Peretz: French UNIFIL say will fire at IAF overflights
By Gideon Alon, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service
Commanders of the French contingent of the United Nations force in Lebanon have warned that they might have to open fire if Israel Air Force warplanes continue their overflights in Lebanon, Defense Minister Amir Peretz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday.
Peretz said that nevertheless, Israel would continue to patrol the skies over Lebanon as long as United Nations resolution 1701 remained unfilfilled, adding that such operations were critical for the country's security, especially as the abducted IDF soldiers remain in Hezbollah custody and the transfer of arms continue.
Over the past few days, Peretz said, Israel had gathered clear evidence that Syria was transfering arms and ammunition to Lebanon, meaning that the embargo imposed by UN Resolution 1701 was not being completely enforced.
Israel plans to inform the joint committee of representatives of UNIFIL, the Israel Defense Forces and the Lebanese Army that unless the arms transfers are stopped, Israel will be forced to take independent action, Peretz said.
EFL
This is what I get for speaking up for the French. They won't protect their own cities from marauding gangs of "yoots" but they will go to the wall to protect Hizbollah's renewed build-up. Ingrates, cowards, craven Vichyite collaborationists.
#4
Israel should notify the French ambassador that any hostile action taken by French forces against Israeli forces will be taken as acts of aggression against Israel by France.
In the event of such hostile action, France must be prepared for Israel to defend itself by returning "appropriate defensive" fires on the French ground forces.
Of course, if such measures are taken from French ships in the Mediterranean, Israel would have little choice but to neutralize said threat.
Then Israel should make sure that France's announcement, and its ramifications is fully understood in France. As in, how would the French government appreciate banner headlines that read: "France Commits Acts Of War Against Israel".
While I'm sure their Moroccans would enjoy the headline, I doubt many ethnic French would.
#7
French Rantburgers - I hate to say it, but you all better be sure your passports are up to date, you've got money outside of the EU, and you have plans to leave.
I know you don't want to leave your country, but it's looking more and more like you may have to. It's coming....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/16/2006 21:53 Comments ||
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#8
France: not willing to do the job they promised - disarming Hezbollah. Picking on the Joooos might give you extra credit with the Arabs, but your soldiers will pay the price. I smell De Villepin
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/16/2006 22:17 Comments ||
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#9
Yes it does seem like a rather obvious attempt to curry favour with the "youths" at home, in order to stop them from burning cars and injuring the police. If they get into a situation with Israel, the whole of France can unite against the one true enemy...
#10
And the pi$$er about this whole thing is that the French govt will gain nothing in favor with the local Muzzies in France by doing this little stunt. They will want more and more. Every bit of appeasement and accommodation on the part of the govt is seen as a sign of weakness to be exploited.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/16/2006 22:28 Comments ||
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#12
I always thought the Hezbollah - Israeli ceasefire was only a temp thing (history being the guide), little did I suspect France would join the Hezbos next go round.
#14
Open fire with what, exactly? Did the Frogs bring anti-aircraft missles with 'em? That would require radar to be effective, and I don't think they're up for that kind of investment. They might have MANPADs, but even if they do they're very unlikely to hit a fighter aircraft on combat patrol.
What are they going to do? Waive their private parts at them? Fart in their general direction?
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
10/16/2006 23:23 Comments ||
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AFGHAN, COALITION FORCE DESTROY TERRORIST IED COMPOUND
KABUL, Afghanistan An Afghan and Coalition force encountered resistance and destroyed a known IED cell within a compound, killing three terrorists and destroying the compound with precision air strikes early this morning near the village of Zakur in Ghazni Province.
The compound housed improvised explosive device facilitators.
When the combined force attempted to peacefully search the compound and ask residents to come out for questioning, enemy personnel inside the compound began firing and wounded one Coalition solider. The combined force called in close-air support and killed three suspects in the engagement.
During the engagement, a weapons cache blew up within the compound causing extensive damage. (I love it when that happens.)
When the combined force went back in to do a search of the compound, doors were discovered booby trapped with grenades and RPG rounds, further endangering the combined force and the local civilian residents. Small arms and ammunition chest racks were also discovered strewn around the courtyard.
The combined force determined the area to be too dangerous for further searching. They also assessed the area to be an imminent threat to local civilians due to booby traps and unexploded ordinance. Subsequently, a second precision strike was directed to destroy the explosives in the remaining compound buildings. (This part warms my heart too.)
Based on credible intelligence, the combined force went to great lengths to ensure local civilians were not endangered.
No women and children were present in the compound, which was only occupied by fighting-age males.
THE Talibans military commander, Mullah Dadullah, has been filmed executing eight men who were accused of spying for British and American forces in Afghanistan, it was claimed last week. In a series of clips released by Dadullah to Geo, the Pakistani television station, the Afghan men are seen confessing their crimes and then being laid out in the dust with their arms and legs bound.
The Pak Daily Times version had these unfortunates as Brits.
According to a Taliban statement that accompanied the video, Dadullah himself is then shown hacking off their heads and placing them on the victims torsos. The executioners face is not shown in the footage. The video describes the men as spies working for the Christians and crusaders. The footage, which was released in the midst of an intensive Taliban campaign against British, American and Canadian forces, appears to be an attempt to terrify Afghans out of co-operating with the coalition.
It also highlights the Talibans increasing use of suicide bombers, paying tribute to a number of militants who have died in such attacks and showing new suicide bomb volunteers receiving a ticket to heaven from Dadullah at his campaign headquarters. The footage shows a black-bearded Dadullah wearing a white salwar kameez, black robe and turban, signing each ticket while a clerk registers the new volunteer in a ledger.
Shots of the new bombers are followed by clips of eight men who were killed in suicide attacks between February and June this year. One of them, who is seen laughing in the film, was killed on February 24; another on May 18. Analysts said the video was at least six weeks old.
The Taliban tape emerged as President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan said he had received backing from London and Washington for his policy of striking peace deals with pro-Taliban militants who control large parts of North and South Waziristan, the tribal border provinces that have served as a haven for fighters returning from battles with coalition forces. Musharraf made an agreement with rebels in North Waziristan last month after several years of fighting left more than 800 Pakistani troops dead. Under the deal, government soldiers withdrew from the area and Taliban prisoners were released. Militants agreed to stop attacks on Pakistani troops and cross-border assaults on coalition forces in Afghanistan; but while attacks on Pakistani forces have stopped, raids inside Afghanistan and assassinations of the Talibans Waziri opponents have intensified.
According to documents passed to The Sunday Times, Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader, was the guiding hand behind acceptance of the deal. Letters sent to his Pakistani followers last May and June reveal that the Taliban wanted the agreement so that they could divert more fighters into attacks on the British and Americans.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Perv has given the Talibunnies freedom in North/South Waristan by signing that agreement.
BAIDOA, Somalia (AP) - Ethiopian troops alongside government forces entered a southern Somali town Sunday, residents said, in a move likely to further strain tensions with Islamic radicals who are tightening their grip on the war-ravaged country. Well-armed troops aboard seven trucks mounted with machine guns arrived in the agricultural town of Dinsor, witnesses said. The forces then left, residents told The Associated Press. "They were telling us that they were in control and not to worry," shopkeeper Mohamed Abdi Salam told the AP by telephone.
Ethiopia on Sunday denied its troops had entered Dinsor. Sightings of Ethiopian troops in Somalia have been increasing since July, despite their repeated denials.
Last Monday, witnesses said hundreds of Ethiopian and government troops forced Islamic fighters to abandon Bur Haqaba, a strategic hilltop town. They said the forces later withdrew.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
There are two main routes from the sea to Ethiopia that are passable by heavy vehicles. The Somali "capital" sits astride one of them.
What you are seeing are movements by the Ethiopian forces to keep the Islamists pushed back from their border. They would rather prevent contact, but if it happens, it will be in Somalia and not at the border.
