In the war on terror, few battles are as clear and decisive as the one fought these last few weeks in southern Afghanistan. Six thousand Canadian, British, American and other NATO troops trounced resurgent Taliban fighters who dared to fight in the open. "Operation Medusa" dislodged insurgents from trenches and tunnels near Kandahar, killing a thousand or more.
The intensity of the fighting surprised some NATO allies, who this summer took over the lead in southern Afghanistan from the U.S. More tests are to come. The insurgents will surely regroup, shun direct engagements with Western troops and resort to the ad hoc terrorism perfected in Iraq. To adapt NATO's nomenclature, the Medusa was injured but the snakes are very much alive.
The battle in the south is not a sign, as some would have it, that Afghanistan has been lost. With U.S. forces tracking al Qaeda along the border with Pakistan and the Kabul government slow to assert itself, a security and political vacuum emerged in that region. In stepped drug lords, former Taliban fighters and tribal chiefs who have little in common except a large stake in continued instability.
Narcotics money and lax Pakistani border control let the Taliban rearm and recruit new fighters. Some schools for girls, a great achievement in post-Taliban Afghanistan, were forced to close. Local chiefs backed the Taliban, while a population who had high expectations for the future turned against Kabul and the West.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/23/2006 8:09 Comments ||
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#3
One observation on Afghanistan and drugs. Any economist worth his salt will tell you that the way to increase trade is to increase supply, and the way the decrease trade is to decrease demand. Ergo the drug problem is not solvable in Afghanistan.
#4
"Ergo the drug problem is not solvable in Afghanistan."
Summary execution of heroin users for treasonous conduct might be effective, but somehow I doubt it would be acceptable. My suggestion is for the government to buy up the supply direct from the growers and give it away free to the junkies, but that's not acceptable either.
#5
Phil, very good point. Consumption, not merely supply, is what needs to be curtailed. Unfortunately, the liberal Western countries would rather point the figure at producer countries instead.
The net result is that consumption leads to more fortified terrorists who kill the valient soldiers from these same countries. The best citizens get killed while the consuming citizens indirectly contribute to their deaths.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/23/2006 10:49 Comments ||
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glenmore: Summary execution of heroin users for treasonous conduct might be effective, but somehow I doubt it would be acceptable.
I don't think we need to go that far. Singapore executes drug traffickers - defined as being in possession of anything over half a pound of most illegal drugs. Let me tell you that drugs aren't as readily available there as they are anywhere stateside. Executing dealers - after due process - would probably be somewhat more popular than executing users. Although there is a motivated subculture of non-addict recreational users who would probably scream at the thought of their supply being cut off. What I don't get is why politicians have no problem alienating smokers, who are a huge segment of the population, but have real qualms about alienating drug users, who can't possibly be over a few per cent of the population.
#7
What I don't get is why politicians have no problem alienating smokers, who are a huge segment of the population, but have real qualms about alienating drug users, who can't possibly be over a few per cent of the population.
Oh, I have an answer to that, Zhang Fei.
Marx said that religion is the opiate of the masses.
Since today's BettyCrockerCrats don't like religion, they need to have real opiates there to keep the troublesome people pacified.
Nicotine, AFAIK, isn't an opiate but just another mild stimulant, albeit addictive.
It doesn't do any good from the pacification point of view, and who knows? Maybe some of the people who quit will wind up on real pacification drugs like marijuana, which would represent a net gain for the BCC's.
Posted by: Phil ||
09/23/2006 12:54 Comments ||
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#8
BettyCrockerCrats? uh oh...JM's influence is spreading. The quarantine is compromised
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/23/2006 14:37 Comments ||
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#9
What I don't get is why politicians have no problem alienating smokers, who are a huge segment of the population, but have real qualms about alienating drug users, who can't possibly be over a few per cent of the population.
There's no widespread pressure to do so. Part of it is cultural; we can thank the Boomers for that. I suspect (ironically) that there more than a few anti-tobacco folk out there that aren't adverse to toking up.
The other part is that the percentage that can be classified as addicts is indeed relatively small. They are either then a local problem, or not a direct impact/strain on medical resources.
If it got to the level of alcohol abuse or smoking, then you might see pressure.
#10
The other part is that the percentage that can be classified as addicts is indeed relatively small. They are either then a local problem, or not a direct impact/strain on medical resources.
A small and predictable number, I sense that maybe 49 Pan may have insight here.
#11
Well, I don't know ANY heroin addicts or even viable suspects. Does anyone else here? It's a Euro and ghetto/barrio issue with a minor anglo component. Less damaging or pervasive in America than the Coke/meth issue.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/23/2006 16:30 Comments ||
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#12
I don't know what else to call 'em, Frank, it's such a good descriptive word.
Posted by: Phil ||
09/23/2006 16:30 Comments ||
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#13
granted. Did you check under your bed for a JM-produced pod?
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/23/2006 16:31 Comments ||
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#14
No. When it was done with me I was done with it I sent the two resulting pods on to you and ship.
Posted by: Phil ||
09/23/2006 16:36 Comments ||
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#15
damn. Wait...there's a knock at the door, BRB....
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/23/2006 16:39 Comments ||
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#16
Reason I mentioned 49P is because of his location in Frankfurt, used to be/still? A large Fed hospital for them with wanting troubles.
#17
To the best of my knowledge, 49Pan is now stateside, 6. He mucking about The Philippines for a bit before that, perhaps that trip went out from Germany?
