Handcuffed and weary, three self-confessed Taliban fighters revealed this week how they had crossed into Afghanistan from Pakistan to carry out jihad against coalition troops there after clerics in Pakistan told them that they were duty-bound as Muslims to do so. The young men - two Pakistanis and an Afghan - were captured on Tuesday after a fierce five-hour gunbattle in Afghanistans Paktika province, just a few kilometres from the Afghan-Pak border. During the battle, 24 of their fellow fighters were killed, with the Afghan army later showing their bloodied and broken bodies to reporters at an army base in Barmal district.
The dead were mostly Afghans but also included Pakistanis, Chechens, Turks, one Arab and one Yemenite, an Afghan officer said, citing information from the three detained fighters, as well as captured identity cards and, in one case, a name on a bullet belt. Mullahs in Pakistan were preaching to us that we are obliged to fight jihad in Afghanistan because there are foreign troops - there is an Angriz (British) invasion, Alahuddin, one of the captured men, told reporters. A Pakistani Taliban commander, Saifullah, introduced us to a guide who escorted us to Barmal, he said. Then he left and we joined a group already here and came to the ambush site.
It was only Alahuddins second day in Afghanistan and it went horribly wrong. His group of 32 Taliban lay in wait for an army convoy, launching a clumsy attack mainly with AK-47 machine guns. The Afghan soldiers and their International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) counterparts retaliated. Two columns of support quickly arrived and surrounded the fighters as attack helicopters were called in. After five hours of fighting, 24 Taliban and a soldier were dead. Some of the rebels not killed by the troops blew themselves up with their own grenades, Afghan soldiers said.
One of the dead had a Pakistani ID document on his chest when his body was shown to reporters, while the others had other papers on them that the Afghan army said gave their nationalities. Alahuddin said that he had been misled into believing that Afghanistan was overrun by foreign infidels, especially British forces, which have been hated since their 19th century wars in the region. We were sent to Afghanistan blindly. We call on our other friends in Pakistan and say, There is no jihad here, everybody is Muslim, he told AFP.
A few hours later, the three men were on the floor of a helicopter with their eyes taped shut before being taken to Kabul for interrogation. Alahuddin comes from Miranshah in Pakistans North Waziristan tribal area, which lies just on the other side of the border with Paktika province. Another of the captured men, Zahidullah, also hails from Miranshah. He said that he too had been brought into the fight by a mullah who had put him in touch with the Taliban. We came to Afghanistan to carry out jihad against British forces - as Muslims we are obliged to do jihad against them, this is what we were told, he said. The captured men had no identification documents to prove that they were Pakistanis. However an AFP reporter recognised their dialect as being from the Waziristan area.
General Murad Ali, the deputy commander of Afghanistans southeastern military corps, said he was proud of the actions of his men in the counterattack. He accused the Pakistani military of aiding the Islamists. The cooperation of Pakistan with Taliban and Al Qaeda is visible, Ali said. They cross into Afghanistan even in areas where Pakistani posts are installed. His views appeared to be supported by political analyst Samina Ahmed, from the International Crisis Group (ICG), who this week reiterated criticism of the September 5 deal between Pakistan and pro-Taliban tribesmen. For all practical purposes, now the Taliban are running the show, she told a meeting in Brussels.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
It was only Alahuddins second day in Afghanistan and it went horribly wrong
Let's hope his experience is typical!
Some of the rebels not killed by the troops blew themselves up with their own grenades
Heartwarming, isn't it? No virgins for you, bozos!
There is no jihad here, everybody is Muslim
Hmm. Smarter than your average extremist. To send him back; to send him back not. Where's my daisy?
They cross into Afghanistan even especially in areas where Pakistani posts are installed
There. Fixed it.
For all practical purposes, now the Taliban are running the show
??? What does this mean? Just by sheer willingness to throw thousands of soon-to-be dead bodies at coalition forces that they have someow managed to be calling the shots? I honestly don't know what's going on here. It seems like the Taliban have expended all their experienced fighters. Just go kill the mullahs and be done with it.
#2
It is supposed to be Tet all over again, with Walter Cronkite telling us that we have lost and us ditching the Afghanis to the wolves, like we did the South Vietnamese. However, this time around, people have seen this crap before and aren't buying it, at least not in the numbers that would matter politically. Plus, the Internet is providing a counterbalance to the doomsayers and defeatists.
Suicide bombings in the south and east killed a British soldier, two children and a policeman Thursday, as President Hamid Karzai called on NATO forces to use caution during military operations a day after 20 civilians died.
Two British soldiers were wounded, one of whom later died, said Britains Ministry of Defense. The explosion also killed a boy and a girl, both under the age of 8, and wounded seven civilians, said Ghulam Muhiddin, spokesman for the governor of Helmand province.
Afghanistan this year has faced the deadliest spate of violence since the ouster of the Taliban regime by U.S.-led forces five years ago. Militants increasingly have resorted to suicide and roadside bombs, particularly in the south and east of the country near Pakistan. He noted that nine civilians were killed and 11 wounded during a battle Wednesday in the town of Ashogho in Kandahar province. He also said 11 civilians were killed during a fight in Tajikan village in Helmand province that day.
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said additional NATO forces are needed in Afghanistan to supplement the 31,000 alliance forces currently in the country, and that the NATO mission will succeed only if it can help the Afghan government improve ordinary peoples lives.
Residents in the village of Ashogho said NATO helicopters fired on three mud homes where villagers were sleeping. NATO said the operation, targeting militants suspected in roadside bombings, was believed to have caused several civilian casualties, which it regretted. Karzais statement said 11 civilians were killed, but Abdul Rehman, a resident, said 13 villagers, including 10 women and children, died in rocket fire from an aircraft. "Initial bomb damage from an observer on the ground confirmed a direct hit on the compound," the statement said. NATO said it will "fully investigate" the claim that civilians were killed in the strike.
The international troops accuse insurgents of blending in with local populations while attacking foreign and Afghan soldiers. Many other civilians have been killed in Taliban attacks, including scores in recent suicide bombings.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2006 00:00 ||
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Seoul and Washington will add use of nuclear arms by U.S. forces in response to North Korean atomic weapons in a joint operation strategy codenamed OPLAN 5027, sources said Thursday. That would mean the return of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea 15 years after they were pulled out in 1991.
At the 28th Military Committee Meeting (MCM) between the allies, Gen. Lee Sang-hee, the chairman of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff met his U.S. counterpart Gen. Peter Pace in Washington on Wednesday. The two mandated U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Burwell Bell to draw up plans for the U.S. provision of a nuclear umbrella for South Korea in the wake of the Norths nuclear test, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
"We asked for a detailed guarantee of a nuclear umbrella to guard against North Korea's nuclear weapons, and the U.S. agreed, said Rear Adm. Ahn Ki-seok, chief of the JCS' strategic planning department. Strategic guidelines were given to the USFK commander immediately to come up with plans to provide a nuclear umbrella for us."
The USFK commander is likely to include his plan for tactical nuclear weapons in a nuclear appendix to OPLAN 5027 rather than draw up a separate Combined Forces Command plan for military preparedness against nuclear threats, sources said. "The U.S. nuclear umbrella plans will be laid out in more detail and depth in a joint statement after the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) on Friday," Ahn said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. said analysis of satellite data showed signs of Pyongyang's preparing a second nuclear test such as digging at three sites, including Punggye-ri in North Hamgyeong Province where the first test took place, and movement at military bases to launch Rodong and Scud missiles, according to the sources. The U.S. also said Pyongyang's first nuclear test was either a partial success or a near failure, they added.
On the issue of Washington handing over wartime operational control of Korean troops to Seoul, the two chairmen signed off on changes in the command structure' that would dismantle the CFC and instead set up a Military Cooperation Center but failed to agree the most contentious issue, namely when that will happen. Instead, they proposed the question should be addressed by the two countries defense chiefs at the SCM on Friday. "Washington still aims for 2009 and Seoul for 2012 for the handover of wartime operation control, and it is highly likely that the SCM will fail to produce agreement as well, a Defense Ministry official said.
Posted by: john ||
10/20/2006 18:52 ||
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#1
Amusing saber rattling considering how easily we can already nuke North Korea any day we need to.
#2
Parking nuclear weapons on China's doorstep is a perfect response to their complicity in Kim's ongoing Atomic Tantrum. It leaves the unspoken and equally unsettling message that they might become permanent fixtures in the equation. The communist Mandarins should be up to a pucker factor of about 7.5 right about now. Add another whole point when we have nuclear equipped forces docked in Japan and Taiwan.
#6
Better still would be a S. Korea with its own nuclear weapons. Ditto for Japan and Taiwan. If China wants to proliferate they should be made to live with the consequnces.
#8
Actually, tactical nukes on site in Korea is much better for us than the threat of us having to use ICBMs to respond to a NKor nuke attack : the Chinese know all about our tac nukes, their delivery systems, and range limitations. So a tac nuke response is not going to be a worry about losing Bejing in retaliation for a nuke on American troops in the Pusan area. If we use Peacekeepers or Tridents, there is always that possibility for the Politboro to worry about. So in a weird way, US tac nukes are more reassuring to the Chinese than us not having them in the area.
#11
Um Shieldwolf all I got to say is "HUH?". The Chinese know virtually nothing about our tac nuke capability as does most of the world because we simply havent deployed any for the past 10-15 years period. Tac nukes means we're going back to GLCM and Pershing II/ATACM type systems with ranges exceeding or meeting INF restrictions (which will go to hell in a hand basket if the Russians really do decide to trash their end of the treaty because they see the ABM shield we're developing as unfair). This potentially puts China right smack dab in the middle of a 5-10 minute nuke response time against even the US. Not a good place to be dontcha think?