Central Command has a fairly robust presence in Djibouti in CJTF - Horn of Africa and these troops have been performing civil affairs duties throughout the region, including in Ethiopia. It would not be much of a stretch to assume that other sorts of work are being done as well.
In addition, the French have a sizeable unit of the Foreign Legion in Djibouti.
Ghardaïa security services investigations on an attempt to get weapons to Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC)s fiefdoms in the North of the country revealed that the four terrorists among who two were killed and others arrested were about to carry an arms shipment delivered by the desert Emir Khaled Abu Abbès thanks to a plan designed by Yahia Abu Haïtham, the GSPCs second region Emir. Security services were notified by citizens about a dubious activity in Ghardaïa suburbs, local sources stated. On this ground security services tightened and reinforced the usual check-points so as to trap the terrorists.
The sources stressed that African Sahel States provided terrorists with weapons and explosives due to be transmitted to terrorists northern fiefdoms, yet they did not specify the arms quantity Abu Abbès supplied with and which was made up of blackmail operations, theft and banks embezzlement west of Algiers and Algeria.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2006 00:00 ||
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BRITAIN will unveil plans for a map of Islamic extremist hotspots today in an effort to focus attention on them so they can be broken up, the Daily Mirror tabloid reported.
The campaign would be announced by Communities and Local Government Secretary Ruth Kelly in central London in a meeting with police chiefs and local city council heads, the newspaper reported without citing its sources. Ms Kelly would ask the police and council heads to identify the universities, schools and mosques where young Muslims were provided with extremist views. "The new extremism we are facing is the single biggest security issue facing local communities,'' Ms Kelly would say, the tabloid reported.
She's actually making some sense. I'm sure someone will deal with that.
"The world has changed since September 11 (2001) and 7/7 (the July 7, 2005 attacks on London's transport network). The government has to change and respond to that and we appeal to local authorities to do the same.
"We need to work closer together in partnership with the police and local communities to face down this threat.''
The report comes on the same day as The Guardian reported that lecturers and staff at Britain's universities would be asked to spy on "Asian-looking'' and Muslim students they suspected of supporting terrorist acts and involvement in Islamic extremism.
That's going to draw an indignant editorial.
Citing a document drawn up by the British education ministry, the newspaper said universities had been warned of talent-spotting by terrorists on campuses across the country, and of students being "groomed'' for extremism.
#2
Studying in 2001 I remember contacting senior pastoral figures at my university about the preferable treatment muslim students received in performing their sacraments and also to the haughty rhetoric of the University's Student Islamic Society. The response? A dismissive e-mail statinmg all students were accorded the same rights and that socieities and clubs were already closely monitored. On returning 3 years later I discovered the situation had become worse, with the campus being slowly Islamicised. Muslim students who were in a sizeable minority had separated themselves from other students and non-muslims felt threatened by the aggressive attitude of said muslims. Even moderate muslim girls were intimidated by the nutters into wearing hijab or dressing more modestly.
University adminstrators should cease the multiculti bullshit and ban all Islamic Societies from British campuses - whilst retaining facilities for Buddhists/Jews/Christians/Sikhs i.e. those religions whose principal aim is not to dominate and intimidate others - only this way will we cut the cancer of Islam out of schools, universities and hopefully British society altogether. I'm glad that at last we've grown the stones to go on the attack against these bastards.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
10/16/2006 4:31 Comments ||
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#3
Communities and Local Government Secretary Ruth Kelly has, anyway.
#5
Once again, the Brits have taken the lead. Will the US join them ?
Will the US remain in denial for a few more years ?
Will any other EU country follow their lead and begin to isolate the cancer of Islam ?
If you answered 'no', 'yes', and 'uuummmabey', you get an 'A' for today and you can go play golf for the rest of the day.
#7
wxjames, you're assuming the Feds haven't gathered this kind of information long ago. Based on the arrests in Brooklyn, Queens, Lackawana, Lodi and elsewhere, I'd say the evidence is that you're wrong about that.
#9
While the Brits may feel they need a map for this purpose (given their proportionately much larger Muslim population, plus their ongoing issues post-colonies) we are already coordinating info flow between federal, state and local levels of law enforcement / intel -- and in a much bigger country, too -- without such a map.
Maybe not perfectly, but we've come a long way since 9/11.
I don't know that publishing a map here is useful -- and it might be counterproductive if it compromises investigations. Remember, the Brits are the ones who are now notifying Islamist imams prior to raids. Not a habit I want us to adopt.
#11
My gawd, this is a tremendous step forward. Identify these asses. Let it be known they are under constant surveillance. Any false moves result in immediate deportation. We definitely need this same type program in US. We have Muzzie enclaves coast to coast. Now I see that a few greedy bankers want to set up Islamic banking groups. Deport these scumbags right along with their Muzzie overlords. Let them be dhimmis in the land of camels if that's their desire. Bravo Brits. Keep fighting.
#13
I think we need to wait and see how really on the move the Brits are. Seems a bit premature to issue congratulations. There is going to be a very strong backlash against this with all the usual claims about marginalization, mass blame, etc. The universtiy folks will certainly gag. Lets see how strong they are when the white colonial guilt cards are waved before them.
#14
'geek, for Dearborn, I can even give you street by street analysis w/an eight digit grid if need be. The latter being for on-call targets and such - we can plug it into our fire plan sketch.
#15
Have the Brits really understood that giving away an inch will result in losing a mile with these people? These days of PC worshipping, backpeddling is not uncommon.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government said on Monday that the test conducted by North Korea on October 9 was a nuclear explosion of less than one kiloton.
"Analysis of air samples collected on October 11, 2006, detected radioactive debris which confirms that North Korea conducted an underground nuclear explosion," the director of national intelligence said in a statement.
The statement said the explosion yield was less than a kiloton. By comparison, the nuclear bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945 was about 12.5 kilotons.
The announcement last week by the reclusive communist state that it had tested a nuclear bomb sharply escalated world concerns over North Korea's nuclear program.
#1
Furthermore, to get a sense of how these stack up to contemporary nuclear weapons:
The amount of energy released by fission bombs can range between the equivalent of less than a ton of TNT upwards to around 500,000 tons (500 kilotons) of TNT.
The second basic type of nuclear weapon produces a large amount of its energy through nuclear fusion reactions, and can be over a thousand times more powerful than fission bombs
#2
Less than a kiloton, but still nuclear (for NKor) = a dud. They got FAR less than a chain reaction. Either their plutonium was impure (as many suggest) or their device didn't implode properly (my guess). There's LOTS of things that can go wrong in a nuke. I think the NKors found out for themselves that they don't have all the answers, only they'll NEVER admit it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/16/2006 13:16 Comments ||
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#3
They are close, probably a dud but they will learn from this. Even a dud of this size would be a significant dirty bomb.
And the world, UN, continues to debate and do little. Our enemies are learning and getting stronger. North Korea, an ugly war my father fought in, and now probaly one my son will someday as well.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/16/2006 13:59 Comments ||
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#4
Pakistan also had some fizzles during its nuclear tests.
#9
I agree with Old Patriot. That's why I was eager to see how this test would go. This is undoubtedly a Chicom (Old Russkie) design. And they flubbed it. Not terribly surprising. Determination of yield is a variety of very exacting pieces of the puzzle. Everything has to be perfect to get a large yield. They're not nearly there yet. Hydrogen bomb ? You have to be kidding. This is orders of magnitude above their current capabilities. I expect Chicoms will lend help to make certain the next one makes a reasonable boom. Two flubs in a row would cause Kimmie to upchuck his Hennessy.
#10
Pakistan also had some fizzles during its nuclear tests.
AQ Khan's U design reportedly failed.
Munir Ahmed Khan's Pu design (also Chinese) reportedly worked, though at fairly low yield.
