(KUNA) -- Afghan and coalition forces killed five Taliban fighters and arrested five other people on charges of links with the al-Qaeda terror network, officials said on Sunday. Spokesman for Afghanistan's Interior Ministry Zmaray Bashari said three Taliban fighters, including two Pakistan nationals, were killed in airstrike by NATO aircrafts in Garmser district of Helmand province. Without giving more details, the spokesman said they were recognized as Pakistani nationals while the third was a mid-level Taliban commander.
In a separate incident, the Afghan Interior Ministry's spokesman said two more militants were killed while planting a bomb. Bashari said the militants were planting the bomb on a road near Lashkargah, capital of Helmand province, which was frequently used by Afghan and local forces. In yet a third incident, the coalition and Afghan forces arrested five people for their alleged links with Taliban and al-Qaeda. A coalition spokesman said the five men were arrested during a raid in Jalalabad, capital of the eastern Nangarhar province. The spokesman did not mention the nationalities of the arrested men.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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Ethiopia today pressed on with its offensive against Somali Islamists and threatened to seize the Somali capital, Mogadishu. At least two Ethiopian jets fired missiles on retreating Islamist forces, prompting the interim Somali government to claim a partial victory.
Hundreds of troops have been killed during a week of heavy artillery and mortar fighting amid fears that it could spark a wider regional conflict in the Horn of Africa. "Ethiopian forces are on their way to Mogadishu. They are about 40 miles away and it is possible they could capture it in the next 24 to 48 hours," Somalia's ambassador to Ethiopia, Abdikarin Farah, told reporters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
But the Islamists, who insisted their withdrawal was "tactical", warned that any attempt to take Mogadishu would end in disaster for the attackers. "It will be their destruction and doomsday," the Islamist spokesman Abdi Kafi said. "We will fight to the last man until we ensure there are no more Ethiopian troops in our country."
#1
Well it aint difficult to Blitz your way in. The difficult part starts during the stay. I think the same strategy will be played by the terrorist like they do in Iraq and Afghanistan.
#2
"It will be their destruction and doomsday," the Islamist spokesman Abdi Kafi said. "We will fight to the last man until we ensure there are no more Ethiopian troops in our country."
#3
Who has the deeper pockets? The US or the Saudi Royal Family? [We know they have deeper pockets than the Brits who blinked on the corruption investigation]
#4
FJ: Well it aint difficult to Blitz your way in. The difficult part starts during the stay. I think the same strategy will be played by the terrorist like they do in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The correct strategy for the Ethiopians would be kill any journalist who reports unfavorably on them and to use Islamic Courts tactics on the recalcitrant, meaning collective punishment. Now, collective punishment is a little excessive for the West's delicate sensibilities, but it has been the secret to extinguishing enemy resistance in every conflict since man has known war.
#5
"It will be their destruction and doomsday," the Islamist spokesman Abdi Kafi said. "We will fight to the last man until we ensure there are no more Ethiopian troops in our country."
The last time I heard a line like that, Baghdad Bob was standing there saying something similar while you could see M1s in the background...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/26/2006 13:06 Comments ||
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#6
I hope when the Ethiopian's pull out, they monitor the celebrations, and bomb the hell out of them, and then go back in. Gaurenteed to get rid of a bunch of them and thier supporters that way. Leaving is a good way to draw them out.
#7
Pull out? You don't think the Ethiopians are going to start working on improving Somalian infrastructure, feeding the population and providing quality entertainment? That's a sorry kinda war, maybe even illegal.
Islamic fighters retreated from the main front line early Tuesday, witnesses said, a day after Ethiopian fighter jets bombed the country's two main international airports.
"Run away! Run away!"
Troops loyal to the Council of Islamic Courts withdrew more than 30 miles to the southeast from Daynuney, a town just south of Baidoa, the government headquarters. The Islamic forces also abandoned their main stronghold in Bur Haqaba and were forming convoys headed toward the capital, Mogadishu, residents in villages along the road told The Associated Press by telephone.
If I was an Aethiop commander, which I'm not, I'd say convoys of hard boyz would be great strafing exercises for my pilots...
"We woke up from our sleep this morning and the town was empty of troops, not a single Islamic fighter," Ibrahim Mohamed Aden, a resident of Bur Haqaba said.
"Then I looked around me an' thppppp! they wuz gone!"
On the northern front, government and Ethiopian troops entered the town of Bulo Barde, where just two weeks ago an Islamic cleric said anyone who did not pray five times a day would be executed. "We have withdrawn as part of our military strategy," said Sheik Mohamoud Ibrahim Suley, an official with the Islamic council in Mogadishu.
#4
Too easy. I'm sure the real fighting will be coming soon. The jihadis are regrouping and calling for islamic reenforcements from neighboring countries. Ethiopia would do well to move fast while time is on their side.
#6
Seems interesting. Attack them behind thier front, and they have to run back to protect. Then attack behind them again, they will run there. Keep them running.
#9
To tell you the truth, I really thought that the Kenyans would jump in the melee, but I love the Ethiopians- they have BALLS. The Legion is lurking around but the Italians cannot be seen.
Posted by: Joe of the Jungle ||
12/26/2006 9:00 Comments ||
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#10
I bet the ICU is no logistical machine either...how do these guys get food and water and ammo?
By stealing it from the locals. Odds are they abandoned the village because the supplies ran out.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/26/2006 9:06 Comments ||
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#12
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Somalia's Islamists are in full retreat after Ethiopian airstrikes and a ground offensive that have killed up to 1,000 of the religious movement's fighters, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Tuesday.
"A joint Somali government and Ethiopian force has broken the back of the international terrorist forces... These forces are in full retreat," Meles told reporters in Addis Ababa, adding that up to 1,000 Islamist fighters had been killed.
"A few are Somali but the majority are foreigners," he said of the dead.
#14
I bet our advisers are bus-ee, helping the Ethiopians to beat tub on the Islamists. Everything from satellite maps, enemy concentrations and movements, flying spare parts and ammo into Addis Ababa, probably even augmenting their soldiers' pay and perks so that they will be extra motivated.
#15
As a taxpayer, I sure hope so 'moose. I'm also hoping we are learning a few things about the current state of jihadi human and financial networks when one of these actions kicks up.