#12
In the 1980's REAGAN had a doctrine labeled FLEXIBLE RESPONSE, which was intended to keep the USSR-WARPACT off-balance by making the Soviet-Commie Generals, Admirals, + Politburo unsure as to whether the USA andor US-led NATO would immediately escalate any conventional forces battle in the FULDA GAP, etc. into all-out nuclear war. Unknown to most of the free world at the time, the USSR prior to FLEXIBLE RESPONSE already had plans in place to use massive amounts of tactical nukes + Limited/Selective ICBM strikes in any first-strike against defending US-NATO forces. IOW, while mainstream NATO Pols + Commanders were arguing back and forth about how to fight a DEFENSIVE conventional-only battle against the USSR-WARPACT, the USSR had already changed the dimension of any NATO-PACT conflict into OFFENSIVE NUKLAAR.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il expressed regret about his country's nuclear test to a Chinese delegation and said Pyongyang would return to international nuclear talks if Washington backs off a campaign to financially isolate the country, a South Korean newspaper reported Friday.
"If the U.S. makes a concession to some degree, we will also make a concession to some degree, whether it be bilateral talks or six-party talks," Kim was quoted as telling a Chinese envoy, the mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo reported, citing a diplomatic source in China.
Kim told the Chinese delegation that "he is sorry about the nuclear test," the newspaper reported.
The delegation led by State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan met Kim on Thursday and returned to Beijing later that day ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's arrival in the Chinese capital Friday. China is viewed as a key nation in efforts to persuade the North to disarm, as it is the isolated communist nation's main trading partner.
#5
I would guess after some under the table Trade Threats from US about China the Chinese realized it was due time to put thier B*tch back in its place.
This explains why BiLateral one on one talks with Lil Kim is useless. China is Lil Kim's keeper and to negotiate anything with meaning that is who you got to go to China.
#9
We really need some Terminator bots for folks like kimmy. Or if the government had the balls for it a nice big MASER in the sky to raise their body temp above 110F.
I don't know why we never did a space based maser way back with Khomeini's rise to problemhood.
#15
The US should tell him we'll make one concession. We won't nuke him this week. Now talk, and get serious fast Mr Funnyhair or we'll tell Japan to get nukes and China will crush you like a space cockroach to prevent that.
#17
...Apparently a couple sites (including the usually reliable Belmont Club) are reporting that the PRC sat Kimmie down and suggested that they might have to stop oil shipments to the DPRK - and since Kimmie gets something like 85% of his oil from the PRC, at way below market prices, he would have been rornery in the cold and the dark. What little oil that got through would have been going straight to the military and that STILL wouldn't have been enough for them.
I'm guessing that Dear Leader just got his a*s a reality check like he ain't had in a while.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/20/2006 15:15 Comments ||
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#18
Mike---I hope that you are right, but I think that it is just theater. I trust the Chicoms as much as I trust Kimmie. And that is as far as I can throw a stick. If they told Kimmie anything, it would be to back off-----------------------for now. My two cents.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/20/2006 19:43 Comments ||
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#19
The Chicoms lost face.
And the radio reported he didn't apologize, the SorKs mistranslated.
#20
Me-says the key word or sentencez in the article is [USA-ONLY?] CONCESSION(S), for both Kimmie, MadMoud, Anti-Amer OWG agendists + WOT in general.
"NORTH KOREA HOLDS RALLY" > happy and well-fed as larks they is, NOT; plus iff I'm not mistaken a number appear to be wearing CHICOM-STYLE STATE UNIFORMS!? Unhappy, hungry = emaciated, plus are "officially" North Korean/Korean but unofficially are in reality "Chinese" or anti-Chinese "Chinese".
More games from Kimmie:
U.S. intelligence has detected the departure from a North Korean port of a North Korean ship suspected of carrying military equipment banned under a U.N. sanctions resolution against Pyongyang's Oct. 9 nuclear test, CBS News reported Thursday. The United States is tracking the ship, CBS said, noting that it remains uncertain exactly what the ship is carrying and where it is headed.
Should the ship be confirmed to be loaded with nuclear, missile or other related materials, it could be subject to the first maritime inspection under the sanctions resolution adopted unanimously Saturday by the U.N. Security Council. The resolution, which imposes economic and diplomatic sanctions, rules out military options, which are strongly opposed by China and Russia.
The news report came a day after U.S. President George W. Bush vowed to deal with ships and airplanes and take all necessary measures to stop North Korea's transfer of nuclear weapons to other nations and non-state entities such as terrorists. Bush warned North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in an interview with ABC News that Kim will be "held to account" and face "grave" consequences if Pyongyang sells nuclear arms.
Under the resolution, U.N. members are required to conduct maritime inspections and take other measures, if necessary, to stop North Korea's transfer of nuclear, missile and other military equipment.
#1
Have the USS Condi Rice plant some JDAMs on said vessel
Posted by: Captain America ||
10/20/2006 0:50 Comments ||
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MVARIETY.com > US SSN SEAWOLF quietly slips into Guam's Apra Harbor. Usual welcoming ceremonies not held. No answers to VARIETY inquiries [yet]from COMNAVMAR as to whether SEAWOLF's transit is related to the on-going NORKOR Crisis. OTHER NEWS > US deploys MLRS unit along DMZ; US ground units on heightened alert.
#3
JM,
Good news. Good reporting. If you look out tomorrow and see that SSN Seawolf has disappeared, give us a heads up. Chances are, we'll be seeing something else disappear. F**k you Kimbo.
Posted by: Alex ||
10/20/2006 1:58 Comments ||
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#6
Actually, the one vessel people should be tracking are the converted SSBNs that are now SOCOM subs. You know, the ones that can carry up to 60 SEALs and all their equipment, underwater and out of sight, in relative comfort in the converted missile bay area. Those SOCOM subs can also launch the SEALs and their equipment while at depth, and some of the SEA delivery systems are pressurized and can carry a LOT of equipment.
By the way, those subs are designated SSGN.
#7
It may be a dry run by NorK. Nobody's that stupid. Right? :-)
I doubt anything more than a well-documented armed boarding and inspection will happen, but it would be cool to find some contraband and sink the ship!
I would think that if China is on board even halfway then even Sorry Kimmie would have to think long and hard about following up on his threat to not "negotiate" unless the US plays nice.
Any word on which direction the ship is headed, or is the US on a fishing expedition and waiting for one to do a U-turn?
#8
So where's the North Korean ship that's makin' such a fuss
We gotta sink the Kim Jong-Il, the world depends on us
So pipe the crew to quarters, boys, and bring the boat around
'Cause when we find the Kim Jong-Il, we're gonna put her down
Posted by: Mike ||
10/20/2006 7:21 Comments ||
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#9
I'm guessing it will hit an 'iceberg' in the South China Sea.
Posted by: john ||
10/20/2006 7:22 Comments ||
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#11
Wonder what the rules are for prize courts these days ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/20/2006 8:29 Comments ||
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#12
Don't screw around. Sink the bastard without notice and keep going. Do the same for every other ship entering or leaving Norkville. The world's mariners will get the message damned quickly, bet on it.
Posted by: mac ||
10/20/2006 9:53 Comments ||
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#13
Exactly. Hit it hard and fast. Let the sucker dissapear without a trace, and don't say a word to the Norks.
#15
"Should the ship be confirmed to be loaded with nuclear, missile or other related materials, it could be subject to the first maritime inspection under the sanctions resolution adopted unanimously Saturday by the U.N. Security Council."
Surely the inspections are meant to determine if the ship is loaded with nuclear, missile or other related materials.
#16
I noticed the same language, Flea. Don't know if I need to put on my MSM decoder or my UN Resolution filter. Do we actually have to PROVE they're carrying those things before we board? If so, the UN's even more useless than I thought (and, that's darn low!)
Posted by: BA ||
10/20/2006 11:37 Comments ||
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The public prosecutor accused terror suspect Samir A. of planning to kill left and right-wing politicians on the first day of the trial against the Piranha network on Monday.
A. and five other suspects are charged with plans to murder MPs Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Geert Wilders, Laetitia Griffith, Boris Dittrich and Jan Marijnissen. They are also accused of wanting to assassinate Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, Lower House speaker Frans Weisglas and Amsterdam Alderman Ahmed Aboutaleb. Additionally, the group allegedly had plans to blow up the headquarters of the Dutch security service AIVD in Leidschendam, NIS news reported.
Meanwhile, the court ruled on Monday that the suspects must have full access to their dossiers. They have not been unable to access then since being transferred to another prison.
The public prosecution said A. was the leader of the Piranha network. The 20-year-old Dutch-Moroccan has faced terrorism charges in the past but has been repeatedly acquitted due to lack of hard evidence. A video testament in which A. allegedly announces a suicide attack and shows a gun in the background is being used as evidence in this trial.
Guns were also discovered by chance in an apartment in The Hague apartment of fellow suspect Soumaya S., but no evidence has been found linking the suspects to the weapons.
I mean, guns just show up places, right??? Doesn't MEAN anything. Guns are common in the EU. 'Specially in a country like the Netherlands. Veritable Wild West that place.
Oh? It's not? They aren't?
Hmmmm.
The trial is being held in the heavily-guarded Amsterdam-Osdorp court building. The six suspects are accused of membership of a terrorist organisation, illegal weapons possession and planning terrorist attacks. The court is due to hand down its ruling on 17 November.