#19
My apologies, 6. I'd always been told the capitol of Kentucky is spelt Frankfort with an o, and I'm not aware of any other communities there using the German spelling, which no doubt reflects my poor geographical knowledge.
Fugitive al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden is suffering from a serious illness, but his death has not yet been pronounced, according to a senior Saudi intelligence source, CNN reported Saturday.
This conflicted with the report earlier Saturday that a French secret service report said Saudi Arabia was convinced the al-Qaeda leader died of typhoid in Pakistan last month.
The Saudi source told CNN that in recent weeks, a number of elements reported Bin Ladens illness, which he contracted after drinking contaminated water, but no information had been communicated that he had died.
CNN terrorism analyst, Peter Berger, reported that Bin Ladens family members had not confirmed the report of his death. According to Berger, Jamal Khalifa, Bin Ladens brother, said he had heard nothing to confirm the al-Qaeda leaders death.
Berger further noted that if Bin Laden was in fact dead, the Islamic media would have reported it, as it is unlikely they would have hushed up such a sensational report.
The regional French newspaper l'Est Republicain printed what it described as a copy of a confidential document from the DGSE intelligence service citing an uncorroborated report from a "usually reliable source" who said Saudi secret services were convinced that bin Laden had died.
The document, dated Thursday, was sent to French President Jacques Chirac and other top French officials, the newspaper said.
Chirac said Saturday the report was "in no way whatsoever confirmed" and officials from Kabul to Washington expressed skepticism about its accuracy.
#7
Memo to AQ - until he's on TV announcing this week's NFL scores (have him immitate Berman), we don't believe you. Nice thing is, if he actually does this, he's our bitch.....heh heh
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/23/2006 21:23 Comments ||
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Nineteen Afghan road workers were killed in Afghanistan on Friday when a bomb blast struck their vehicle and they were ambushed by a mob of Taleban, the interior ministry said.
The bus was attacked on the outskirts of the southern city of Kandahar before noon, ministry spokesman Zamarai Bashari told AFP. Nineteen people were martyred and only three wounded workers managed to escape the Taleban ambush, Bashari said.
After the blast, the attackers descended on the blown-up bus and shot into the vehicle.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/23/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
I think my beer drinkin buddies and I could ambush a van load of unarmed construction workers and kill 19 at least. But that isn't really what real soldiers do is it, just Taliwhackers. The brave lions of islam, shooting construction workers. Whats next, gonna go to an all girls school and push them around some?
#2
It mystifies me that groups that implement campaigns of random massacre of civilians can have any popular support whatsoever. If you snatch a kid in middle America, the population is energized to see you captured.
Additionally, I can understand how assassination of police officers would soften up a location that you hope to eventually take-over. I don't understand how assassinating a road construction crew would lead to anything other than depopulating an area
Successful insurgents would hide within a population and assassinate collaboraters.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/23/2006 17:15 Comments ||
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(Xinhua) -- At least 25 Taliban rebels were killed on Friday by the police in the southern Uruzgan province of Afghanistan, an official told Xinhua. The police and some rebels exchanged fire in Chora district, killing 25 Taliban militants, said Mohammad Qasim, the provincial police chief. One policeman was also killed and another injured in the clash, he said. About 20 pieces of weapons including machine-guns were also seized by the police.
Militants planted a roadside bomb to attack a bus carrying the workers, then shot them with machine-guns...
A local official told Xinhua on Friday that 19 Afghan construction workers were killed and three others injured in an ambush in the southern Kandahar province on Thursday. Militants planted a roadside bomb to attack a bus carrying the workers, then shot them with machine-guns in Shorawark district, about 200 km south of the provincial capital Kandahar city, said Haji Sultan Mohammad, the district's police chief.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/23/2006 00:00 ||
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POLICE have agreed to consult a panel of Muslim leaders before mounting counter-terrorist raids or arrests. Members of the panel will offer their assessment of whether information police have on a suspect is too flimsy and will also consider the consequences on community relations of a raid.
Members will be security vetted and will have to promise not to reveal any intelligence they are shown. They will not have to sign the Official Secrets Act.
The first panel, expected to consist of four people, will be set up initially in London. Tomorrow representatives from police forces across England and Wales will decide whether to make the scheme national.
Muslim groups have welcomed the move, which is understood to be backed by Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan police commissioner.
This week the Association of Chief Police Officers will discuss with MI5 and the Home Office whether to reveal to the panel intelligence information from the security service.
The idea came from the Metropolitan police and the Muslim Safety Forum (MSF), which works for better police-Muslim relations. It has been under discussion for two years and came to the top of the agenda after a police raid in Forest Gate, London, in June, in which a man was shot. Police were acting on a tip-off about a bomb. None was found.
Azad Ali, chairman of the MSF, said: The major concern that came to us from Muslims was that the intelligence was flawed the raid was on assumption and nothing else. This will allow independent scrutiny of intelligence.
The police and the Crown Prosecution Service have sometimes been criticised for being over-cautious about tackling Muslim extremism. Last week Abu Izzadeen, a radical cleric who has so far escaped prosecution despite seemingly inciting terrorism, gained entry to a closed meeting in east London and heckled John Reid, the home secretary.
It has now emerged that Izzadeen apparently urged Muslims to wage holy war in Britain in an internet video downloaded by several thousand users from websites that closed down two months ago. The sites were linked to the Saved Sect, of which Izzadeen was leader and which has now been banned and disbanded.