Posted by: john ||
10/16/2006 19:36 Comments ||
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#11
This is orders of magnitude above their current capabilities
What capabilities?
We know that
(a) NoKO didn't have the technology to build a plant to manufacture bicycles.
They relied for years on imports of used bicycles from Japan and China.
Only last year did they get technology transfer from China and build a bicycle factory.
(b) Travellers report that NoKo makes window glass with bubbles in it. Imagine that. These people have not figured out how to make glass without bubbles in it.
NoKo is yet to manufacture a tractor, or a high speed lathe. But they build nukes?
I assume ALL NoKo tech is direct transfer from China.
It serves Chinese interests to have rogue clients tie down its adversaries in local conflicts.
And transfer of a chinese H design is not out of the question.
The A design provided to Pakistan was quite detailed, more for techicians than real scientists. Detailed instructions on how to machine each part.
When you're at technician level, your tests are crude, just to verify the bomb works. You can gain little other knowledge from them because you're not doing real design.
The Pakistani tests were hurried, with little data collection. They're at technician level.
NoKO has invested a lot of resources, so their bomb people might be beyond that level, into real design. They lack the industrial base however, so Chinese help and actual designs would be crucial.
Posted by: john ||
10/16/2006 19:46 Comments ||
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#12
And here is something else to consider.
We know that many pakistani missile tests were actually NoKo missiles painted green and launched from Pak soil.
So while NoKo maintained a moratorium, Pak did tests for them.
Suppose China is using its client states - Pak and NoKo to perform tests on components of a chinese weapon?
They're not providing the actual Pu or U, for fear that the isotope signature would reveal the source, but the technology may be theirs and they are using the data gathered.
Posted by: john ||
10/16/2006 19:54 Comments ||
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A BOARD game that glorifies the violent race riot in Sydney's Cronulla is being promoted by nationalist group Australia First.
The Australia First website holds a link to an anonymous website hosting the Cronulla Monopoly board game.
The game's anonymous creators say it's dedicated to "the efforts of all those who had the guts to come along to the rally at Cronulla ... to defend the Aussie way of life".
"They were there to protect ordinary Australians from the Lebanese thugs who travel in packs and gang up on innocent individuals, especially women."
The object of the game, which can be downloaded from the internet, is to buy property in the Sutherland Shire in order to donate money to right-wing groups like Australia First and Patriotic Youth League.
Images of people waving the Australian flag are positioned on the board, which also contains the words "Today is the Shire's Independence Day ... Freedom to all Aussies".
Australia First, which is entering a candidate in the New South Wales state election in March, said in a message on its website that it did not create Cronulla Monopoly.
But it said the game "seems to have emerged as a response to the problems of the multiculti (sic) sickness that has gripped Australia."
Posted by: Howard UK ||
10/16/2006 7:14 Comments ||
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#4
Maybe this does not belong in Local after all , Oz. The problem seems to be global. I returned to Lubbock, Tx after an absence of just 10 months and found the illegal alien presence to be visibly greater. It was already bad enough, but the number of illegals here has doubled in less than a year, mostly because of an enormous construction boom promoted by the former mayor (who is in the construction business, oddly enough). There are now more Mexican illegals in Lubbock (23,000) than there are terrorists in Iraq (20,000), if the Texas Tech School of Human Services and Centcom, respectively, are to be believed
...This is NOT good - I had no suspicion that it was this bad and I have a feeling it's worse than we know - h/t to NRO's Corner - Mike
Navy 'too weak' for big role in Korea blockade
Plans to impose a blockade of North Korea to prevent the regime acquiring nuclear weapons were thrown in disarray last night.
China said it would oppose attempts to inspect suspect vessels and Royal Navy commanders said Britain was unable to make a significant military commitment to the proposed United Nations naval task force.
The United States is leading attempts to put together a force that would prevent suspect cargoes from entering the Marxist dictatorship and stop North Korea exporting weapons of mass destruction technology to rogue regimes such as Iran and terrorist groups.
Attempts to assemble the force began in earnest yesterday after the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution late on Saturday imposing tough arms and financial sanctions against Pyongyang following its claim that it had test-fired a nuclear warhead last week.
The UN resolution prompted an angry response from North Korea, which said it would regard the imposition of sanctions as an act of war and described the resolution itself as "gangster-like".
China, which voted in favour of the resolution at the Security Council, immediately cast doubt over the effectiveness of the proposed naval force when government officials said they did not approve of the inspections regime and would not take part.
Amended rules of engagement have been drawn up for the US 7th fleet, which is based in North Asia, and Pentagon officials said yesterday that they could count on support from the vessels of 15 "core" members of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), which was set up in 2003 to prevent North Korea acquiring weapons of mass destruction technology, and includes Britain, Australia, Japan, and Singapore.
Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, will this week begin an intensive round of shuttle diplomacy, visiting China, South Korea, Japan and Russia in an attempt to shore up support for the UN resolution.
But senior Royal Navy officers last night cast serious doubt over Britain's ability to make a significant naval contribution to the proposed UN force, claiming that drastic cuts in government spending on the navy over the past decade had severely reduced their ability to participate in major foreign operations.
"I am staggered that the Government is trying to make this commitment when it knows what our Armed Forces are going through," a senior Royal Navy officer last night told The Daily Telegraph.
"But it knows that to keep our presence on the Security Council Britain needs to demonstrate what we can do."
Defence experts predicted that the most the Royal Navy could contribute was a single frigate, a Royal Fleet auxiliary support vessel and a Trafalgar class hunter killer submarine.
But senior navy officers expressed deep concern about their ability to defend their ships against a hostile missile or fighter threat after a decision was enforced six months ago to scrap the Sea Harrier fighter.
As a result of government cutbacks any British ships deployed to the South China Sea to enforce the UN resolution would depend on the American or French navies to provide "beyond visual range" air defence with their aircraft carriers.
The Navy has been cut by almost a third since Labour came into power, and the admission by Royal Navy commanders that they were struggling to find suitable ships to deploy to the UN force will raise further questions about the Labour government's handling of the armed forces' budget. Britain's military commitments to Iraq and North Korea have exposed glaring deficiencies in resources and equipment.
The approval of the Security Council resolution bolsters the right of US naval commanders to stop and search suspect vessels. North Korean trade will now be liable to constant scrutiny.
The nerve-centre of the non-proliferation web around the Korean peninsula is the USS Kitty Hawk, NOTE: the Kitty Hawk is one of the last two conventional-powered CVs in service, the other being USS John F. Kennedy a nuclear powered aircraft carrier that commands a fleet of 60 ships and 350 aircraft.
China has repeatedly promised to tighten restrictions on North Korean shipments but any crackdown has so far been limited. A Chinese vessel carrying North Korean radar was intercepted in the Mediterranean last month.
Security experts also fear that increased US air and sea activity around China will raise the risk of a clash with the 600-ship strong People's Liberation Army Navy.Not likely, the USN will board them in international waters, and with the exceptions of a very few vessels, the PLAN is not a blue-water force. They might watch closely, but they won't interfere.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/16/2006 12:37 ||
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#1
To add to the woes, the US Navy has also been substantially reduced. Reagan built a 600-ship navy. Clinton dismantled almost half of it. We're just now beginning to get back to where we need to be (400-500 ships). We do have about 200 ships in mothballs, but most are old and out of date.
Actually, the only country in NATO with a decent navy (outside of the UK) is Italy. Theirs, however, is primarily a defensive navy, with little capability of long-range deployment and open ocean capacity. The British people need to wake up and demand a more robust navy if they plan to keep their far-flung but greatly reduced empire. The Argentinans are still a threat to the Falklands, and pirates are a threat to many of Britain's small colonies such as Ascension and some Pacific islands.