#4
This is RB's favorite Durch hard boy, Samir Azzouz. He's on trial for approximately the fourth time for terror and related offenses. I'm hopeful but not certain they'll make the charges stick. If they do manage to convict him, they ought to keep him in solitary. He's avirulently infectious jihadi.
#1
WTF? Sounds like these guys deserve an award, not jail time!
Posted by: mac ||
10/20/2006 9:51 Comments ||
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Federal agents who protect our border
deserve our respect, gratitude and trust -- it is a difficult and dangerous job," United States Attorney Johnny Sutton said in a news release after the sentencing. "But when law enforcement officers use their badge as a shield for carrying out crimes and then engage in a cover up, we cannot look the other way. Agents Compean and Ramos shot an unarmed, fleeing suspect in the back and lied about it."
This is an outrage. US Attorney Johnny Sutton should be fired. He should never be allowed to hold another government job. Let him go to work for the ACLU. Deport him to Mexico so he can see what the future holds for this country if guys like him have their way.
The Republicans better get their act together on this issue or we will end up with Hillary in the White House. Conservative voters will stay home on election day rather than vote for the likes of John McCain.
Posted by: facta non verba ||
10/20/2006 12:16 Comments ||
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#4
The judicial branch is out of control. They have been subverted by the continual appointments of communists to the bench by Bill Clinton types. We reel from one outrage to another. How do you come down on Border Patrol doing their job ? How in hell do you expect to add agents when they are treated like this? This is a farce and can't be allowed to stand. Contact your Congress horse and bitch. Loudly.
#6
The problem here is kinda the same as we have in Iraq --- the rules of engagement are f*cked up.
Insurgents shoot at you from a house? You ought to be able to level it. Period. They run into a Mosque? It ought to be reduced to rubble instantenously.
Drug smugglers and dealers attempt to cross the border? They should be shot on sight. Period. They get interdicted and flee? Too bad. It should only insure they get shot in the ass, instead of the belly.
As long as we try to deal with deadly force situations with kid gloves, applying more and more rules in the name of being civilized and protecting 'civil rights' (BTW, since when does a Mexican drug dealer trying to smuggle drugs into the US have any US civil rights?) we might as well look forward to more unjust and outrageous decisions. Try finding good people to do a tough job under these conditions. The only ones who'll thrive in such a politically correct climate will be the ineffective lemmings who don't mind swallowing their pride on a daily basis.
#7
Maybe they should have just killed the drug dealer instead of just shooting him in the buttocks. This is an outrage. What penalty does the drug dealer draw? Send these agents to sniper school so that they are better shots!
NEW DELHI - The execution of a Kashmiri man sentenced to death for his role in the 2001 Indian parliament attack has been delayed until the president answers his call for clemency, officials said on Thursday. Islamic rebels in Indian Kashmir have warned of dire revenge consequences if India executes Mohammed Afzal Guru, and the restive region has seen a string of protests.
Sea of fire, etc, ... oops, wrong seething.
Last month a New Delhi judge set October 20 for Gurus hanging, but the 35-year-old has been granted a reprieve since a presidential appeal has been made, presidential spokesman S.M. Khan told AFP. It has been deferred as he has filed the mercy petition, Khan said. It is normal procedure to defer execution when such a petition is filed, he said.
"Shouldn't take more than a day or so," he added.
Guru was convicted of plotting the December 13, 2001 raid on the national legislature that left 14 people dead, including the five attackers, and brought nuclear-armed India and Pakistan close to war. But Gurus relatives have asked President Abdul Kalam to spare his life, arguing the he did not recieve a fair trial.
"He wuz framed!"
He had been scheduled to die in New Delhis notorious Tihar prison at day-break on Friday. A prison official also confirmed that last-minute work on the gallows was on hold. Normal chores like getting the executioner at place, the medical examination of the condemned prisoner, the grant of a last wish or arrangements for religious services will be done only after we receive fresh orders, the prison official, who asked no to be named, told AFP.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/20/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Shit, I was hoping they wouldn't go soft when it counted. Wrong again.
QUETTA, Pakistan - Suspected tribal insurgents on Thursday attacked a passenger train with a rocket and small arms fire in the restive southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan, causing train services in the region to be suspended, an official said.
The attack came near Mach, some 65 kilometers (40 miles) south of Quetta, the provincial capital of Baluchistan, and damaged the engine but caused no casualties, railway official Javed Ahmed told AFP. Quetta Express was coming from the eastern city of Lahore towards Quetta when a rocket and small arms fire hit it, he said.
"Do it in the name of Bugti-i-i-i-i-i!!"
We have suspended train services in the region for the time being, Ahmed said, adding that an engine had been sent to bring the train, which is sheltering in a tunnel, to Quetta.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/20/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
there is no tribal insurgents the whole country is just a terrorist breeding it was probably a training mission
Posted by: Alex ||
10/20/2006 2:00 Comments ||
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Oh, no, Alex. The Bugtis have actually been fighting for independence since the founding of Pakistan.
(UPI) -- Pakistan Tuesday released the founder of a jihadi group linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network. Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the former leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Kashmiri jihad group, has been under arrest in Lahore since August, the Internet news site India Defense reported. He was held under public order legislation that authorizes detention without trial for up to three months, but a court Tuesday ordered him freed.
"He has been released from detention," India Defense quoted one of Saeed's senior aides, Yahya Mujahid, as saying. Saeed founded Lashkar-e-Taiba in the early 1990s but quit as leader after Indian authorities charged the group was behind a terror attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001. Pakistan banned Lashkar-e-Taiba -- which is said to have developed close links with the al-Qaida terror network during the 1990's -- in January 2002. Indian police also believe the group was involved in the July 11 bombings on commuter trains in Mumbai that killed 186 people.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2006 00:00 ||
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TIKRIT, Iraq Soldiers from five separate battalions in the 4th Iraqi Army Division captured 13 suspected insurgents and seized weapons, munitions, rockets and artillery Wednesday during a city-wide operation in Hawijah, Iraq.
The 4th Divisions 2nd Brigade, 3rd Brigades 2nd Battalion and the 18th Strategic Infrastructure Battalion established several checkpoints and conducted a comprehensive house to house search to improve security for the people in Kirkuk Province.
Hawijah has been the scene of attacks against Coalition Forces and insurgents have used Hawijah as a passageway for coordinated attacks in other parts of the province, said Col. Patrick T. Stackpole, commander of the 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, currently operating in Kirkuk. We commend the Iraqi Armys initiative, professionalism and ability to execute this complex operation, said Stackpole.
Of the 13 insurgents captured, two were wanted by Iraqi Security Forces. Iraqi soldiers seized 74 AK-47s, numerous explosives, three pistols and two stolen cars.
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/20/2006 17:22 ||
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BAGHDAD Special Iraqi Security Forces captured two terrorists and killed two others Oct. 19 during a raid near Taji.
Iraqi forces, with Coalition advisers, conducted an air-assault raid looking for five Al Qaeda in Iraq linked terrorists allegedly responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Iraqi citizens and conducting improvised explosive device attacks in the Taji area. The suspects had outstanding Ministry of Interior arrest warrants.
Iraqi forces entered the objective and immediately encountered three male local citizens. One man immediately complied with verbal commands and surrendered. Another man grabbed a pistol and demonstrated hostile intent. He was shot and killed by the assault force. A third man, sitting behind the second man, was wounded in the exchange. Coalition force medics immediately rendered first aid to the wounded man.
As Iraqi forces continued to clear the objective, a second male citizen was shot and killed after he grabbed a rifle during efforts to peacefully detain him. The four persons were positively identified as the wanted terrorists.
The Iraqi force returned to base with two detainees. There were no Iraqi civilian, Iraqi force or Coalition force casualties. No significant damage was done to the objective.
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/20/2006 17:16 ||
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#1
is the second guy reading a cheat sheet inside his helmet?
"hmmm, which way should I point my thumb?"
Posted by: Kalle ||
10/20/2006 18:55 Comments ||
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"rendered first aid to the wounded man"
I see we still haven't learned to take no prisoners.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Shiite militia run by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr seized total control of the southern Iraqi city of Amarah on Friday in one of the boldest acts of defiance yet by one of the country's powerful, unofficial armies, witnesses and police said.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki dispatched an emergency security delegation that included the Minister of State for Security Affairs and top officials from the Interior and Defense ministries, Yassin Majid, the prime minister's media adviser, told The Associated Press.
The Mahdi Army fighters stormed three main police stations Friday morning, planting explosives that flattened the buildings, residents said.
About 800 black-clad militiamen with Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers were patrolling city streets in commandeered police vehicles, eyewitnesses said. Other fighters had set up roadblocks on routes into the city and sound trucks circulated telling residents to stay indoors.
Fighting broke out in Amara on Thursday after the head of police intelligence in the surrounding province, a member of the rival Shiite Badr Brigade militia, was killed by a roadside bomb, prompting his family to kidnap the teenage brother of the local head of the a-Madhi Army.
The Mahdi Army seized several police stations and clamped a curfew on the city in retaliation.
At least 15 people, including five militiamen, one policeman and two bystanders, have been killed in clashes since Friday, Dr. Zamil Shia, director of Amarah's department of health, said by telephone from Amarah.
The events in the city highlight the threat of wider violence between rival Shiite factions, who have entrenched themselves among the majority Shiite population and are blamed for killings of rival Sunnis.
Mahdi Army militiamen have long enjoyed a free rein in Amarah, the provincial capital of the southern province of Maysan. The militiamen often summon local government officials for meetings at their offices, and they roam the city with their weapons, manipulate the local police and set up checkpoints at will.