In the video he told his audience: In the UK no fighting takes place yet, but dont be fooled, the time will come to you brothers . . . fighting is so close at hand.
He adds: You prepare yourself now and when the hard time comes you are ready to defend yourself; you are ready to die for the sake of Allah.
David Corker, a partner in the London law firm Corker Binning, which has dealt with terrorism cases, said of the video: There is enough material there for him to be considered for prosecution.
Izzadeen, 34, did not respond to requests for comment this weekend.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/23/2006 20:48 ||
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#1
It seems to me that fighting is already taking place. It will be interesting to see whether the jihadis infiltrate or assassinate the members.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/23/2006 20:56 Comments ||
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#2
Let me get this straight: a panel of muslims will be given the power to decide if probable cause exists to raid and arrest suspected muzzie terrorists?
Yeah, no doubt about it. England has surrendered.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
09/23/2006 21:10 Comments ||
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#3
My God, this is too pathetic for words.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
09/23/2006 21:36 Comments ||
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#4
Members will be security vetted and will have to promise not to reveal any intelligence they are shown.
Yeah, that'll work. They're obligated to lie for the furtherance of their faith; they won't have any problem promising to keep quiet then tipping off the jihadis.
This will end badly. Very badly.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/23/2006 21:45 Comments ||
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#5
Feed them the info once the phones have been tapped.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/23/2006 21:49 Comments ||
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#6
This will end badly. Very badly.
Yes it will. And it needs to. It is sad that a lot of Britons will be killed, but, it just might rip the blinders off the survivors there, and the fence-sitters here.
Then, we just might be able to get on with what needs to be done, before we take a devastating hit here.
#7
Tell them to phone ask Israel just how much it's helped their cause to give terrorists advance notice of pending attacks. But make sure they don't ask Olmert.
Welcome to political correctness in its most lethal form. It will likely be the death of Britain.
#9
That rumble you hear is Churchill turning in his grave. The people have no guns, and now they have no police protection either. Are they allowed to own dogs ?
#12
This kind of move ( aside from being really bad) is very hard to reverse.
Fealty (dhimmitude) as an institution sneaks up.
I doubt that car thieves will get the same courtesy.
#13
Ok. So how many ambushes (setup after the 'panel' tips of their friends) will it take before this is stopped? How many dead police officers? 10? 20?
#14
Well, I could have used that information a little earlier.
Posted by: Van Helsing ||
09/23/2006 23:06 Comments ||
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#15
has anyone ever heard a stupider idea than this?
Perhaps in Australia we should consult a panel of Bikies before arresting any Bikie gang members for amphetamines because not all Bikies are criminals?
Give them all our intel, just trust they won't share it - but don't make them sign an Official Secrets Act or anything as that might offend them?
CAIRO, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The United States has denied entry to four Egyptian Muslim clerics sent to Florida to officiate at religious events during the approaching fasting month of Ramadan, Cairo airport officials said on Friday. The last of the four, Zain el-Abdin Mohamed el-Sayed, returned to Cairo on Friday after US immigration authorities refused to let him enter the country. The others flew home over the past two days, said the officials who asked not to be named.
All four had valid US visas and were going to Florida as part of an annual programme organised by the Azhar, the Cairo-based institute of Muslim learning.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel quoted American Muslim community leader Sofian Abdelaziz as saying the US immigration held the clerics for 24 hours without providing beds or access to phones and then deported them without explanation. I consider this a big disaster for our community this year, said Abdelaziz, director of the American Muslim Association of North America in Miami. We are against extremism and we are not dealing with sheikhs and imams who have a policy to teach extremism ... We lost four good educators, he added.
And we kept our country safe.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/23/2006 00:00 ||
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Silly me, I'd assumed we'd done something like this about 4 1/2 years ago...
(AHN) - Five years after terrorists attacked America, the Department of Defense is opening the U.S. Strategic Command's Joint Functional Component Command for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Director Army Lt. Gen. Michael Maples, says the center will "operationalize" intelligence collection, adding it will "operate at the defense level with national capabilities, but more importantly to respond to the needs of combatant commanders."
Air Force Maj. Gen. Mark Welsh says the center will allow intelligence planners to sort and compile defense intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations from a global perspective...
"(The center) takes combatant commander responsibilities and then associates that with the ability of a combat support activity - DIA on the intelligence side - and creates an ability to understand what the needs and requirements are of the other combatant commanders, what their intelligence needs are and how we ought to be managing the resources." Air Force Maj. Gen. Mark Welsh says the center will allow intelligence planners to sort and compile defense intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations from a global perspective.
The center will work with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and the National Geo-Spatial Intelligence Agency to apply national assets to Defense problems and vice versa.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/23/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
I know the government moves like cold molasses, but this is really ridiculous. This should have been up sometime in 2002. Just what has been going on in the meanwhile. This is like the Keystone cops.
#2
"There were acronyms to invent, turf queens to mollify, brass to shine, knee pads to issue, special insignia to design, compartments to comparmentalize, access levels to accessorize, forms to formalize, and caterers to select - our plate was full."
But, you're assuming intel wasn't being shared before. What's really going on here is that over the last 4+ years we've evolved a totally new approach to joint ops across the services. It never was needed before and for sure it never was possible until the availability of some newer communications and software capabilities.
On the technical/operational side, this is one part of DoD's emerging Global Information Grid. Smart weapons as well as commanders (and everyone inbetween) will tap into the GIG, sharing all sorts of info from raw sensor data to ops plans. Building that is NOT going to happen overnight. But it will happen.