I think we're going to have to depend on Australia and Japan for help in the Far East. We used to be able to count on New Zealand, but they're now a "peaceful" people. The only reason they're not facing huge problems from outside is because they're at the end of the earth, literally.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/16/2006 13:28 Comments ||
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#2
I think it may be time to turn the annual RIMPAC exercises into something more than strictly training. For those unaware, RIMPAC is a multi-national naval wargame with traditional red vs. blue forces ( surface, air, sub-surface). Quite intense. IIRC from my active duty days, the US, Japan, Taiwan, Austrailia, Phillipines and others all played. I will hazard a guess that we also used our Marines to take a beach, but being an airdale, my focus was on keeping the planes in the air.
#3
I would have to vie for the US resucitating its mothball fleet, for several reasons. First, sheer number of ships that can be floated in a short period of time. Second, far less cost than any new ship. Third, our allies just don't have the chutzpah to help much.
It's important to remember that these ships do not have to be brought up to full capability, they mostly need good enough engines to perform interdiction of cargo ships. Defensive and offensive systems do not have to be organic, they can just be hauled aboard before departure and removed later.
Put this "rust bucket" fleet over a broad area, with modern combat ships in reserve, giving support where needed.
In six months of crash refitting, we could easily add 100 ships suitable for the job.
#4
As usual, the Chinese giveth, and the Chinese taketh away. Note that they're putting out BS about supporting a coup. There is no PR like Chinese PR.
#9
This is bullshit. Anything getting into North Korea has to come from China (we can't stop it with a blockade) or by boat. Boats leave wakes. Wakes that are visible from space in some cases.
Post a sub on each side of the peninsula with orders to confront or sink any ships breaking the declared quarantine and its over. Anyone will risk being borded by the western powers but few will risk being sunk. Stop playing games.
#11
RD is right. With all the money saved by using mothballed ships, the vast majority of the crew can be over-the-hill gang who would be more than glad to get good pay to be away from the old lady and wear a somewhat larger uniform again.
Only the bording parties need to be young and strong, though I certainly wouldn't advise any Nork crew to try and take on the old swabs. You never know when they might have brought their cutlasses with them.
The bottom line is for quick quantity of ships, so that if needed, our ships of the line can take off to attend to other business, while leaving the blockade whole.
Giving the geezers enough teeth, as it were, to tear the Norks a new one if they try anything.
#12
Rather sad to reflect upon "reported" USN surface reduced capability (if valid). Silent Service is energized to the point that they realize we won't utilize their power (i.e., de-energized. Oops. Too many Zzzz,s in there). How did we let ourselves get to this point with all the +O-9's, SES and GS/GM-15's out there? I know. Do you know?
#14
Cuz they've gotta contend with all the PCBS. And, that must be ture because we seem to be getting just a tad bit less aggressive/assertive and more politicized these days. What say You, Hon?
The New York lawyer who was convicted of material support for terrorism after carrying messages for her client, terrorist sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, is scheduled to be sentenced today to as much as 30 years in prison. She and her leftist and other pro-terrorist allies are pinning their hopes for leniency on a strategy that argues she became so emotionally involved in the sheik's case that she acted irrationally &ndash a strategy that is underpinned by a sealed letter to the court from a psychiatrist. In other words, as a moonbat, she cannot be held responsible for her actions.
A psychiatric report submitted to the federal judge in Manhattan who will decide the sentence, John Koeltl, claims that several emotional events in Stewart's life suggest her actions were motivated by "human factors of her client and his situation" and not by politics. The psychiatrist, Steven Teich, points to 11 emotional events that he claims prompted her to want to take action on Abdel Rahman's behalf. Among the events that make Dr.Teich's list are her experiences seeing Abdel Rahman incarcerated and the 1995 suicide of a drug defendant named Dominick Maldonado, whom Stewart had once represented. In other words, as a moonbat, she cannot be held responsible for her actions.
"Ms. Stewart's commitment to the protection of her client, the Sheik, in prison was magnified by emotions from her perceived failure to protect her former client Mr. Maldonado, which had, consequently, resulted in his death by suicide," Mr. Teich wrote. While the evaluation by Dr. Teich is filed under seal, Stewart's attorneys quote portions of it at length in public legal papers. Stewart's behavior was "emotionally based and sometimes impulsive" and her mental state while representing Abdel Rahman "immobilized her critical ability to evaluate the potential consequences of her actions," according to the psychiatric report. In other words, as a moonbat, she cannot be held responsible for her actions.
Stewart has long maintained that she served as a messenger between Abdel Rahman and his followers because she wanted him to remain involved in Egyptian politics in preparation for the unlikely possibility that he would be transferred to Egypt and freed. Or until The Revolution Comes and President Jane Fonda or Attorney General Mumia abu-Jamal pardons him.
In a letter filed last month to Judge Koeltl, first reported in the New York Times, Stewart's apology is in line with the psychiatric evaluation. "Finally, and this was fully revealed to me in my discussions post-trial with Dr. Teich, if I have a tragic flaw it is that I care too much for my clients," Stewart wrote."I am soft-hearted to the point of self-abnegation. When one reaches out to another human being, even a hated and despised defendant, the client is grateful, the lawyer is fulfilled and an emotional mutuality arises."
Since being indicted four years ago, Stewart had defended her actions. "I would do it again it's the way a lawyer is supposed to behave." Stewart told reporters the day of her conviction, the Washington Post reported. But that was before she realized she was going to prison.
But Stewart has switched tacks as her sentencing approaches. Now she blames her decision to serve as Abdel Rahman's mouthpiece on the emotional attachment she feels for the 68 year-old, blind and ailing sheik. That, and prison is really yucky.
#1
pinning their hopes for leniency on a strategy that argues she became so emotionally involved in the sheik's case
This carries all the weight of a woman who marries a death row inmate and gets caught attempting to help him break out of prison.
Anyone who becomes emotionally involved with a known terrorist is already a danger to themselves and others. Stewart's putative contrition comes so far after the fact that its display can only be interpreted as being for public consumption. She has no reasonable basis to ask for leniency, especially in light of her defiance upon being convicted.
With her legal training, Stewart has manipulated the justice system to knowingly abet terrorism and now attempts to subvert it once again as she seeks to avoid proper punishment for her crimes.
#4
I hope they hammer this woman. I'm an emotional woman and I care too much is just crap! Women have come too far in our society to allow for this excuse to get by unpunished.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/16/2006 14:05 Comments ||
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#5
...if I have a tragic flaw it is that I care too much for my clients," Stewart wrote."I am soft-hearted to the point of self-abnegation.
I am also guilty as sin.
So long, bitch.
I love watching them beg...
#17
28 months is an insult to the American people. Rahman is essentially responsible for 9-11. He evolved the prototype plot for destroying the WTC Towers. Stewart's active collaboration with Rahman symbolizes the height of treason. 28 years would have been far more appropriate.
#18
Sorry Ms. Stewart, but your case doesn't quit echo the precedents you've cited. For example, the death penalty, sadly, doesn't apply in your case. Nice try though.
Per the article, she's looking at upwards of 30 years. Given her age, I'd be merciful and impose between 20 - 25 years. Forthwith. COR revoked. Appeal bond denied. "Marshalls, take her into custody".
Ms. Stewart thought she was going to be the post 9-11 female version of William Kunstler. Sorry bitch, this is not Berkley circa 1969.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
10/16/2006 15:06 Comments ||
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#19
Zenster: what's this 28 months you refer to? Has the bitch only been sentenced to 28 months? Did I miss an update or post?
Posted by: Mark Z ||
10/16/2006 15:08 Comments ||
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#20
OMFG....
Just read the posts from mcsegeek....Ihope that post was in error. 28 months is simply wrong.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
10/16/2006 15:11 Comments ||
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#21
Stewart has long maintained that she served as a messenger between Abdel Rahman and his followers because she wanted him to remain involved in Egyptian politics in preparation for the unlikely possibility that he would be transferred to Egypt and freed.