Since British troops left Amarah in August, residents say the militia has been involved in a series of killings, including slayings of merchants suspected of selling alcohol and women alleged to have engaged in behavior deemed immoral by militiamen.
#1
Precisely why soppy British Generals/Majors should STFU and concentrate on the task in hand.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
10/20/2006 8:38 Comments ||
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#2
Another example of Islam being incapatable with civilization.
It's a shame the regular Iraqi suffers at the hands of these animals, however my capacity to give a shit has worn thin.
It is decidedly un-Christian of me, but I want dead jihadi's (Sadr included), screw the democracy experiment - they don't deserve it.
#7
Maliki sends "an emergency security delegation" of those who enable and cooperate with the Shia militia. The message is prolly, "WTF! You jumped the gun!"
#10
But, but ... Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki recently announced the formation of a special committee to address the countrys illegal militia issue ...
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/20/2006 10:11 Comments ||
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#11
reports indicate this started with mutual kidnappings, etc between Mahdi army and Badr Brigades, so Maliki might well be serious, as he can hardly afford to alienate SCIRI and the Badr Brigades.
OTOH Muqty probably doesnt want to alienate Badr either, so maybe this is NOT the big "Muqty hits the mattresses" moment it looks like. Maybe it really is a local thing, by "rogue" or at least semi-rogue elements.
OTOH with rumors of a US backed coup, with Muqty the obvious target of a new govt (presumably led by Allawi?) its not impossible that Muqty has decided to strike first, on the not unreasonable idea that Washington is waiting till after the US election to strike.
#12
This is posturing between the Iranian backed Shia and the non-Iranian backed Shia. Eventually the non-Iranian backed Shia will give the US clearance to whack Sard if this keeps up.
This posturing is timed not so much by the US elections but as a response to Sunni/Al Queda attacks that have been increasing in sychronus with the US elections.
Nothing to see here, and if the spooks and spies didn't see it coming they're not paying attention.
#13
At this point al-Sadr has probably lost control of his 'movement' except within Sadr City (maybe not even there). If al-Sadr gets whacked now it is more likely to be from an ex-loyal Shiite who didn't get a big enough piece of the action than by a Baathist or Sunni Jihadist or coalition soldier.
#16
If possible, cordon off the Amarah, release all women and children, detain all males of fighting age. Carpet bomb the city into total rubble without any hand-to-hand engagement and declare this the new policy for all further insurgencies. Sadr's oxygen license ran out years ago.
#18
What happened to the great training that the Iraqi forces/police were supposed to be getting? If we trained them, they sure aren't learning. Time after time, the army/police aren't up to the task. Are we to believe that they're that inept? They managed to keep law and order before the invasion, with less training and worse equipment. The same tactics are being used now - terrorize the population, but the results are vastly different. We need to kill Sadr and throw maliki in the same dustbin that jaafari resides. New leadership is needed at the top. Or, we install a US led govt and proclaim iraq the 51st state, take the gloves off and obliterate any opposition.
Whatever happened to "Infinite Justice?" We cowered when the muzlems got mad about that phrase and change the operation to a touchy feely "Enduring Freedom". We need to fight dirty, dirtier than the enemy.
Posted by: ET ||
10/20/2006 13:32 Comments ||
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#19
Steady, ET, I have read several positive stories about the Iraqi Army, but maybe not so many about the police. Let's wait until the whole story comes out. It has a better chance here than in the media.
Lysdexia, TW?
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/20/2006 13:35 Comments ||
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#20
It's this darn new keyboard, Bobby. I've been having spelling problems ever since several months before I got it. ;-)
#21
lol, TW! If only we could insert you into Sadr City to hold a nice tea soiree for Muqtuy. That would solve everything, right boys?
Posted by: BA ||
10/20/2006 14:17 Comments ||
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#22
Regarding the Iraqi police.
I think some people have to step back and look at how the game is played. The Iraqi have enough police to play a zone defense. The bad guys don't have enough but they do have enough to gang up on one defender, making that defender look weak or forcing the Iraqi police to leave other areas undefended.
What we need to do is use the US to supliment the Iraqi police in these scenerios and only these scenerios.
#23
"Fighting broke out Thursday after Qassim al-Tamimi, the provincial head of police intelligence and a leading member of the rival Shiite Badr Brigade militia, was killed by a roadside bomb. In retaliation, his family kidnapped the teenage brother of the Mahdi Army commander in Amarah, Sheik Fadel al-Bahadli, to demand the hand-over of al-Tamimi's killers."
Per fox news, Iraqi Army troops (not police) have moved in and taken back over.
British military spokesman Maj. Charlie Burbridge said 600 Iraqi army soldiers had retaken control of the city, but not before the 25 gunmen and police were killed in violence that began Thursday night. The Iraqi army dispatched two companies to Amarah, a city of 750,000, from Basra, the south's largest city.
"They've applied a solution and at the moment it's holding," Burbridge said. "At the moment, it's tense but calm," he said.
Britain had 500 soldiers on standby if called for, Burbridge said, saying British military authorities were "confident that they've (Iraqi security forces) responded as best as they can."
The U.S-led campaign to curb violence in Baghdad neighborhood by neighborhood has failed, and American officials are looking for a new strategy, a top U.S. military official said Thursday. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said that instead of quelling violence, the campaign, code-named Operation Forward Together, had contributed to a spike in U.S. military deaths.
The operation "has not met our overall expectations of sustaining a reduction in the levels of violence," Caldwell said. "We are working very closely with the government of Iraq to determine how best to refocus our efforts."
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros called Caldwell's assessment "accurate and candid." Caldwell's comments, which came during his weekly briefing for reporters here, were a rare public admission that an American strategy in Iraq hasn't worked, and it came as Republicans and Democrats in Washington are pressing the Bush administration to devise a new approach. Polls have shown that Iraq is the No. 1 issue among U.S. voters less than three weeks before congressional elections.
Bush administration policy has been built on two assumptions: that American troops would be able to shed some security responsibilities as the numbers of trained Iraqi police officers and soldiers grew, and that the elected government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki would be able to assert control over Shiite Muslim militias aligned with its political supporters.
Neither assumption has proved true. Violence has continued to surge, even as tens of thousands of U.S.-trained police officers and soldiers have been added to the Iraqi security forces, and al-Maliki's government has yet to present a program to disarm the militias.
Operation Forward Together was considered a last-ditch effort to tame Baghdad, where violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims has reached unprecedented levels. The plan involved pulling 12,000 American soldiers from elsewhere in Iraq and teaming them with Iraqi troops to go door-to-door in Baghdad's most troubled neighborhoods and root out armed groups. The neighborhoods were then to be the focus of economic-development campaigns.
Shortly after the operation began Aug. 7, Caldwell hailed it, saying Baghdad's murder rate had dropped 52 percent. But, as McClatchy Newspapers first reported, statistics from the Baghdad morgue suggested a much smaller decrease in violent deaths. Baghdad police reported that 27 bodies were found around the city Thursday, 11 in neighborhoods originally targeted in the security plan. The number of U.S. soldiers and Marines killed in Baghdad has skyrocketed, and October is on course to be the third deadliest month for American service members since Saddam Hussein was toppled in April 2003. U.S. officials announced the deaths of two more soldiers and a Marine on Thursday, bringing the death toll so far this month to 73.
Caldwell sounded despondent as he acknowledged the death toll. He said U.S. officials were reassessing the assumptions they'd made before implementing the Baghdad security plan. "We're asking ourselves if the conditions under which it was first devised and planned still exist today or have the conditions changed and therefore a modification to that plan needs to be made," he said.
Caldwell said "there is no question" that sectarian violence has increased in the neighborhoods that were swept. "We find the insurgent elements - the extremists - are in fact punching back hard. They're trying to get back into those areas," he said.
Caldwell didn't say how American officials might adjust their plans. But he said U.S. troops were re-entering the southern Baghdad neighborhood of Dora, one of the capital's most violent areas. Dora was among the first neighborhoods swept, and it's now the site of daily discoveries of bodies bearing signs of torture. Caldwell said there was a 22 percent increase in violent incidents during the first two weeks of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, compared with the previous three weeks. He didn't specify how the military compiled its numbers, and it's unclear how reliable they are. American officials have released several statistics during the past month that have later proved to be inaccurate.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Can we kill and win now?
Posted by: Captain America ||
10/20/2006 0:52 Comments ||
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#2
To end Iraqi violence, you'd have to begin by removing the Iraqi "government". Then you'd need to dismantle the Iraqi Arab tribal social traditions. Then you'd need to remove Islam - no more Sunnis, no more Shia, no more sectarian hatred, no more external Iranian Shia subversion, no more Sunnis streaming in from everywhere else.
You'd have to remove the flypaper.
To achieve these noble ends you'd have to kill all of the Iraqi Arabs.
Posted by: facta non verba ||
10/20/2006 1:28 Comments ||
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#4
The only way to do this and avoid the heavy body counts involved with .com's admittedly effective solution is to deport all the Sunnis to Saudi Arabia and all of the Shiias to Iran and let the Kurds take over the entire nation.
The MME (Muslim Middle East) is congenitally disposed to endless cycles of bloodshed and revenge. Short of killing all individuals above the age of eight years-old and raising the orphaned children in a foster environment devoid of hate programming, there is little if any hope of ever resolving this crap.
This must be one of the most vital lessons we carry forward from occupying Iraq. Muslims absolutely love to kill each other and once their internal conflicts are ended, we in the West will be the next recipients of their withering embrace.