Remember all the fights in Congress about reorganizing intel? One of the issues there was whether DOD would lose control of collecting and interpreting intel data in operational theaters.
It took a couple years to peel Negraponte's role away from CIA. It took another year+ for DOD to win the battle to keep the interpretation of the raw intel feeds within DOD when it pertains to the battlefield. Meanwhile, while that battle was happening on the Hill, it looks as if DOD was moving forward to put this in place.
Yeah, 4 1/2 years sounds like a long time. But this isn't a matter of "who gets the office window and what color should the carpets be". This center at STRATCOM is just one part of a MAJOR restructuring of military doctrine, organizational lines of control and technologies. What you're seeing here is another piece of our reworking our military from top to bottom to face 21st century threats. And they're doing it while also fighting in 2 theaters, plus doing major special ops.
#5
Another sign of that major restructuring that's going on:
The commanding general of SRATCOM is a Marine. A MARINE!!! heading the home of SAC bombers etc. Why? I think it's because STRATCOM is also the home of ballistic missile defense and BMD has become a battlefield operations issue as well as a strategic homeland defense issue.
A Marine heads the joint chiefs of staff.
The chief of staff of the Army is a special operations guy.
It may not be obvious from the outside, but these represent some significant shifts in priorities and doctrine. Schoomaker and the special forces were totally snubbed in Gulf I ... Schwarzkopf had no use for those "cowboy" types in his operational theater.
Now special forces are key to what we're doing, not only in Iraq and Afghanistan, but many other places too.
There's a huge set of changes happening within our military. It's pretty awesome to see it happen, even though there are some stumbles and some roadblocks from time to time.
#6
the center will "operationalize" intelligence collection, adding it will "operate at the defense level with national capabilities, but more importantly to respond to the needs of combatant commanders."
Intel won't be tucked away in pretty folders by CIA file clerks, not to be used because it might cut off the flow of information to be filed by CIA file clerks.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/23/2006 8:11 Comments ||
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#7
Marines ascending is consistent with Rummy's push for expeditonary forces.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/23/2006 8:15 Comments ||
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Posted by: Frank G ||
09/23/2006 11:46 Comments ||
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#11
We've already had a "JIC" in Europe and in the Pacific region. It's worked pretty well. The one key element that wasn't available was strategic and tactical control of collections. This re-organization gives DOD equal priority with other intelligence agencies for collections. In the past, most strategic collection was controlled by CIA. I'm sure the battle over collections management was a major factor in why it took 4 1/2 years to make this work.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/23/2006 13:19 Comments ||
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(AHN) - On Friday, security officials discovered a gun in a carry-on bag at a security checkpoint at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. The discovery then prompted authorities to shut down two of the airports terminals. A spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration told Reuters that the gun was discovered shortly before 7 am, after it failed to make it through the screening. After the closure of terminals A and B, passengers were then brought out for re-screening. The gun has since been handed over to the law enforcement officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/23/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Good grief. They should just pistolwhip the moron until his face is shredded and then shoot him and his entire party. Take maybe 10 minutes. Then everyone could be on their way and the number of potential repeat incidents would drop like a rock.
#4
I blame this tragedy on the Bush Administration's brutal slashing of social programs for disadvantaged firearms. If only they had kept the indoor ranges open at night and the outdoor ranges well lit, this would never have happened.
It is perfectly understandable that young firearms would be enraged at the discrmination they face daily from the Man. Corrupt politicians seeking to disenfranchise undocumented handguns, city cops demanding licenses which you have to pay to get, and white middle class oppressors who discriminate against Blue or Matte finishes .... is it any wonder that these young guns shoot off?
GUWAHATI: At least seven rebels were killed in a gunbattle between rival factions of a separatist militant group in India's remote northeastern state of Nagaland, police said on Friday. The clash occured on Thursday between two warring groups of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) in a village in the Athibung area.
The NSCN has been fighting for a separate homeland for Naga tribespeople. More than 20,000 people have died in the nearly six-decade-old revolt in the Christian-majority state. The Issac-Muivah and the Khaplang factions of the NSCN have been holding a ceasefire with Indian forces as part of a peace process, but are fighting each other in a war of supremacy.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/23/2006 00:00 ||
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QUETTA: Suspected militants fired four rockets at a Frontier Corps (FC) check post in Wadh tehsil of Khuzdar district on Friday. The militants fled the scene when FC personnel retaliated.
Agencies add: FC personnel have seized arms and ammunition worth Rs 140 million from militants in Dera Bugti district since January this year, Col Muhammad Naeem told Quetta-based journalists who visited Dera Bugti on Friday. Meanwhile, an FC soldier killed a man of his own platoon here late on Thursday night, Online news agency reported. Muhammad Idrees Shinwari axed Ziaul Haq Shinwari to death. Both killer and victim belong to Kohat. Police arrested Idrees and started an investigation.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/23/2006 00:00 ||
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Does Estes sell an engine for a rocket that size?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/23/2006 1:55 Comments ||
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MIRANSHAH: The fate of 10 tribesmen arrested on charges of attacking coalition forces inside Afghanistan will be decided by a 10-member committee monitoring an accord between pro-Taliban militants and the government in North Waziristan, a jirga member said on Friday. The committee will determine whether the arrested tribesmen were involved in the attack or not, Maulana Muhammad Alam told Daily Times after discussing the issue with North Waziristan chief administrator Dr Fakhr-e-Alam. He said the 10 men were handed over to the jirga after security forces cordoned off a village in Lwara Mandi near the Pak-Afghan border a few days ago when the tribal jirga negotiated peaceful handover of the 10 suspects.
