting point too.

Already, multiple casus belli exist for Israel to get medieval on Iran. And the US, for that matter (backing Shi'a insurgents in Iraq, to take only the most recent example).

I've heard about the Aug 22 thing -- the date Saladin entered Jerusalem, Mahdi climbs out of the well etc etc. So just what will it take for the Israelis and/or us to finish this shit -- I mean really finish it?
Posted by: ST || 07/14/2006 4:59 Comments || Top||

#12  If I were a betting woman I'd place a month of Mr. Wife's salary on Saddam's CB weapons being buried in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. We watched the trucks go back and forth just before the invasion, and that Iraqi general who's been on the talk show circuit selling his book (I saw him talk to poor Jon Stewart on Comedy Central's "Daily Show") asserted that he saw the loaded trucks and airplanes with his own eyes. Surely we've given Israel the satellite photos...
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/14/2006 7:16 Comments || Top||

#13  TW, I'm smelling Quid pro Ro: Israel is allowed by the US to smack down Hezbollah, and eventually Syria, in exchange for getting to the Bekka Valley and uncovering Saddam's WMD. Iraq gets justified immediately, Liberals and Democrats get the equivalent of a broadsword thrust up their ass to the hilt, the Iraqui western front gets pacified, AND Hezbollah gets flushed.
Posted by: Ptah || 07/14/2006 7:52 Comments || Top||

#14  I predict Iran and Syria will get smacked simultaneously later this month. The only difference is that Iran will lose nuclear and missile facilities overnight but the entire Syrian government and military will be pounded to dust over a period of weeks. Assad will not live to read about the Iran destruction in his morning newspaper.
Posted by: Darrell || 07/14/2006 9:24 Comments || Top||

#15  This can only get in a worse mess, although I think the Israelis have no choice. Cleaning out nests of vipers is necessary but will bog IDF down in Lebanon, just like the US in Iraq, NATO in Afghanistan, India in Kashmir, Russia in Chechnia, Japan in North Korea. See any patterns here?

I suspect the response from the Dems in Washington will be that it is all GWB fault: if he had not invaded Iraq, Saddam would have had no excuse to ship his WMD to Syria. and thus make them available to Hezbollah and Iran.
Posted by: john || 07/14/2006 9:37 Comments || Top||

#16  Syria already has plenty of missiles and chemical agent. Saddam's stockpiles and Iranian tech would have helped but were not necessary.
Missile Link 1
Missile Link 2
Missile Link 3
CW Link

I did a back of the envelope calculation a few years ago that under ideal conditions (90% launch and detonation rate, low winds, inversion layer over all targets, no warning launch) the Syrians could kill 500,000 Israelis with their CW and missile arsenals. This is not a trivial threat.
Posted by: 11A5S || 07/14/2006 9:42 Comments || Top||

#17  "Operation Such A Pinch"
Posted by: mojo || 07/14/2006 10:40 Comments || Top||

#18  Interesting links, 11A5S. I note that the high voltage substation is vulnerable, which if even damaged should make life inside the bunkers highly interesting, however briefly.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/14/2006 11:17 Comments || Top||

#19  Here are a few tactical questions for all.

What anti missle defense does the IDF have - Phalanx CIWS, Patriot, Arrow ???? Help me with the names and spellings.

Are any or all of these available or in use? Going from a mortar round up to an ICBM, which of these work against which threat, and how well?

Are any of these of any use?

Given the strategic analyses, or at least the regional views expressed here, how can the IDF push its defenses out along with the offensive actions underway?

Comments appreciated.
Posted by: Chaitch Fliter3582 || 07/14/2006 11:58 Comments || Top||

#20  One thing to consider when thinking about these things, TW, is target effects. The Army has a whole set of doctrinal terminology to describe this: supress, neutralize, destroy, etc. While taking out the substation throws a spanner in the works of the chemical program, it doesn't degrade the overall program much. If our efforts with SCUD hunting during the Kuwait war are a benchmark, Israel would probably be lucky to degrade Syria's overall retaliatory capability 10-20% with a first strike.

The chemical retaliatory arsenal is good insurance for Syria since if Israel attacks Syria, Syria can retaliate against Israel's civilian population which forces Israel to go nuclear. This is the end state that Iran is aiming for both with respect to us and with respect to Israel.
Posted by: 11A5S || 07/14/2006 12:09 Comments || Top||

#21  If our efforts with SCUD hunting during the Kuwait war are a benchmark, Israel would probably be lucky to degrade Syria's overall retaliatory capability 10-20% with a first strike.

Key for the IDF would be to cut off the head of the snake, ie, take out the leadership (Command & Control - C2) in first strike(s). Except for it's dealings with the paleos, the IDF has never been much for the "long game."
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/14/2006 12:21 Comments || Top||

#22  Israeli missile program here; a few quotes:

12 October 2005
IDF deploys a sophisticated new radar system near the Gaza Strip, which it hopes will give early warning to Israeli residents of incoming Katyusha missiles, Kassam rockets and possibly mortar rounds. The system is the prototype for a state-of-the-art wider missile defense system the Nautilus also known by the acronym THEL for Theatre High- Energy Laser, which has been in joint development by Israel and the United States for almost a decade and is ultimately intended to be able to intercept such incoming fire with a high-energy laser beam.

2 December 2005
The Israeli Air Force successfully tests the Arrow 2 anti-ballistic missile system against a Black Sparrow test missile. The Black Sparrow was designed to simulate the Iranian Shahab-3 missile.

2 March 2006
A high-ranking Israeli Defense Force official states that the Arrow 2 anti-ballistic missile system is capable of intercepting and destroying Iranian missiles carrying nuclear warheads. The official went on to explain that new developments in the Arrow system have made it possible to detect missiles carrying a split warhead armed with decoys. He also asserted that any "incoming missile would be destroyed at such a high altitude that it would disperse and destroy its payload without causing any casualties."

17 March 2006
In order to improve its missile defense capabilities the Israeli Air Force (IAF) is working to upgrade its MIM-104 Patriot low- to high-altitude air-defense system to the Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) system. According to a senior defense source, "The PAC-3 will complement our layered missile defense structure and will enable us to close a gap in our ability to intercept incoming missiles in the lower tier. It will also substantially increase our capabilities to intercept incoming cruise missiles and aircraft." One of Israel's primary motivations for upgrading to the PAC-3 system is the emerging cruise missile threat in the region, especially with allegations that Iran recently obtained the Russian designed Kh-55 (AS-15, 'Kent') cruise missiles which have a range of up to 3,000km.

14 April 2006
Arrow anti-ballistic missile batteries in Israel are upgraded to enable them to intercept Iran's long-range missiles. This upgrade has been carried out in the event that Tehran should decide to attack Israel as a response to a U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. Israel estimates that Iran already has the capability of attacking Israel with accurate long-range missiles.
Posted by: Steve || 07/14/2006 12:55 Comments || Top||

#23  (i) Iran's involvement. In my view there's an aspect you'll missing. Right now, Ahmi is getting a message "Nobody is going to hunt for your hidden nuke labs, buba, we'll [1] just bomb you into stone age."
(ii) The best defense against WMD's is the certainty of retaliation---disproportionate one, to use our Tranzi friends favorite term.

[1] To Ahmi & Co. Israel/USA is the same thing.
Posted by: gromgoru || 07/14/2006 14:04 Comments || Top||

#24  Saddam transporting his CB arsenal to Becca was due to necessity, where Syria's existing stockpile doesn't really factor.