Except that wasn't her fricking job. In fact, there was a court order saying he should be incommunicado. An order she violated, admittedly on purpose.
Did she make her admission of being "emotionally involved" in open court?
If so, then file treason charges. She's already made her admission; conviction is a slam-dunk.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
10/16/2006 15:15 Comments ||
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#24
Reminds me of the old joke about the definition of chutzpah: a young man kills his parents and then throws himself on the mercy of the court as an orphan.
#26
NEW YORK (AP) -- Civil rights lawyer Lynne Stewart was sentenced Monday to 28 months in prison for helping a client, a blind sheik who plotted to blow up New York City landmarks, communicate with his followers.
Stewart, 67, could have faced up to 30 years in prison for her 2005 conviction on a federal charge of providing material support to terrorists.
She smiled as the judge announced his decision to send her to prison for less than 2-1/2 years.
"If you send her to prison, she's going to die. It's as simple as that," defense lawyer Elizabeth Fink had told the judge before the sentence was pronounced.
Stewart, who was treated last year for breast cancer, had released a statement by Omar Abdel-Rahman, a blind Egyptian sheik sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted in plots to blow up five New York landmarks and assassinate Egypt's president.
Prosecutors have called the case a major victory in the war on terrorism. They said Stewart and other defendants carried messages between the sheik and senior members of an Egyptian-based terrorist organization, helping spread Abdel-Rahman's call to kill those who did not subscribe to his extremist interpretation of Islamic law.
In a letter to the judge before her hearing, Stewart proclaimed: "I am not a traitor."
"The end of my career truly is like a sword in my side," She said in court Monday. "Permit me to live out the rest of my life productively, lovingly, righteously."
She acknowledged that she zealously tried to save a blind Egyptian sheik from life in prison for plotting to blow up New York City landmarks.
But she argued that the government's characterization of her was wrong and took unfair advantage of the "hysteria that followed 9/11 and that was re-lived during the trial." (Watch Stewart vow to fight on -- 2:01 )
On Monday, that judge is to decide whether Stewart, 67, should join her former client behind bars for enabling him to communicate with his followers. Prosecutors asked for the maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
Outside the federal courthouse, about 150 Stewart supporters who could not get inside the capacity-filled courtroom chanted "Free Lynne, Free Lynne."
As she entered the courthouse, Stewart shouted to them "I love you" and "I'm hanging in there."
"It's not just Lynn Stewart who is a victim, it's the Bill of Rights that's the victim," said Al Dorfman, 72, a retired lawyer who was among the Stewart supporters standing outside.
Stewart was convicted in February 2005 of providing material support to terrorists. She had released a statement by Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, who she represented at his 1995 trial and who was sentenced to life in prison for plots to blow up five New York landmarks and assassinate Egypt's president.
In court papers, prosecutors told U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl that Stewart's "egregious, flagrant abuse of her profession, abuse that amounted to material support to a terrorist group, deserves to be severely punished."
Stewart, whose sentencing was delayed after she was diagnosed with breast cancer last year and underwent treatment, asked the judge for mercy.
"The government's characterization of me and what occurred is inaccurate and untrue," she wrote. "It takes unfair advantage of the climate of urgency and hysteria that followed 9/11 and that was re-lived during the trial. I did not intentionally enter into any plot or conspiracy to aid a terrorist organization."
Mixed with her trademark defiance -- "I am not a traitor" -- was a measure of contrition. After some soul searching, she wrote, she had concluded that a careless over-devotion to her clients -- "I am softhearted to the point of self-abnegation" -- was her undoing.
Stewart was arrested six months after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, along with Mohamed Yousry, an Arabic interpreter, and Ahmed Abdel Sattar, a U.S. postal worker.
Prosecutors argued that Stewart blatantly broke rules designed to keep the blind cleric from inciting violence among his followers, and Koeltl upheld her conviction. The judge rejected her claim that Abdel-Rahman was engaging in protected speech when he expressed his opinion about a cease fire by Islamic militants in Egypt that Stewart passed along in a 2000 press release.
Stewart and Yousry were both convicted of providing material support to terrorists. Stewart also was convicted of defrauding the government and making false statements for breaking her promise to abide by government rules to keep the sheik from communicating with his followers.
Sattar was convicted of conspiracy to kill and kidnap people in a foreign country and could face life in prison. All three were to be sentenced Monday.
At least one lawyer, Elizabeth Fink, wrote to the judge on Stewart's behalf, calling the government's position "draconian, inhumane and ludicrous."
#28
In a letter to the judge before her hearing, Stewart proclaimed: "I am not a traitor." Upon which the judge exclaimed with mock surprise, "then what the hell are you?"
"The end of my career truly is like a sword in my side," She said in court Monday. "Permit me to live out the rest of my life productively, lovingly, righteously." To permit you to do that would be to sentence you to life in jail with the rest of the terrorists. Who knows, in due time they may even find you attractive.
In a pre-sentence document, prosecutors told U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl that Stewart's "egregious, flagrant abuse of her profession, abuse that amounted to material support to a terrorist group, deserves to be severely punished."
Stewart, in her letter to the judge, said she did not intentionally enter into any plot or conspiracy to aid a terrorist organization. She believes the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks made her behavior intolerable in the eyes of the government and gave it an excuse to make an example out of her.
"The government's characterization of me and what occurred is inaccurate and untrue," she wrote. "It takes unfair advantage of the climate of urgency and hysteria that followed 9/11 and that was relived during the trial. I did not intentionally enter into any plot or conspiracy to aid a terrorist organization."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Dember argued at her sentencing that the case had nothing to do with Sept. 11 and everything to do with the fact that she sympathized with, aided and abetted a convicted terrorist mastermind.
"What she was doing was smuggling terrorism messages and smuggling out Abdel-Rahman's responses," Dember said.
About 150 Stewart supporters who could not get inside the capacity-filled courtroom stood outside the courthouse, chanting "Free Lynne, Free Lynne." Some 200 others jammed the hallways outside the courtroom.
"It's not just Lynn Stewart who is a victim, it's the Bill of Rights that's the victim," said Al Dorfman, 72, a retired ambulance chaserlawyer who joined the crowd outside.
#30
At least one lawyer, Elizabeth Fink, wrote to the judge on Stewart's behalf, calling the government's position "draconian, inhumane and ludicrous."
C'mon. Who made up that name?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
10/16/2006 15:44 Comments ||
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#31
Actually, this is what we can expect from here on. The fight against domestic terrorists and their facilitators has been turned into a joke. We can thank "judge" Koeltl and a sentencing scheme which allowed him to force Kool Aid upon us all.
The LE model does not work. The judiciary is full of Tranzis and Dhimmis. This case could not have been clearer - a perfect chance to set the right precedent. We were screwed by yet another Clintoonian joke-judge. We will not get anywhere until these people are removed from power - or we abandon the LE approach completely.
One more cut toward our quota of one thousand, methinks.
#33
From #26 - "If you send her to prison, she's going to die. It's as simple as that," defense lawyer Elizabeth Fink had told the judge before the sentence was pronounced.
So it's a win-win situation!
One can only hope she kicks off in the slammer, of something slow and lingering...
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/16/2006 15:54 Comments ||
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#34
You didn't actually expect the legal profession to throw the book at one of their own? Not that treason and abetting those who tried to blow up the WTC, the UN, the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, the FBI offices, and murdered Meir Kahane is nearly as serious as drunk driving or smoking in a restaurant.
Posted by: ed ||
10/16/2006 16:18 Comments ||
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#35
Rahman was trying to blow up the UN? Hell, let him out!
#36
Fromm CNN: "A judge says he will sentence civil rights lawyer Lynne Stewart, convicted of providing material support to terrorists, to 28 months in prison, The Associated Press reports."
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/16/2006 16:38 Comments ||
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#37
Zen's got it right. BTW, how do you say "Eat sh** and dir" in Moonbatese?