Security forces cordoned off the area after the US passed on information that some tribal militants crossed into Pakistan after attacking the international forces near Afghanistans border with Pakistan. The arrest comes after pro-Taliban militants struck a peace accord with the government on September 5 in Miranshah after more than two months long negotiations through a 45-member grand tribal Jirga. These people have denied having attacked the coalition forces, Maulana Alam, who is also a Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl leader, added. Maulana Alam said the committee monitoring progress and implementation of the accord would take up the issue of target killing, but he stopped short to say bodies of suspected spies did amount to target killing. A source said that the 10 men were in political administrations custody, and it had not been decided if the committee would decide their fate.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/23/2006 00:00 ||
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kill em before they cross back, dammit
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/23/2006 1:28 Comments ||
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Take a DNA sample from each of the 10 and a DNA sample from 10 members of the jirga. If any of the 10 are captured in Afghanistan again. Incarcerate the village elder as well. Collective punishment is well understood in Waziristan.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/23/2006 17:19 Comments ||
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ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq, Sept. 22, 2006 Marines and sailors with Marine Wing Support Squadrons 273 and 274, Marine Wing Support Group 37 (Reinforced), 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), successfully recovered a disabled CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter from a hard landing location in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq, Sept. 9.
The helicopter belonging to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463, Marine Aircraft Group 16 (Reinforced), 3rd MAW, was disabled in a hard landing Sept. 7, and within a few hours, the mission to recover it was planned. Having been in Iraq just weeks, the Marines and sailors with were assigned the unprecedented job of recovering the massive helicopter and transporting it back to Al Asad. the big coalition air base in Anbar
"I've been here two weeks and never expected this," said Seaman Dominic K. Christofek, a corpsman. "I was excited to be going outside the wire to do something great like recovering a helicopter. You don't hear about that happening too much."
Leaving Al Asad Sept. 8 in a convoy of more than a dozen vehicles, the Sweathogs began their long, hot drive to the landing zone. Two things were a constant for the Marines and sailors during the haul across the Iraqi desert -- hydration and a watchful eye for possible threats.
Despite traveling roads littered with signs of previously blown IEDs, the convoy reached a rally point near the helicopter's location without incident. Upon arrival, the support squadrons set up a protective perimeter, and as the sun slowly fell, turning the western sky a bright orange, a team of Marines moved to the helicopter to assess how they would bring it back.
Throughout the night, as the perimeter Marines swept the surrounding landscape for threats, the assessment team cut the main rotor blades and tail from the massive aircraft before using a crane to place it atop an oversized trailer for transport. With the 24,000 pound, 73 foot-long helicopter dwarfing the vehicle carrying it, the convoy set off to return to Al Asad. photo at link
Less than 36 hours after departing on a mission never performed before, the jubilant Marines and sailors returned to their squadron compound having written themselves into the Marine Corps training manual on how to recover a disabled helicopter by land.
"The recovery effort was successful largely in part to the staff (non-commissioned officers) and sergeants who were on the mission," said Col. Michael G. Dana, commanding officer. "Their experience and knowledge was instrumental to the safe recovery of the aircraft. Due to their efforts, we were able to bring the aircraft back to base with no impact on the local population."
Deep in the article about dozens killed in tanker bomb is this silver lining. (Hat tip to My Pet Jawa)
Iraqi state television has reported that the leader of Ansar al-Sunna, a group with links to al-Qaeda in Iraq, has been captured along with two of his aides. Muntasir al-Jibouri was arrested in the town of Muqdadiya, about 80km northeast of Baghdad, in the troubled province of Diyala, the report said. Documents and assault rifles were seized with the three men.
Ansar al-Sunna says it has carried out numerous attacks including car bombings as well as the beheadings of Shia and Kurdish hostages.
September 22, 2006: Coalition forces in Iraq have suddenly received the manpower equivalent of three light infantry divisions. They did not suffer any repercussions in domestic politics as a result, and now have a huge edge over al-Qaeda in al-Anbar province. How did this happen? Tribal leaders in the largely Sunni province on the Syrian border got together and signed an agreement to raise a tribal force of 30,000 fighters to take on foreign fighters and terrorists.
These leaders have thrown in with the central government in Baghdad. This is a decisive blow to al Qaeda, which has been desperately trying to fight off an Iraqi government that is getting stronger by the week. Not only are the 30,000 fighters going to provide more manpower, but these tribal fighters know the province much better than American troops or the foreign fighters fighting for al Qaeda. Also, this represents just over 80 percent of the tribes in al-Anbar province now backing the government.
The biggest gain for the coalition is that they will now have forces on their side that know the terrain in al Anbar province. This is a very big deal in a campaign against the terrorists. When a force knows the terrain, it can make life miserable for its enemies. Just ask any Army unit that has gone through the National Training Center at Fort Irwin. The OPFOR (Opposing Force) has fought there for so long that they know all the good ambush sites. Units coming there for a training session don't have that knowledge and they pay the price in the exercises held there.
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#1
I've read numerous reports on this taking place. After while, it's safe to conclude they are true.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/23/2006 0:17 Comments ||
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I hope it is true.