I don't envision Israel conducting a troop incursion into Syria (if it comes to that), but air power and SF lazer tag
Posted by: Captain America || 07/14/2006 15:36 Comments || Top||

#25  Unfortunately I see Israel as REACTING and not CONTROLING the scenario. They need to rewrite the script.
Posted by: 3dc || 07/14/2006 20:07 Comments || Top||

#26  AHMEN, 3dc.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 07/14/2006 20:14 Comments || Top||


IAF targets southern Beirut suburbs
IAF aircraft struck early Friday targets in the southern suburbs of Beirut where Hizbullah has its political headquarters, Lebanese security officials said. The impact of at least four missiles were heard. Anti-aircraft fire from the ground echoed in other suburbs of Beirut as the planes roared over the Lebanese capital. Hizbullah's al-Manar TV and other local stations said a bridge in the area was targeted. There was no immediate word on casualties.

The IDF has said that south Beirut, a densely populated neighborhood of Shi'ite Muslims where Hizbullah has its political headquarters, could be targeted. Leaflets dropped in the evening warned people to stay away from Hizbullah offices.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Residents along northern border told to sleep in shelters
Late Thursday night, the Home Front Command instructed residents of Acre, Haifa, Tirat Hacarmel, and Nesher to sleep in fortified rooms. Anyone without access to a fortified room was advised to sleep in an inside room, with the windows closed, Army Radio reported. Residents along the northern border were instructed to spend the night in bomb shelters. The revised instructions came after two rockets launched from Lebanon landed in Haifa in the neighborhood of Stella Maris, the first time missiles have penetrated so far into Israel. Sappers came to the scene to neutralize the rocket that landed in the middle of a road. One person suffered from shock. The launch represented the farthest a rocket had ever reached into Israel.

Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah warned earlier that his organization would strike Haifa if Israel attacked Beirut. There were no reports as yet that Israel had struck Beirut. Before the attack on Haifa, CNN reported that the US Navy ordered one of their ships that was docked at the Haifa Bay to be moved to a safer location.

Shortly before the attack, a rocket hit the old city in Safed, followed by another strike about an hour later. One of thirteen wounded people, who was initially listed in critical condition, later died of his wounds. Two others were seriously wounded, one moderately, and the rest were lightly wounded. A boy was reported missing, and was feared to be trapped in a building that was struck. Following the strike, power supply was cut in parts of the city.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This article implies to me that THEL is not deployed in an operational mode on the Leb border.
Posted by: 3dc || 07/14/2006 20:01 Comments || Top||


Sri Lanka
'Sniper' kills Sri Lankan sailor
A Sri Lankan navy sailor has been killed in sniper fire by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels in the north-east, a naval spokesman says. "[Tamil Tiger] snipers in the morning shot at two sailors. One died in hospital," the spokesman, DKP Dassanayake, said. The navy responded by firing mortar shells on Tamil Tiger positions. Violence has spiralled in Sri Lanka in recent months claiming about 700 lives and undermining a 2002 truce.

The sailors were said to be guarding a small naval base near the town of Trincomalee. The latest violence comes a day after three soldiers were killed in the northern district of Vavuniya.

The rebels and the government say they still stand by the truce deal - but with rising unrest, the peace exists only on paper, correspondents say.
Posted by: Steve || 07/14/2006 09:43 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


LTTE rival shot amid increasing chaos
Sri Lankan troops on Thursday found the bodies of two suspected Tamil Tiger rebels believed killed in a shootout the night before, the military said, as soaring violence threatened the return of a full-scale civil war. The latest fighting broke out on Wednesday night when rebels attacked a patrol near Trincomalee, northeast of the capital, Colombo, the militaryÂ’s Web site said. Troops recovered two suspected rebelsÂ’ bodies, two assault rifles and a grenade launcher, the military said. The statement could not be independently verified. There was no immediate comment from the rebels.

Four other people, two policemen, a soldier and a politician, died on Wednesday in separate attacks by suspected Tamil Tigers in northern Sri Lanka’s Jaffna peninsula. The politician killed was R Skandarajah Dhavan, a leader of minority Tamil party PLOTE - which fought the state alongside the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) before turning to the political mainstream in the late 1980s. He had been kidnapped late on Wednesday. “Dhavan’s body was found beside a reservoir. It was surely the LTTE,” said a military spokesman. Rising violence in the country since last December has killed more than 700 people, half of them civilians, pushing a 2002 Norway-brokered cease-fire to the verge of collapse.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria 'ready for anything'
SYRIA is bracing itself for "any eventuality" as the regime nervously eyes a relentless Israeli operation over the border in Lebanon and faces up to increasingly hostile US rhetoric.
"Syria is in confrontation with Israel. It is watching the situation and is ready to defend itself against any eventuality," said Elias Murad, editor of the ruling Baath party newspaper Al-Baath.

He expressed fear of an "extension of the Israeli operation in the south of Lebanon or towards Syria," a move that would open a third front on top of Israel's continuing operations in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

An irate Israel has lumped Damascus together in an "axis of terror" with Iran over their backing for Hezbollah, whose capture of two Israeli soldiers sparked the Lebanon offensive that has already left more than 60 people dead.

The sabre rattling from Israel has been matched by comments from US President George W. Bush, already at odds with Damascus over its alleged role in the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri.

"Syria needs to be held to account" over the dramatic escalation of violence in the Middle East, Bush said in Germany on Thursday. "President (Bashar al-) Assad needs to show some leadership towards peace."

The Syrian newspaper ath-Thawra wrote that the only way to resolve the crisis was for Israel "to accept the conditions posed by the resistance", referring to a prisoner exchange steadfastly rejected by the Jewish state.

The dramatic escalation in Lebanon has sparked fears of an even wider conflict and fellow US arch-foe Iran lost no time in saying it would stand behind its under-fire Arab ally in the event of any attack.

"If Israel commits another act of idiocy and aggresses Syria, this will be the same as an aggression against the entire Islamic world and it will receive a stinging response," said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"The Israeli aggressions are a result of the weakness of a puppet regime that is on its way towards disappearing," he told Mr Assad in a telephone conversation.

Israel has vowed to break Hezbollah and is also in open conflict in the Gaza Strip with Palestinian militant group Hamas, many of whose key leaders, like political supremo Khaled Meshaal, have found sanctuary in Syrian exile.

"The Hezbollah would not be able to operate in Lebanon without clear Syrian sponsorship," fumed Israeli foreign ministry official Gideon Meir, branding Iran the militia's "main benefactor".

"Consequently, Israel views Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran as primary elements in the axis of terror and hate, threatening not only Israel but the entire world," Meir added.

If Hezbollah has long-range rockets and "tries to hit Haifa with projectiles developed with Syria's help, Israel has no choice but to hit Damascus," Yuval Steinitz, the hawkish former chairman of the parliamentary defence and foreign affairs committee said.

Last month, Israeli warplanes overflew Assad's palace in northern Syria while the president was inside, an operation Syrian state television called an "aggressive act and an unacceptable provocation".

Israeli General Ido Nehushtan said that while Israel "cannot allow Hezbollah to continue to benefit from Syrian and Iranian support... for the moment we are concentrating on Lebanon because we were attacked from Lebanon."

US Syria expert Joshua Landis said that for all the US frustration with Syria, Damascus is feeling more confident than it has for years with the United States bogged down in Iraq and apparently failing to make headway with Iran.

"Syria is feeling strong. It can now go on the offensive. Damascus feels confident that Washington cannot counter-attack at this time. It has few arrows left in its quiver," said the University of Oklahoma professor on his website.
Posted by: tipper || 07/14/2006 21:29 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Pencil Neck better rethink his position. It would not take long to take his terrorist-supporting government out and into rubble. He feels his oats because both the US and Israel have been exercising restraint above and beyond the norm.