Posted by: Kevin Costner ||
10/16/2006 17:23 Comments ||
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#40
But wait! There's more!
U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl pronounced the sentence of 28 months.
The judge said Stewart was guilty of smuggling messages between her client and his followers that could have "potentially lethal consequences." He called the crimes "extraordinarily severe criminal conduct."
But in departing from federal guidelines that called for 30 years behind bars, he cited Stewart's more than three decades of dedication to poor, disadvantaged and unpopular clients.
"Ms. Stewart performed a public service, not only to her clients, but to the nation," Koeltl said.
That's the judge, folks!
What the fuck is this shit?
Day: Let's say you were part of a government that you actually trusted and supported, and your country held political prisoners. At what point would you think monitoring and controlling these people was acceptable?
Stewart: I'm such a strange amalgam of old-line things and new-line things. I don't have any problem with Mao or Stalin or the Vietnamese leaders or certainly Fidel locking up people they see as dangerous. Because so often, dissidence has been used by the greater powers to undermine a people's revolution. The CIA pays a thousand people and cuts them loose, and they will undermine any revolution in the name of freedom of speech.
#43
Can you imagine the uproar if the prosecution had used these same statements against her? Fry her here till she fries in Hell. The feed the charred corpse to pigs.
#44
What a joke. I wrote the judge's name down on The List, as I have started doing over the past few years to remember them at the polls.
This sets a precedent, the prosecuters wanted 30 , she got 28 months. Next sentence hearing in a similar case they use her case as precedent. This pisses me off to no end. ait till the next case , it will be less
#46
What kind of mercy would this communist bitch with a football shaped head show toward her enemies? She ought to be kicked by every inmate while entering prison through a thuggish gauntlet.
Her and the communist scum that sympathize with this animal would impose martial law, "re-education" camps, and a systematic Gulag for opponents of the Commie-Wahhabi-Utopian future.
#50
#9, I agree. This obnoxious, ignorant bitch belongs in a bag. But not a burka. She should be in hermetic, sealed bag. After 3 minutes, dispose as garbage.
#51
A despicable POS Stalinist(CPUSA)traitor whose crassness knows no bounds nor depths. The stringy hair and chapped lip-thingies ALONE pass the Approved for Immediate Extermination acid test in my book (But, "Hey"... How's about them pits and the greasy bifocals, some might add). Kill it!
BTW, if you all didn't know, her defense team was fully funded by George Soros.
Linky, 'moose?
Sure, let's give her some mercy - a short rope instead of a long one.
Dear Barbara, please permit me to correct you, who is otherwise so rarely mistaken. A long rope allows the neck to snap much more easily due to acceleration after a prolonged drop whilst wearing the noose.
Short ropes merely encourage extremely slow strangulation due to incomplete separation of the cervical vertebrae.
Ohhhhh. I get it, now. You actually meant: "let's give us some, mercy." Short rope it is then!
#58
"Stewart: I'm such a strange amalgam of old-line things and new-line things. I don't have any problem with Mao or Stalin or the Vietnamese leaders or certainly Fidel locking up people they see as dangerous. Because so often, dissidence has been used by the greater powers to undermine a people's revolution. The CIA pays a thousand people and cuts them loose, and they will undermine any revolution in the name of freedom of speech."
The classic Leftist, communist justification (excuse) for imposing tyranny against those with whom they do not agree.
A SUSPECTED al Qaeda leader, accused of being involved in September 11 and planning the 2004 Madrid train bombings, has been imprisoned in a secret US jail for the past year, Spain's El Pais newspaper reported today. Mustafa Setmarian, 48, a Syrian with Spanish citizenship, was captured in Pakistan in October 2005 and is held in a prison operated by the US Central Intelligence Agency, Pakistani and European security service officials told El Pais.
He's currently being held at Ice Station Zebra.
A spokesman for the US embassy in Spain declined to comment on the report.
"I can say no more!"
Setmarian's 2005 capture was reported in May of this year after the United States put a $5 million bounty on the head of the alleged founder of al Qaeda's Spanish network. A photograph of the red-haired Setmarian has been removed from the US Federal Bureau of Intelligence's most-wanted web page.
Mission accomplished!
Pakistan has not answered requests from Madrid about the whereabouts of Setmarian, wanted in Spain for allegedly training September 11 hijackers in Afghanistan and ordering Madrid commuter train attacks that killed 191 people, according to El Pais.
Spain's high court is unable to request his extradition as he has not been officially imprisoned, the newspaper reported.
Imprisoned? Who? Nevah hoid of him!
Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon in June complained US officials were concealing information on his whereabouts.
Sorry Balt, we like you but this boy is ours.
Amnesty International has reported Setmarian's disappearance. The human rights organisation says dozens of Islamic radicals captured in Pakistan are held in clandestine jails operated by the United States and other countries.
Heh. The Ross Ice Shelf is nice this time of year.
Setmarian is married to Elena Moreno, a Spanish woman who says he is held in a secret CIA jail.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#2
Spain's high court is unable to request his extradition as he has not been officially imprisoned
For year we have heard of the terrorists operating "between the seams" of our legal and military operations. Glad to hear we have joined them on that battlefield. Hope they enjoy the land of not existing! BRRRRR!! It must be cold on ISZ and no arrow pointing to Mecca. LOL
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/16/2006 8:55 Comments ||
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#3
Finally, the secret base on the dark side of the moon is put to good use, at least!
#5
Let's hope he never experiences another day of freedom. These shitballs should not be released. They should experience death "from natural causes" while in custody.
#6
They should be held at the South pole, not the north. That way during rammadan when good Muslims are not allowed to eat during the daylight hours they will have 23 or so hours to consider their religion and misdeads as their stomachs growl.
(KUNA) -- A top commander of terror group Hizbul Mujahedeen was among the two guerrillas who surrendered before security forces in Udhampur district of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir Sunday. Hizbul area commander Mohammad Sharif alias Osama and his close associate Tariq surrendered before the Indian army and police Sunday, news agency Indo-Asian News Service reported. The duo also laid down their weapons before the Indian security personnel.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
I hate that kind of headline. The "top commander" of Hizbul is Syed Salahuddin. He didn't surrender, not having set foot in Kashmir for more years than he can count.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2006 12:49 Comments ||
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LAHORE: Gas supply to various industrial units in Hub was suspended after an explosion in the main gas pipeline, Geo television reported on Sunday. Police sources told the channel that the main gas pipeline was blown up near the Hub police station on Sunday evening. They said that the explosion damaged nearby electricity poles.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2006 00:00 ||
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Al-Qaida in Iraq said Saturday that a recent video tape made by a man claiming to be an insurgent who called for the replacement of the head of the terrorist group was fabricated.
The Mujahedeen Shura Council _ an umbrella organization of insurgent groups, including al-Qaida in Iraq _ said in a statement posted on its Web site that the video was 'a lie and a media trick.'
The statement could not be independently confirmed.
On Friday, a man who said he was an Iraqi Islamic insurgent released a video tape urging Osama bin Laden to replace al-Qaida in Iraq's leader with an Iraqi national. The man, who claimed to be Abu Osama al-Iraqi, said in the 17-minute video tape posted on a Web site commonly used by insurgents that there were 'deviations' by al-Qaida in Iraq under its new leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri.
Al-Masri _ whose pseudonym means 'the Egyptian' _ took over the leadership after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed by a U.S. airstrike in June. Other Sunni insurgents had criticized al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian, for turning Sunni Iraqis against the movement by killing civilians.
The Shura Council said the false video tape 'shows the great dilemma that the Crusader's coalition is passing through in Iraq especially after the calls for withdrawal that were released by the British army.'
The group was referring to Britain's top soldier, Gen. Richard Dannatt, who said Thursday that British troops should withdraw from Iraq. On Friday, he backpedaled from the comments, saying he meant troops should leave within years.