Posted by: DanNY ||
09/23/2006 1:08 Comments ||
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#3
It is true, and it is the way that we in the US defeated the hostile tribes out West : find the tribes that want to have a better life, give them the goodies in exchange for their help killing the hostiles. Worked against the Apache, Comanche, Yaqui, and the rest.
A French regional newspaper quoted a French secret service report on Saturday as saying that Saudi Arabia is convinced that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden died of typhoid in Pakistan last month.
Did the Saudis have him 'surrounded', at the time?
L'Est Republicain printed what it said was a copy of the report dated September 21 and said it was shown to President Jacques Chirac, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and France's interior and defence ministers on the same day.
"According to a usually reliable source, the Saudi services are now convinced that Osama bin Laden is dead," the document said. "The information gathered by the Saudis indicates that the head of al Qaeda was a victim while he was in Pakistan on August 23, 2006, of a very serious case of typhoid which led to a partial paralysis of his internal organs."
That sounds very slow and painful. Also too good to be true.
The report, which was stamped with a "confidential defence" label and the initials of the French secret service, said Saudi Arabia first heard the information on September 4 and that it was waiting for more details before making an official announcement. Officials contacted by Reuters in Chirac's and Villepin's offices had no immediate comment.
A senior official in Pakistan's interior ministry said: "We have no information about Osama's death."
"Ve know nothing! Tell them, Hogan."
Saudi-born Bin Laden was based in Afghanistan until the Taliban government there was overthrown by U.S.-backed forces in late 2001. Since then, U.S. and Pakistani officials have regularly said they believe he is hiding somewhere on the rugged border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The last videotaped message released by bin Laden was in late 2004, but there have been several low quality audio tapes released this year.
Posted by: Joe of the Jungle ||
09/23/2006 07:40 ||
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#1
If I were him, I'd want people to think I was dead too. We've heard all this before, it was kidney disease last time.
#2
This is intended, I think, to forestall a US attack across the Pakistan border. If capturing bin Laden is the main issue in the GWOT, as Kerry and the Dems and others want to pretend, then his death would mean we have no reason to continue hostilities.
#7
"If he is dead, Mr. Mushareff, you won't mind giving us the body. Or at least just the head. Buried you say? No problem, we'll bring a backhoe."
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/23/2006 9:41 Comments ||
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#8
Steve W - Just the coordinates would do; drop a bunker buster and capture some DNA molecules on a flyover, sort of like they used to do to detect nuclear test details.
#9
Is it just me, or do others find the "typhoid" demise just a tad over the edge. Typhoid outbreaks tend to bring the IRC running.
I don't think Binny's billions, personal doctors or mansion near Quetta would have him exposed to typhoid. Kidney failure, heart attack, assassination, maybe. But typhoid? Sounds more like the drivellings of some NWFP cave dweller looking for a bounty. Typhoid hits his village all the time.
#10
The French papers have carried this before. Won't believe till I see Chirac w/black armband.
Posted by: regular joe ||
09/23/2006 10:16 Comments ||
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#11
Ace Of Spades has a good rundown of why this may very well be true. The Sept 9/11 Presidential speech WAS way overhyped, and it's probable the Bush admin decided to pull back on the announcement until positive evidence is secured. Rove promised an October Surprise, and you KNOW the timing will be questioned. Additionally, this will virtually force AQ to come out with another "Osama" audio tape. Why no video, hmmmmm?
Weekend at Osama's?
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/23/2006 10:32 Comments ||
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#12
Frank, the Rovian October Surprise (even should it turn out there is none) has the donks in shellshock mode.
It would be fascinating to see how the donks respond to such a release, given their incessant "we STILL haven't gotten bin Laden" dribble.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/23/2006 10:53 Comments ||
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1st phase: the patient's temperature rises gradually to 40ºC (104ºF) and the general condition becomes very poor with bouts of sweating, no appetite, coughing and headache. Constipation and skin symptoms may be the clearest symptoms. Children often vomit and have diarrhoea. The first phase lasts a week and towards the end the patient shows increasing listlessness and clouding of consciousness.
2nd phase: in the second to third weeks of the disease, symptoms of intestinal infection are manifested and the fever remains very high and the pulse becomes weak and rapid. In the third week the constipation is replaced by severe pea-soup-like diarrhoea. The faeces may also contain blood. It is not until the fourth or fifth week that the fever drops and the general condition slowly improves (with antibiotic treatment).
#20
'Bin Laden is dead' claim French secret service
I take this to mean he's living in a safe house in Paris.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/23/2006 11:56 Comments ||
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#21
Recall Nancy Pelosi's comments of September 8, 2006 during a press conference regarding Osama bin Laden when she declared:
The damage that he has done is done. And even to capture him now I dont think makes us any safer.
I could only guess that she was making a pre-emptive strike against "news" she was expecting to hear. Her friend Jane Harman sits on the Intelligence Committee and she herself was a member of that Committee at one time.
And a quick Net search on typhoid might help you visualize the kind of demise that this pig met...
S. typhi must be ingested to cause disease. Transmission often occurs when a person in the carrier state does not wash hands thoroughly (or not at all) after defecation and serves food to others. This pathway is sometimes called the fecal-oral route of disease transmission. In countries where open sewage is accessible to flies, the insects land on the sewage, pick up the bacteria, and then contaminate food to be eaten by humans.