There is no feasible prospect of peaceable coexistence, religious harmony or even isolationist stand-offs. There will be constant and escalating violence until either the West perishes or Islam is exterminated.
#5
does that mean blanket bombing can start.
I love a good daisy cutter
Posted by: Alex ||
10/20/2006 1:59 Comments ||
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#6
There will be a federal Iraq with ethnically homgenous (moreorless) Kurd, Shia and Sunni areas. The main problem is that all three areas will meet at Baghdad. Long term Baghdad will cease to exist as the capital city and as a city of 5 million. Unfortunately, the route from here to there will be bloody, but I see no reason to delay it, which the American actions, despite good intentions, are doing.
On September 9th, R-burg published this article about British research in optical invisibility.
The October issue of Popular Science also had an excellent article on this subject.
It happens that I have some small knowledge of US efforts in this field. Much of the research in this area has been highly classified, but the recent de-classification and publication of some basic material allows public discussion within certain limits.
(See the article "Secret Warplanes of Area 51" in the same issue of Pop-Sci. It is no coincidence that these articles appear next to each other.)
It seems likely, on the evidence, that US efforts in this area have advanced far beyond the level achieved in the British experiments.
I can't promise anything, since I don't know the details and wouldn't discuss them if I did, but I would not be surprised to see some sensational developments unfold in the very near future.
This technology could play the same role in the current war that the atomic bomb did during World War 2.
#9
While cost-effective metamaterials are still many years away, there are other advanced technologies that hold great promise. OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) displays may provide solutions for some of these "optical invisibility" techniques. This new method of fabricating imaging devices promises flexible paper-thin video screens and even the possibility of light emitting fabrics that can display color images. Imagine a small multi-axis helmet-mounted camera that instructs your body armor to display the view fore or aft of you, plus laterally as well. It would also function as a "chameleon" suit in complex backgrounds. An enemy looking at you face-on would see whatever image there was behind you and so forth.
Metamaterials will be a much-needed component of advance battlefield technology, finding applications in all sorts of odd niches. Still, there are many other more convenmtional approaches that are available in the here-and-now.
#10
Then you'd need to dismantle the Iraqi Arab tribal social traditions.
This is the biggest hurdle. Tribalism is something our mil has so far advanced past as being "...before us" we didn't need to worry about tribalism with our former enemies.
MO and the Arabs have brought us back in a time warp. I think tribalism is our biggest problem going forward, it is foreign to our mil , no borders, hidden loyalty...it's tribalism folks
The time for effective action was in the last 3 years and has been wasted. Several cities should have been razed. Many Iraqi "leaders" should have been killed. And Iran should have been bombed back to the Stone age.
What we've done is try to set up a democratic form of government in Iraq, allowed State sponsors of terrorism to continue to cause massive death and injury across that country, and hoped -- HOPED -- that somehow -- SOMEHOW -- things would settle into paradise on earth as it sort of did in post-WW II Japan and Germany.
Instead, we have a failed experiment in freedom. And the sad consequence of that failure, caused by Islamofascists egged on by the Western leftists, will be an all-out WMD war with tens if not hundreds of millions of death.
The failure in Vietnam led to millions of death in Indochina. The failure in Iraq will be much worse.
#17
Yes, it had to be tried, but the military should not have been leashed. Destruction and death is what is required to humiliate our enemy, the Islamofascists. Massive destruction. On a scale that would impress in their feeble minds that their false god is not granting them victory over the West.
After identifying Iran and Syria as State sponsors of terrorism, it is unforgivable that these two countries are still functional States with standing armies, intelligence services, and WMD programs.
We will come to regret it. I have lost all positive expectations for Iraq. The only path left is to switch our attention to Iraq's neighbours and break them, without hoping for freedom to take hold in Islamic countries for the next several generations. Enlightenment values have never taken root in Moslem societies.
Either democracy works there, NOW, or the only alternative is either A. Leaving or B. Going genocidal, or near genocidal? (in which case IMHO we ought to leave, as theres nothing to gain in Iraq thats worth the costs of that. If were gonna "go mongol" the place to do it is NW Pakistan, where at least we've got a rationale, not Iraq.
We COULD push for a coup, to put in Allawi. His own supprt is small, but the Kurds will support him if we push, and many of the Sunni pols would, esp if we work things out with Jordan and KSA first. Some of the religious Shia will join in for self-preservation. Then you hold a new election, but this time you clamp down on any Shia that are even halfway tolerant of Sadr. Meanwhile you declare Sadr public enemy #1. You hit him, (and any Iraqi police who support him)with all the coalition force, and any loyal Iraqi army units, youve got. Local Sunni regimes will support this. You can probably get the Euros to at least not object (much easier than with a kill em all strategy). The Iranians will scream, but what exactly are they gonna do that isnt suicidal for their regime?
#20
The most important thing we could do is what EU suggests. Make oil royalty payments directly to each individual adult Iraqi, male and female. The CPA should have done this ASAP. It should still be done regardless of the objections of the Iraqi elders and elites.
#21
#17, Kalle,
Exactly. I've been saying the same here for a while. I didn't express it as well as you have. You've nailed it. We lost an opportunity. What lies ahead in terms of D&D (death & destruction) will be much, much worse.
#23
We will come to regret it. I have lost all positive expectations for Iraq. The only path left is to switch our attention to Iraq's neighbours and break them, without hoping for freedom to take hold in Islamic countries for the next several generations.
I can only echo your well expressed sentiments, Kalle.
We must begin breaking the spines of Islamic theocracy and dictatorship all through the MME (Muslim Middle East). After the ingratitude of Iraq, we must feel no obligation to rebuild anything. It will probably be a better lesson that any survivors twist gently in the breeze wafting from their smoking ruins. First Iran and Syria, then Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Cutting these four principals out of the terrorist loop would set back their operations by a solid decade.
I'd of been more heartened if our leaders really studied tribal culture especially the bedouin foundations augmented by islam to really understand our current enemies & thus break them. Our responses over the past three years would have been like many suggested on here to some degree. To the western lay person these responses prolly would have seemed barbaric but the middle easterner would have totally understood them (and grudgingly respected us) as showing strength from their stone age perspective.
Hind sight being 20/20, we should have treated them as close to what we did to the Germans/Japanese after WW2. Make them swear allegiance to us until we say different. Of course, back then there was no 24/7 msm spin cycle highlighting every death and hiccup over & over again. I'd have blacked out the media much like GW1 to include Al Jizz. Those tribes that refused to play ball would be liquidated post haste, w/as much brutality that could be mustered. The Arabs understand that message. They respect the alpha male mentality. I hate to say it, but I get a sense that a lot of our leaders really do not "know" our enemy - only in a sort of pc sense of the word - and therefore some of our tactics have not been as effective as they could be.
#25
I think the U.S. has been planning this revision in stategy for quit some time now.
My brother is in the Naval reserves doing Intel. He found out last week that he will be reporting for active duty late this month and begin training in early November. He will be deployed to Bagdad sometime in mid December. I expect to see the chahge in stategy well on its way by then.
Not that I think this new stategy will be right either.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
10/20/2006 13:54 Comments ||
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#26
we should have treated them as close to what we did to the Germans/Japanese after WW2.
The key was not the way we treated them after WW2, but during WW2. If we had kille 7.5% of the Iraqis, or better yet, the ME, we would have gotten a much different level of ccoperation. The problem is the home front wouldn't have tolerated that. Until we hake them howl, they'll keep playing their cutsie games with us and we shouldn't kid ourselves about it.
#27
The problem is the home front wouldn't have tolerated that.
Bingo NS. As much as we on RB would like to see the gloves come off, that is not politically tenable at this time and won't be until many more American civilians are dead. Then the attitude will change 180 degrees overnight. Until then it won't be permitted in Iraq, the Paki provinces or anywhere else.
Iraq is a warm up exercise, live fire training if you will. The big fight is going to come later.
#28
I agree with a lot of what's been said here (I seem to remember saying much the same thing myself once or six times). The problem has metestasized (sp?) into a problem where we have to deal with ALL Arabs, and equally. Break the backs of every Arab nation simultaneously (or some semblence of the same), and add the Persians and Pakistanis to the list for good measure. STOMP them so hard they don't even want to THINK about going to war against us. Use every weapon we can think of, short of nukes. Totally annhialate both the Saudi and the Jordanian royal families, destroy the political mullahs in every ME country, and rain devastation on their nations in spades. CRUSH them, and screw "civilian" casualties - there is no such thing.
When our MSM and leftist whiners raise their voice, give them a choice: either they learn to understand the truth about our enemies, and STFU, or they're ventilated by a 7.62 round through the frontal lobes. They have no understanding of the war that's being fought, and they aid and abet our enemies to destroy us. Their lives are forfeit. It's going to be really, REALLY nasty, but the other option is the death and destruction of Western Civilization. I will NOT surrender to the crazed mobs either on the left or in the Middle East.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/20/2006 18:05 Comments ||
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#29
Thank you all for your punditry, but Oldspook and I have the correct answers. I'll embellish:
(1) Name Iraq the 51st state of the United States,
(2) Give the crips and the bloods 72-hours to get,
(3) Cordon off and cleanse, and
(4) Turn the maintenance and weeding to the Iraqi generals.
Next stop, Iran
Posted by: Captain America ||
10/20/2006 18:48 Comments ||
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#30
The American people are unaccepting of the PC bullshit we have been doing in Iraq for the past four years (sans Falluja).
The Iraqi people (en masse) want security and an eventual end of the violence. What we have been doing the past four years has done little to give them either.