#19
Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, a top leader of the Islamic group, accused Ethiopian troops of massacring 50 civilians in the central town of Cadado. Ethiopian officials were not immediately available to respond.
Mogadishu 25, Dec.06 ( Sh.M.Network) Two Ethiopian fighter jets have bombarded Baladogle airport, 100 km (67 mile) south of the capital Mogadishu. Witness said three missiles struck the airport and a nearby neighborhood. The number of casualties is still sketchy.
Do a Google search and you'll see quite a bit of info for the EAF. Apparently it has quite a history and is armed with SU-27s, MIG-23s, SU-25s, and some old F-5s. Also apparently has better than insh'allan maintenance.
Ethiopian fighter jets has for the second day air bombarded Somalias Islamist controlled areas in central and southern areas of the country. The Ethiopian warplanes air bombed the capitals main airport early Monday morning, with one person injured.
The transitional government has announced Monday that it closed all borders of the country from air, land and sea. Abdirahman Dinaari, the governments spokesman, asked the international community to assist the Somali government enforce the new restrictions.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
When I read the report yesterday about an airstrike by two combat jet aircraft which dropped a total of two bombs, my first thought was the MiG-21 did the job.
Why risk the "top of the line" aircraft for a simple unopposed bombing mission?
The Russians liked to ship stripped down versions of even their advanced aircraft, so it is likely the SU-27s and SU-25s in the Ethiopian inventory are likely just plain jane aircraft.
#2
The SU-25 is the Soviet attempt to create an A-10. It has a cannon and about a dozen hard-points, which are great against ground targets. They're kind of slow-moving, but there isn't much to oppose them.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/26/2006 14:59 Comments ||
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#3
I'd swear there's a Scottish airport with the same name. Doesn't "Baladogle" sound like a small Highlands town?
Ethiopian troops seized towns throughout southern and central Somalia on Monday and bombed the international airport at Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, in a rapid escalation of a two-day-old offensive against Islamic fundamentalists who've controlled most of Somalia for the past six months. The better-armed Ethiopians encountered no resistance from fighters of the fundamentalist Council of Islamic Courts at Baladweyne, a strategic town on the main road from Ethiopia into central Somalia, and later seized Aadado after fighting there. Ethiopian troops and Somali militiamen reportedly were advancing toward Jowhar, an Islamic fundamentalist stronghold 50 miles north of Mogadishu. It's not clear, however, whether the Ethiopians intend to seize Jowhar or press their campaign to Mogadishu. If it was me, which it isn't, I'd go for Mogadishu and excise the entire cancer.
Ethiopian officials said they've declared war on Somalia, and analysts said Ethiopian forces, equipped with tanks, heavy artillery and jet aircraft, would likely defeat the more lightly armed Islamic fighters in direct combat. Important point for the West here: Any time Islamists declare jihad on you, you should accept it as a declaration of war, which it is, and respond in kind.
But analysts said the Ethiopians would be unable to control Somalia's vast expanses for an extended period and that prolonged fighting would rally both Somalis and foreign fighters to the Islamic cause. They don't have to control it. They have to go in, beat up everybody in sight, and then leave. When a successor to the Islamic Courts arises, they'll have to come back and do it again as soon as the new set of bad boyz declares jihad. Eventually they won't have to, because the successor organization will declare jihad on somebody else, like Kenya, or more healthy Guatamala.
They suggested that Ethiopia's likely goal is to force the Islamic Courts to negotiate a power-sharing agreement with Somalia's weak, but internationally recognized transitional government headquartered at Baidoa. Maybe. Their goal should be to destroy the Islamists. Otherwise they'll reconstitute and try the same tricks all over again. Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Attention all jihadis!! Come to Somalia now! Ethopian troops do not follow US ROE's. They bomb and shoot first before asking questions.
#2
"The goal is to break the court's military capacity and bring them back to the negotiating table from a position of weakness," said Matt Bryden, a consultant for the Belgium-based International Crisis Group, who's been monitoring the fighting from Nairobi, Kenya. "Neither side can win this conflict."
The Mighty Belgians have spoken. As I said yesterday, the Ethiopians need to ignore this Eurocrap and just keep kicking butt.
#4
The ANALyst from the Belgium-based International Crisis Group states that "neither side can win," and the Ethiopian's strategy is too negotiate a settlement from a position of strength.
I think these alqaeda supported islamists have to be not only defeated, but destroyed. I would hope that the Ethiopians would realize that you can't negotiate with a sick idealogy, that is a modern day equivalent of nazism. One can't sit across the table from these people. If you believe that hitler's geopolitical appetite could have been satiated by negotiations, than you would believe that these islamic court criminals can be stopped by a "peace-in-our-time" diplomatic document.
#5
But analysts said the Ethiopians would be unable to control Somalia's vast expanses for an extended period and that prolonged fighting would rally both Somalis and foreign fighters to the Islamic cause.
Minus the several tens of thousands already dead in the Iraq and Afghan theater of the 10th Crusade. Oh, and you don't need to control all of the 'vast expanse', just the places where there is water. Once you catch a mobile group, you just run it down so it can't stop for refreshment. How many 'friendly' borders are there for the muzzies to run across for protection in Somalia?
#6
How many 'friendly' borders are there for the muzzies to run across for protection in Somalia?
None. The islamists are bordered by Kenya, Ethiopia, and Puntland to the north. Truly an opportunity to drive them into the shark infested sea.
Posted by: ed ||
12/26/2006 9:25 Comments ||
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#7
Notice that all the "experts" and "analysts" appear to be either far leftoid moonbats or EUroweenies, but I repeat myself. I believe the next ARCLIGHT strike should be through the heart of Brussels. It would certainly end a lot of the "gloom and doom" blather.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/26/2006 15:25 Comments ||
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#8
Truly an opportunity to drive them into the shark infested sea.
#9
Remember, the CIC has been talking about a "Greater Somalia", which would include the ethnic Somalia areas of Somalia, Djibouti, and Ethiopia for the past year. So, you can believe Kenya has troops near its border watching, and the US has thousands of Special Forces in Djibouti for the North African campaign against Islamic terror. The CIC has nowhere but the ocean to turn to if the Ethiopians get serious about wiping them out. Also, the Eritrean government ought to be careful about giving sanctuary to the CIC, or it could have a revolt on its hands, considering how much of the population there is Christian or animist.