After being swallowed, the S. typhi bacteria head down the digestive tract, where they are taken in by cells called mononuclear phagocytes. In the case of S. typhi the bacteria are able to survive ingestion by the phagocytes, and multiply within these cells. There is a 10 to 14-day incubation period of typhoid fever. When huge numbers of bacteria fill an individual phagocyte, they spill out of the cell and into the bloodstream, where their presence begins to cause symptoms.
The presence of increasingly large numbers of bacteria in the bloodstream (bacteremia) is responsible for an increasingly high fever, which lasts throughout the four to eight weeks of the disease in untreated individuals. Other symptoms of typhoid fever include constipation (at first), extreme fatigue, headache, joint pain, and a rash across the abdomen known as rose spots.
The bacteria move from the bloodstream into certain tissues of the body, including the gallbladder and lymph tissue of the intestine. The tissue's response to this invasion causes symptoms ranging from inflammation of the gallbladder to intestinal bleeding to actual perforation of the intestine. Perforation of the intestine refers to an actual hole occurring in the wall of the intestine, with leakage of intestinal contents into the abdominal cavity. This leakage causes severe irritation and inflammation of the lining of the abdominal cavity, which is called peritonitis. Peritonitis is a frequent cause of death from typhoid fever.
#33
...In other words, some poor sod in the French secret service accidentally stumbled over Binny, reported it to his superiors, and THEY came up with this to avoid actually having to do anything about it.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
09/23/2006 16:20 Comments ||
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#34
lol, eat shit and die
hmmm, is this a case of his left hand not knowing what his right hand was doing? As in eating with his wrong hand....
Posted by: Jan from work ||
09/23/2006 17:26 Comments ||
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#35
I don't buy a word of the story. Osama getting typhoid? Unlikely. Osama's personal attendants not having a bottle of Cipro handy for just such occasions? Unthinkable.
The man supposedly has been on dialysis for end-stage renal disease. That alone has a mortality of 10 - 20% per year. Perhaps they have a good dialysis program in North Wazoo and a great dialysis doc serving in AQ, but don't tell me they've managed to keep him alive on dialysis this long only to lose him to typhoid.
Tell me another one, I ain't sleepy yet.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/23/2006 17:34 Comments ||
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#36
I've read that the kidney report was bunk. I thought it was at this site.
#37
Wonder if someone made a typo and meant Typhus, lice borne and really does well when people don't bathe or wash clothes.
"Background: Typhus refers to a group of infectious diseases that are caused by rickettsial organisms and result in an acute febrile illness. Arthropod vectors transmit the etiologic agents to humans. The principle diseases of this group are epidemic or louse-borne typhus and its recrudescent form known as Brill-Zinser disease, murine typhus, and scrub typhus.
Pathophysiology: Epidemic typhus is the prototypical infection of the typhus group of diseases, and the pathophysiology of this illness is representative of the entire category. The arthropod vector of epidemic typhus is the body louse (Pediculus corporis). This is the only vector of the typhus group in which humans are the usual host. Rickettsia prowazekii, which is the etiologic agent of typhus, lives in the alimentary tract of the louse. A Rickettsia-harboring louse bites a human to engage in a blood meal and causes a pruritic reaction on the host's skin. The louse defecates as it eats; when the host scratches the site, the lice are crushed, and the Rickettsia-laden excrement is inoculated into the bite wound. The Rickettsia travel to the bloodstream and rickettsemia develops.
Rickettsia parasitize the endothelial cells of the small venous, arterial, and capillary vessels. The organisms proliferate and cause endothelial cellular enlargement with resultant multiorgan vasculitis. This process may cause thrombosis, and small nodules may develop from the deposition of leukocytes, macrophages, and platelets. Gangrene of the distal portions of the extremities, nose, ear lobes, and genitalia may occur as a result of thrombosis of supplying blood vessels. This vasculitic process may also result in loss of intravascular colloid with subsequent hypovolemia and decreased tissue perfusion and, possibly, organ failure. Loss of electrolytes is common.
Some people may have a recrudescent case typhus (Brill-Zinsser disease). After a patient is treated with antibiotics and the disease has seemingly been cured, Rickettsia may linger in the body tissues. Months, years, or even decades after treatment, organisms may reemerge and cause a recurrence of typhus. How the Rickettsia organisms linger silently in a person and by what mechanism recrudescence is mediated are unknown. The presentation of Brill-Zinsser disease is less severe and mortality is much lower than in epidemic typhus. Risk factors that may predispose a person to recrudescence include improper or incomplete antibiotic therapy and malnutrition.
Murine typhus and scrub typhus share the same pathophysiology as epidemic typhus, although they are somewhat milder. The incubation period is approximately 12 days for the typhus group. Prior infection with Rickettsia typhi provides subsequent and long-lasting immunity to reinfection.
Frequency:
* In the US: Approximately 15 documented sporadic cases of active infection with R prowazekii, the etiologic agent of epidemic typhus, have been reported. These occurred in the central and eastern portions of the United States and have been linked with exposure to flying squirrels (Glaucomys volans). The flying squirrel acts as the host for R prowazekii, and transmission to humans is believed to occur via squirrel fleas or lice. Murine typhus caused by Rickettsia felis is associated with opossums, cats, and their fleas and occurs in southern California and southern Texas. Adults are most commonly affected, but infection may occur in any age group. No indigenous cases of scrub typhus have occurred, although infections have been diagnosed in patients returning from endemic areas.