The only winners in this game thus far are limp dick jihadis and militas.
Americans are winners, we don't like war where we wear gunny sacks.
Posted by: Captain America ||
10/20/2006 18:53 Comments ||
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#31
One good thing about Iraq is that our troops are raising their level of efficacy and developing new strategies+tactics+logistics that will be invaluable in the coming campaigns.
But the political will is missing. As is the understanding of who our enemy is.
#32
The only winners in this game thus far are limp dick jihadis and militas. Americans are winners, we don't like war where we wear gunny sacks.
All real Americans love the sting of battle. American play to win, all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost, and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost, and will never lose a war; because the very thought of losing is hateful, to Americans.
Posted by: Gen. G. S. Patton (Ret) ||
10/20/2006 22:15 Comments ||
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#33
BTW... it recently came out of Soviet archives that the "accident" that killed Patton --- Wasn't an accident...
Palestinians threw Molotov cocktails at IDF soldiers operating in Jenin overnight Wednesday, Army Radio reported Thursday morning. The soldiers opened fire at their attackers.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Prefer fruit cocktail, they musta ran low
Posted by: Captain America ||
10/20/2006 0:53 Comments ||
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#2
Easy way to stop that is cut off fuel supplies.
A bomb was thrown at an IDF armored vehicle in the Gaza Strip on Thursday night during army operations to locate smuggling tunnels in the area. No one was injured, and no damage was caused. Earlier, the IDF blew up five tunnels used to bring weapons into Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2006 00:00 ||
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Hek's boyz training the Paleos?
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/20/2006 7:02 Comments ||
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#2
HAVE ARM - WILL TRAVEL
Posted by: Abu Paladin ||
10/20/2006 14:49 Comments ||
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#3
A knight without armor in a savage land.
Your fast gun for hire meeting the calling way(?)
A soldier of fortune is the man called -
Paladin
Posted by: Gen. G. S. Patton (Ret) ||
10/20/2006 22:18 Comments ||
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#4
Sorry for not changing my nym.
Richard Boone
Posted by: Gen. G. S. Patton (Ret) ||
10/20/2006 22:20 Comments ||
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Nine men suspected of smuggling Hamas weapons into Jordan were released from jail Thursday on orders from King Abdullah II, the official Petra news agency reported. The king released the men, part of a group of 20 arrested in late April, as a gesture for the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr, the agency said. The pardon also included more than 200 other prisoners, including 42 juveniles.
A Jordanian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to the media, confirmed that the nine men were among those involved in the Hamas plot. The head of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, Sheik Salem al-Falahat, said the suspects released Thursday were all Jordanian citizens who sympathized with Hamas, but could not confirm whether they were members of any Islamic group.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Seems maybe King Abdullah isn't so serious after all. Did these guys promise to become nuns or something?
#3
That whirring sound you hear isn't Israeli terrorism victims spinning in their graves, it's merely Abdullah's revolving prison door.
I doubt that Mossad has sufficient bandwidth to track down and execute these nine terror facilitators. Too bad for that. Before this is over, that revolving door must be rebuilt into a wood chipper.
The IDF struck a house in Rafiah in the Gaza Strip on Thursday night. According to the army, there was a tunnel inside the house used for smuggling weapons into Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2006 00:00 ||
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Police in the Philippines have filed charges against 19 senior Muslim leaders, including the head of a militant Islamic group, for a spate of bombings, officials said yesterday. Murad Ibrahim, chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Milf), was among those charged with the attacks, which killed 12 and injured scores on the southern island of Mindanao last week. Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) bomb-makers Dulmatin and Umar Patek, who are wanted for the 2002 Bali bombing that left over 200 people dead and are believed to be hiding in the southern island of Jolo, are also among those charged.
The Milf, which has been waging a separatist rebellion for an Islamic state in Mindanao since 1978, was said to be outraged by the inclusion of its chairman on the charge sheet. Spokesman Eid Kabalu said the military and the Milf were working to have the Murads name removed from the list. It will be corrected, he said, adding that there were major mistakes on the list and some of the Milf suspects named were no longer with the group. We see a third party here out to destroy the image of the Milf, spokesman Kabalu told reporters. Murad and his colleagues were charged on Tuesday in absentia for plotting the bombing in a southern town which killed seven people and wounded more than 30.
Kabalu said the Milf was cooperating with local security forces in hunting a former member, Abdul Basit Usman, who was suspected to have carried out the attack on Makilala town and two other towns on the southern island of Mindanao. Were also running after Usman because hes destroying our name, he added.
Milf peace negotiator Mohaqer Iqbal warned that the inclusion of Murads name could imperil peace talks with the government. Government peace negotiator Jesus Dureza also said he was surprised by the development, and did not believe the Milf was behind the attacks. Earlier, regional police director Chief Superintendent German Doria said the charges were based on accounts provided by an informant who said the attacks were sanctioned by the Milf. Security forces initially believed the JI and their local allies, the Abu Sayyaf, carried out the attacks to divert military resources from Jolo island where a massive manhunt is underway for Dulmatin and Patek.
The government signed a truce with the Milf in 2001 and later engaged the rebels in negotiations with an aim of signing a final accord this year. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front said the charges against Ebrahim al haj Murad and 20 members of the group could break a 2003 truce and hit talks to end nearly 40 years of conflict in the south.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
We see a third party here out to destroy the image of the Milf, spokesman Kabalu told reporters.
You're doing a fine job without any outside help, Mr. Kabalu.
Murad and his colleagues were charged on Tuesday in absentia
Darn it! For a moment I thought the Philippinos had finally actually caught someone.
Three government soldiers were killed Thursday in attacks blamed on the Tamil Tiger rebels in northern Sri Lanka, a day after a rebel suicide ambush at a naval base killed a sailor and wounded 15. Two troops who were part of a foot patrol near the northern town of Vavuniya were killed by mines planted by the Tamil Tigers, military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said. Another soldier was killed in a mortar attack launched by the insurgents on the army's defense line on the northern Jaffna Peninsula, a Defense Ministry official said on condition of anonymity, in line with policy.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2006 00:00 ||
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IRANIAN President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today predicted that Israel would not survive and that its allies would face the "boiling wrath" of the people if they continued to support the Jewish state.
"This regime (Israel) will be gone, definitely," Mr Ahmadinejad told demonstrators at a national rally to call for Jerusalem to be handed to the Palestinians.
"You (the Western powers) should know that any government that stands by the Zionist regime from now on will not see any result but the hatred of the people," he added. "The wrath of the region's people is boiling."
Mr Ahmadinejad, who has previously called for Israel to be "wiped from the map and described the Holocaust as a "myth," said his warning was an "ultimatum".
"You should not complain that we did not give a warning. We are saying this explicitly now."
"If a hurricane starts be rest assured that the dimensions of this hurricane will not be limited to the geographic borders of Palestine," he added. "This regime (Israel) will take its supporters to the bottom of the swamp."
"The best solution is for you to take all the components of the regime and take it away," he said.
#1
I wonder how the Iranians would feel if Israel started talking the same way about them? Maybe detonate a nuclear device in the mountains outside Tehran, close enough for them to see the towering mushroom cloud, maybe get a little breeze from it. That would pretty much put the argument to bed.
#2
How more clear can this guy be? "You should not complain that we did not give a warning. We are saying this explicitly now."
"This regime (Israel) will take its supporters to the bottom of the swamp."
You know anyway you frame it, this guy is going down badly it's just a matter of how many go with him at this point. I can't for the life of me see how things can ever be "worked out" with this nutjob. Let's hope he falls down stairs
"The Jew miscalculated. The spiritual hero did not come too late. He took up battle with Pan-Jewry and won the victory. The world knows the name of this hero. He is Adolf Hitler, the Führer of the German freedom movement. The Jew sank under his blows in the dust. Now he sees the enormous danger he faces. He has been uncovered, his criminal plans have been discovered, and a battle is coming like the world has never seen. World Jewry faces Adolf Hitler. World Jewry faces Germany. The Jews will fight without pity. We must also fight without pity against Pan-Jewry. The Jewish people is the people of the Devil. It is a people of criminals and murderers. The Jewish people must be exterminated from the face of the earth."
#6
Again, an algerian free thinker (whose name I can't remember because my mind is rotten by pr0n), who wrote a book examining the public discourse of the islamocreeps before the 1992 start of the civil war, said that "they said what they were going to do, and they do what they said".
These are True Believers (though there's always the public consumption angle), and their words shouldn't be taken lightly, like "mein kampf" should have evoked more worry from liberal democrats and joooos back in the olden days.
#7
In all seriousness, if Israel were to explode several nuclear weapons in Iran NOW they would be perfectly justified. The Iranian would-be mass murderer could not have stated his intentions more clearly. He intends to exterminate Israel and the only thing he is waiting for is his nuclear weapons to arrive.
I see no reason why Israel should wait to be hit first. The Holocaust should have taught a lesson about that. If the Israelis don't hit first they may well not have anything left to defend no matter what their second-strike capacity is.
I'd give Iran one very clear warning, something on the order of "The next statement Ahmedinejad makes threatening Israel will result in the total destruction of Iran." Then, when he oversteps the line I'd strike very soon and with sufficient weaponry to put Iran back into the Stone Age. The Iranians will have no one but themselves to blame for their predicament.
One more thing: count on this American's sympathy meter having its needle welded on zero. These bastards have had a world-class ass-kicking coming ever since 1979 and it's long past time they got it.