(SomaliNet) The Ethiopian backed government troops are on Monday reportedly moving towards Dinsor, a strategic town controlled by Islamic Courts Union in southwest Somalia. Witnesses say the fighting is now continuing near Dinsor town after the Islamic fighters were pushed back from the Idale front following seven days of heavy gun battle. The fighting is taking place in Rama-Addey village 45 km to Dinsor between Ethiopian forces along with the interim government troops and the Islamic Courts Union. Residents in Dinsor fear that the war might spread to their town with reports that people began fleeing as fighting nears.
In Daynunay area on the road between Baidoa city, the seat of the transitional federal government and Bur-Hakaba, a town controlled by ICU, the fighting is still going on with rivals using all sorts of weapons. Government official in Baidoa said that its troops have also made progress in the fighting continuing on Bur-Hakaba road, 180 km southwest of the capital. We are in few kilometers to capture Bur-Hakaba, he said.
Other developments say that the Ethiopian troops have taken control of Adado town in central Somalia where the Islamist militia deserted after facing bitter fighting. It the third town which the Islamic Courts Union lost in the clashes with the Ethiopian forces in Somalia a week ago.
Meanwhile, two senior Islamist officials have returned back to Somalia capital on Monday shortly after the air strike by the Ethiopian fighter jet which dropped two bombs on the main Mogadishu airport killing one female worker at the airport and wounding others. Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys and Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, the leaders of Shura and executive councils of ICU landed at the airport in time of tension. Both officials briefed reporters about their trips to abroad.
The Ethiopian war planes also hit Balidogle military airport just 100km southwest of Somalia capital targeting Islamist positions. Ethiopia said the air bombardment on Mogadishu main port was to prevent the military supply coming to Islamic Courts.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Re pic: Either the Royal flying core was so strapped for manpower they were drafting midgets or they were dropping 1000lb ers 90 years ago either is possible i suppose.
(SomaliNet) The interim government in Baidao issued a decree banning all flights into and out of Somalia yesterday. Somalia territorial waters are also off limits. The Ethiopian air force showed its willingness to enforce the decree by bombarding Mogadishus international airport and Somalias largest military airspace, Balidogle which lies between Mogadishu and Baidao.
The Islamic Courts forces crumbled after many days of fighting with the pro-government and Ethiopian army in central Somalia today. They lost a vast land in central and south-central Somalia as fast as they captured a few months ago. The first strong hold of the Islamic Courts is now Jowhar, about ninety km. northeast of Mogadishu. Members of previous administration before the courts captured Hiran province are now regrouping to assume control of Beledweyne, the capital of the province. Hiran has been already devastated by floods after a main river overflowed its banks earlier this month.
Baidao environs is another story, the Islamic Courts who were on the offensive earlier in the conflict are putting very stiff resistance against Ethiopian and government troops supported by Ethiopian gunship helicopters. Some sources say the elite commando type arm of the Islamic Courts, headed by much feared and Afghanistan veteran, Adan Ayrow is engaging fierce battles with the Ethiopians in this area.
The courts started to fasten their grip on Mogadishu by deploying road blocks and extra troop movement in the capital, especially the northern districts. One of their spokesman said, there has been some security related incidents in the area and the stepped-up security measures are intended for public safety. Hundreds of families who wanted to leave Mogadishu are now stuck since airline companies are not risking to take-off while Ethiopian war planes are flying Somalia airspace unchallenged. SomaliNet talked to a man who went to Mogadishu with his wife and children just past week to visit his aging parents. The Ethiopian warplanes struck the airport when he was at the airport trying to send the wife and children out of the country but it was too late.
Unconfirmed reports say the courts are retreating from many fronts and are planning to employ a new guerrilla tactic against more superior Ethiopian regular army.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
..."New Guerilla Tactic" = blowing away anybody who you don't personally know
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/26/2006 7:08 Comments ||
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#2
Baidoa isn't the nondescript-right-over-the-border ville as described by the press, looks like it controls lateral movement along a good chunk of the Ethiopian border.
#4
Note the two main roads between Ethiopia and Mogadishu. One runs through Beledweyne and the other through Baidoa. They're pushing the enemy back from the main access to the border.
From the Ethiopes perspective, there's no need to take Mogadishu as long as they can be penned in. Think Gaza.
(SomaliNet) The Islamic Courts Union in the Somalia capital said on Monday it would take steps to assure the security in the city as the Islamist fighters faced several fronts with the Ethiopian troops in southern and central Somalia. The ICU would make new check points at the streets of Mogadishu to tighten the security and avert any anti Islamist actions, said an Islamic official. Last week there have been minor explosions in the capital by Somali enemy and the ICU is deploying security forces in all roads in the city to prevent against troublemakers, the official said.
Tightening security around one's capital is generally what one does when one is losing, right?
For the last days, the Islamic fighters have been searching illegal weapons from the cars on the roads in the city to speed up the steps to tighten the security.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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Right Fred, pencil Somalia into the win column.
(SomaliNet) Heavily armed Ethiopian troops with militia loyal to former warlords on Monday have fully taken control of Beledwein and Bulo-Barde towns in central Hiran region from the Islamic Courts Union. Yusuf Mohamud Hagar known as Daba-Ged, former mayor of Hiran province addressed crowds of people who rallied in central of Beledwein saying that government forces are going to capture the whole country and continuing to clear all the Islamists out of Somalia. I am telling you to be quiet, everything will be turned to normal, our aim is to fight against the terrorists in the country, Yusuf Daba-Ged said. We are chasing them towards Mogadishu, government troops will assure to take over whole the country,
Sheik Mohamud Janaqow, the deputy leader of executive council of Islamic Courts Union admitted that they lost Beledwein city, taken over by Ethiopian forces. He said that Islamist fighters withdrew from the town after heavy air bombardment by the Ethiopian fighter planes. Sheik Janaqow condemned the Ethiopian air strike in Somalia as in violation of Somalia sovereignty.
Witnesses in Bulo-Burde, a town 190km north of the capital confirmed SomaliNet that the town has fallen to Ethiopian troops along with the militia loyal former warlords after heavy gun battle with the Islamic fighters. Among the former warlords was Mohamed Omar Habeb Mohamed Dhere who is with the Ethiopians and wants to recapture his Jowhar Township some 90km north of the capital. Unconfirmed reports say that hundreds of Ethiopian tanks moved towards Jowhar town. One of the residents in Jowhar told SomaliNet this morning in telephone contact that there were large military movements by the Islamic Courts in the town to defend against the advancing Ethiopian troops.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Mohamed Dhere
"Mohamed Dhere?"