If he is stupid enough to provoke Israel, he just signed his death warrant.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/14/2006 21:48 Comments || Top||

#2  How does Iran propose getting to Israel? Overflying Iraq doesn't seem prudent at this juncture...
Posted by: eLarson || 07/14/2006 22:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Damascus is feeling more confident than it has for years with the United States bogged down in Iraq

Hmmmmmmm ....... I can't recall hearing about the US expending large numbers of Cruise missiles in Iran and Afghanistan. How many TLAM's do you figure it would take to reduce Syria's C&C infrastructure to rubble?
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 07/14/2006 22:06 Comments || Top||

#4  Flying pigs are invisible to radar. Iran probably has a squadron or two of those. What they can attempt to do is airlift to Syria using commercial airliners pretending to be on regular passenger or freight routes to Damascus. It would take a while but it could be done. They wouldn't be able to move any heavy units this way but they could get leg infantry, ammunition, weapons, some small artillery, etc. over that way. Not much they could do in the way of airpower, though, without running a gauntlet.
Posted by: crosspatch || 07/14/2006 22:07 Comments || Top||

#5  anybody know where the IDF tank and infantry are? splendid forces that so far seem to be sitting this one out. I cannot imagine this being the case much longer!
Posted by: Justrand || 07/14/2006 22:35 Comments || Top||

#6  Syria 'ready for anything'

They all say that, before the hammer drops.
Posted by: Hupinetle Sninetle9012 || 07/14/2006 23:35 Comments || Top||

#7  Assad... It must be a funny feeling knowing that one can count the rest of his life in days...
Posted by: twobyfour || 07/14/2006 23:56 Comments || Top||


IDF confirms warship hit by explosive-laden UAV
A Hizbullah strike on an IDF warship off the Lebanese coast damaged the ship severely, The IDF confirmed to The Jerusalem Post late Friday.

Earlier reports disagreed regarding the extent of the damage, with the IDF initially reporting that the ship was largely unharmed.

According to security officials, the ship was struck by an unmanned aerial vehicle packed with explosives, a new tactic for Hizbullah.

Shortly before the strike, Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said in a telephone call to Hizbullah media outlets that Israel's ongoing operations in Lebanon were a campaign of revenge over its "defeat," as he referred to the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000.

Nasrallah was responding to growing criticism over the Hizbullah cross-border attack on Wednesday that spurred the Israeli response.

He also promised that IDF naval ships maintaining a sea blockade on Lebanese ports would be destroyed and called on the Lebanese people to join forces against Israel.

The comments came after Hizbullah threatened to strike Haifa and beyond with improved Katyusha rockets in response to the destruction of Hizbullah headquarters in southern Beirut and Nasrallah's private residence.

In an urgent flash, the organization's al-Manar TV station said the building housing Hizbullah's leadership was destroyed. It did not elaborate, nor say whether there were any casualties.

The report on the destruction of Nasrallah's home was announced by official Hizbullah media outlets.

It is generally known that Nasrallah, whose movements are treated with a high level of secrecy, moves from one place to another, particularly during the Israeli offensive.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's meeting with the "Group of Seven" security-related cabinet advisors ended a short time earlier on Friday evening. At the meeting, the prime minister approved a new list of targets for ongoing IDF operations in Lebanon.

On Friday afternoon, IDF warplanes renewed attacks on the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiya, targeting a radio station belonging to the Hizbullah terror organization, Hizbullah said.

The organization's Al-Manar TV reported that Israeli warplanes fired a missile in the vicinity of the Al-Nour station in the Haret Hreik neighborhood south of Beirut but missed the facility and struck an apartment in a residential building instead. There was no immediate word on casualties, and the station remained on the air.

It was the second time Friday that IAF planes targeted residential neighborhoods in south Beirut, a stronghold of the Shi'ite Muslim Hizbullah's leadership. Israeli planes earlier rained missiles on roads in the suburbs, knocking down an overpass and damaging another.

The IDF also continued its bombardment of southern Lebanon on Friday afternoon, bombing two bridges over the Hazharani river as well as a Hizbullah anti-aircraft missile base and a fuel depot in Talusia.

Earlier on Friday, IDF forces foiled an infiltration attempt by Hizbullah operatives near an IDF post close to Zar'it on the northern border on Friday.

Troops opened fire towards the infiltrators and clashes erupted in the area.

Meanwhile, IAF fighter-bombers blasted Beirut International Airport in the third attack on the nation's sole international facility since the military offensive was launched against Lebanon three days ago.

Airport officials said one of the three runways was hit with two missiles and Lebanese eyewitnesses reported that a nearby residential building was struck in the raid. No casualties were reported.

About an hour before Friday's raid, the five remaining Airbus jets belonging to the national carrier Middle East Airlines flew to Amman for safety reasons, officials said.

Early Friday, an Israeli plane also fired a missile at a fuel storage tank for the power station at Jiye on the Mediterranean coast in central Lebanon, just north of the port city of Sidon, witnesses said.

The attack started a huge fire in the area, about 20 miles south of the Lebanese capital, but the power station itself was not hit. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/14/2006 17:34 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I was just over at Daily Kos, lookin at those drooling mongoloids' posts, I don't they even know there is a war breaking out in the ME.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/14/2006 17:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Okay then, 60+ years AFTER the West started using anti-ship missiles/drones, the Arabs catch on to the idea. Wonder if that UAV is the one South Africa under the ANC has been selling to Iran?
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 07/14/2006 17:53 Comments || Top||

#3  ItÂ’s real easy to strap some explosives on a UAV and ram it into a ship, but causing “severe” damage to ship with a UAV is a major step militarily. I wonder who gave it to them (eye cast toward Iran/Syria).
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 07/14/2006 18:08 Comments || Top||

#4  I thought Exocets were made by France.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 07/14/2006 18:09 Comments || Top||

#5  I suspect that most of the speculation and theories I see posted about the net are wrong at worst and hopefully optimisitic best. This is gonna get out of hand.

But then wars always do.

Why is it that the freakin world just cannot seem to notice that if left alone and to their own devices the Israelies just want to have fun and leave everyone else alone? Heck, they'd probably even be happy to show the arabs how to do something else besides whine and end up being their best friends.

Are they really that sick? And by sick I mean in the worst sense of the mental term.

And that's not even counting the arabs.
Posted by: kelly || 07/14/2006 18:32 Comments || Top||

#6  The war just got bigger.
Posted by: Secret Master || 07/14/2006 18:46 Comments || Top||

#7  Sounds like the Izzie Navy airwatch wasn't paying attention. Hizb'allah had flown the Iranian “Mheger 4” ("Mirsad 1" Hizb name) UAV over Israel last year. The concern was that they could be loaded with explosives or CW and crash into packed crowds like a stadium.

"Mirsad 1" It likely has only a 10-15Kg payload which is enough to heavily damage a small Patrol Boat, but would only scratch a larger metal boat. Of course Hizb could have received even larger Iranian UAVs.
Posted by: ed || 07/14/2006 19:19 Comments || Top||

#8  "Are they really that sick?"

Yes. They are that sick.

Sick enough to buy the whiney-ass Arab bullshit that six million Jews (barely enough to populate the city and county of Philadelphia) occupying a nearly worthless chunk of real estate barely the size of New Jersey, are somehow magically causing ALL the problems of over a billion Muslims.

Fuck it. FRY 'EM UP. As far as I'm concerned, Israel is more than welcome to do whatever it wants to secure its safety. And I mean WHATEVER.

Posted by: Dave D. || 07/14/2006 19:41 Comments || Top||

#9  I agree with Dave. In the end someday the final acts will be mushrooms over Qom, Mecca, Mediana, Damascus etc. Cause, Effect and Sanity are missing in that sick culture.
Posted by: 3dc || 07/14/2006 20:10 Comments || Top||

#10  Sooner or later, probably sooner, we will be drawn into this thing. Probably to keep Iran at bay. Fine. Let's have it out and be done with it before the MMs get nukes.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/14/2006 20:42 Comments || Top||

#11  My worst fear is that this whole damn thing fizzles out over the next few days, to yet another damned inconclusive conclusion, without the Iranians giving us the perfect excuse to go absolutely flat-out, totally bugshit MEDIEVAL on their skanky ho' asses.