Posted by: mac ||
10/20/2006 9:48 Comments ||
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#8
So it seems, as I were saying, the NorK nuke test was a proof for Ahmadinutjob that the good are in order. Whether they been already delivered or are to be, is the question.
Israel may have no choice but to pre-empt, and soon.
#9
For everybody who talks so gleefully about the use of nuclear weapons, I know you are doing it in jest, or you just don't know a hell of a lot about nuclear weapons. In either case, please cut back on the "nuke 'em" suggestions.
Lots of our soldiers have fought and died specifically so that we *wouldn't* use nuclear weapons.
If America was inclined, sure, we could use nuclear weapons to solve most military disputes. We could set up death camps to exterminate repugnant peoples who are nothing but trouble to us and everyone else, like the Norks.
We could drop chemical and biological weapons onto cities, wiping out millions of people. All very easy to do.
We have never needed allies. It would all be so much easier if everybody just feared us than playing stupid diplomatic games with assholes like the president of Iran and Saddam.
But if you think the industrial genocide or the chemical and bio weapons are repugnant, think again. They can easily have far *fewer* casualties and fatalities than nuclear weapons. So why would you think they are somehow less tasteful? Death is death, and horrible injury is none the less from blast, heat and radiation than from bullets and bombs. Often times far worse.
The smart part of the world lived in fear for 50 years from a massive thermonuclear exchange. But in truth, while it is fearsome, the use of just one nuclear weapon, or just a few, taken with the blase attitude that "it's just a big bomb", is something that the world should put off as long as we can.
It is even worth the lives of thousands, or tens of thousands of Americans, to *not* have a war using nuclear weapons.
And just because imbeciles cannot conceive of the destructive force that they are playing with, or religious fanatics *want* to destroy the world to appease their god, is no reason for us to open the bottle and let the monster out.
But it is every reason to stop them, as strongly as possible, from doing it either. To see the blood of our children flow and their mangled bodies lying in the streets of some foreign nation. It is worth it. That is why we are Americans.
twobyfour: So it seems, as I were saying, the NorK nuke test was a proof for Ahmadinutjob that the good are in order. Whether they been already delivered or are to be, is the question.
Israel may have no choice but to pre-empt, and soon.
Ahmadi's been hinting at that recently:
The reformist daily Aftab-e Yazd reported that Ahmadinejad had said in his address that Iran must stand firm [in its nuclear policy]; we have one more step, and if we pass that, this [matter] will be attained.
A few days previously, on October 11, 2006, Ahmadinejad had made similar statements on the nuclear issue, in a speech in the city of Shahriyar:...The enemies are completely paralyzed, and cannot in any way confront the Iranian people. If our people maintain unity and solidarity, they [i.e. the enemies] must expect a great [Iranian] victory, because we have [only] one step remaining before we attain the summit of nuclear technology.
#11
'moose, the logical and rational part of my brain is obliged to agree with you. First use is still out of the question. That said, I'll add that my own resistance to first use is rapidly being eroded by the incessant Islamic atrocities.
What we need to do is, whenever Ahmadinejad has one of his "we are invulnerable" hissy fits, detonate a MOAB slightly outside of Tehran. It will makea nice big ominous mushroom cloud and the tremors will be felt for 100 miles.
I feel that many people here and most people in general do not fully appreciate how dangerous it is to let Ahmadinejad continue spewing his bilious vomit. He is programming his masses with incredibly misleading information. We need to discredit him while instilling doubt and fear in Iranian minds. This will serve a double function in putting other regimes on notice as well.
#12
Hmmmm... the MOAB sounds like a good compromise.....
The Dems would all sputter, drool, and then fall over dead from "Karl's October Surprise"
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/20/2006 13:51 Comments ||
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#13
Emotional revenge always focuses on the means. But if you focus on the most desireable ends, if that is what really matters most to you, then you have to accept that it will never be emotionally gratifying.
The ends, in this case, are two goals: preventing Iran from using a nuclear weapon; and, to prevent them from building a nuclear weapon ever again.
Both of these are predicated on either the Iranians testing a nuclear weapon, and thus proving they have one; or launching a ballistic missile carrying a nuclear weapon, hopefully that is intercepted before endangering any target.
For Iraq, the international community relied on its ability to gather the intelligence that proved Iraq was building a nuke. That was such a debacle that international intelligence gathering has been discredited for being adequate "proof" needed to start a preemptive war.
So therefore we must rely on Iran acting first, even if we are sure of it otherwise. However, that being said, once Iran *does* act, we will have carte blanche to respond in any way we see fit.
The response itself is the tactics of a battle plan, and since tactics can be argued ad infinitum, let us just say that the end result is an air war that destroys much of their nuclear capability.
This also assumes that we are loathe to fight a ground war, though we are more than able, if it can be avoided.
The second goal is to prevent Iran from ever building a nuclear weapon again. And this is why I advocate partitioning Iran. Because if they are left with their oil, their uranium, and their knowledge base, by hook or by crook, they will rebuild their program. And they have said as much.
If partitioned, Iran is denied its oil, its uranium, its valuable ores, and its money to reconstruct its program. The best part is, that the Persian people are not destroyed in the process, in their millions; even though the lives of their army and their Revolutionary Guard are forfeit.
Once again, these are our ends. They are suggested with a coldness that defies emotional gratification. There is no joy in our doing this, in carrying out a "national death penalty" against Iran.
The means will also be methodical and cold, and will be done to the degree it is neccessary, which is far from emotionally satisfying.
#14
Israeli agents should nuke the Iranian nuke areas and then blame the Iranians own nuke program for the blast.
"The Iranians unexpected nuclear test today serves as a warning to Israel and all peaceful nations... blah, blah, blah." Then watch the confusion as the Islamic world praises the Iranians success, and the Iranian confusion over how to explain how they lost the bulk of their scientists and program and aren't sure how and now decide if they want to blame the jews or pretend the test was theres.
Win/win. The only ones who could tell the nuke was Israeli are either their allies or known anti-semites.
#15
Anonymoose, I agree. The key difference between us in the "reality-based community" and the Progressives is that we choose our actions and our tools to achieve an effective result, whereas they do what makes them feel better, regardless whether it is effective of leads to the desired outcome (not at all the same thing).
#16
While I agree with most of what you say, Anonymoose, I do have one observation. If we have nukes in our arsenal, we should be prepared to use them if the situation warrants.
If we cannot think of any situation that would warrant it, we should immediately and unilaterally disarm.
Under what circumstances would nuclear force be warranted or necessary? Only if the actual survival of the nation is at stake? Personally, I feel that in many ways, the survival of our nation IS at stake. Like any thinking and rational person, I would be reticent to discuss anything as horrible as the nuclear option. But if you can never put it on the table, what good is it?
#17
Anonymoose raises a very good point. We must remember that the US, alone, retains a substantial conventional bomber fleet. B-2's, B-1's and B-52's raining 500lb HE onto identified targets will be devastating. Sure, send in the random C-130 with a MOAB too. Screw sending in troops unless a clearly supportive "government" takes over. This will be a message that is clearly received throughout the ME.
#19
mcsegeek1: You pose a good question, which has kind of a philosophical answer, in two parts.
The first part was that nuclear weapons, for the first time in the Cold War, achieved the ultimate in brinksmanship, which we know as Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD).
It began with a race to develop more and more powerful nuclear weapons, which culminated in the creation of the Soviet Union's ultimate weapon, in 1961, the Tsar Bomba, a 100 Megaton bomb nicknamed "The Continent Cracker", which they modified to reduce its strength before testing, to only 50 Megatons. Oddly enough, a very "clean" bomb, producing little fallout.
But such a weapon was ultimately useless, so both sides began nuclear weapons development in the *other* direction, to make smaller and smaller weapons, and even to use nuclear explosives for non-military purposes, like digging canals and making earthen dams.
Eventually though, the light dawned that since neither side could use *any* of their weapons without the strong risk of igniting a global thermonuclear war, the battle between them turned to an economic battle; with military conflicts being reduced to proxy wars between client states and revolutionary movements.
But that is when nuclear proliferation reared its ugly head. Nuclear science is not devastatingly complex in its basics, and once the knowledge gets out of how to make a nuclear weapon, the rest is just a matter of logistics and engineering.
The problem, however, was a bit more complex. You just can't make a primitive nuke, like the kind used on Hiroshima, and *do* much with it, unless you have a delivery system that can carry it. An aircraft or a missile.
So this means for a nation to become a nuclear threat it must have several very different capabilities. Importantly, it also means that there isn't any way we can *counter* these capabilities.
So only then, when they have everything they need, and we are unable to stop them, does it really come down to us having to bargain with our nukes again. To what amounts to MAD, but on a smaller scale. Basically, "If you use a nuke, then we will utterly annihilate your nation." A truly national death penalty.
In past, I even proposed that by agreement of the major world powers, any other nation that aggresively used a nuclear weapon against their hated enemy, was open to attack with neutron weapons from any of the major powers. Such weapons would destroy all lifeforms in that nation, and everything else left would be given to the victim nation as reparations.
This would terrify the petty tyrants hoping to strike a vicious blow against their hated enemy. That everything on the tyrants side would be given away *to* their (surviving) hated enemy. This would be unbearable to them, such is the pettyness of their world.
And that is a really horrifying alternative, to wipe out an entire nation, forever.
But the alternative is what the tyrants really hope for: a big bomb that will cause pain and destruction on some group which has been at blood fued with his side for hundreds of years.
The irony is that in a way, they are right, that small nuclear weapons can be used pretty much like conventional bombs.