"No, dere Mohamed...here Mogadishu."
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/26/2006 9:40 Comments ||
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(KUNA) -- Algerian security authorities detonated a suspected booby-trapped car parking near the main post office in central Algiers on Monday. Government troops sealed off the area and roads leading to it and prevented citizens from approaching. Investigations showed that the car contained no explosive materials.
The incident caused a state of panic and fear in the center of the capital where a number of government institutions and commercial shops and cafes are located. The intervention of the security authorities is in the context of a precautionary measures to secure the capital after terrorist operations and the explosions that targeted two security sites in the eastern suburbs of the capital. Two people including an Algerian national were killed when a bus carrying workers of an American company was ambushed last month.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Bomb blast at Fatah activist's home
(KUNA) -- A bomb blasted outside a Fatah activist's home in Beit Lahiya early Sunday morning
I wonder if these incidents are the same or related? Safe bet, eh?
Posted by: ed ||
12/26/2006 08:11 ||
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#1
I've got a theory that combat units have a few 100% warriors, the vast majority are 50% warriors, and a few 0% warriors.
By this I mean that a 100% warrior is a "natural" in combat. They are noticeably more capable than the typical soldiers, and use what training they have to maximum advantage. But they are uncommon.
A 50% warrior is the typical soldier. They perform their tasks well, but cannot compete with a real warrior and win. They also are the ones who tend to run out of juice after about 200 days. Their reserves are exhausted, and take years to recover.
A 0% warrior usually never gets into a combat unit in the first place, unless he is inspired and motivated by warriors so much that he somehow gets through the screening process. But he collapses under pressure and in a short time either gets killed or gives up however he can give up.
Ironically, a 0% warrior often fully supports the war, comes from a family with lots of soldiers in it, and is miserable when they wash out. But they just can't be made to fit for any length of time.
#2
I agree Moose. The guys I know that seem to have the most problems were the ones that weren't "right" to begin with. I generally think if you are squared away before you go, you can put things that happen in combat into proper prospective. I'm not saying that you don't think about it alot, or you don't have bad dreams, but you do function and carry on with your life. Personally, I think a lot of guys abuse the PTSD thing, which makes the real cases of it hard to distinguish from posers.
#3
Hell, before when we came back (before political correctness) we got laid and drank our asses off. So much for stress,
Posted by: Joe of the Jungle ||
12/26/2006 10:39 Comments ||
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#4
Figure WW II. How long, actually, was any line division actually in combat?
The Pacific campaign was characterized by savage campaigns lasting mostly for weeks, a couple for months, with long delays in between.
The guys who went ashore on D-Day had just under a year to go, June to the following May, and most guys who fought in the ETO got there later than June. My father's divison went into the line in October, for example.
The Italian campaign took longer, following a break after Torch, but in many cases, it was new formations who were involved.
Point is, two one-year tours amounts to a hell of a lot more time in combat than most guys in WW II ever approached.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
12/26/2006 10:46 Comments ||
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#5
Yes, but you're looking at it from the American point of view. The British and Germans had much longer periods of warfare, the British on a small scale, the Germans at a very large scale. IE, we're talking the Highlanders and Seventh Armoured, plus most of the original Wehrmacht & the older Waffen-SS formations, not counting all of the units formed from scratch or re-formed after the large-scale unit losses of early 1943.
I've never read SLA Marshall, I have to admit. Did he get any information from the Germans, or was it all original, American research? I would think that the German experience would be a much more extreme source of "test to destruction" cases.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
12/26/2006 13:03 Comments ||
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#6
Mitch.
There are two other issues: One is that the length of combat and its intensity meant that very few guys got their two hundred days in. They were frequently killed or severely wounded.
The other is that the Brits had a doctrine of frequently relieving battalions, instead of keeping them in the line until they were practically worthless. I believe it was about ten days. The relieved battalions rested, got medical attention, took in replacements and did some additional training and functioned as the reserve.
It has been said that this reduced the amount of combat fatigue. Robert Graves, in his memoir of WW I "Goodbye to All That" said that when he was in the trenches, a subaltern's effective span was about three weeks. Took him some time to learn, and after three weeks of being in command, he got to be ineffective due to "neurasthenia". I asked my father what happened to the EM. Could be the responsibility on the shoulders of an adolescent was worse than being a private. Or, as my father said, perhaps the Brits didn't keep records of how the EM fared. Perhaps the famous British discipline kept them on the straight and narrow until they were either dead or completely out of their skulls. But, given the casualties, they were probably dead first.
It would seem odd, but it could be that a less-intense combat situation would, by allowing far more people to survive to 200 days and beyond, give us far more combat fatigue than in other wars.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
12/26/2006 15:33 Comments ||
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#7
My dad was in the Torch landing in North Africa, fought for five months, and came down with pneumonia. He was sent to a hospital in England, and reassigned. He ended up landing in Normandy within a week of D-Day, fought through the St. Lo breakout, was in the tank breakout that pushed the German army back to their own borders, and ended up as an artillery gunner assigned to support the 101st at Bastogne. From there, he was part of Patton's 3rd Army across Europe, ending up in Plzen, Czechoslovakia, when the surrender was announced. He was originally a tank driver, then a gunlayer for 155s, then an artillery spotter. He saw an IMMENSE amount of direct combat. My mother told me it took him years to get over all the problems he came home with.
We only recognized the most extreme cases of "battle fatigue" during World War II. The war in Vietnam was totally different, and even the most active combat unit rarely saw the enemy - only felt their presence when attacked.
Today's enemy is much the same - a hidden enemy whose presence is mostly felt by IEDs and suicide bombers. That puts much more stress on day-to-day activity. Stress is destructive of the human body, and can cause all kinds of real, physical disabilities. The stress in Iraq and Afghanistan isn't so much the stress of combat as its the stress of anticipation and worry.
