Six Canadian soldiers have been wounded in a mortar attack in southern Afghanistan, Canadian officials say. A Canadian military spokesman blamed Tuesday evening's attack in Kandahar province on Taleban forces. About 2,000 Canadian soldiers are based in Kandahar, as part of the Nato-led international force in Afghanistan. Meanwhile US-led and Afghan security forces say they have raided two suspected al-Qaeda compounds in eastern Afghanistan and arrested eight people.
The Canadian patrol came under mortar attack in Zhari district, about 25km (15 miles) west of Kandahar, military spokesman John Nethercott told AFP news agency. "During that attack, six Canadian soldiers were injured. None of the injuries is life-threatening."
In Khost province, another hotbed of insurgency, pre-dawn raids were carried out near the villages of Paru Kheyl and Jabeh in Yaqubi district, the US military said. Weapons, explosives and communications equipment were seized, a statement said. Several women and children were present in one of the compounds. "During each operation, the assault forces requested a peaceful surrender of people within the compounds," the statement said. "Eight suspected terrorists were taken into custody during the operations, five in Paru Kheyl and three in Jabeh."
Posted by: Steve ||
08/16/2006 08:57 ||
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Bad OP. Take no prisoners. Run the body count to the max. It's all the neanderthals really grasp.
(CNSNews.com) - Amid calls for the U.N. to deploy peacekeepers in Sudan's Darfur region by October 1, the country's Islamist leader has vowed to emulate Hizballah in Lebanon and rout any incoming force. "We oppose the deployment of American, British or other forces imposed by the Security Council," Sudan's state news agency quoted President Omar al-Bashir as saying in an address to the North African country's armed forces. "We are determined to defeat any forces entering the country just as Hizballah has defeated the Israeli forces," he said, echoing the view expressed by Syria, Iran and Hizballah itself that the recent conflict in Lebanon had ended in victory for the terrorist group.
The Sudan Tribune said Bashir also has reaffirmed Sudanese "solidarity" with the Lebanese and Palestinians.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/16/2006 10:00 ||
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"We are determined to defeat any forces entering the country just as Hizballah has defeated the Israeli forces," he said, echoing the view expressed by Syria, Iran and Hizballah itself that the recent conflict in Lebanon had ended in victory for the terrorist group.
Well, that didn't take long, did it?
Posted by: The Doctor ||
08/16/2006 14:42 Comments ||
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MOGADISHU - Islamist militia took over a key port in central Somalia on Wednesday, expanding a territorial push from their base in Mogadishu that is denting the interim governments aspirations to national authority. Residents said heavily armed fighters on battlewagons rode into Hobyo at dawn to take control of the town without any fighting. A surrender had been negotiated the previous evening with forces there loyal to a warlord who is on the run. First, the Islamist army technicals surrounded the town, then they sent an envoy to negotiate, before their entry was accepted, local leader Hussein Jimale told Reuters.
The Islamists latest moveconsolidating their grip on a swathe of south-central Somalia since taking Mogadishu in Juneis a further challenge to the virtually powerless interim government based in the provincial town of Baidoa.
Residents said the Islamists top leader, hardline cleric Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, personally led the entry into Hobyo at the head of 40 technicals or pickups converted into battlewagons with heavy weaponry welded on the back.
With talks in Khartoum aimed at producing a power-sharing agreement between the two sides effectively stalled, the Islamists are taking advantage of the political impasse to increase their influence on the ground. They are very smart, they are gradually consolidating their territory, while the government looks on helplessly, said one Western diplomat who tracks Somalia closely.
This weekend, Islamist fighters seized another two strategic coastal townsHarardheere and Eldhervowing to rid the area of piracy that has made the countrys Indian Ocean waters some of the most dangerous in the world. That has given them control of a large area of south-central Somalia from the coast to near the Ethiopian border.
With Islamists strongholds effectively flanking Baidoa, President Abdullahi Yusufs interim government, which meets in a converted grain warehouse, looks more vulnerable than ever. Although it is internationally recognised as Somalias only legitimate national authority, it lacks any real power on the ground beyond Baidoa and commands only a small militia compared with the Islamists large fighting force.
Regional power Ethiopia has, however, bolstered the governments position by sending troops into Somalia to take up positions around Baidoa, according to witnesses. Addis Ababa, which regards Aweys as a terrorist, has also threatened to crush the Islamists if they try to expand into Ethiopia or attack Yusufs government.
Scores of militiamen have defected from the government to the Islamists in recent days. Speaking in Mogadishu on Tuesday, Islamist security chief Sheikh Mukhtar Robow said more than 200 government fighters had crossed over in the last two months. Locals said scores of government militiamen were picked up on Tuesday by Islamist forces from Buur Hakabaa town on the road between Mogadishu and Baidoa. I decided with my colleagues to leave Baidoa because of the extraordinary difficulties we suffered there, one defector, Abdi Yariis Hassan, told Reuters by telephone, referring to poor living conditions at the camps where they had been posted.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/16/2006 09:36 ||
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So the only change I can see is the Somali pirates are now Islamic somali pirates. Arrrr(Alla be praised)!
Speak Like a Pirate Day just won't be the same.
Posted by: john ||
08/16/2006 12:44 Comments ||
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(KUNA) -- Security forces in Bangladesh Tuesday foiled an attempt by suspected Islamist gunmen to kill former prime minister Sheikha Hasina, who was expected to attend a ceremony to mark the 31st anniversary of the assassination of Bangladesh's founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman today. Four people were arrested early Tuesday by police while they were allegedly planting two powerful explosives at a building of the Bangabandhu Museum in the capital, Dhaka, dedicated to the memory of founding father of Bangladesh and first Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, news agency Indo-Asian News Service reported. Police claimed the devices were timed to explode during a ceremony.
Sheikha Hasina and her sister Sheikha Rehana were expected to attend the ceremony along with other family members at the Museum. In 2004, Hasina escaped an apparent assassination attempt when several grenades exploded while she was speaking at a rally of her party Awami League in Dhaka. At least 23 party leaders and workers were killed and 150 injured in the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2006 00:00 ||
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DHAKA - A Bangladesh court on Tuesday sentenced three militants to death, including the military chief of a banned Islamic group blamed for a deadly series of nationwide blasts. A judge at Lakshmipur in southern Bangladesh handed down the sentences on Ataur Rahman Sunny, a member of Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladeshs (JMB) top decision-making committee, and two other group members, court inspector Nepal Chandra Roy told AFP.
In the good old days we would have read about these guys in the Crossfire Gazette.
Five others, including an absconding militant, were sentenced to life imprisonment, he said. Blasts at the district court premises there in August and October last year killed one person and injured 11.
Sunny, 35, is the younger brother of JMB chief Shaikh Abdur Rahman, who was sentenced to death in May for the murder of two judges.
All in the family.
The authorities say JMB carried out the attacks as part of a conspiracy to replace the Muslim-majority countrys secular legal system with Islamic law. The group targeted the police, judiciary and government buildings. Rahman and his second in command, who has also received the death penalty, are awaiting trial in multiple other cases.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/16/2006 00:00 ||
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The brother of one of the 23 suspects held on suspicion of plotting to blow up passenger jets revealed last night that he had attended camps run by an Islamic group linked by western intelligence to terrorism. Amjad Sarwar, whose brother Assad, 26, was seized from his home in High Wycombe last week, revealed that he had attended weekend study groups run by the Tablighi Jamaat sect. The Guardian has reported that at least two of the suspects arrested in Walthamstow last week also attended the study camps. Mr Sarwar said his brother was not a terrorist and had nothing to do with the alleged plot.