Posted by: Dave D. || 07/14/2006 20:46 Comments || Top||

#12  LGF linking to reports the idiots hit an Egyptian ship with one of their toys.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 07/14/2006 20:52 Comments || Top||

#13  Dave nails it.
Posted by: j. D. Lux || 07/14/2006 20:52 Comments || Top||

#14  Fox says Hezbola hit a civilian boat. No other information at this time.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 07/14/2006 20:59 Comments || Top||

#15  About an hour before Friday's raid, the five remaining Airbus jets belonging to the national carrier Middle East Airlines flew to Amman for safety reasons, officials said.

IDF left a runway long enuf? Weird. Buy Boeing.
Posted by: 6 || 07/14/2006 21:06 Comments || Top||

#16  Deka says is was a Saar-5 corvette, hit in the helicopter pad and buring for hours with 4 missing crewmen. Sheesh.

Boys, you need to bounce the rubble all aross Hizbanistan.
Posted by: Brett || 07/14/2006 21:27 Comments || Top||

#17  Dave D.---You may not have to worry about things fizzling out after a few days. This just came up on Belmont Club :

Haaretz has details on the attack which damaged an Israeli naval vessel, by an UAV, in the dark and while operating 16 km from the Lebanese coast.

An explosives-laden drone, apparently launched by Hezbollah, hit an Israel Navy warship off the coast of Beirut, causing serious damage to its steering capability, Israel Defense Forces confirmed Friday night. The incident occurred at around 8:30 P.M., as the ship was some 16 kilometers from the Lebanese coast. The blast caused a fire close to the helicopter landing pad onboard. The ship's steering mechanism also sustained some damage. Several hours after the vessel was hit, an Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman said the damage was worse than originally thought. She added that the ship, still burning, was being towed back to Israel. There were some 80 people on board the ship when it was hit.

This is a major warship operating in line of sight, but beyond normal nighttime visual range. According to the Security Watchtower, the drone was probably a Mirsad-1.

A Hezbollah unmanned aerial drone crashed into an Israeli warship off the Mediterranean coast on Friday, damaging the steering of the vessel. Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah claimed the ship had been sunk. The UAV was likely a Mirsad-1, built by the Iranian state owned Qods Aviation Industry. On previous occasions, Nasrallah has boasted that "you can load the Mirsad plane with a quantity of explosive ranging from 40 to 50 kilos and send it to its target."

In 2005, U.S. and Israeli intelligence noted that Iranian soldiers were stationed in southern Lebanon where they operated the Mirsad-1, eight of which are believed to have been given by Iran to Hezbollah. Reports indicate that an estimated 30 Hezbollah operatives have completed training in Isfahan, Iran. Asked about the threat of the UAV's, Joseph Cirincione, a weapons expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said "the danger is that Hezbollah will now have the capability to inflict greater damage on Israel by more precise targeting."

Commentary

An attack at this distance, by night on a warship indicates a very high level of targeting skill. A capability beyond Hezbollah's own limited resources. This suggests that Iranian technical assistance to its client has been extensive and thorough. In some ways, this incident is reminiscent of the use of Saggers and integrated air defense by the Egyptian Army during the Yom Kippur War. Iran had anticipated what Israel would do and prepared for it. It is now not out of the question that Hezbollah may have MANPADs or very long range, perhaps even guided rockets. With what warheads we can only guess, but chemical is not out of the question. The stricken Israeli warship is major combatant on the scale of navies in the area. Although not sunk, it has been mission killed. This is a spectacular naval victory for Hezbollah.

But it also brings Israel and Iran closer to direct combat. With proof that advanced weapons are now in the hands of Hezbollah, it becomes absolutely impossible for Israel to consider Hezbollah in isolation from its armorers. The diplomatic efforts to date are now imperiled by this grave development.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/14/2006 21:59 Comments || Top||

#18  My prediction is that the U.S. Navy will expend 639 man-years explaining to congress critters and journalists how the US does things different.

From what I know so far, this is a major fuck up for the Israelies, even if the Iranians are helping.
Posted by: Penguin || 07/14/2006 23:07 Comments || Top||

#19  Article: This is a major warship operating in line of sight, but beyond normal nighttime visual range.

This is key. I don't think the battleship USS New Jersey operated within line of sight when it pounded Lebanon in the 1980's after the Marine barracks bombing. The Israelis obviously want to get as close as possible so they can use shells instead of more expensive missiles. I think they're done with using shells until they learn how to jam enemy UAV frequencies.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 07/14/2006 23:09 Comments || Top||

#20  Looks like Iran upgraded Hizb to the "Ababil" with 40Kg payload and 300Km/h cruise speed. With those specs, it could easily be used as a small TV guided antiship missile. It would play havoc with loaded tankers. I hope the US Navy is paying attention.
Posted by: ed || 07/14/2006 23:20 Comments || Top||

#21  The Hizo's hit another ship while targeting additional Israeli Navy vessels. The Hizo's does score another hit but...but...but, it ends being a civilian merchant ship that belongs to ""drum roll please"" Egypt. Muslim GPS needs some more fine tuning.
Posted by: Angock Flavitch6234 || 07/14/2006 23:20 Comments || Top||

#22  The merchant ship hit was by a (un)lucky hit from a barrage of unguided Katushyas.
Posted by: ed || 07/14/2006 23:27 Comments || Top||

#23  I have no expertise regarding naval matters, but have read that helicopters have attacked targets in Beirut. I assume these were launched from naval vessels, hence the "line of sight" proximity of Israeli ships to the Lebanese coast.

Comments?
Posted by: Kirk || 07/14/2006 23:29 Comments || Top||

#24  ed,

barrage of unguided Katushyas

I know. "Muslim GPS" is just some Friday night humor on my part.
Posted by: Angock Flavitch6234 || 07/14/2006 23:47 Comments || Top||


Shots fired from Syrian positions in Golan??
WND. Use appropriate caution. But I sure hope they did.

While Israeli military sources in the Golan Heights are reporting Syrian military gunfire directed inside the Jewish state, Lebanese political sources are telling WND they expect a provocation of some kind from Damascus. Israeli Defense Forces are attempting to determine the exact source of the gunfire. If the source cannot be determined, sources say, Israel may choose to ignore or officially deny it occurred in an effort to avoid widening what is rapidly becoming a regional conflict.

Meanwhile, Lebanese sources predict a small, limited provocation against Israel – perhaps a small skirmish or the use of Palestinian groups on the Syrian side of the border firing mortars under the direction of the Syrian army. It would not be a major attack, the sources say, just a minor provocation in conjunction with Iran to show Syria is in solidarity with Hezbollah and the Palestinians, who launched the original attacks against Israel on two fronts – Gaza and southern Lebanon.

Yesterday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said an Israeli strike on Syria would be considered an attack on the whole Islamic world that would bring a "fierce response." "If the Zionist regime commits another stupid move and attacks Syria, this will be considered like attacking the whole Islamic world and this regime will receive a very fierce response," Ahmadinejad was quoted by Iranian state television as saying in a telephone conversation with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Posted by: Jackal || 07/14/2006 14:58 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Oh Boy,
Pass the popcorn
The IDF will smash Syria's army like a bug much less the Hezbollah goons who have no discipline or sense of tactics except frontal assault and suicide.
As for Iran, F@#k em, Iran wants this and Iran wants trouble throughout the middle east. Given the large numbers of Iranians that have been killed and captured in Iraq since the fall of Saddam, this is a long time coming and I think Those islamofascists in Teheran are gonna get up close and personal with a cruise missile pretty soon.
On a side bar, there has been a LOT of activity at the AFB near my home, the C-17's are loading up every day and flying out every other night and coming back about a day later. Lots of equipment......something is going on.
NOTE: this commenter is NOT Rantburg regular Sock Puppet of Doom. Please do not use the established 'nyms of regulars. Continuing to do so will result in comments being deleted and possibly IPs being banned.

Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 07/14/2006 15:18 Comments || Top||

#2  SPoD - Shuuush! The NYT might be listening!
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats || 07/14/2006 15:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Uh, count us out, there Ahmadinnerjacket. We want no part of the Joooooos and 'merican crusaders.
Posted by: Prince Bandar-baloo (Saudi) || 07/14/2006 15:23 Comments || Top||

#4  meh. Syria aint gonna do squat but run their mouth, just like Iran.

Syria has about 20,000 US Marines on their eastern border, the minute those guys start to crowd the broder and look interested, Syria will heel.

This is all proxie. Iran and Syria want to buy for time and change the subject, last thing they want to do is give George a valid reason to boost his poll numbers.
Posted by: Texjim || 07/14/2006 15:29 Comments || Top||

#5  Sock---check your email.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/14/2006 15:31 Comments || Top||

#6  Anyone else get a feeling this whole thing is going to end up with Israel whacking Iran with our assistance. Something along the lines of Syria attacks Israel, Israel hits back, Iran hits Israel in defense of Syria, then USA/Israel wipe out Iran's nuclear/military complex? I wonder how many of the US carriers/naval resoursces are in the ME or headed there now and how much else is going on behind the scenes that we don't know about.
Posted by: NickVtx || 07/14/2006 15:38 Comments || Top||

#7  Hopefully we've got Patriot going to Iraq. Iran will target our presence there.

Balad AFB might be pretty full by now. Or should be.
Posted by: JAB || 07/14/2006 15:41 Comments || Top||

#8  World Nut Daily ... of dubious reliability.
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 07/14/2006 15:42 Comments || Top||

#9  IJ does requuire the caution sign, but sucking the US into this is a prerequisite for a wide-scale regional conflict. Which IMHO is where AhMad wants to take us
Posted by: Captain America || 07/14/2006 15:45 Comments || Top||

#10  I doubt Syria would be that stupid, but you never know.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/14/2006 15:59 Comments || Top||

#11  Syria doesn't have any good choices, only more or less bad.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 07/14/2006 16:08 Comments || Top||

#12  That was not posted by me. Someone doesn't get it you don't use others names apperently. You all should have noticed they are coherent and can spell.

WND. Use appropriate caution. But I sure hope they did. That is no lie.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 07/14/2006 16:34 Comments || Top||

#13  NickVbc, you can find the official location of all carriers that are away from home port, plus other deployed ships of the fleet here .

Right now, the Navy says, we have 3 carriers in the Pacific, one near Indonesia and one in the Atlantic.
Posted by: lotp || 07/14/2006 16:35 Comments || Top||

#14  Don't count Syria out yet. This thing is just gettnig started, and they don't call the shots - the mullahs do. I think the turbans finally caught on to the fact they're gonna lose in Iraq and that their nukes won't come in time to blackmail the coalition. This is their plan B, to provoke Israel into taking action - an action that just as in AhMad's words "...would be an attack on the entire Muslim world". The real goal is to drive a permanent wedge between Iraq and the US, which will have to back Israel. It will take something quite distasteful to bring such an Isreali response - and that's where Syria comes in.
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 07/14/2006 16:53 Comments || Top||

#15  Iran is very comfortable with using proxies, however, such a gambit would probably mean they would either tell Sadr to launch another Mehdi revolt, or announce that the Strait of Hormuz is being shut down (just the threat will do, shipping underwriters are skittish).

Either of these things would put Iran's butt on the line, and that is a whole 'nother ball game.

In a heartbeat, the guys on Diego Garcia would be in the air and fully loaded.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/14/2006 17:03 Comments || Top||

#16  Ever the optimist, if these events continue to unfold along this path, we end up with the desirable scenario of Israel striking out directly at Iran and crippling - or at a minimum impeding - their march toward the nuclear dance.

Which makes the conspirist in me stir - is it possible these events are unfolding exactly the way we would want them to? hmmmm
Posted by: Hal Chalikeakick || 07/14/2006 17:14 Comments || Top||

#17  HC, There are still some unknown variables, but in essence, that is my opinion as well, with the exception that Israel may not be required to strike mullahs.

Ahmadinutjob thought that he's setting a trap for Israel/US. His miscalculation was simple: Sunnis do not subscribe to his Mahdi mythology, nor would like to see shi'as geting more leverage in ME. That was reflected in Egypt and SA responses. In fact, they are all excited that Ahmadinutjob will have his ass handed to him. IOW, he did set the chess board, but did not notice that the table has been turned.
Posted by: twobyfour || 07/14/2006 17:27 Comments || Top||

#18  . I think the turbans finally caught on to the fact they're gonna lose in Iraq and that their nukes won't come in time to blackmail the coalition. This is their plan B, to provoke Israel into taking action - an action that just as in AhMad's words "...would be an attack on the entire Muslim world".
I likee, makes good Muzzie sense, maybe this is why SA is getting the yips.
Posted by: 6 || 07/14/2006 21:09 Comments || Top||


Hezbollah declares 'open war '
HEZBOLLAH chief Hassan Nasrallah declared "open war" against the Jewish state overnight after emerging unscathed from an Israeli air strike on his home and office in the Lebanese capital. "You wanted an open war, you will get an open war," the Shiite militant leader said in a defiant audio message after the evening raid, the latest salvo in an escalating Israeli air campaign against Lebanon over Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers on Wednesday. "It will be war at all levels... to Haifa, and beyond Haifa," Nasrallah said, referring to Israel's third largest city which commanders there said came under unprecedented rocket fire from Lebanon overnight.

An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to describe the evening air strike as an assassination attempt against the 45-year-old Hezbollah chief. She would confirm only that a "Hezbollah terror organisation headquarters was targeted". But Israeli television said that it was a calculated attempt against Nasrallah's life carried out in response to specific intelligence on his whereabouts.

Hezbollah television said the strikes "destroyed the building that hosts Hezbollah's secretariat general" and that Nasrallah's house was hit. It was not immediately clear whether he had been in the targeted area.

Israeli government ministers had made no bones about their desire to see the Hezbollah leader eliminated. "Nasrallah decided his own fate," Israeli Interior Minister Roni Bar-On told public radio ahead of the strikes. "We will settle our accounts with him when the time comes."

The Hezbollah leader's predecessor Abbas al-Musawi was killed in a 1992 Israeli air strike along with his wife and three-year-old daughter. But Nasrallah refused to be fazed by the raid on his home, promising Israeli commanders "surprises" in the movement's resistance to its three-day-old onslaught.

The Hezbollah chief hailed a rocket attack launched from the Shiite southern suburbs of Beirut against an Israeli naval vessel patrolling offshore Friday evening as a first example. "Now, off the coast of the sea, the warship which attacked... the southern suburbs... watch it burning and drowning," Nasrallah said. An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed only that "there was a navy ship that was lightly hit along the Lebanese shore," and declined to talk about casualties.

The attack on Nasrallah's home and office, which Hezbollah television said his family and bodyguards also survived, was the latest barrage in an escalating Israeli campaign against the movement's political and military infrastructure. The group's command headquarters in the southern suburbs had already come under repeated Israeli air attack, as had the transmitters of its radio and television channels.

Hezbollah is widely credited in Lebanon with having been instrumental in Israel's 2000 pullout from the south after a 22-year occupation. By the same token, it has long been one of Israel's foremost foes.

"The Target: Nasrallah," the morning's edition of Israel's top-selling newspaper Yediot Aharonot had screamed in a front-page headline. Another newspaper, Maariv, charged that Nasrallah, along with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Damascus-based Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal were "perhaps even more dangerous" than Hitler, responsible for exterminating six million Jews.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert insisted overnight that the offensive in Lebanon would go on until Hezbollah released the two captured soldiers, halted rocket attacks against northern Israel and disarmed. Hezbollah insists there can be no question of releasing the two Israelis unless Palestinian and Arab prisoners held in Israeli jails are freed in return.
Posted by: tipper || 07/14/2006 14:54 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "We will settle our accounts with him when the time comes."