As for 100% warriors et. al., horsepucky. We have trained soldiers that do their job, and do it well. Some people adapt better to the training than others, but all can fight effectively. The biggest difference is how these people react to the stress of never being sure if they're going to be attacked when they go out, even if they're just making a mail run. The effects of stress are cumulative, especially if there's no way to relieve that stress. Too much stress, and even the best warrior will break. I've seen good, hardworking commanders end up in the hospital because they couldn't find a way to manage the stress of their position. "Combat Fatigue" is just stress carried to a much higher level than normal. Without the ability to relieve that stress, people break.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/26/2006 15:50 Comments ||
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#8
I don't know...
My Dad made assault landings on Roi-Namur, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima. He's fine and 83. Course I'm purdy jumpy.
#9
Given the variability of species Homo Sapiens, and that some 8% of us succumb to anxiety disorders under normal circumstances (of which post-traumatic stress disorder is an extreme example), I'd expect something similar from those exposed to real fighting. Brain SPECT imaging shows a significant difference in brain activity for a variety of disorders, including anxiety, apparently due to altered levels of seratonin and other brain chemicals. Supposedly intake of alcohol and certain drugs can reset this in the least severe cases -- getting laid would ease other stresses due to being away from home for extended periods of time, I imagine.
#10
Whoops-- PIMF! Go to the home page of that link to see SPECT images of other brain disorders. Very, very cool! Still expensive as it's apparently rather new, but I imagine either the DoD or VA will invest in a couple of the machines to weed out those with legitimate PTSD from the fakers.
#11
I've never read SLA Marshall, I have to admit. Did he get any information from the Germans, or was it all original, American research? I would think that the German experience would be a much more extreme source of "test to destruction" cases.
SLA Marshall's supposed research has been effectively debunked by numerous sources. His initial research concluded that American soldiers in WW2 did not fight. This research was purportedly based on 300-400 interviews with soldiers that never occurred! His claim was that US soldiers rarely fired their weapons and it completely ignored statements from German soldiers, one of which reportedly stated "I never saw any indication that the Americans were unwilling to fire their weapons".
Marshall is definitely not a reliable source and tends to be an apologist for the British and an extreme critic of the US Army.
BAGHDAD (AFP) - Young, white and killed by a roadside bomb. This is the portrait of a typical American casualty in Iraq, the number of which now exceeds the civilian dead of September 11.
When the US-led invasion of Iraq took place in March, 2003, it was inextricably linked in American minds with the terror attack by Al-Qaeda hijackers that killed 2,973 people.
The biggest terror for US troops now is the ubiquitous "improvised explosive device," a homemade bomb that American troops call an "IED."
According to a recent Pentagon report, some 44 percent of US casualties have come from these explosives, which range in complexity from a small mortar round detonated by a trip wire to sophisticated charges that can punch through the thickest armor.
Small arms fire, including that from the dreaded snipers that have increasingly made an appearance in the past year, account for just under 20 percent of the US casualties.
About a fifth of the US deaths in Iraq, 568 people, had nothing to do with combat at all, with 65 percent dying in accidents, particularly those involving helicopters. Another 93 servicemen took their own lives.
While army soldiers make up the vast majority of the dead -- 68 percent with 1,961 soldiers -- the marines are making the final sacrifice well out of proportion to their numbers in the field.
Though they make up less than 15 percent of the US forces in Iraq, they comprise almost 30 percent of the dead, pointing up the extreme ferocity of the combat in Anbar, west of Baghad, which they struggle to control.
With less than two million inhabitants, the largely desert province holds only a fraction of Iraq's population, but more US servicemen have died there than any other region.
The province, which has claimed 35 percent of US deaths, contains the battleground cities of Fallujah and Ramadi as well as a string of towns on the Euphrates river valley that are insurgency strongholds.
Baghdad comes next as the deadliest spot for Americans in the country with 764 deaths, a quarter of the total, while only 292 have died in the Sunni heartland province of Salaheddin, birthplace of Saddam Hussein.
In all of Iraq's 18 provinces, the safest places for Americans are the Kurdish provinces of Dohuk and Sulaimaniyah, where not a single US soldier has died.
Anbar province was also centre stage during the deadliest month for US troops, which happened in November 2004 in which 137 US combatants fell, many of them due to the US siege and recapture of Fallujah.
An earlier attempt to take the town in April 2004, coupled with pitched battles between US soldiers and the Mahdi militia in Najaf, resulted in the second highest monthly death toll of 135.
The fewest US soldiers died in March 2006 when only 31 perished, perhaps because in the aftermath of the February 22 destruction of the revered golden domed Shiite shrine in Samarra, Iraqis were too busy killing each other.
Monthly death tolls have risen towards the end of 2006 and in October over 100 servicemen died, a number on track to be equaled in December.
The US army is a young army, judging by its dead, with more than half the casualties under the age of 25 and a third of them, under the age of 22.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, ethnic minorities did not do a disproportionate share of the dying -- white soldiers do most of it. Just under 10 percent of the casualties are black, who make up around 13 percent of the US population, while 11 percent of the dead are Latinos, who make up 14 percent of Americans. Some 74 percent of US servicemen who have lost their lives are non-Latino whites, who make up only 67.4 percent of the US population, according to the census bureau.
Some 60 women soldiers have died in Iraq, a high number considering they are banned from many frontline combat units. Most women were killed driving in convoys, carrying out police duties, in attacks on bases or at checkpoints. Female soldiers also often accompany the infantry on raids as they are needed to search Iraqi women.
On December 6, a new grim milestone was passed when marine Major Megan McClung became the highest ranking female officer to be killed in the war. Aside from her gender, her death conformed to the statistical average for casualties. She was killed by a roadside bomb that destroyed the armored humvee she was riding in through downtown Ramadi. The 34-year-old public affairs officer for the 1st Brigade of the 1st Armored Division was escorting a journalist, who was unharmed.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/26/2006 16:09 Comments ||
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#2
New RoE: anyone caught with any type of IED or components should be immediately shot as a war criminal.
Possess explosives/shells? Dead
Possess vests? Dead
Possess wiring/fuses? Dead
Possess more than one electric controller? Dead
Publicize it, do it. US casualties will drop mightily.
#3
Both the IED and sniper problems, I think, are cyclical. As experienced troops rotate out, the toll goes up, and then down as experience grows.
UAV's and counter sniper teams, used properly, will take care of most of these before any of our guys or gals get killed. Unfortunately, it goes against the grain for many commanders to recon by air and snipe at your enemies.