"Nope, nothing to do with them. Well, hardly anything"
Tablighi Jamaat, whose headquarters in Britain is in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, denies any links to terrorism, but US intelligence officers believe the organisation is a recruiting ground for al-Qaida.
Mr Sarwar spoke as anti-terrorist officers prepared today to ask a judge for more time to question the 23 suspects after working intensively to gather exhibits from the suspects' homes, internet cafes and woodland. Counter-terrorism officers, who made another arrest in Thames Valley yesterday, are understood to be confident about their case against the suspects. Officers have searched 46 properties since the raids last Thursday, including homes and businesses linked to those arrested in east London, High Wycombe and Birmingham. Searches are continuing in 22 places, including woods in High Wycombe, and suspects' homes.
Counter-terrorist officials made clear yesterday that they had gathered a considerable amount of detailed evidence during the many months of their investigation, codenamed Operation Overt. Evidence which could be used in court includes the results of bugging and video surveillance by MI5 and anti-terrorist police. This would be in addition to any physical evidence the police may gather, such as weapons or potentially incriminating explosives or chemicals. It is understood the police will apply today for extensions on all of the suspects, including a mother being held with her child.
Officials were optimistic last night that a significant number of those arrested would be charged. They are fully aware of the need to get convictions in a climate of growing public scepticism about what the government says is the nature and scale of the threat. Senior figures have said the operation was no "Forest Gate", referring to the raid in east London last June in which a man was shot before he and his brother were released without charge.
Speaking to Channel 4 news last night, Mr Sarwar described how his brother had become increasingly religious and abandoned his university degree. But he said he was not a terrorist. "They've got it all wrong. He is an innocent guy." His brother attended Tablighi Jamaat weekend study groups as part of his increasingly devout outlook. "He was at Tablighi Jamaat, which is a sect in Islam which encourages the youth to grow beards, pray five times a day; and how the prophet lived on a daily basis. He thought religion is more important than study because you can find work easily in this country".
Asked why he thought his brother had been arrested he said: "He attended a mosque which had small talks on Islamic stuff and they must've got mixed up and arrested him for that reason." His brother could have been in "the wrong place at the wrong time", he said.
The traditional "He's a good religious boy" defense
Posted by: Steve ||
08/16/2006 13:40 ||
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His brother could have been in "the wrong place at the wrong time", he said.
You mean like all those folks in the World Trade Center on 9/11?
#2
He isn't a terrorist he is religious. This might be true from his brothers perspective because the religion and terrorism are the same thing. If you follow the religion you accept jihad. Jihad and terrorism are the same thing. So in the warped religion of Islam there are no terrorists just religious people. Q.E.D.
Police investigating the alleged UK airport terror plot have arrested a further person in the Thames Valley area. The further arrest comes as detectives continue to question 23 other suspects. Police have until Wednesday before they have to apply for a warrant for further detention.
Scotland Yard said police had now carried out a total of 46 searches at residential and business premises. They were still searching 22 of these premises. A total of 20 vehicles have also been searched, although Scotland Yard refused to discuss what officers had recovered. Specialist officers are also combing woodland in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, close to the scene of one of last Thursday's raids.
The search for evidence has led Thames Valley Police to Slough, some 18 miles from the focus of operations in High Wycombe. Chief Superintendent Brian Langston, who heads Berkshire East's Basic Command Unit, said officers had carried out search warrants in two internet cafes in the town. He said extra officers had now been drafted in to guard against any "misguided backlash" in the town.
No, can't have any backlash, someone might be offended.
The international focus of the operation is also continuing, with Pakistan saying it may extradite a British national arrested over the alleged plot. But a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Britain had not made a request for the extradition of Rashid Rauf.
"You guys want him?"
"Nah, just his answers to these questions. Box up his head and send that to us afterwards."
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/16/2006 00:00 ||
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Each and every British mosque that any of these psychos attended should be closed and razed to the ground as an object lesson. Flush (so to speak) out any occupants with their hands empty and bulldoze the place on the spot. As to the ones in Pakistan, no need to close them first ...
A TERMINAL at the Port of Seattle has been evacuated and a bomb squad is investigating a ship container that alarmed bomb-sniffing dogs.
Authorities set up a 2,000-foot (610 metre) perimeter around Terminal 18, just south of downtown Seattle, port spokesman David Schaefer said. The US Coast Guard also established a 300-yard (274.3 metre) perimeter in the water.
"There is a bomb disposal unit looking further into the container to try and figure what exactly is in the contents," said Schaefer, noting that there is no radiation from the cargo container.
The container first raised suspicion when a screening using gamma ray technology about the contents' density did not match the items listed on the ships' manifest.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Tara Molle said the ship's inventory list indicated the container held oily rags.
Bomb-sniffing dogs detected the possible presence of explosives. All nonessential port personnel have been evacuated, Schaefer said.
The Coast Guard did not know where the ship originated.
The 196-acre Terminal 18 is the Port of Seattle's largest container terminal and one of the largest in North America.
SRINAGAR, India - Indian soldiers shot dead five suspected militants as they tried to cross into Indian Kashmir from Pakistan on Wednesday, an army spokesman said. The incursion attempt took place in the district of Kupwara, northwest of Srinagar, Kashmirs summer capital, a day after Pakistan said Indian troops had fired into their part of Kashmir, wounding two youths. Islamabad said the incident was the first violation of a ceasefire that has held since 2003. New Delhi denied Indian forces had opened fire.
A heavily armed group was challenged by soldiers near LoC (Line of Control) resulting in a fierce encounter, Hemant Joneja, an army spokesman, told Reuters. Five infiltrators were killed and the operation still continues.
The 740-km (460-mile) Line of Control or ceasefire line divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan, which claim the region in full and have fought two wars over it. Indian officials say the infiltration of rebels into Indian Kashmir from the Pakistani side had fallen during the winter but has gained momentum since the onset of summer when the snow blocking Himalayan passes melts, allowing rebels easier access.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/16/2006 09:33 ||
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Islamabad, 16 August (AKI/DAWN) - Al-Qaedas number three was the mastermind behind the plot to blow up transatlantic flights, an intelligence source in the Pakistani capital has said. "It is not Osama bin Laden and its not Ayman Al-Zawahiri, but someone close to the rank of Abu Faraj Al-Libbi," the source told Pakistani daily Dawn. It is an Afghanistan-based Al Qaeda connection, the source said requesting he not be named and adding that al-Qaedas link to the London airline bombing plot was established.
If, of course, you believe al-Qaeda HQ is located in Afghanistan and not a ISI guesthouse.
Abu Faraj Al-Libbi, a third-tier Al Qaeda operative was believed involved in an attempt to assassinate President Gen Pervez Musharraf and was arrested in Mardan in May 2005. Seventeen people had died in the failed attack in Rawalpindi in December 2005. The intelligence source said the plot to blow up US-bound planes was similar in pattern to the one hatched to kill President Musharraf. There was a mastermind, there was a planner and there were the executioners.
That's pretty much the pattern in all their bombings
Stressing the importance of the arrest in Pakistan of Rashid Rauf, the source said "without arresting Rashid Rauf, it would not have been possible to foil the plot. Reports indicated that Rashid Rauf was arrested from Bahawalpur in Punjab, 48 hours before the British crackdown and arrests of main plotters. He acknowledged that there had been some hype about the bombing plots but said the plotters were in the planning stage and were procuring chemicals and equipment. They were not in the execution stage, he added.