When they start talking about leaders as if they owe money you know Israel is going for blood. Git-R-Dun!
Posted by: 49 Pan || 07/14/2006 15:03 Comments || Top||

#2  You wanted an open war, you will get an open war," the Shiite militant leader said in a defiant audio message after the evening raid,

Several news outlets have reported that this message was pre-recorded. Yahoo News for one.

Preplanned indeed.
Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 || 07/14/2006 15:04 Comments || Top||

#3  To infinity and beyond!
Posted by: Buzz Lightyear || 07/14/2006 15:06 Comments || Top||

#4  "You wanted an open war, you will get an open war ..."



"I do not think it means what you think it means."
Posted by: Mizzou Mafia || 07/14/2006 15:25 Comments || Top||

#5  Any news on if Patriots work against the kind of rockets Hezbollah is firing? Or if Israel is even using Patriots there (might save them up to defend against any Iranian missiles).
Posted by: rjschwarz || 07/14/2006 15:38 Comments || Top||

#6  A waste of Patriots. They are firing quite small unguided rockets, whatever their range.
Posted by: buwaya || 07/14/2006 15:44 Comments || Top||

#7  U.S. and Israel have tested a laser based missle defense system that is capable of taking down multiple targets, including katyushas - however I don't think it's close to deployment.
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 07/14/2006 15:54 Comments || Top||

#8  "My way? What's my way?"

"You wait until he comes around the corner, then smash his head with a rock."

"Oh. My way's not very sporting, is it?"
Posted by: mojo || 07/14/2006 15:59 Comments || Top||

#9  Open war? That is good. Israel declared 'Open Season' on your ass.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/14/2006 16:00 Comments || Top||

#10  Spoutin' into a tape recorder from some place. Show yur face, dude! You are a lion of allah!
Posted by: Brett || 07/14/2006 17:08 Comments || Top||

#11  So then it's OK to turn southern Lebanon into glass?
Posted by: DMFD || 07/14/2006 18:41 Comments || Top||

#12  No glass,, Rubble.
Posted by: J. D. Lux || 07/14/2006 19:03 Comments || Top||

#13  Re: #11.....turning Palestine into glass would be/could be a desireable thing; however, that might bring into play the Iranians, Syrians, Egyptians, et al, and that could be costly to Israel as well as others who would support and defend Israel. I much prefer #12's solution.....turn them, their culture and country into rubble. Carpet bomb them back to the stone age.
Posted by: WolfDog || 07/14/2006 19:56 Comments || Top||


Hezbollah target Israeli warship
HEZBOLLAH chief Hassan Nasrallah said overnight that his Shiite movement's guerrillas had destroyed the Israeli warship which had struck his headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
"Surprises will start from now. Now, off the coast of the sea, the warship which attacked... the southern suburbs... watch it burning and drowning," he said.

Israeli police said two missiles fired from the southern suburbs of Beirut had targeted an Israeli warship off the coast of the Lebanese capital.
Posted by: tipper || 07/14/2006 14:46 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Imagine if it turns out that Hezbollah has a stash of Exocet missiles.
Posted by: 2Ducks || 07/14/2006 14:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Any truth to them actually hitting the ship?
Posted by: 49 Pan || 07/14/2006 14:58 Comments || Top||

#3  According to a correspondent on British TV, an Israeli ship suffered some minor damage which caused no casualties.
Posted by: Apostate || 07/14/2006 15:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Anyone know what ships we have in the MED?
Posted by: Sherry || 07/14/2006 15:47 Comments || Top||

#5  Not off the top of my head. I'd be willing to bet that there's a Carrier Battle Group lurking somewhere in the general area, though.

Probably at flank speed now.
Posted by: mojo || 07/14/2006 16:03 Comments || Top||

#6  Somebody mentioned the Iwo Jima.
Posted by: J. D. Lux || 07/14/2006 16:07 Comments || Top||

#7  Anyone know what ships we have in the MED?

My nephew is currently on a Med tour on the USS Ross (DDG 71). I don't know the timing, but Haifa was definitely a scheduled port-of-call.
Posted by: Xbalanke || 07/14/2006 16:38 Comments || Top||

#8  You can always check the location of the fleet here.
Posted by: lotp || 07/14/2006 16:49 Comments || Top||

#9  "The military has the helicopter carrier USS Iwo Jima heading a seven-ship group taking part in an exercise off the coast of Jordan, officials said."- Link





Posted by: NickVtx || 07/14/2006 16:51 Comments || Top||

#10  The only coast Jordan has is the Gulf of Aqaba - not much maneuvering room for a fleet.
Posted by: Glenmore || 07/14/2006 16:58 Comments || Top||

#11  The idea that the hezis navigated a UAV or missle out to an Israeli ship seems quesitonable to me. We will see.
Posted by: Brett || 07/14/2006 20:53 Comments || Top||

#12  Any Phalanx guns on Israeli warships?
Posted by: 3dc || 07/14/2006 20:59 Comments || Top||


Israel says Lebanon will hide WMDs for Iran
In remarks made before the UN Security Council today, Ambassador Dan Gillerman claimed that Lebanon was willing to work with Iran to hide weapons of mass destruction. An official statement from the delegation on the subject is expected shortly. The Ambassador went on to point to Syria as another member of a "club" of terror-supporting nations.

A partial transcript of his remarks follow:

#
It is very important for the international community to understand that while Hezbollah executes this vicious terrorism, it is merely the finger on the bloodstained, long-reaching arms of Syria and Iran. Hezbollah, together with Hamas, Syria and Iran, comprise the world's new and ominous axis of terror, an infamous club -- infamous club, the entry fee to which is the blood of innocents and the terrorizing of the entire world.

Membership to this club requires an unfathomable capacity for evil. The president of Iran has repeatedly denied the Holocaust, while gleefully preparing the next one. Many of the long-range missiles fired into Israel in recent days were Iranian missiles, made by the same regime that is now trying to possess nuclear weapons, the same region that is funding Hezbollah to the sum of $100 million a year.

Do we dare to ask ourselves how many families in Lebanon today are being prepared to house dirty bombs and other weapons of mass destruction courtesy of Iran?

Syria, another member of this club, is a well-known protector and financier of terrorist organizations, playing host to them in its capital, Damascus. The Syrian government, which still regards Lebanon as "southern Syria," works ceaselessly to undermine all efforts towards a peaceful future in the region...
Posted by: Steve || 07/14/2006 12:55 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And Syria will long ago hid Iraq's WMD.
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 07/14/2006 13:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Looks like someone is saying, "Damascus, you are next!"
Posted by: BigEd || 07/14/2006 13:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Doing his Haile Selassie impression.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 07/14/2006 14:02 Comments || Top||

#4  Sounds more to me like he is saying "Tehran or Damascus is next, to be followed by the other" "We're not saying which one will be last." "Maybe they can both be first, we have to check with the U.S. first to make sure they have enough inventory on hand for us."
Posted by: Mike N. || 07/14/2006 14:23 Comments || Top||

#5  Mike N - Iran is the "BIG DOG"...

If they put their mind to it, Baby-I-Doc would be fairly straightforward take out, I think rather "easy pickins'", and there is a logistical issue with Iran which does not exist with Syria...
Posted by: BigEd || 07/14/2006 15:13 Comments || Top||


Haaretz: Israeli missiles strike Hezbollah hdqtrs again
no details yet, but the headliner on their site says hezb radio confirms the strike
Posted by: lotp || 07/14/2006 12:57 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Where I come from we call that a double tap!
Posted by: 49 Pan || 07/14/2006 13:04 Comments || Top||

#2  That's how we made sure Zarky Boy got his. Two GBUs, not one. And even then, it took Zark Boy 58 painful minutes to expire ... and in full view of US SF.