But you see what happens when such a proliferation begins, with North Korea. Instantly, both Taiwan and Japan want nuclear weapons, too. And probably a half dozen more nations want them, just so they won't be behind the power curve, but haven't said yet.
And the more nations that have them, the greater the odds that somebody will use them.
Certainly the US could hold all the nations of the world hostage to the non-use of nukes. Eventually we may end up having to do that. But it is far, far better to just keep it non-nuclear as long as we can.
In a way, the US is already held hostage to a nuclear power: Israel. If Israel feels threatened with destruction, they have made it abundantly clear they *will* use their nukes. This puts the US in the position of having to promise to protect them so that they *won't* have to use their nukes.
This is not a pleasant situation for the US to be in, but such are the demands placed upon us to *not* use, or let be used, nukes.
#22
I have no qualms against the preemptive use of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, either by the United States or Israel. We face a grave danger from militant islam (99% of it). We have an enemy actively attempting to cause us great harm, while hiding under the guise of a non-governmental force. We know that Islam allows any form of deceit that will assist in victory, and that the word of a muslim is about as good as that of Kim Jong-Il. We've played games at fighting this war ever since the first arab terror attack in the early 70's. We're either going to have to do some very HEAVY fighting, or destroy the middle east and our adversaries. We're outnumbered about 1.2 Billion to 300 Million. Those are not good odds, especially since at least 100 million of OUR citizens are against us doing anything. We have been attacked on our own soil, and yet we want to engage in "nation building" instead of Marine-type "winning hearts and minds" (when you have the enemy by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow). The United States must understand that every muslim nation is an enemy to our peace and security, and that every muslim in the United States is a potential agent of our enemies. Playing nice is for the playground, not war. Get mean, get vicious, and WIN, instead of namby-pamby "force projection". CRUSH our foes, or they will crush us. History is not kind to those that tried to negotiate with Islam in the past. It won't be kind to us unless we accept the nature of our enemy, and pound him into scrap.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/20/2006 18:24 Comments ||
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#23
Moose, you're wrong. Plainly, simply wrong. Israelis, of all people, should know that waiting for someone else to come to your aid means staring extermination right in the face. Israel CANNOT depend on the U.S. to protect their country against Iranian nukes. We're not a reliable enough ally. Maybe nobody is, but we certainly aren't. I remember seeing the last helicopter leaving the roof of the American Embassy in Saigon. Are you truly stupid enough to think that they should put such a life-and-death decision ABOUT THEIR LIVES in the hands of venal criminals like Kerry, Clinton and Howard Dean?
Israel cannot get to Iran with a conventional army. They don't have enough people to conquer Iran if they could. The Iranian president has already said that the Islamic world could take the damage of a nuclear exchange and survive, while Israel would be totally destroyed. He considers that exchange acceptable. Maybe his people don't but guess what? They don't get to make the decision! He does! And we KNOW where he stands. If the Israelis wait until he gets those weapons, they're toast.
Last, the world goes with winners. Period. When a country gets conquered or a people get massacred, some few people elsewhere get all upset and teary-eyed, but that's about it. Think Darfur or Rwanda/Burundi. It's the OJ murders writ large. Moral equivalence between victims and victimizers.
If we woke up tomorrow to find Ahmedinejad's wet dream come true had happened, I'd bet money you'd have more people asking for us to take in refugees from Iran than Israel. And you can damn sure bet that the rest of the Arab states would be on what was left of Israel in a flash.
They're in a tough spot. They always have been but now it's worse. They can either cower, waiting for the murderers to come to them or they can go take them out first where THEY live. Nuclear weaponry is the only way they can stop Iran and the only way they can prevent themselves from being annihilated. Ben-Gurion wouldn't have found this a tough decision. Israel didn't ask for this fight but now it's here. The only two choices are victory or letting Muslim murderers finish Hitler's work.
Posted by: mac ||
10/20/2006 19:09 Comments ||
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#24
I have watched a program recently on the BBC channels that Isreal knows this. The idea of this whole nuking just outside of Tehran is redicuolous, it could go either way. On the program it reported on how the Isreali air force (armed with F-15's) has almost completed its plan to go and bomb there nuclear development sites in one go. I feel this would be much nicer, because without greatly trying except sending in 3 F-15's the Isreali air force has sent Iran back to step one.
Posted by: Tom ||
10/20/2006 19:13 Comments ||
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#25
Israel's problem is that she has to assume that an Iranian missile attack would be nuclear, and respond in kind. There is ABSOLUTELY no margin for error. Israel's missile defense shield would have to work perfectly. Iran, by whatever means, could either lob a nuke in or smuggle one into Gaza or West Bank, set it off, during favorable winds, and Israel is largely made uninhabitable by the fallout.
If this happens, the world will just wring its hands and say, too bad for Israel.
And that is why Iranian Mad Mullahs and Nut Job need to be removed---NOW.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/20/2006 21:11 Comments ||
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#26
Israel's problem is that she has to assume that an Iranian missile attack would be nuclear, and respond in kind. There is ABSOLUTELY no margin for error. Israel's missile defense shield would have to work perfectly. Iran, by whatever means, could either lob a nuke in or smuggle one into Gaza or West Bank, set it off, during favorable winds, and Israel is largely made uninhabitable by the fallout.
If this happens, the world will just wring its hands and say, too bad for Israel.
And that is why Iranian Mad Mullahs and Nut Job need to be removed---NOW.
Bingo, Alaska Paul. This is why I keep trying to have some sort of price tag attached to Ahmadinejad's ravings. If we cannot discredit them, then the intended victims like Israel have no alternative but to believe that they are true.
As mac so ably pointed out, Israel really does not have anyone that they can rely upon. No matter how much America responsibly defends Israel's right to existence, when all is over and done with, the IDF must make their own calls.
While I might oppose American first-use of nuclear arms, the case for Israel is much less clear cut. Absent the conventional means to achieve their ends and granted the direct and proclaimed intent of Ahmadinejad to turn his entire nation into the world's largest suicide bomber, how much choice does Israel actually have? They simply cannot sit around and wait for other more powerful entities (read: the USA) to finally make up their minds.
If we truly respect Israel's right to exist, we must sincerely consider preempting Iran's nuclear ambitions. If not, we had damn well better be ready to back up Israel once they've reduced the Persian threat to smoking glass.
#27
Non use of nukes is ok if your opposite is rational.
Communism (what's mine is mine what's yours is mine) was nasty but rational.
Islam is not rational by definition. It is a religion based on wars of conquest and bodies for their diety. No different then the sacrifice of of human prisoners by the Aztecs to their hungry gods.
MAD does not work with a warrior religion so first use of Nukes must be on the table no matter how repulsive some may find it.
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Handcuffed and weary, three self-confessed Taliban fighters revealed this week how they had crossed into Afghanistan from Pakistan to carry out jihad against coalition troops there after clerics in Pakistan told them that they were duty-bound as Muslims to do so. The young men - two Pakistanis and an Afghan - were captured on Tuesday after a fierce five-hour gunbattle in Afghanistans Paktika province, just a few kilometres from the Afghan-Pak border. During the battle, 24 of their fellow fighters were killed, with the Afghan army later showing their bloodied and broken bodies to reporters at an army base in Barmal district.
Suicide bombings in the south and east killed a British soldier, two children and a policeman Thursday, as President Hamid Karzai called on NATO forces to use caution during military operations a day after 20 civilians died. 
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il expressed regret about his country's nuclear test to a Chinese delegation and said Pyongyang would return to international nuclear talks if Washington backs off a campaign to financially isolate the country, a South Korean newspaper reported Friday.
The public prosecutor accused terror suspect Samir A. of planning to kill left and right-wing politicians on the first day of the trial against the Piranha network on Monday.
NEW DELHI - The execution of a Kashmiri man sentenced to death for his role in the 2001 Indian parliament attack has been delayed until the president answers his call for clemency, officials said on Thursday. Islamic rebels in Indian Kashmir have warned of dire 
QUETTA, Pakistan - Suspected tribal insurgents on Thursday attacked a passenger train with a rocket and small arms fire in the restive southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan, causing train services in the region to be suspended, an official said.
(UPI) -- Pakistan Tuesday released the founder of a jihadi group linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network. Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the former leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Kashmiri jihad group, has been under arrest in Lahore since August, the Internet news site India Defense reported. He was held under public order legislation that authorizes detention without trial for up to three months, but a court Tuesday ordered him freed. 
A bomb was thrown at an IDF armored vehicle in the Gaza Strip on Thursday night during army operations to locate smuggling tunnels in the area. No one was injured, and no damage was caused. Earlier, the IDF blew up five tunnels used to bring weapons into Gaza.
Nine men suspected of smuggling Hamas weapons into Jordan were released from jail Thursday on orders from King Abdullah II, the official Petra news agency reported. The king released the men, part of a group of 20 arrested in late April, as a gesture for the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr, the agency said. The pardon also included more than 200 other prisoners, including 42 juveniles. 
The IDF struck a house in Rafiah in the Gaza Strip on Thursday night. According to the army, there was a tunnel inside the house used for smuggling weapons into Gaza.
Three government soldiers were killed Thursday in attacks blamed on the Tamil Tiger rebels in northern Sri Lanka, a day after a rebel suicide ambush at a naval base killed a sailor and wounded 15. Two troops who were part of a foot patrol near the northern town of Vavuniya were killed by mines planted by the Tamil Tigers, military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said. Another soldier was killed in a mortar attack launched by the insurgents on the army's defense line on the northern Jaffna Peninsula, a Defense Ministry official said on condition of anonymity, in line with policy.