Brits say they were closer, but never mind
The source said that Kashmir-born Rauf, who had dual nationality, had gone to Britain in 1981 when he was less than one year old. He returned to Pakistan in 2002 and had since been living here. Rashid Rauf, he claimed, had been involved in the murder of his uncle in Britain and had been wanted by the British police. He had been living in Pakistan, the source clarified, but declined to say when and where he had been arrested.
The source said that Pakistan was withholding the information due to British legal sensitivities and a team of their legal experts was in Pakistan to discuss the case. He said that Pakistans Interior Ministry was trying to find whether the UK had placed any request for his extradition for his involvement in the murder of his uncle.
Acknowledging reports of disagreement between the United States and Britain over the timing of the arrest, the source said that Pakistan had gone along with Washingtons assertion that the plot should be disrupted before it entered the execution stage. The British wanted the plotters to go through the dry-run owing to their own legal requirements; the Americans thought it would be best to disrupt the plot before it could enter the execution stage. Our argument was disruption, the source said.
He said that Pakistani security agencies had arrested six to seven suspects, including Rashid Rauf, and all of them were Pakistani nationals. This is an ongoing operation and there could be more arrests, he said. Certainly, there will be more arrests as the investigation proceeds, he said. The source agreed that some of the London plotters might have come to Pakistan but said that Islamabad was awaiting information, including antecedents and passport details of the plotters to ascertain facts. Some of them would have definitely come to Pakistan.
He ruled out any possible involvement of wanted Lashkar-i-Jhangvi militant, Matiur Rehman, in the transatlantic bombing plot. The 32-year-old head of Lashkar-i-Jhangvi incidentally hails from Bahawalpur. Accused of involvement in the plot to assassinate President Musharraf and the Sheraton Hotel bombing in Karachi, Matiur Rehman is on top of the list of the most-wanted list. He also denied involvement of any charity organisation, including Jamaat-ud Dawa in financing the bombing plot. The source told Dawn that Pakistan was investigating the source of funding for the airline bombing plot.
Dawn has learnt that a team of Britains National Terrorist Finance Investigation Unit had visited Lahore in April to investigate financial transactions between UK-based militants and their Pakistani contacts. He also denied that any intercept had triggered the arrests in Pakistan or in the UK. He said that the arrests in Britain were triggered by the arrest in Pakistan of Rashid Rauf.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/16/2006 08:30 ||
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"...Pakistan was withholding the information due to British legal sensitivities.."
Like for example the type of torture used to extract info.
KHYBER AGENCY: At least six people were killed and one injured in a clash between two religious groups in the Khyber Agency. Death toll from the clashes has reached nine.
...heavily armed men of both groups exchanged fire, leaving four dead from Lashkar Islami and injuring two members of the Ansarul Islam who died in the hospital...
According to the government, the latest clash occurred in Qambarabad, Bara, when supporters of two groups Lashkar Islami and Ansarul Islam faced each other. Eyewitnesses said heavily armed men of both groups exchanged fire, leaving four dead from Lashkar Islami and injuring two members of the Ansarul Islam who died in the hospital. A passer-by was also wounded in the firing. Fear has spread among the people of Bara after the latest clashes. Three people had died while three others were injured two days ago in Teerah valley.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2006 00:00 ||
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Khyber Agency theological discussion leaves 9 dead
KARACHI: Pakistani police arrested a suspected Islamic militant accused of training religious students to become suicide bombers, said a police official on Tuesday. Senior police official Chaudhry Aamir Hameed said the suspected man, Mohammad Ashraf Qureshi, was arrested with two other men in a raid in Karachi. "He has been targeting young boys in madrasas, brain washing them and turning them into suicide bombers," said Hameed, adding that Qureshi was also involved in the training of the suicide bombers who killed prominent Shia cleric Allama Hassan Turabi in Karachi last month.
Police identified the suicide bomber who killed Turabi as 16-year-old Abdul Karim. Qureshi was also known to have visited Afghanistan, which has been hit by a wave of suicide bombings in recent months, although it was not known if he organised attacks there, the police official said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2006 00:00 ||
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"He has been targeting young boys in madrasas, brain washing them and turning them into suicide bombers,"
How derelict of the various headmasters that they didn't notice and put a stop to such behaviour.
Pakistani forces arrested 29 Taliban suspects on Tuesday, including a local commander, in a raid on a private hospital in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. Sources told Daily Times that law enforcement agencies raided Al Khair Hospital on Quetta's Zargoon Road.
The suspected Taliban fighters were being treated for wounds sustained in fighting in Afghanistan's Kandahar province in recent weeks...
"Ten of the Talibans were under treatment at the hospital, while the reaming Talibans were in the hospital to meet them," said sources, adding that the hospital was raided when all of the Talibans were in the hospital.
Sources however did not give the arrested commander's name. All the arrested men have been shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation. Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao confirmed security agents had arrested 29 suspected insurgents who were brought to the hospital in recent days. The suspected Taliban fighters were being treated for wounds sustained in fighting in Afghanistan's Kandahar province in recent weeks, said a hospital official.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2006 00:00 ||
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This shows that our boys need to bigger bullets.
#4
Quetta is suspected of being where Bin Laden is holding up, along with about half the "leadership" of the Taliban. I'm very surprised Pakistan actually raided this hospital and arrested terrorists. There must be a falling-out between someone in the local police department and the ISI.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/16/2006 14:48 Comments ||
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New meaning to Nurse Ratchet
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/16/2006 21:59 Comments ||
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Mosul, 16 August (AKI) - Iraqi police on Wednesday killed five 'terrorists' and arrested another six following a gunfight in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, security sources said. "For almost one hour police units clashed with terrorist gangs in the districts of al-Yarmuk and al-Risala, in western Mosul," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonimity.
Monday's clash comes a day after a suicide bomber detonated a truck rigged with explosives outside the offices of a top Kurdish political party in Mosul, killing nine people and wounding 36. Five Kurdish peshmerga militiamen were among the dead, police said. The blast outside the office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, led by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, also wounded 24 militiamen. The rest of the victims were civilians.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/16/2006 08:53 ||
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Were US troops set up to kill Italian Journalist?
(KUNA) -- Nine people were killed and 36 injured so far Tuesday in a booby-trapped car explosion near headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), a PUK official said. Moheeddin Mazuri, PUK's public relations and media official, told reporters four Peshmerga troops were killed and five civilians including three children. He added that the wounded, who were rushed to hospitals in Irbil, included 24 Peshmergas and 12 civilians. The bomb blast set 18 cars afire and damaged nearby buildings.
A booby-trapped truck drove through a security check point before PUK headquarters thus triggering the guards to open fire at the driver killing him detonating the bomb.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2006 00:00 ||
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ISRAEL said last night its troops might remain in Lebanon well past the two-week UN deadline set for their withdrawal, as Israeli fears mounted that it had failed in its bid to crush Hezbollah.
As the tenuous truce continued to hold, officials in Jerusalem said Hezbollah had emerged emboldened from the 33-day war, with support for the guerilla group surging across the Arab world.
In Lebanon, tens of thousands of family cars are heading home to the Shia-dominated south emblazoned with Hezbollah flags and posters of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, boasting in English, "The Divine Victory".
Israeli fears have heightened over the delay in mobilising an international force for southern Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army into what used to be a no-go zone.
The UN has indicated it will be ready to send only an advance guard of 3000 soldiers, and Lebanese troops are yet to be given their orders to move south.