Northeast Intelligence Network, read at your own risk.
We are picking up unconfirmed reports that leading Shi'ite leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani is dead. This hasnt been confirmed yet by any of the major news services at this time. We will continue to monitor this as this could be a major event in the ongoing bloody conflict between Sunni Muslims and Shiite Muslims in the Baghdad area and across Iraq.
Sistani was known for his more peaceful approach to resolving disagreement as opposed to his Shi'ite counterpart Muqtada al-Sadr who has been burning Sunni Mosques and terrorizing Sunni neighborhoods in his personal power struggle within Iraq. The Sunni have equally retaliated in bombings, murders and terror.
Current information suggests that the residence of the deceased elderly Shi'ite leader is on lockdown and surrounded by US forces.
#5
Seeing as how Sistani just placed his imprimatur upon Sadr in favor of ending American participation in Iraq, the demise of both these assholes has just become a top priority.
This Doug Hagemann guy that runs NEIN is, . . . how do I say this diplomatically? . . . moonbat-looney.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/26/2006 16:04 Comments ||
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#11
That Steve Quayle guy is definitely a nut. He's got some relationship with Hagmann, but I'm not sure that the wiki is right on Quayle contributing to NEIN.
And, sometimes, they've both been right. Though NEIN has gone downhill since Hagmann had a very public falling out with Laura Mansfield. I don't disregard sources just because of bizarre views in other areas -- but I do try to cross check it with othersources. I wouldn't regard it as less reliable than the New York Times.
#13
8:12pm Eastern time, and still no report about Sistani on Fox or CNN.
There's no way that something this big would fail to get reported by the big news agencies. If nothing else, someone like Tater would be crowing that he was the new spiritual leader of the Iraqi Shi'a.
In other words, this is bogus.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/26/2006 20:09 Comments ||
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#14
perhaps it's a message to Sistani: "this could be you"
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/26/2006 20:18 Comments ||
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#15
It is time for the civil authority in Iraq to consider a "who will rid us of this turbulent priest?" doctrine; in which power is invested in the state, and mullahs are consigned to peaceful, spiritual roles. Or else.
Priests of all kinds lust for power. They cannot help it, and are always on the look out for it. Therefore, they must be made to fear ambition, lest their commission be terminated.
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq - Coalition Forces used precision munitions delivered by guy in red uniform from flying sleigh to destroy a vehicle insurgents were using to emplace improvised explosive devices today in Haqlaniyah.
Coalition Forces observed insurgents digging and unloading IED materials onto a road. The vehicle and the insurgents were engaged with precision munitions. The vehicle was destroyed. Insurgent casualties are not known at this time. Still trying to find a piece big enough to count.
There were no reports of civilian casualties and no Coalition casualties. Surprisingly, they do not report secondary explosions.
Dec 26, 2006 : 8:43 am ET - BAGHDAD, Iraq -- An Iraqi appeals court has upheld the death sentence for Saddam Hussein, Iraq's national security adviser said Tuesday. "The appeals court approved the verdict to hang Saddam," said the official, Mouwafak al-Rubaie.
On Nov. 5, an Iraqi court sentenced Saddam to the gallows for the 1982 killings of 148 people in a single Shiite town after an attempt on his life there.
#3
WOWww! I figured they would draw out the appeal months. The Iraqi system is written so that once the appeal is denied and the sentence upheld the gov has maximum 60days. This means before Febuary Saddam will be a swingin.
#4
From what I've read here, this means he's 30 days (or less) from that 'short drop, sudden stop' thingy. But being a cynical skeptic, I'll believe it when they release the Uday/Qusay-type morgue pics.
#5
We must have posted at the sametime. I looked back and Bigjim is right not me. After the appeal they have 30days not 60days like I had come off the top of the head with.
Posted by: mac ||
12/26/2006 11:23 Comments ||
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#8
Do they still have that old stretchy rope Sadam used to use?
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/26/2006 11:25 Comments ||
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#9
I'd say, hoist him from the ground. Takes longer.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
12/26/2006 11:41 Comments ||
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#10
It's 30 days - as emphasized by the appeals court judge who made the announcement - and the only speed-bump I can think of would be a long-shot appeal to Iraq's constitutional court. When I left that court had yet to be fully created, manned, and operational. The idea (not unreasonable) was that under Iraq's new system, the defense would have the option of testing lines of authority by appealing the IHT's decisions "above" and outside it. Similar things are common in new constitutional systems.
But I think the political situation makes any successful appeal unlikely. The 30-day law was an amendment to the IHT statute passed in summer '05 by the interim parliament (against US preferences) , and it reflects the desire of a majority of Iraqis to be done with the evil guy in the natty dark suit. Talabani won't stand in the way, and I see no likelihood that things will be delayed.
I'm quite surprised too. I expected longer deliberations, and would not have been shocked by a reduction in sentence or other negative ruling, given the substantial (if understandable) rough edges of the Dujail process. I imagine a Saddam neck-lengthening now will curtail US support to the whole IHT process as well. That support has been just one more extraordinary effort by the US that has gone largely unsung and under-appreciated.
#14
the only speed-bump I can think of would be a long-shot appeal to Iraq's constitutional court. When I left that court had yet to be fully created, manned, and operational.
#17
My prediction: When Saddam does take the big drop, the MSM will downplay it.
It will be the lead story, they can't avoid that, but the tone will be that of an afterthought, "in case you're interested."
Any feature play in the media will focus on far left criticism of Saddam's trial, with softballs pitched at the usual Human Rats activist spokesdroids and unchallenged soundbites in return.
There may also be leaden semi-philosophical pieces from the likes of Andy Rooney, questioning the "right to judge," playing up the lies about the US arming Saddam in the 80s and so on.
In short: another exercise in twisted bullshit that Goebbels would envy.
#20
Oh thirty days (thirty days!)
Oh thirty days (thirty days!)
Im gonna see that you hang real high in thirty days
Gonna send out a world wide ululu
Thatll be the very thing that'll suit ya
Im gonna see that you dead as stone in thirty days.