#1
This is probably the work of pro-government free-lancers and militia groups, as are many of the killings we see in Iraq these days. The institutional media cannot admit this, since they do not admit that such groups exist. Admitting as much would require that the government has popular support, which violates all standard media memes about this conflict.
(KUNA) -- At least eight Iraqis were killed and six others were injured by the hands of insurgents in two separated incidents in Mosul and Tel Afar, said a security source on Sunday. The source told KUNA that insurgents stormed a house in Al-Bakar neighborhood where they killed five Iraqis and injured another. The injured person, who was in critical condition, was transported to the hospital for treatment.
Meanwhile, the source added that a suicide bombing in Tel Afar east of Mosul caused the death of three civilians and the injury of five others. Even in the holy month of Ramadan insurgents are still conducting attacks in Iraq which resulted in the deaths of several civilians and the injury of others.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2006 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- At least 10 Iraqis were killed and 64 others injured in six explosions which rocked Kirkuk city northern Iraq, said a Iraqi police source on Sunday. The police source told KUNA that one of the incidents involved a suicide bomber who rammed his car into a security vehicle in downtown Kikruk killing five Iraqis and injuring 10 others. An hour later, a car rigged with explosives blasted a local market south of the city, said the source, who added that the incident caused the death of three citizens and the injury of nine others.
A number of 25 injuries and two deaths also occurred in an attack which targeted a women teachers club at Tiseen Neighborhood, pointed out the source. The source went on saying that a road-side bombing on the highway to Baghdad which targeted a police car resulted in the injury of eight Iraqis. The highway also witnessed the injury of two civilians when a booby-trapped car exploded behind a shop selling deserts. The sixth explosion happened on a highway leading to the southern parts of Kirkuk, said the Iraqi police and added that nine people were injured due to the attack.
The Chief of Kirkuk's province police, Major General Shirkoh Shaker told the press that the incidents showed that there was a lack of cooperation between the intelligence agency and interior forces. The attacks were successfully coordinated by the insurgents, stated the official who warned from the escalation of violence if the security forces in the country did not fully cooperate between each other.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
I can't find any corroboration of this story - and note that it's not a wire piece. Not on AP, Rooters, NYT, etc. Odd, that.
(KUNA) -- One terrorist was killed and four others were arrested when US helicopters bombarded a militant safehouse following an attack on a US patrol vehicle in western Baghdad, said the US Army in a statement on Sunday. It said the vehicle was attacked with light weaponry, following which the soldiers and militants exchanged fire, killing one terrorist. The body of the terrorists was moved by his colleagues to a nearby place, upon which the soldiers followed and were attacked once again from one of the houses. In this second attack, two terrorists were wounded and a car was destroyed. According to the statement, the helicopter was then called in and four suspects were arrested.
Meanwhile, an Iraqi police source said Sunday ten members of the same family, eight of whom were women, were killed last night when unknown militants stormed a house near the village of Suwaira, south of Baghdad. The source said the area grouped people of different religious backgrounds and had recently witnessed sectarian violence that claimed the lives of dozens of civilians.
In a separate attack, a civilian was killed and two were wounded in an explosion targeting an Iraqi police patrol vehicle in western Baghdad. Moreover, two civilians were wounded in an explosion targeting an SUV driven by western security contractors in Ghadeer district, eastern Baghdad. The contractors escaped unharmed.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2006 00:00 ||
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Two US Marines assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 were killed in combat Sunday during enemy action in Anbar province, the military reported. The Marines were the third and fourth killed over the past two days in the restive province, that stretches from west of Baghdad to the Saudi Arabian, Jordanian and Syrian borders. Earlier Sunday, the military reported three soldiers died in a roadside bombing a day earlier south of Baghdad.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
The Marines were the third and fourth killed over the past two days
I heard that on the radio this morning, too ... 68 killed over the weekend.
There's not enough on many single days to be sensational, so we add 'em up. Same with Murtha's speech - some of which I read here earlier - 'more killed in last two months'
The war would've been over by now, save the work of Murtha, Kerry, Kennedy, Pelosi, Reid, et al.
Wasn't it a year ago when hundreds were being killed every two days?
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/16/2006 6:36 Comments ||
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#2
God bless them and their families.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/16/2006 19:53 Comments ||
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(KUNA) -- The Peshmerga ministry in Iraq's Kurdistan region reached an initial agreements with the Iraqi government, under US and British sponsorship, by which security of Kurdistan in northern Iraq would be handed over to Peshmerga forces. Press statements by the Peshmerga ministry said an initial agreement was reached by the Kurdish Peshmerga ministry and the Iraqi defense ministry under the sponsorship of the US and British ambassadors in Baghdad, by which the Peshmerga forces take over responsibility of the security in Iraq's Kurdistan region.
The initial agreement will shortly be presented to the head of Kurdistan Masoud Barzani for official approval, the statement added. Three Peshmerga brigades are controlling security along the Iraqi borders with Iran and Turkey. Peshmerga forces have many times in the past fought against the ruling regimes in Baghdad.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Lol - frickin' KUNA... that first paragraph is a 2-sentence doozy that could've been very simple, if they had wanted it to be. The headline says it better, lol.
#2
Alot more to this than meets the eye. The Pergamesh already control security and borders of Iraqi Kurdistan. So why would US/UK sponsor a formal agreement for what already exists de facto?
Answer = so they can provide arms and training (probably money as well).
#4
Plus, with formal US/UK training comes the US/UK influence on the leadership and the rising stars. Kurdistan is effectively an autonomous region in Iraq right now : it is much more stable, quiet, productive, and livable than anywhere else in the country. This formalization of the Peshmerga into the State Police/National Guard of Kurdistan simply integrates the most effective native fighting force in Iraq into the federal state, while not diminishing the Kurds' independence and freedom of action. A fully independent Kurdistan is not politically possible at this point because of Turkey, Syria, and Iran. However, the next best thing in an autonomous Kurdistan in Iraq is not only possible, it is being built daily. This formalization of Kurdish security forces, along with the oil development agreements signed by the Kurds, shows just how far along the path to statehood the Kurds are. And just how carefully it is being modified to match the Iraqi federal model.
Suspected Shiite militiamen killed at least 46 Sunni Arabs in a weekend rampage of revenge killing in a city north of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said Sunday, raising the toll in the latest sectarian bloodletting there to 63.
A string of bombings in the northern city of Kirkuk killed 10 people, including two girls who died when a man detonated explosives strapped to his body in front of the al-Mallimin girls high school in downtown Kirkuk, police officials said.
The U.S. military reported the deaths of a Marine and four soldiers. The Marine was killed in combat in Anbar province, the Sunni heartland west of Baghdad on Saturday. Three soldiers died in a roadside bombing Saturday south of Baghdad, and one soldier was killed in a roadside bombing Friday night southwest of the capital.
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Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Islam is a sever mental disorder. Kill, kill, kill. That's all that's on their mind.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed regret Sunday for continuing differences between Fatah and Hamas, saying there was still a chance for unity talks. "Regretfully, the differences are still there," Abbas said following talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II in the Jordanian capital. "Efforts for forming a national unity government are still present," he said of the prospect of a government that includes both groups.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
That's delicately put- Hamas and Fatah gunmen are slaughtering each other in the streets, and "regretfully, the differences are still there."
#2
Translation: Remnant Fatah government desperately seeking long term relationship with well-endowed fig leaf to conceal Hamas refusal of Israeli recognition.
Police say at least 67 security personnel have been killed and another 60 wounded in a suicide bombing against a naval convoy in north-eastern Sri Lanka. They say a truck packed with bombs has exploded at a transit point for security personnel going on leave and those returning to their posts in the restive Trincomalee district.
"Suicide bombers drove a truck packed with explosives into the area, where there were about 15 buses of sailors," a police spokesperson said. "We have two helicopters to evacuate the wounded."