And even if the Lebanese troops are ready to roll, the destruction of the country's bridges by Israeli bombers will make a widespread land deployment to the south impossible for at least a fortnight.
Up to 500,000 people are on the move in southern Lebanon, turning the 80km from Beirut to the Israeli border into the world's largest carpark.
Bottlenecks tens of kilometres long occurred at bombed-out bridges and arterial roads, where soldiers were helping each car to negotiate the rubble. Hezbollah men nearby were handing out celebratory lollies and leaflets.
Both Israel and Hezbollah have so far overlooked the fact that several so-called deal-breaking conditions are yet to take effect - a position that appears to strengthen the likelihood of the ceasefire holding.
Hezbollah had previously said it would attack Israeli troops while they continued to occupy south Lebanon, while Israel had said it would attack the Hezbollah forces if they did not disarm and remained in the area south of the Litani River.
Hezbollah's two key backers, Iran and Syria, have indicated they will begin resupplying the group's depleted stocks of missiles as soon as Lebanon's borders are reopened.
Heightening Israeli concern is the Lebanese Government's insistence this week that its army would never be drawn into combat with Hezbollah - a fight they would almost certainly lose.
The 60,000-strong Lebanese army has not taken on Hezbollah's 5000 highly trained guerilla fighters at any time during the past 18 years, and is even more reluctant to do so now they are seen by the Arabs as triumphant warriors of resistance.
UNIFIL, the force considered more likely to impose UN Security Council resolution 1701, was yesterday still compiling the size and make-up of its deployment.
Hezbollah has said it does not feel obliged to hold fire by the UN resolution, but last night the group was considered unlikely to launch large-scale attacks against the occupying Israeli forces, because this would jeopardise the safety of the tens of thousands of residents and supporters who are streaming back to their homes in south Lebanon.
Several small-scale skirmishes have erupted since the artillery guns fell silent at 8am on Monday, but none that threatened a return to all-out war.
In a letter published by The Washington Post, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the UN peace plan for Lebanon would be difficult to implement, but was a "good first step" to a lasting peace in the Middle East.
In her letter, Dr Rice said the international community was helping the Lebanese Government to "create the conditions of lasting peace, full independence, complete sovereignty, effective democracy and a weakened Hezbollah with fewer opportunities to rearm and regroup".
#1
You know, the wife had CBS Evening News on - I begrudgingly watched it - and on it they declared Hizbullah the winner and proceeded to devote 3 minutes or so to pure Hizbullah "social services" propaganda. Made me want to retch...I hadn't seen the network news for weeks, but the pure shilling and taking Hizbullah's words at face value makes me despair for our future.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Palestinian security forces hunted for two abducted Fox News journalists Tuesday, and the Palestinian president and prime minister intervened in an attempt to gain their release. President Mahmoud Abbas and Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister of the Hamas-led government, scheduled meetings with the news organization's Jerusalem bureau chief, Eli Fastman, and its chief correspondent in Israel, Jennifer Griffin.
"We'll try to help, but you have to remember you're an infidel."
The prime minister assured the Fox News representatives that Palestinian security forces would use all their power to "put an end to it soon," said government spokesman Ghazi Hamad said, without elaborating. Investigators said the president's office was closely following the probe into the abduction.
American reporter Steve Centanni, 60, and New Zealand cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36, were seized by masked gunmen Monday near the headquarters of the Palestinian security services.
No one has claimed responsibility for kidnapping, and police said no demands have been made. Major militant groups denied any connection to the abduction.
I'm beginning to wonder whether this is a kidnapping or a murder.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/16/2006 00:00 ||
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I got an idea. Bomb Gaza into rubble, then napalm the ruins. Then, nuke the site from orbit, just to be sure.
#3
The prime minister assured the Fox News representatives that Palestinian security forces would use all their power to "put an end to it soon,"
Unfortunately, by "it" he meant Israel.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/16/2006 6:06 Comments ||
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#4
The prime minister assured the Fox News representatives that Palestinian security forces would use all their power to "put an end to it soon
Unfortunately, he added, we dont have any real power... we are just poor palestinian puppets run by the extremist branch of Hamas and by Haled Mashaal (remote controlling us from his bunker in Damaskus) and we are eager to do our masters wish.
Allan' who Ackbar ?
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
08/16/2006 11:21 Comments ||
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Cintani is 60??? Jeebus, he doesn't look his age. On a serious note, this should be a VERY bad move on the Paleos part as it relates to the U.S. We should be hunting them down ourselves. Of course, the MSM would be whining, "Lookie, the President is trying to rescue a Fox News reporter and camerman. Bet they wouldn't do that for us CNN-folk!"
Posted by: BA ||
08/16/2006 11:24 Comments ||
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Kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who is being held in the Gaza Strip, will be released only if Israel agrees to free thousands of Palestinian prisoners, a senior Hamas official announced on Tuesday. The announcement came as Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas held a closed meeting in Gaza City with PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and urged him to release Shalit immediately. The two also discussed the possibility of establishing a national unity government.
To all those who are exerting pressure on us, we say: Enough! No Palestinian will ever agree to the release of the Israeli soldier without getting anything in return.
Abbas, who arrived in the Gaza Strip on Monday, called on Hamas to release Shalit in return for promises that Israel would free Palestinian prisoners in the future. Abbas suggested that the soldier be handed over to the Egypt, which has been acting as a mediator ever since Shalit was kidnapped by Hamas last June. Egyptian mediators have been trying to persuade Hamas to soften its position, but to no avail. "Israel must pay a heavy price for its soldier," said Khalil al-Hayeh, head of Hamas's parliamentary list. "We have rejected demands to release the soldier in return for promises that Israel would release our prisoners sometime in the future."
Hayeh said Hamas was "disturbed" by pressure on the kidnappers to release Shalit unconditionally: "To all those who are exerting pressure on us, we say: Enough!" No Palestinian will ever agree to the release of the Israeli soldier without getting anything in return. They know what our conditions are and I don't think that they are hard to fulfill."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Looks like all Hamass "bigwigs" are prepared to remain in their caves indefinitely.
#2
The Paleo disconnect boggles the mind. Israeli restraint is seen as weakness. Israel should shut all the gaza and west bank border crossings and not treat any paleos in their hospitals. Every good deed that the Israelis do is punished. I would also shut down the power in stages, and start limiting water. There is no PA, so there is no Oslo. Just start lowering the pressure gradually and phase all contact with the paleos. Let the Egyptians take care of these people. Pfeh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul in Kotzebue, Alaska ||
08/16/2006 3:34 Comments ||
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#3
Gush was not conquered by "Palestinian warriors". It was given to give you a port and to know what beach front property is. It was also given to see how little you know.
I asked for Shalit back last MONTH.
Bear the consequence. Palestine is a terrorist organization? You figure it out.
No hostages have been released thus far?
Looks like Syria and Iran are in the "cross hairs."
They see Olmert's weakness. It's time to start moving that security barrier toward the Mediterranean Sea, meter by meter. Was it Zenster or Anonymoose that originally suggested that? I want to properly credit the idea.
#6
Message to the Israeli leadership. This is where half-measures gets a Nation. You're the leaders and your people want you to lead them. It's time to lead or get out of the way.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
08/16/2006 10:25 Comments ||
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#7
No doubt - Olmert has lost all street cred in the ME, as witnessed yesterday by Assad's lip flapping and the hot wind coming out of Tehran. Now we have Leb Def Min saying no need to disarm the Hezbillies and the Paleos making outrageous demands. Olmert thought he could win on the cheap but now may be facing an even more expensive, expanded 2 front campaign.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/16/2006 10:53 Comments ||
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#8
Wow! The Paleos up-stage the Egyptians and manage to belittle their peeps too. Yesterday, it was Egypt saying 600 prisoners for 1 soldier. Now, it's the Paleos saying "No, no, we want 2,000 prisoners for 1 soldier, and a pony too."