A car bomb exploded beside an open-air market in Baghdad on Monday, killing nine civilians and injuring 11 others, police said. The explosion happened in Jadida, a mostly Shi'ite district in the eastern part of the Iraqi capital, police said. The targeted area often attracts crowds of shoppers, as well as laborers looking for work.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- Three Iraqis were killed, 20 wounded, Monday in a suicide attack that targeted a public transportation bus nearby Sadr City, eastern Baghdad. An Iraqi police source told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the suicide attacker blew himself up onboard the bus, noting that the bus and three civilian vehicles were totally destroyed in the attack. The Iraqi police sealed off the area and prevented civilians from approaching the site of the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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#4
Since Olmert has been in office and this is only the latest in his flopping, and since there has been no uprising by the governed, I can only say that they get what they deserve. Time for us to turn off the money spigot to them also.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A rocket fired on Tuesday from Gaza injured two Israelis, the first to be hurt in a Palestinian attack since a ceasefire began a month ago.
A 14-year-old boy was in critical condition and another, also 14, was seriously hurt by the rocket that slammed into a street near a house in the town of Sderot, Leah Malul, a spokeswoman for Barzilai Hospital, said.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made plans to convene top decision-makers on Wednesday to weigh a possible Israeli response, an Israeli source and media reports said.
"It is clear that Israel's policy of restraint is not open-ended and these rocket attacks must stop," David Baker, an official in Olmert's office, told Reuters.
Olmert has come under growing public criticism for failing to retaliate for more than 60 rockets fired since a November 26 truce, while he is also under U.S. and European pressure to keep the ceasefire.
Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group, claimed its forces had fired the rocket, and called it retaliation for Israel's continued military raids on its hideouts in the occupied West Bank.
The truce had halted Israeli-Palestinian fighting in and near the Gaza Strip, but Israel has continued raids it says are to prevent attacks from being launched from the West Bank.
Israel has killed 15 Palestinians since the ceasefire began, all but one in the West Bank. About half were gunmen.
#6
Since Olmert has been in office and this is only the latest in his flopping, and since there has been no uprising by the governed, I can only say that they get what they deserve. Time for us to turn off the money spigot to them also.
Israeli and U.S. sources said the State Department has blocked the transfer of weapons and technology to the Jewish state over the last three months. The sources said the halt reflected deteriorating relations between the two countries since the end of the war in Lebanon in August 2006.
"Nobody will say openly that there is a problem," a government source said. "But there is a serious problem that reflects the marginalization of Israel in U.S. strategy."
The unofficial suspension of U.S. arms deliveries began in late September, the sources said. They said the suspension halted the airlift of air-to-ground and other munitions conducted during and immediately after the Israeli war with Hizbullah.
Pardon me while I get this saltlick taste out
*blech*
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/26/2006 19:33 Comments ||
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#8
And Amerikans can't fire at the future UNITED NATIONS FORCES IN USA. aka Motherly = Caring Commie Airborne ala RED DAWN.
Israel on Monday expelled a Palestinian prisoner from the West Bank to Gaza, officials in Gaza said. The prisoner, Abdullah Saadi, 26, lived in Jenin, at the northern edge of the West Bank. He belongs to the military wing of Fatah, the movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, they said. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
In 2002, Israel expelled 27 West Bank Palestinians to Gaza, charging they were involved in planning a suicide bombing. Palestinians and human rights groups have complained about the practice.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Palestinians and human rights groups have complained about the practice.
Yet remain utterly silent on how difficult existing Islamic doctrine itself makes fighting terrorism in all its forms. If relocating West Bank Islamic radicals to Gaza diminishes their ability to instigate terror attacks, then that is what it takes.
Human rights organizations would do well to shut up about any rights for terrorists. They would be well advised to help save this world by pushing for sanctions against all Sharia nations on the grounds of gender apartheid being a fundamental violation of women's rights. Until existing Sharia law is seen as a fundamental violation of human rights (in general), by constitutional and non-theocratic societies, fighting terrorism and Islamization will be a fragmented and less morally coherent force than what may be ultimately required to withstand the threat of Islam.
These sort of external sanctions, economic and military, exerted in unison are some of the few ways to make Western civilization Muslim unfriendly. Unreformed Islam provides those who oppose theocratic rule no alternative but resolute defiance and agressive opposition.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/26/2006 8:52 Comments ||
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#4
IIRC, Shin Bet wanted several years ago to start expelling the families of suicide bombers from WB to Gaza. The uproar even mentioning that possibility brought from the various Paleo groups showed that it was a great idea. Too bad the Israeli Supreme Court shot it down.
Posted by: mac ||
12/26/2006 11:31 Comments ||
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#5
:>
Frank, Confuseus say The dough gets the big man straight.
(KUNA) -- A bomb blasted outside a Fatah activist's home in Beit Lahiya early Sunday morning, Palestinian security sources said. Hamdi Srour's house suffered severe damage from the explosion, but no casualties were reported. The Palestinian police have started an investigation into the bombing.
The Rafah crossing was also attacked by gunmen last night. The gunmen fired from the crossing's south side. A speaker from the President's Guard who are in command of the crossing, Wael Thahab, told Palestinian radio, "the forces at the crossing fired back and forced the attackers to flee." Thahab did not openly accuse any faction of the attack but hinted to a group he left unnamed. He added, certain factions continue floundering Palestinian resources. Thahab continued, the President's Guard will not hesitate to return any attack on Palestinian sites that in the future will be the cornerstone of a Palestinian state.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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JENIN, West Bank - Israel seized a top commander from a Palestinian militant group in the occupied West Bank on Monday, a local security source said. Israeli forces raided the West Bank town of Qabatiya, near the city of Jenin, and detained nine Palestinians, including Yasser Nazzal, head of the Popular Resistance Committees in the West Bank, the security source and witnesses said. They also seized two Islamic Jihad militants, they added.
Another splinter group.
The leader (Nazzal) will be replaced by a thousand leaders and resistance will continue, PRC spokesman in Gaza, Abu Mujahed, said. We tell the Zionist enemy that your message has been received and now you should await the response.
We shall have Dire Revenge!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/26/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Another splinter group.
I say boy, the place has more splinters than a sawmill. [/Foghorn Leghorn]
(IsraelNN.com) Hizbullah terrorists tried to bomb United Nations Interim Forces (UNIFIL) after a Spanish contingent discovered a large weapons stockpile, an IDF officer told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Monday.
Brigadier General Yossi Baidatz said that Hizbullah planted bombs around the weapons so that they would explode when the UNIFIL soldiers planned to destroy them. The Spanish troops discovered the bombs and no one was injured.