Hopefully, this second bombing was designed to make sure HEADS-A-ROLLINGS leader is very dead ...
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 07/14/2006 13:26 Comments || Top||

#3  We'll see ... somehow it's hard to believe that Nasrallah would be brave/stupid enough to stay in the hqtrs after the Israeli leaflets but stranger things have happened.
Posted by: lotp || 07/14/2006 13:29 Comments || Top||

#4  Maybe they were hoping to get him as he inspected the damage.
Posted by: Darrell || 07/14/2006 14:50 Comments || Top||

#5  lotp, you need to clean up the link to the article. It has rantburg.com in the address line.
Posted by: Throger Thains8048 || 07/14/2006 15:10 Comments || Top||


Hassan boomed?
Fox News is reporting that IAF hit Hezbollah's headquarters, causing the building to collapse. Nasrallah is believed to have been in it. More as we get it...
Haaretz confirms the strike, no word yet there on Nasrallah.


DRUDGE reporting: Israeli warplanes destroyed the building housing the headquarters of Hezbollah guerrillas in south Beirut Friday, the group's TV station reported.
In an urgent flash, the station said the building housing Hezbollah's leadership was destroyed.

It did not elaborate, nor say whether there were any casualties. But it is generally known that Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, whose movements are treated with high level of secrecy, moves from one place to another, particularly during the Israeli offensive.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 12:45 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  YAHOO!!!!! Next?
Posted by: 49 Pan || 07/14/2006 12:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy!!
Posted by: ARMYGUY || 07/14/2006 12:53 Comments || Top||

#3  BOOM, baby!
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 07/14/2006 12:56 Comments || Top||

#4  Hé hé hé.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/14/2006 12:56 Comments || Top||

#5  "Nasrallah is believed to have been in it."
Let's hope so. And let Assad and Ahmanutjob be next, and soon too.
Posted by: Darrell || 07/14/2006 12:59 Comments || Top||

#6  Banner on Haaretz:

20:10 Hezbollah: Hassan Nasrallah unharmed after IAF missile attack on home (AP)

Didn't mention attack on HQ. Fingers crossed.
Posted by: Steve || 07/14/2006 13:13 Comments || Top||

#7  Damn.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 13:18 Comments || Top||

#8  Let hope the dusted his ass, and got a few of his Syrian and Iranian handlers as a bonus.
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/14/2006 13:18 Comments || Top||

#9  I am not sure I can handle this sensory overload!

First, Zarkman! Then Shamil Bashayev! And now, possibly Nasrallah????

I need a potent drink.
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 07/14/2006 13:20 Comments || Top||

#10  AP: Hezbollah said the home and office of its leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, were destroyed by an Israeli airstrike but that he and his family were safe.

Should have figured he'd be in a deep hole somewhere safe.
Posted by: Steve || 07/14/2006 13:23 Comments || Top||

#11  About six feet deep?
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/14/2006 13:26 Comments || Top||

#12  Why would anybody of any importance be in a designated HQ building ? Wishful thinking. These people are not that stupid.
Posted by: buwaya || 07/14/2006 13:31 Comments || Top||

#13  I haven't heard the puppy and infant casualty count yet...I'm sure CNN will have that for us soon.
Posted by: Justrand || 07/14/2006 13:32 Comments || Top||

#14  Perhaps the Hezbollah communications traffic immediately after this bombing might help them find out where Hassan really is?
Posted by: JAB || 07/14/2006 13:41 Comments || Top||

#15  That's OK. It would be expected that Nasrallah would not be at home or at his HQ. The main thing is to keep systematically destroying his Command and Control capability, hence the destruction of the HQs, Cell towers, power, etc. Developments are moving quickly and a degraded C&C capability will put Hizb'Allah that much further behind the power curve. I wonder if Israel is cutting sat and fiber optic comm capabilities in Lebanon, too. They should.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/14/2006 13:45 Comments || Top||

#16  Heres an interesting dimension to the Hassan story, I just read on an AP story that the Hassan message was a prerecorded- generic type message, so they havent actually proved him alive yet.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/14/2006 17:33 Comments || Top||

#17  Seems to me the Lions of Islam are proving to be somewhat less than effective against the Lions of Juda (somewhere around here I've got a cool cartoon of the situation, but I don;t know how to load it up in a comment).


Posted by: FOTSGreg || 07/14/2006 17:45 Comments || Top||

#18  Hmmm. Hit his home & hdqtrs too. But..he escaped this time since he was out trying to find a fresh supply of underwear. Shit his pants one too many times.
Posted by: SOP35/Rat || 07/14/2006 18:22 Comments || Top||


Israel bombs Beirut airport again
Posted by: Oztralian || 07/14/2006 05:58 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  One might have thought the Lebanese would have understood the "Closed for the Duration" notice the first time.
Posted by: ed || 07/14/2006 6:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Make the craters bigger and bigger and drop anti personel submunitions they will get the message.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 07/14/2006 7:23 Comments || Top||

#3  Israel dithers... Polital manouvering behind scenes.
Posted by: Clerert Uneamp2772 || 07/14/2006 9:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Anybody see the pictures on Fox News of the burning fuel containers and power plants? It brought a tear to my eye.
Posted by: Charles || 07/14/2006 11:17 Comments || Top||


Israeli jets attack Manar TV aerial, Shiite meeting hall
(KUNA) -- Israeli war planes on Thursday launched several missiles targeting the transmission aerial of Hezbollah's television station Al-Manar and a Shiite meeting hall (Husainiya) in eastern Lebanon used by Hezbollah for medical purposes. Al-Manar issued a statement confirming that three of its employees were wounded during the Israeli attack against the television earlier today Meanwhile, a security source told KUNA that Israeli fighters launched two missiles against the husainiya, which was completely demolished.

This is the first raid targeting the eastern Bekaa area since the Israeli aggression erupted against Lebanon in retaliation of Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers yesterday. The southern areas, the coast and Beirut are under an air and costal siege, where Israeli planes are hovering over the Lebanese airspace and Israeli ships are positioned along the coast. Israeli ground force unit tried to penetrate into Lebanese territory but resistance fighters' forced them to retreat, Hezbollah said in a statement. The Shiite Islamic group also launched long-range Raad missiles against Israeli settlements and military sites in northern Israel, Al-Manar television reported.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Any leftovers at mission conclusion, pls add this addy to your ATO:

1 CNN Ctr NW Atlanta, GA 30303
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/14/2006 2:03 Comments || Top||

#2  I saw something yesterday that Iran had given Hizb'allah 10,000 Katyusha rockets plus the thingies they are mounted in, all long since pointed at Israel. I wonder how many are left today?
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/14/2006 7:22 Comments || Top||

#3  tw

good question

As of a few hours ago, the IDF estimated that about 700 rockets (not all Katyushas) had been fired into Israel.

If we see calls from Lebanon (and maybe even Syria) for Hezb Allah to cease firing we can reasonably conclude that the other 9000+ rockets aren't readily launchable.
Posted by: mhw || 07/14/2006 8:19 Comments || Top||

#4  Interesting, they must have a finite shelf life. And under less than optimal conditions that life is probably greatly diminished. I wonder why we don't hear any world leaders bitching about all these unguided rockets being randomly shot into civilian areas?
Posted by: Thraiger Ebbavise9094 || 07/14/2006 9:11 Comments || Top||

#5  Oh, no! No more cartoons!
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/14/2006 9:21 Comments || Top||

#6  It'll stop when Hiz runs out of launchers. Figuring 10 reloads of 10 figure 100 launchers? I assume Hiz is using launchers with multiple rockets, but who knows.
Posted by: 6 || 07/14/2006 11:30 Comments || Top||

#7  I saw a picture on the jpost.com site of a multiple launcher, 6. I don't remember how many it held (6?8?10? Two rows, anyway) or of what, but it didn't look friendly.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/14/2006 13:34 Comments || Top||


123 killed, injured as result of Israeli aggression
(KUNA) -- Lebanese security forces announced that 48 people were killed and 75 others injured as a result of the Israeli military operations that targeted Lebanese towns and villages on Thursday. The security forces said in a statement that these numbers were registered at 4:00 PM. Meanwhile, the Lebanese Red Cross said in a statement that its field teams are on high alert and deployed in different Lebanese areas, setting "fully equipped" blood transfusion centers to meet injured people's need. Beirut province has also set an emergency plan to deal with the Israeli aggression.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They're not being aggressive... yet.