I can't believe the "Paleo Street" isn't protesting and seething. I know I would if my own gov't now says I'm only worth 1/2000th of a Jooooooo.
Posted by: BA ||
08/16/2006 11:16 Comments ||
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#9
BA. That's a new way to look at the prisoner exchange. LOL!
Posted by: Mike N. ||
08/16/2006 11:59 Comments ||
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#10
They know what our conditions are and I don't think that they are hard to fulfill."
Funny how extortionists always seem to take that point of view.
#11
Similar to the what is known in the U.S. as "The Welfare Mentality". The thought process seems to be similar anyway. "This is easy for you so I expect you to do this for me." Also generally goes hand in hand with spending money on trinkets and other unnecessary items while neglecting real neccessities.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
08/16/2006 13:05 Comments ||
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#13
We need to give Israel 50 or so MOABs and a dozen C-130s to deliver them, and say "clear Gaza". I'm sure they can do it. Afterwards, bulldoze it flat and zone it for military maneuvers.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/16/2006 14:56 Comments ||
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#14
Israel needs to begin killing anyone idiotic enough to step forward with extortionate demands of this sort.
"Okay, who else wants to negotiate?" [/Korbin Dallas]
I agree, wxjames. Shut off the electricity and water. Then wait and see just how quickly Shalit is handed over. Personally (although I hope I'm wrong), I still doubt that Shalit is even alive.
How is it that the rest of the world manages to suppress any sense of outrage at this sort of blatant extortion? All UN members currently funding the Palestinians should each reduce their contributions by 10% whenever such nonsense is broached with a straight face. How many of them would submit to such ridiculous blackmailing? How is it that Israel is supposed to?
Israel should cluster up 1,000 Palestinian prisoners at an exchange point, take possession of Shalit and then blow all 1,000 of the terrorists and their handlers straight to hell.
COLOMBO - Sri Lankan war planes bombed Tamil Tiger positions Wednesday as troops hunted rebel infiltrators in northern Jaffna peninsula after resisting a guerrilla advance, officials said. Three daylight attacks by Israeli-built Kfir jets hit Tiger targets inside the rebel-held Wanni region, just south of the Jaffna peninsula, military officials said, adding they had no immediate details of casualties. Several targets were taken by the air force, but we dont have details yet, a military official here said.
Troops and police across the country were on alert and schools nationwide remained shut as the government feared rebel reprisals for a deadly air raid which killed dozens of children on Monday.
In Jaffna, soldiers in full battle gear carried out searches for rebel infiltrators along a front line within the peninsula where heavy fighting broke out Friday, officials said. The defence ministry said troops were consolidating control in the district amid sporadic long-range firing and none of the close-quarter fighting seen in previous days. Military spokesman Athula Jayawardena said the situation in Jaffna had returned to normal after fighting died down Tuesday, but searches continued. The military said it killed at least 24 rebels Tuesday on the eastern edge of the peninsula.
There was no immediate reaction from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to military claims that troops beat back a guerrilla offensive Tuesday against the town of Jaffna, 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of the capital.
Jayawardena said the main aim of the LTTE was to retake Jaffna, part of ade facto separate state they ran from 1990 to 1995 until troops drove them out.
In the latest fighting, the military lost at least 150 soldiers killed and over 300 wounded and said it killed over 250 guerrillas and hurt more than 300. The guerrillas said their losses in the first two days totalled only 22 dead.
Tamil towns in the islands north and east observed a strike Wednesday to protest against a bombing raid which the Tigers said killed 61 children in rebel-held territory Monday.
Similar strikes gripped the islands Muslim towns along the east of the island to protest alleged Tamil Tiger attacks against Muslims who form the second largest minority in the country after the Tamils. Shops and offices in Muslim towns closed and streets were deserted, residents said.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/16/2006 09:26 ||
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#1
All of which begs the core question: was the government attack DISPROPORTIONATE?
Pakistans ambassador to Sri Lanka Bashir Wali Muhammad narrowly escaped a powerful Claymore mine attack in the capital on Monday but seven others were killed, said diplomats and police. The ambassador was driving through the area when the blast occurred, police said, adding that a military vehicle escorting him was hit by the explosion. The ambassador is safe. He is unhurt, Pakistan High Commission spokeswoman Suriya Jamal said.
Four Sri Lankan army commandos guarding the diplomat were killed instantly as their white Land Rover Defender took the full force of the blast. Three bystanders also died, police and hospital officials said. Defence officials, asking not to be named, said the ambassador appeared to have been the target of the attack because there was no other VIP in the area at the time.
A visibly shaken Wali Muhammad appeared on Sri Lankan national television. We have always supported Sri Lankas territorial integrity and sovereignty and will continue to do so, the ambassador said. In Islamabad, the Pakistan government strongly condemned the attack. We strongly condemn it. We also regret the loss of precious lives, Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz telephoned Wali Muhammad and enquired about his well-being.
Sri Lankan Media Minister Anura Yapa blamed the attack on the LTTE. India also condemned the attack. A government spokesman said that the assassination attempt was triggered by plans for Islamabad to ship new arms to Sri Lanka to battle Tamil rebels. Tigers have targeted Wali because of the increased defence cooperation between the two countries, Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2006 00:00 ||
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ADVANCED weapons supplied by Syria and Iran have been uncovered by Israeli forces in abandoned Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, helping account for how the guerilla force defied the might of the Israeli armed forces in the month-long war.
London's Daily Telegraph reported yesterday the weapons were found outside the town of Ghandouriyeh, east of Tyre, after 24 Israeli soldiers were killed pushing Hezbollah fighters from the strategic hilltop town in one of the fiercest confrontations of the war.
Outside one of the town's two mosques a van was found filled with green casings about 6ft long.
The serial numbers identified them as AT-5 Spandrel anti-tank missiles, the report said. The wire-guided weapon was developed in Russia but Iran began making a copy in 2000.
In the east of the village, the paper found evidence of Syrian-supplied hardware. In a garden lay eight Kornet anti-tank rockets, described by Brig Mickey Edelstein, the commander of the Nahal troops who took Ghandouriyeh, as "some of the best in the world".
Written underneath a contract number on each casing were the words: "Customer: Ministry of Defence of Syria. Supplier: KBP, Tula, Russia," the paper said.
Brigadier Edelstein told the Telegraph: "If they tell you that Syria knew nothing about this, just look. This is the evidence. Proof, not just talk."
Sophisticated anti-tank weapons like those found by the Israeli troops accounted for the bulk of Israeli military casualties in Lebanon.
The weapons were not just used against Israel's heavily armored Merkava tanks, disabling dozens, but against buildings in which Israeli troops had taken up positions, often bringing the structure down on them.
The Kornet is laser-guided and can hit a target 5km away. Its double warhead is capable of penetrating the reactive armour on most of Israel's advanced tanks.
Israeli officers told the paper that Hezbollah fighters had received thorough training in Iran in use of the weapons and had wielded them efficiently.
The discovery of the origin of the weapons proved to the Israelis that their enemy was not a ragged and lightly armed militia but a semi-professional army equipped by Syria and Iran to take on Israel, the report said.