It's not immediately apparent to me why the Swiss ambassador to Iran is taking the heat for American actions in Iraq, but I presume it's some diplo message-sending thingy...
Swiss Ambassador to Iran Philippe Welti was summoned to Foreign Ministry to hear Iranian protest at arrest of two Iranian diplomats in Iraq, IRNA reported. "The US troops committed an action which is in contravention with code of conduct with diplomats," Iran's Foreign Ministry official told Ambassador Welti who looks after the US Interest Section in Tehran.
Ow. That arrest left a mark, did it? Heh.
IRNA diplomatic correspondent quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini as saying that the US troops had arrested two Iranian diplomats on a visit to Iraq at the invitation of Baghdad government.
Hosseini voiced indignation at the practice and said that it is unacceptable conduct with diplomats which may have unpleasant consequences.
Sending your "diplomats" to eff around in the internals of another sovereign nation is also unacceptable conduct which may have unpleasant consequences, Mo.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said in a statement that the two Iranian diplomats have been on a visit to Iraq at the invitation of Baghdad government for making arrangements for Iraqi reconstruction. Hosseini said that Iraqi government is responsible for freedom of the diplomats and the occupying troops should respect internationally recognized diplomatic norms in Iraq.
#3
My guess is that we screwed-up their watches when they were being waterboarded. Most watches are good up to 100 meters. Iranians were always good about keeping receipts and demanding warranty work.
#5
I can hear the Swiss now. "Yes, we have been in communication with the Americans about this matter. Their response was a bit undiplomatic. To, ummm, to quote directly, their reply was "Suck it, mullahs!"
Posted by: mac ||
12/26/2006 11:27 Comments ||
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#7
Interesting that this is being made public. If more Iranian involvement is highlighted with like press then we may be seeing the run-up to a confrontation with Iran.
Public displays of Iranian complicity in the murder of American soldiers cuts off diplomatic retreat on issues like nuke negotiations. We'll see if Iran blinks.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
(KUNA) -- Afghan and coalition forces killed five Taliban fighters and arrested five other people on charges of links with the al-Qaeda terror network, officials said on Sunday. Spokesman for Afghanistan's Interior Ministry Zmaray Bashari said three Taliban fighters, including two Pakistan nationals, were killed in airstrike by NATO aircrafts in Garmser district of Helmand province. Without giving more details, the spokesman said they were recognized as Pakistani nationals while the third was a mid-level Taliban commander. 
Mogadishu 25, Dec.06 ( Sh.M.Network) Two Ethiopian fighter jets have bombarded Baladogle airport, 100 km (67 mile) south of the capital Mogadishu. Witness said three missiles struck the airport and a nearby neighborhood. The number of casualties is still sketchy.
Ethiopian troops seized towns throughout southern and central Somalia on Monday and bombed the international airport at Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, in a rapid escalation of a two-day-old offensive against Islamic fundamentalists who've controlled most of Somalia for the past six months. The better-armed Ethiopians encountered no resistance from fighters of the fundamentalist Council of 
(SomaliNet) The Ethiopian backed government troops are on Monday reportedly moving towards Dinsor, a strategic town controlled by Islamic Courts Union in southwest Somalia. Witnesses say the fighting is now continuing near Dinsor town after the Islamic fighters were pushed back from the Idale front following seven days of heavy gun battle. The fighting is taking place in Rama-Addey village 45 km to Dinsor between Ethiopian forces along with the interim government troops and the Islamic Courts Union. Residents in Dinsor fear that the war might spread to their town with reports that people began fleeing as fighting nears. 
(SomaliNet) The interim government in Baidao issued a decree banning all flights into and out of Somalia yesterday. Somalia territorial waters are also off limits. The Ethiopian air force showed its willingness to enforce the decree by bombarding Mogadishus international airport and Somalias largest military airspace, Balidogle which lies between Mogadishu and Baidao. 
(SomaliNet) Heavily armed Ethiopian troops with militia loyal to former warlords on Monday have fully taken control of Beledwein and Bulo-Barde towns in central Hiran region from the Islamic Courts Union. Yusuf Mohamud Hagar known as Daba-Ged, former mayor of Hiran province addressed crowds of people who rallied in central of Beledwein saying that government forces are going to capture the whole country and continuing to clear all the Islamists out of Somalia. I am telling you to be quiet, everything will be turned to normal, our aim is to fight against the terrorists in the country, Yusuf Daba-Ged said. We are chasing them towards Mogadishu, government troops will assure to take over whole the country, 
(KUNA) -- Algerian security authorities detonated a suspected booby-trapped car parking near the main post office in central Algiers on Monday. Government troops sealed off the area and roads leading to it and prevented citizens from approaching. Investigations showed that the car contained no explosive materials.
An Iraqi appeals court has upheld the death sentence for Saddam Hussein, Iraq's national security adviser said Tuesday. "The appeals court approved the verdict to hang Saddam," said the official, Mouwafak al-Rubaie. 
A car bomb exploded beside an open-air market in Baghdad on Monday, killing nine civilians and injuring 11 others, police said. The explosion happened in Jadida, a mostly Shi'ite district in the eastern part of the Iraqi capital, police said. The targeted area often attracts crowds of shoppers, as well as laborers looking for work.
Israel on Monday expelled a Palestinian prisoner from the West Bank to Gaza, officials in Gaza said. The prisoner, Abdullah Saadi, 26, lived in Jenin, at the northern edge of the West Bank. He belongs to the military wing of Fatah, the movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, they said. The Israeli military had no immediate comment. 
(KUNA) -- A bomb blasted outside a Fatah activist's home in Beit Lahiya early Sunday morning, Palestinian security sources said. Hamdi Srour's house suffered severe damage from the explosion, but no casualties were reported. The Palestinian police have started an investigation into the bombing. 
JENIN, West Bank - Israel seized a top commander from a Palestinian militant group in the occupied West Bank on Monday, a local security source said. Israeli forces raided the West Bank town of Qabatiya, near the city of Jenin, and detained nine Palestinians, including 
(IsraelNN.com) Hizbullah terrorists tried to bomb United Nations Interim Forces (UNIFIL) after a Spanish contingent discovered a large weapons stockpile, an IDF officer told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Monday.