Suck me, KUNA.
Posted by: Thavise Flairt3535 || 07/14/2006 0:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Only 123 ? And how many Israeli's have been killed over the last decade ? decades ? Lebanon keeps bitching that Israel has targeted suburban area's... Well the lebs wanna keep launching rockets at Israel what the hell do they expect ? And besides, these scum bag terrorist lebanese thugs and other Islamic shit bags have been killing innocent ppl since the days of crack smoking camel humpin' mohammad.
Posted by: Oztralian || 07/14/2006 8:48 Comments || Top||

#3  Is that all? I don't know how I'll sleep tonight.
(Sarcasm/off)
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 07/14/2006 9:13 Comments || Top||

#4  It's hard impossible to feel sorry for people that start a war, dance in the streets to celebrate kidnappings, and use a terrorist quasi-government proxy to do their dirty work. Then when check comes to the table, everyone there claims they have forgotten their wallet at home. Forget the 123 dead, that's nothing, look at your infrastructure you dumb bastards! You should be wondering how you are going to carry on with day to day life when you have no bridges, roads,airports or shipping lanes open.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/14/2006 9:26 Comments || Top||

#5  LOL. You're absolutely right on BigJim. The rampant ongoing utter stupidity of these fools continues to amaze. Nothing there worth saving. This group definitely needs to be eliminated from the gene pool.
Posted by: SOP35/Rat || 07/14/2006 11:14 Comments || Top||

#6  Quick, send them the mosquitoes
Posted by: Captain America || 07/14/2006 15:46 Comments || Top||

#7  Big JIm and Sop35, I think their end of the gene pool is a mite shallow. Nothing some chlorine (read: carpet bombing from the Israeli's) couln't cure.
Posted by: WolfDog || 07/14/2006 20:28 Comments || Top||


Good morning...
Lebanese MPs criticize Hizbullah, SyriaIsraeli jets attack Manar TV aerial, Shiite meeting hall13 militants killed in operation on Chechnya borderMumbai police release sketches of Tuesday's blast suspectsSKors admit talks with NKors have tankedSomali warlords hand over weaponsSaddam refusing meals againRulings stop Ga. from requiring voter IDs
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  cripes! ASTM Grade 60 rebar in that underwire...
Posted by: Frank G || 07/14/2006 0:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Purdy lace there too!
Posted by: DanNY || 07/14/2006 0:03 Comments || Top||

#3  lace? where?
Posted by: Frank G || 07/14/2006 0:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Mamie Van D? E? EE?
Posted by: Inspector Clueso || 07/14/2006 0:05 Comments || Top||

#5  Sabrina again.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2006 0:17 Comments || Top||

#6  No editorial today Fred?
Posted by: Abdominal Snowman || 07/14/2006 0:21 Comments || Top||

#7  isaak nyootins spinnin in his grayve
Posted by: muck4doo || 07/14/2006 0:42 Comments || Top||

#8  She makes me all tingley
Posted by: Captain America || 07/14/2006 1:23 Comments || Top||

#9  Is that the word?

LOL.
Posted by: Glinerong Pheretch3566 || 07/14/2006 1:24 Comments || Top||

#10  Reminds me of the bullet bumper on my '57 Chevy!
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/14/2006 1:48 Comments || Top||

#11  Peggy the Impaller
Posted by: twobyfour || 07/14/2006 2:21 Comments || Top||

#12  I get it, we're playing charades! Apparently two boobs are tits up!
Posted by: gorb || 07/14/2006 2:44 Comments || Top||

#13  ima theenk they ayrebrushed em tray holden em ep owt
Posted by: muck4doo || 07/14/2006 2:57 Comments || Top||

#14  I dunno, guys. I look at that pic, and can't help what would happen if the scaffolding gave out. Would they just shift around, or would they trip her?
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 07/14/2006 7:03 Comments || Top||

#15  If the scaffolding shifted, there would be a wardrobe malfunction--and you know the rest of the story.
Posted by: Dylan || 07/14/2006 7:15 Comments || Top||

#16  #1: cripes! ASTM Grade 60 rebar in that underwire...
Posted by: Frank G


Cripes! Good thing I wasn't drinking anything...
Posted by: Ptah || 07/14/2006 7:36 Comments || Top||

#17  I think we didn't have antigravity.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/14/2006 8:13 Comments || Top||

#18  I must be allergic to women's underwear. Every time I see a pictur of a woman in her underwear my heart starts beating faster, I feel all tingly all ove, and I have real short, quick breaths. same thing happens when I go in a Victoria's Secret.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 07/14/2006 8:44 Comments || Top||

#19  It's like they want to break free.
Posted by: Steve || 07/14/2006 8:44 Comments || Top||

#20  Got Milk ?
Posted by: wxjames || 07/14/2006 9:09 Comments || Top||

#21  That Frank, mind always on engineering ....
Posted by: Steve White || 07/14/2006 9:22 Comments || Top||

#22  Better than an engineer with a pet frog in his pocket.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/14/2006 9:56 Comments || Top||

#23  Godiva was a lady who through Coventry did ride,
To show off to the villagers her lily white hide.
The only man who noticed was an engineer of course,
was the only man who noticed that Godiva rode a horse.

-- Old Army Engineers drinking/marching song
Posted by: 11A5S || 07/14/2006 10:22 Comments || Top||

#24  ;-)

Y'all need to do some scientific analysis of this ... um ... pointed issue. As in, A Stress Analysis of a Strapless Evening Gown and other classics.
Posted by: lotp || 07/14/2006 10:35 Comments || Top||

#25  Fred's subliminal message experiment: note the "Boyz Banged" right there below the... lace.
Posted by: Darrell || 07/14/2006 10:44 Comments || Top||

#26  Delightful article, lotp. That's why I always keep a stack of paper and pencils around. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/14/2006 11:01 Comments || Top||

#27  note the "Boyz Banged" right there below the... lace.

You used to buy them for the articles, admit it. ;-)
Posted by: 2Ducks || 07/14/2006 14:14 Comments || Top||

#28  I don't do structural engineering. I do chemical process engineering and my chemical processes are undergoing an exothermic reaction to that picture. I LOVE cheesecake!
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 07/14/2006 19:09 Comments || Top||

#29  Actually, 2Ducks, the articles weren't very good, but I kept buying in hopes that they would get better.
Posted by: Darrell || 07/14/2006 19:25 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2006-07-14
  IAF Booms Hezbollah HQ, Misses Nasrallah
Thu 2006-07-13
  Israel bombs Beirut airport, embargos coast
Wed 2006-07-12
  IDF Re-Engages Lebanon, Reserves Called Up
Tue 2006-07-11
  163 dead in Mumbai train booms
Mon 2006-07-10
  Shamil breathes dirt!
Sun 2006-07-09
  Hamas gov't calls for halt to fighting
Sat 2006-07-08
  Lebanese Arrested In Connection With New York Plot
Fri 2006-07-07
  Somali Islamists:death for Muslims skipping prayers
Thu 2006-07-06
  UN divided over missile response
Wed 2006-07-05
  Israel destroys Palestinian Interior Ministry building
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Mon 2006-07-03
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Sat 2006-07-01
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  IAF strikes official Gaza buildings

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