The overall ceasefire between Israel and the Shia militia continued to hold yesterday despite four separate shooting incidents in south Lebanon in which seven Hezbollah fighters were killed and five Israeli soldiers wounded. Several mortar rounds were fired by Hezbollah without causing injuries.
With the cessation of Hezbollah rocketing, thousands of Israelis who had taken shelter in the center of the country returned to their homes in northern Israel yesterday. In the town of Kiryat Shmona, the hardest hit Israeli community, 2000 families found their apartments damaged or destroyed.
The northward flow of Israelis to the border area matched the southward flow of Lebanese to their villages, likewise severely damaged, as Israeli artillery also ceased firing.
A senior Israeli foreign ministry official, reacting to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's declaration that he wound not disarm Hezbollah, even in south Lebanon, said that Nasrallah was obliged to honour the decision of the Security Council and the commitment of the Lebanese Government.
"We will not tolerate the return of Hezbollah to the area," the official told Israel Radio, "and if it refuses to disarm we will have to take care of it."
Israeli officials said that the tens of thousands of reservists mobilised for the campaign will begin to be demobilised this week, with 80 per cent out of uniform within a week.
(IsraelNN.com) The Lebanese defense ministers told an Arabic newspaper Wednesday that there is no need to disarm Hizbullah terrorists because "the only weapons that there will be in southern Lebanon at those of the Lebanese army."
Alias Al Mar told the newspaper Al Aharam that Hizbullah is cooperating with the Lebanese army, but he not disclose details.
Lebanese media also are telling citizens that the IDF will pull all of its troops out this week despite Israel's insistence that soldiers will remain in southern Lebanon until an international force is deployed, regardless of how long it takes.
#3
That is because the Lebanese Army is being absorbed by the Hezbollah. When the Maverick missile with his name on it comes through the window, there won't be time for the Lebanese defense minister to reconsider his intemperate remarks.
#4
Israel has the high ground. Right now, they have played the "good guys" by halting their advance. This calls the bluff of those nations who hypocritically offered to send in troops, but now are backtracking. When things break down, Israel can now just sneer at the indian givers.
Hezbollah, stupidly, and being goaded by Iran, is flooding back into the South to take back its old positions--not realizing that they are waltzing into an Israeli encirclement. Up North, they would be far harder to get to. So the minute things break down, they are boned.
#5
Hezbs also told Lebanese army not to touch any of their bunkers or weapons stotage caches. I'm sure, being the puppets they are, they will follow instructions. Will anything happen when other troops arrive ? Or will shooting start again before that? This ceasefire is not altogether bad, if IDF/Americans get realistic. They now know tactics and fortifications. They need a new attitude. Next go around, use massive shelling and naplam to destroy everything possible prior to troop committment. Once troops arrive, complete the destruction totally such that reoccupation is not possible. Blow all the tunnel networks so that they cannot be reused. In sum, quit playing around. Go for maximum destruction when they start the next round. We know they will. Far too stupid to resist.
#6
I said here yesterday that signing an agreement with muslims is like writing on water.
The lebanese and the Hizbies are a pack of liers and the degradation of the agreement is continueing at a startling rate.
I say, lets go in there (all Israelites-Huh, SPOD) and burn Lebanon and the hisbies off the face of the earth.
We have all the required equipment and a willing army. Our only problem is the impotent Olmert and his stupid mock socialist demagogue Minister of Defence Peretz.
The long term existance of the state of Israel will be determined by the results of this war.
It's time for the Israelites to rise and elect a new capable government, a government that really understands the mentality of the lying arabs.
with Arabs you cannot talk, you have to shoot first.
All this coming from an ex-labor voter Israelite who until three years ago thought you could negotiate with Arabs.
now I say - kill them all ! destroy their houses and their infrastructure, make them run like they never did before and instill the fear of the sons of Israel in their hearts.
We can do it ! We must do it, to ensure the survival of our grandchildren !
No more talking with Arabs.
And to Hell with Koffee and the muslim ass-licking Eunuchs of the UN.
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
08/16/2006 11:01 Comments ||
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#7
There is no reason for you to be a country, either. Consider THAT.
Hahahahahaha hehehehehe hahahaha the UN
Hahahahaha heh hehehehehe
Hey everybody it's the new Woodstock. The Un is throwing a campin party. Bring food and water, and please don't crap too near the stage. Oh, yeah, no weapons except Islamonazi scumbag Hezbollah goat boinkers. Limited parking. No Joooos !
#11
And to Hell with Koffee and the muslim ass-licking Eunuchs of the UN.
You're entirely too kind. The only people who have lived up to their end of things are the Israelis. If Hezb'Allah were gone tomorrow, the Israelis would be too. Everybody else is backpedaling. If they don't figure out how to come through, I'll bet the UN is either finished or sidelined.
#12
"the only weapons that there will be in southern Lebanon at those of the Lebanese army."
It only remains to be noted how Hezbollah and the Lebanese army are now indistinguishable from each other. Fortunately, this only makes for a more target-rich environment. Syria's next.
#14
The Iranians through the Hezbos got exactly what they wanted. They were never interested in starting a WAR. They were testing--testing Israel, testing the US govt and resolve of the American people, testing the Lebanese, testing world media, and testing their particular guerilla strategies. Before they started this, they knew Israel would launch precision strikes and that they could then rebuild after--with the benefit of engendering even more support among the Lebanese, as well as then having access to real estate within the city that they could build better-fortified bunkers and communications systems in (under the apartments and businesses they will rebuild). And the entire effort would cost them next to nothing.
This is only round one. Now they will construct what they need militarily, "bless" the Lebanese people in the south materially, so that they can do whatever they want, with protection, analyze and improve their media relations, and strike at Israel with better and more powerful weapons in the future.
#1
Using expensive anti-tank weaponry (i.e. wire-guided missiles, not RPG's) against tanks isn't particularly creative. Neither is using it against buildings - something that GI's did in WWII. Hezbollah's use of these missiles is indicative not of their creativity, but of the deep pockets backing them - primarily Iran, but secondarily Syria. This isn't just a few million a year - Iran is supposedly spending hundreds of millions. Note that Uncle Sam spent a billion a year in Afghanistan to wear down the Soviet presence. The Iranians are showing that despite being far poorer than Uncle Sam, they are willing to spend what it takes to maintain a well-equipped proxy army in the Levant.
#2
Using expensive anti-tank weaponry (i.e. wire-guided missiles, not RPG's) against tanks isn't particularly creative. Neither is using it against buildings - something that GI's did in WWII. Hezbollah's use of these missiles is indicative not of their creativity, but of the deep pockets backing them - primarily Iran, but secondarily Syria. This isn't just a few million a year - Iran is supposedly spending hundreds of millions. Note that Uncle Sam spent a billion a year in Afghanistan to wear down the Soviet presence. The Iranians are showing that despite being far poorer than Uncle Sam, they are willing to spend what it takes to maintain a well-equipped proxy army in the Levant.
#6
It is not creative, the Marines were using Bazookas against Japanese pillboxes in WWII; as was the Army against German machine gun nests. Creative would be figuring out a software mod for the AT missiles that would make them useful against low-flying aircraft, or using them against an Israeli coastal attack ship.
(IsraelNN.com) Shi'ite Muslims in southern Lebanon are furious at Arab rulers for not having supported the Hizbullah terrorist war against Israel. However, they lauded Syria and Iran. "King Abdullah? His oil is more precious to him than the Lebanese," Lebanese citizen Ibrahim Awadeh told Reuters News Agency.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, who are allies to the United States and whose population is mostly made of the rival Sunni Muslims, initially condemned Hizbullah's attacks on Israel and the kidnapping of two IDF soldiers. They later tempered their criticism in the face of public support for Hizbullah.