* Internationally: Epidemic typhus occurs in Central and South America, Africa, northern China, and certain regions of the Himalayas. Outbreaks may occur when conditions arise that favor the propagation and transmission of lice. Brill-Zinsser disease may occur in approximately 15% of people with a history of primary epidemic typhus.
Murine typhus occurs in most parts of the world, particularly in subtropical and temperate coastal regions. It occurs mainly in sporadic cases, and incidence is probably greatly underestimated in the more endemic regions. Rats, mice, and cats, which are hosts for the disease, are particularly common along coastal port regions. Temperate climates may have a rise in the flea vector and a subsequent rise in the incidence of murine typhus in the summer months. Prior infection with R typhi provides immunity to subsequent reinfection.
Scrub typhus occurs in the western Pacific region, northern Australia, and the Indian subcontinent. Incidence of scrub typhus is largely unknown. Many cases are undiagnosed because of its nonspecific manifestations and the lack of laboratory diagnostic testing in endemic areas. However, a report of incidence of scrub typhus in Malaysia was approximately 3% per month, and multiple infections in the same individual may occur because of a lack of cross-immunity among the various strains of Orientia tsutsugamushi.
Mortality/Morbidity: Epidemic typhus has the most severe clinical presentation of the typhus group of rickettsial infections. In severe disease, gangrene may occur and lead to loss of digits, limbs, or other appendages. The vasculitic process may also lead to CNS dysfunction, ranging from dullness of mentation to coma, multiorgan system failure, and death. The mortality rate in untreated persons may be as low as 20% in healthy individuals and as high as 60% in elderly or debilitated persons. Since the advent of widely available antibiotic treatment, mortality rates have fallen to approximately 3-4%. The mortality rate for treated patients with murine typhus is 1-4% and less than 1% for scrub typhus.
Sex: The condition has no predilection for either sex.
Age: The typhus group of infections may occur in people of all ages. In the United States, murine typhus and sporadic cases of epidemic typhus have mainly occurred in adults".
Posted by: bruce ||
09/23/2006 17:40 Comments ||
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#39
your memory is correct: Dan Darling said the kidney stuff was bunk - on this site. That said, when's the last Binny video that could be cooroberated with a time stamp? 2001?
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/23/2006 17:45 Comments ||
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#40
I am thankful to the French. AQ is mostly a PR firm. They have to respond. We are set-up very well to capitalize if he utters a peep. If the Pakistani military has pulled back out of Waziristan, doesn't the border become more theoretical with respect to us pursuing bad guys? After the snatch, he is just a helo ride from being found in Afghanistan. The village elders will protest. The streets of Islamabad will seeth for a week and Noam Chomsky will squeal foul.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/23/2006 18:59 Comments ||
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#4
Neat 'bloid. But I'm gonna disagree re: the intel center. That announcement is just the public unveiling of a major revamping that's been going on behind the scenes.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
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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.
In the war on terror, few battles are as clear and decisive as the one fought these last few weeks in southern Afghanistan. Six thousand Canadian, British, American and other NATO troops trounced resurgent Taliban fighters who dared to fight in the open. "Operation Medusa" dislodged insurgents from trenches and tunnels near Kandahar, killing a thousand or more.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Nineteen Afghan road workers were killed in Afghanistan on Friday when a bomb blast struck their vehicle and they were ambushed by a mob of Taleban, the interior ministry said.
(Xinhua) -- At least 25 Taliban rebels were killed on Friday by the police in the southern Uruzgan province of Afghanistan, an official told Xinhua. The police and some rebels exchanged fire in Chora district, killing 25 Taliban militants, said Mohammad Qasim, the provincial police chief. One policeman was also killed and another injured in the clash, he said. About 20 pieces of weapons including machine-guns were also seized by the police. 
CAIRO, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The United States has denied entry to four Egyptian Muslim clerics sent to Florida to officiate at religious events during the approaching fasting month of Ramadan, Cairo airport officials said on Friday. The last of the four, 
GUWAHATI: At least seven rebels were killed in a gunbattle between rival factions of a separatist militant group in India's remote northeastern state of Nagaland, police said on Friday. The clash occured on Thursday between two warring groups of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) in a village in the Athibung area.
QUETTA: Suspected militants fired four rockets at a Frontier Corps (FC) check post in Wadh tehsil of Khuzdar district on Friday. The militants fled the scene when FC personnel retaliated. 
MIRANSHAH: The fate of 10 tribesmen arrested on charges of attacking coalition forces inside Afghanistan will be decided by a 10-member committee monitoring an accord between pro-Taliban militants and the government in North Waziristan, a jirga member said on Friday. The committee will determine whether the arrested tribesmen were involved in the attack or not, Maulana Muhammad Alam told Daily Times after discussing the issue with North Waziristan chief administrator Dr Fakhr-e-Alam. He said the 10 men were handed over to the jirga after security forces cordoned off a village in Lwara Mandi near the Pak-Afghan border a few days ago when the tribal jirga negotiated peaceful handover of the 10 suspects.
September 22, 2006: Coalition forces in Iraq have suddenly received the manpower equivalent of three light infantry divisions. They did not suffer any repercussions in domestic politics as a result, and now have a huge edge over al-Qaeda in al-Anbar province. How did this happen? Tribal leaders in the largely Sunni province on the Syrian border got together and signed an agreement to raise a tribal force of 30,000 fighters to take on foreign fighters and terrorists. 
A French regional newspaper quoted a French secret service report on Saturday as saying that Saudi Arabia is convinced that al Qaeda leader 