Police suspect Tamil Tiger rebels carried out the bombing.
Two rocket-propelled grenades hit a building near the headquarters of the United Nations in Beirut early on Sunday, slightly wounding four people, security sources and witnesses said. They said the grenade, fired from a small hill in central Beirut ( Fouad Shehab bridge), hit the Osaili building that houses offices, a bank branch and a nightclub in Riad el-Solh some 30 meters from the U.N. offices.The prime minister's office is about 100 yards away and the Parliament building is on another square a few buildings behind Riad el-Solh. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the pre-dawn attack.
Police and army soldiers cordoned off the street and began investigations. The explosion broke windows in the building and damaged two cars, witnesses said. The injured, all civilians, were taken to a hospital for treatment. Two were later released.
Downtown Beirut, rebuilt after the 1975-1990 civil war, also houses the headquarters of the Lebanese government, commercial banks, shops and restaurants. A stun grenade exploded near a police barracks in Beirut last week causing little damage and no casualties.
A U.N. peacekeeping force is deployed in south Lebanon to monitor a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah fighters that ended a 34-day war in August.
Update: Six people were injured and not 4 as originally reported and 3 grenades were fired and not 2. Police said one rocket smashed through a window of the building and injured people inside, a second exploded against a wall leaving a black impact while a third exploded on the sidewalk, damaging two cars Sunday. The building hit by the rockets houses the offices of several companies, two restaurants and the headquarters of the charity foundation of Saudi billionaire Al-Walid bin Talal.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#3
The building hit by the rockets houses the offices of several companies, two restaurants and the headquarters of the charity foundation of Saudi billionaire Al-Walid bin Talal.
#4
What if Tim McVhey, instead of murdering a bunch of children, had launched some home-made missiles at the UN building. Would they have pulled out of New York?
The man could have been a hero instead of a mass murderer.
#5
...IIRC, not only is Miss Granville still with us, she is very wealthy: she married Jack Wrather, who owns all the rights to Lassie...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/16/2006 6:19 Comments ||
Top||
#6
I remembered Bonita as being a child/teen star of the '40's. Andy Hardy pictures, etc. Checked out her bio at imdb.com and sho' 'nuf, she was Jack Wrather's missus and thus very wealthy. Passed away in 1988.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
KABUL, Afghanistan An Afghan and Coalition force encountered resistance and destroyed a known IED cell within a compound, killing three terrorists and destroying the compound with precision air strikes early this morning near the village of Zakur in Ghazni Province.
THE Talibans military commander, Mullah Dadullah, has been filmed executing eight men who were accused of spying for British and American forces in Afghanistan, it was claimed last week. In a series of clips released by Dadullah to Geo, the Pakistani television station, the Afghan men are seen confessing their crimes and then being laid out in the dust with their arms and legs bound. 
It also highlights the Talibans increasing use of suicide bombers, paying tribute to a number of militants who have died in such attacks and showing new suicide bomb volunteers receiving a ticket to heaven from Dadullah at his campaign headquarters. The footage shows a black-bearded Dadullah wearing a white salwar kameez, black robe and turban, signing each ticket while a clerk registers the new volunteer in a ledger. 
BAIDOA, Somalia (AP) - Ethiopian troops alongside government forces entered a southern Somali town Sunday, residents said, in a move likely to further strain tensions with Islamic radicals who are tightening their grip on the war-ravaged country. Well-armed troops aboard seven trucks mounted with machine guns arrived in the agricultural town of Dinsor, witnesses said. The forces then left, residents told The Associated Press. "They were telling us that they were in control and not to worry," shopkeeper Mohamed Abdi Salam told the AP by telephone.
Ghardaïa security services investigations on an attempt to get weapons to Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC)s fiefdoms in the North of the country revealed that the four terrorists among who two were killed and others arrested were about to carry an arms shipment delivered by the desert Emir Khaled Abu Abbès thanks to a plan designed by Yahia Abu Haïtham, the GSPCs second region Emir. Security services were notified by citizens about a dubious activity in Ghardaïa suburbs, local sources stated. On this ground security services tightened and reinforced the usual check-points so as to trap the terrorists.
BRITAIN will unveil plans for a map of Islamic extremist hotspots today in an effort to focus attention on them so they can be broken up, the Daily Mirror tabloid reported.
The New York lawyer who was convicted of material support for terrorism after carrying messages for her client, terrorist sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, is scheduled to be sentenced today to as much as 30 years in prison. She and her 
A SUSPECTED al Qaeda leader, accused of being involved in September 11 and planning the 2004 Madrid train bombings, has been imprisoned in a secret US jail for the past year, Spain's El Pais newspaper reported today. 
(KUNA) -- A top commander of terror group Hizbul Mujahedeen was among the two guerrillas who surrendered before security forces in Udhampur district of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir Sunday. Hizbul area commander Mohammad Sharif alias Osama and his close associate Tariq surrendered before the Indian army and police Sunday, news agency Indo-Asian News Service reported. The duo also laid down their weapons before the Indian security personnel.
(KUNA) -- At least eight Iraqis were killed and six others were injured by the hands of insurgents in two separated incidents in Mosul and Tel Afar, said a security source on Sunday. The source told KUNA that insurgents stormed a house in Al-Bakar neighborhood where they killed five Iraqis and injured another. The injured person, who was in critical condition, was transported to the hospital for treatment.
(KUNA) -- At least 10 Iraqis were killed and 64 others injured in six explosions which rocked Kirkuk city northern Iraq, said a Iraqi police source on Sunday. The police source told KUNA that one of the incidents involved a suicide bomber who rammed his car into a security vehicle in downtown Kikruk killing five Iraqis and injuring 10 others. An hour later, a car rigged with explosives blasted a local market south of the city, said the source, who added that the incident caused the death of three citizens and the injury of nine others.
(KUNA) -- One terrorist was killed and four others were arrested when US helicopters bombarded a militant safehouse following an attack on a US patrol vehicle in western Baghdad, said the US Army in a statement on Sunday. It said the vehicle was attacked with light weaponry, following which the soldiers and militants exchanged fire, killing one terrorist. The body of the terrorists was moved by his colleagues to a nearby place, upon which the soldiers followed and were attacked once again from one of the houses. In this second attack, two terrorists were wounded and a car was destroyed. According to the statement, the helicopter was then called in and four suspects were arrested.
Two US Marines assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 were killed in combat Sunday during enemy action in Anbar province, the military reported. The Marines were the third and fourth killed over the past two days in the restive province, that stretches from west of Baghdad to the Saudi Arabian, Jordanian and Syrian borders. Earlier Sunday, the military reported three soldiers died in a roadside bombing a day earlier south of Baghdad.
(KUNA) -- The Peshmerga ministry in Iraq's Kurdistan region reached an initial agreements with the Iraqi government, under US and British sponsorship, by which security of Kurdistan in northern Iraq would be handed over to Peshmerga forces. Press statements by the Peshmerga ministry said an initial agreement was reached by the Kurdish Peshmerga ministry and the Iraqi defense ministry under the sponsorship of the US and British ambassadors in Baghdad, by which the Peshmerga forces take over responsibility of the security in Iraq's Kurdistan region.
Suspected Shiite militiamen killed at least 46 Sunni Arabs in a weekend rampage of revenge killing in a city north of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said Sunday, raising the toll in the latest sectarian bloodletting there to 63. 
Two rocket-propelled grenades hit a building near the headquarters of the United Nations in Beirut early on Sunday, slightly wounding four people, security sources and witnesses said. They said the grenade, fired from a small hill in central Beirut ( Fouad Shehab bridge), hit the Osaili building that houses offices, a bank branch and a nightclub in Riad el-Solh some 30 meters from the U.N. offices.The prime minister's office is about 100 yards away and the Parliament building is on another square a few buildings behind Riad el-Solh. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the pre-dawn attack.