"Syria opened its doors for us, and accepted hundreds of thousands of refugees, why did Jordan never open its doors to us?" Zeinab Makky, a resident of the Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh, told Reuters News Agency.
Hummm, you don't have a common border?
"Damn the Arab countries. One day they shall see a blacker day, even worse than in Lebanon."
Posted by: Steve ||
08/16/2006 09:09 ||
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#3
tu3031: took the words right outta my keyboard!
Posted by: Mike ||
08/16/2006 9:53 Comments ||
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why did Jordan never open its doors to us?" Zeinab Makky, a resident of the Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh, told Reuters News Agency
Smart Jordanians, they didn't open the doors because they remember what happened last time they opened their door to Arafat and his thugs (remember ? -BLACK SEPTEMBER)
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
08/16/2006 10:19 Comments ||
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#5
Once again the Lebanese and Reuters are oblivious to facts: Jordan is not an oil-rich country -- it imports oil.
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/jo.html#Econ
#7
Ah, but this is a critical weakness of Hezbollah. They are allied with Iran and Syrian thus making KSA, Jordan and Egypt, along with the Gulf countries, their enemy. These Sunni countries don't like Israel, but they do have a "working relationship" with Israel. That means they are not currently threatening Isreal. It seems to me that there is going to be a lot of money flowing to the Sunnis in Lebanon. If they are smart they will share this with their Christian brethren (can I even say that???) and work to outshine the Hezzies. By outshine I mean paid assasinations of Hezzie leaders, lots of non-Hezzie walking around money in Hezzie areas and major campaigns to remind the locals who started the fight that done blowed up their house. Lebanon is the KSA playground. It was rebuilt with their dollars. Count on the fact that they are pissed and are looking for some payback.
#8
Say compatriots instead of brethren, and it might work. Or perhaps fellow non-Shiite Lebanese. It's a bit awkward, but covers a lot more territory, and leaves room for Byzantine backstabbing when things are redefined later. ;-)
#10
But Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran can turn the Shi'ite Muslims in southern Lebanon into refugees whose homes have been smashed by the IDF and they'll think it means they sympathize with them?
Hezbollah screwed up a lot of Lebanon in their attempt to get the Sheeba Farms "back." If it were anyone else than an Arab/Moslem terrorist group that had gotten those results, we'd be talking about what miserable failures they were.
Posted by: Phil ||
08/16/2006 18:10 Comments ||
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#11
Who gives as shite
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/16/2006 21:58 Comments ||
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Tehran, 16 August (AKI) - Hundreds of police in Tehran have begun dismantling satellite antenna dishes from the city's rooftops - part of a campaign to prevent Iranians from watching Western television programmes. The move follows a recent police order that all satellite dishes - officially banned but tolerated until now - be removed. The campaign against satellite television was launched by the Minister for Culture and Islamic Orientation, Hassan Saffar Harandi, who said "we have to halt the West's cultural offensive," on Iran.
Some observers believe that the clampdown is aimed at keeping the government's control over news regarding Iran's dispute with the international community regarding its nuclear programme.
The government on Tuesday reiterated its intention to respond to a package of incentives, devised by the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, to persuade Tehran to drop its uranium enrichment plans. In recent months, all news coverage on the issue in Iran has had to be done with the approval of the Supreme Council of National Security, prompting people who wish to be informed by non-government sources to watch and listen to television and radio programmes broadcast from abroad.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/16/2006 08:46 ||
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#1
worried the peoples might be revolting?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/16/2006 9:18 Comments ||
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#3
This could be a problem. I really don't see the great Persian people capable of uniting to overthrow their mulla masters. The word sheeple comes to mind.
#4
Its just not 'sheep', its an attitude by far too many that the US will fix 'their' problem. You've seen it in too many Iraqis sitting on the fence. Why should they get in the line of fire when someone else will do their dirty work [hey, future Democrats]? The joke on the Iraqis is that killing Americans has become so difficult that the islamic fascist find it easier to kill fence sitters in their markets and homes. Unlike the Iranians, there appear to enough Iraqis now stepping forward who are indeed willing to bleed for their future.
#5
I don't know if this is such a good idea. TV is the opium of the masses, (killed mine years ago) take something like this away and it could get ugly.
Without the distraction and make believe world to retreat to that TV provides, they might start plotting and organizing.
#6
Next step, all Iranians must wear blindfolds between 9:00 to 17:00 lest they actually perceive correctly what's happening around them.
Good step Mullahs, keep that on and you will increase internal turmoil to the bursting point soon.
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
08/16/2006 10:29 Comments ||
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#7
The campaign against satellite television was launched by the Minister for Culture and Islamic Orientation, Hassan Saffar Harandi, who said "we have to halt the West's cultural offensive," on Iran.
I want to know if, when Magic Mulla Hassan made his statement, he was breathing heavily, and had a bulge under his schmock in the groin area...
#11
...They're shutting off the satellite dishes because when it hits the fan, they don't want the Iranian people to know that the MMMs are trying to commit national suicide without asking.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/16/2006 14:36 Comments ||
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#12
i would like too see them try and take my satelitte
#13
This is why I've been suggesting that we need to air-drop lots of compact tablet computers with a dedicated satellite in orbit to connect them to the Internet. Disconnection from the global community is almost a mandatory prerequisite for any autocracy's success in dominating a people. Iranians deserve the truth. At least so that they can know why in hell many of them are about to die for the sins of their mullah.
#14
"Baghdad Bob" comes immediately to mind, loudly peoclaiming the US army was losing, even while there was a firefight with tanks about one block away from where he was broadcasting.
This needs to be paid serious attention, they're trying to shut down all news sources except their own controlled blather.
Usualy this is done just before a war is intended, news blackout equals war preperations.
And we already know that "Something" is supposed to happen on the 22nd of August. (Imanidiot comming out of a well?"
That's next week folks, about long enough to consficate all the satelite dishes and kill a bunch of folks (Very Publicly to spread Fear) just before the Balloon goes up next Tuesday.
I'm stocking up on food and water just in case, no need for more ammo etc, got plenty.
By the way, on the way home I noticed that gas prices dropped a whole nine cents over the day, it was 2,85 this morning, and 2.76 right now,(Mobile, Alabama) that's a fairly big one time move, and downwards to boot, it's been months since the price of regular was below 2.85, checking on the internet, it's a whole slew of stations dropping all at the same time, not just one or two.
Something's up, usuaky the start of school means prices go up, not down.I think it's time to fill tanks and reserve cans before the weekend.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/16/2006 19:36 Comments ||
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#15
Redneck,
It's down to $2.49 at one station here, and now you've got me worried.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/16/2006 20:00 Comments ||
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BEIRUT - The Lebanese army will begin its deployment south of the Litani River on Thursday in line with a UN-brokered truce that halted fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, a senior political source said on Tuesday.
The source said the 15,000-strong force had started to assemble at different army bases. A security source confirmed the move but an army spokesman said he had no information. As we speak, the army is readying the force. They will start deploying on Thursday, the source said, adding that army units would deploy in pockets held by Israeli forces in south Lebanon only after Israeli soldiers hand over their posts to UN peacekeepers.
Lebanese Defence Minister Elias al-Murr has said the army will not disarm Hezbollah guerrillas in the south.
Disarm? Hell, they'll escort and protect the Hezbies. As will the French.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Disarm, hell, let them keep their arms. They make better dead Hezbos pictures for el Reuters and al AP with a weapon up their backside.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/16/2006 0:19 Comments ||
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#2
The Lebanese Army will do anything for its country but fight for it.
#3
The UN truce is just an enabling mechanism for the Hizbs. Koffi and Co have created a mechanism to help Iran, Syria and Hizb destroy Israel. The UN and supporting countries are willing accomplices in the systematic destruction of Israel. This is total madness.
Posted by: Alaska Paul in Kotzebue, Alaska ||
08/16/2006 3:46 Comments ||
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#4
The Lebbie arent going to say theyre gonna disarm the Hezbies now, even IF thats their intent. Leb politics is as byzantine as any game in the world, and that hasnt changed. Just by putting their troops on the ground in the south is a big change - suddenly Hezb isnt the only armed force in the south. They will wait till everyone is good and used to that before they make their next move, I think.
No guarantee this will work, and its not ideal solution, but dont give up hope yet.
#5
Agreed, but Bush may have agreed to the plan to give Israel a chance to toss Olmert into the Med and pick a leader with nads and a clue.
It won't be long before fighting flares up again, and where's the 2 kidnapped soldiers ?
August 16, 2006: Where is al Qaeda? A growing body of evidence, and captured members and documents, points to the Pushtun tribal areas of northwest Pakistan. Just across the border from where al Qaeda was based before 2002. Al Qaeda attempts to find refuge in other parts of the world have largely failed. While al Qaeda has appointed many local Islamic terrorist organizations as "part of al Qaeda," the core leaders and staff who fled Afghanistan in late 2001, are still hiding out in the hills along the Afghan border. Despite efforts by the Pakistani army and paramilitary forces, there are still many areas of the northwest where you can hide Islamic extremists. The army has caught several hundred al Qaeda members moving in and out of the area. But for those that stay within the Pushtun tribal areas of Pakistan, there's no easy way to find them, or arrest them.
The Pakistanis could call out the entire army, and go to war with the Pushtun tribes. This, however, would be enormously expensive politically, and in terms of soldiers and civilians killed. As it is, the Pakistanis are exercising more presence in the tribal areas, and more pressure on the tribes, than at any time in history. The Pushtuns have been resisting foreign (non-Pushtun) influence and control for centuries. Before Pakistan was created in 1947, the British had made deals with the Pushtun tribes, to try and reduce the raids into non-tribal areas. Pakistan continued those deals, while slowly moving government control into urban areas within the tribal territories. But, by law and ancient custom, the tribes were still very autonomous. Under pressure from the United States, that has changed.
Al Qaeda declared war on the government of Pakistan three years ago, and that was used as an excuse to come into the tribal territories looking for the terrorists. But al Qaeda are also considered "holy warriors" by the religiously conservative Pushtuns. Thus, many of the tribesmen feel honor bound to defend their al Qaeda guests. So, at the moment, the Pakistanis are caught between the need to keep al Qaeda under control in Pakistan, and avoiding a civil war with the Pushtun tribes.
Meanwhile, more Islamic terror groups, or factions of them, are openly joining forces with al Qaeda. This includes Egyptians and Palestinians. There are also signs that al Qaeda is trying to raise local support in various parts of Africa (Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia, Southeast Asia and Morocco). These "affiliates" are in it for the publicity, and any practical help they can get in carrying out local acts of terrorism. Al Qaeda has positioned itself as the extremists extremist. While officially backing away from attacks that put Moslem women and children at risk, al Qaeda does not explicitly forbid such things. Al Qaeda likes to point out that such attacks are counterproductive, but does not condemn any al Qaeda affiliate that becomes that violent. Al Qaeda police appears to be that the locals will learn, from local backlash, the errors of their ways.
Al Qaeda is desperate to get established in some places where training and planning can safely take place. Some of this work has been possible in the Pakistani tribal areas, but the Pakistani army and security services make it very dangerous to move in and out of that sanctuary. Somalia is turning into another sanctuary, but one that is full of people you can't trust, and can be depended on to give you up if the Americans put the heat on. Same situation in Sudan, Nigeria and Southeast Asia (Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, southern Thailand). Morocco also has a dangerous, for terrorists, security service.
For the moment, al Qaeda seems to be spreading cash, and encouragement, in many places, but putting most of its resources into the Pushtun areas (both in Afghanistan and Pakistan.) The growth of the heroin production and smuggling business in Afghanistan has a good chance of turning much of the country into fiefdoms controlled by drug rich warlords. These guys were willing to provide support for al Qaeda in the 1990s, and seem ready to deal again. This explains why the Taliban have some much more guns, money and motivation this year.
Iraq turned out to be a disaster for al Qaeda. The local, largely self-appointed al Qaeda leader. Abu Musab al Zarqawi, was mainly into killing lots of Shia civilians, in an attempt to goad the Shia into a civil war with the Sunni Arabs. While the Sunni Arabs are a majority (90 percent) of all Moslems worldwide, in Iraq, the Shia outnumber the Sunni Arabs by three to one. Moreover, the Shia have more guns, control the government, and have the Americans to back them up. All Zarqawi was able to do was make al Qaeda the most hated organization in Iraq. Eventually, this distaste for Zarqawi's methods translated into much lower popularity ratings for al Qaeda throughout the Arab world. So Iraq is not a likely sanctuary for al Qaeda.
Neither is Saudi Arabia. Al Qaeda fans in Saudi Arabia, enraged at the American invasion of Iraq, began a bombing campaign in Saudi Arabia. While Saudi Arabia had long been a prime source of recruits and money, that stopped real quick as most Saudis turned on the terrorists. It was one thing to cheer on al Qaeda as they killed infidels overseas, but killing Moslems within Saudi Arabia was another matter.
There are thousands of Moslems out there who believe they are part of al Qaeda, and many of them, to one degree or another, actually are. But there are few places where al Qaeda can safely meet, and no place where they can openly congregate. Even in the Pushtun tribal areas, discretion is necessary. As long as American or Pakistani commandos are in the region, al Qaeda cannot rest, only pause and catch their breath.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/16/2006 10:28 ||
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Posted by: Steve White ||
08/16/2006 10:02 Comments ||
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#9
Aaaawww, anyway I'm sure she's in a large one-piece bathsuit under that towel. It's not like it is a snapshot candid photography taken at her bathroom. Tease!
#10
Ah, but under the large one-piece she's nekkid as an egg. She's got that pink, pouty mouth, that graceful curve to her back ... ummm... with smooth, inviting thighs and a rounded, succulent bosom....
Omigawd! I may be turning Muslim! I must shoot off! My gun that is. Yes, that's it. My gun.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2006 11:28 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
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Pakistans ambassador to Sri Lanka Bashir Wali Muhammad narrowly escaped a powerful Claymore mine attack in the capital on Monday but seven others were killed, said diplomats and police. The ambassador was driving through the area when the blast occurred, police said, adding that a military vehicle escorting him was hit by the explosion. The ambassador is safe. He is unhurt, Pakistan High Commission spokeswoman Suriya Jamal said.
Tehran, 16 August (AKI) - Hundreds of police in Tehran have begun dismantling satellite antenna dishes from the city's rooftops - part of a campaign to prevent Iranians from watching Western television programmes. The move follows a recent police order that all satellite dishes - officially banned but tolerated until now - be removed. The campaign against satellite television was launched by the Minister for Culture and Islamic Orientation, Hassan Saffar Harandi, who said "we have to halt the West's cultural offensive," on Iran. 
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