Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year
On the midnight ride of Paul Revere
Posted by: Mike ||
04/18/2007 14:23 ||
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#1
Wrong category! Mods, please fix.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/18/2007 14:26 Comments ||
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#2
Ah, poetry as fiction.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
04/18/2007 15:18 Comments ||
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About 100 Taliban raided Afghan police posts and a district government headquarters northeast of Kabul on Tuesday, in the heaviest fighting in an area so close to the capital since 2001. Earlier on Tuesday, a bomb blew up a UN vehicle in the city of Kandahar killing four Nepali contractors and an Afghan driver. The Taliban claimed responsibility. Separately, four children were killed in a blast at a school in the city of Herat.
The Taliban launched coordinated attacks in the rugged Tagab district of Kapisa province, 70 km from Kabul. Heavy fighting went on for hours and the government requested and received US military support, the provincial governor said.
Separately, a top US general said American forces intercepted Iranian weapons headed to the Taliban in Afghanistan in the last month, but he did not know who had sent them. It is not as clear in Afghanistan which Iranian entity is responsible but we have intercepted weapons in Afghanistan headed for the Taliban that were made in Iran, said Gen Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. We do not know with the same clarity we know in Iraq who is delivering those weapons, who is involved, he told reporters in Washington.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
that "which Iranian faction sent them" crap is gonna get real old, real quick. Same shit as the Paleo "political vs military wings". Collective guilt, collective consequences
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/18/2007 6:32 Comments ||
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It is not as clear in Afghanistan which Iranian entity is responsible but we have intercepted weapons in Afghanistan headed for the Taliban that were made in Iran, said Gen Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. We do not know with the same clarity we know in Iraq who is delivering those weapons, who is involved, he told reporters in Washington.
Do I care? Turn the friggin place into a glass rink and I betcha the problem will stop. Cause->Effect. Of course we won't be loved if we do it, but we're not loved now anyway. Big deal. However, afterwards when we do speak, most everyone else will pay attention.
HT to the Captain
A mob killed 13 people in an attack on a police station in the northern Nigerian city of Kano yesterday, four days after unidentified gunmen shot dead a hardline Muslim cleric.
Police said that the mob, suspected of belonging to a radical Islamic sect, burnt the police station in the Panshekara district and killed the officer in charge, his wife and 11 other officers. The sect killed a divisional police officer in an attack in the Sharada district last week. Kano is one of 12 northern Nigerian states that introduced Sharia in 2000. The move alienated Christian minorities and sparked violence. Southern Nigeria is predominantly Christian.
Tensions are running high in the city of six million because of state elections held on Saturday and a presidential vote on April 21. It was not clear if the latest violence was connected to the elections.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/18/2007 06:33 ||
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#6
In the old days in England, Vivian was as much a masculine name as feminine (although there may have been an alternate spelling I didn't notice, like Frances/Francis).
ISTANBUL, Turkey
Attackers killed three people Wednesday at a publishing house that had been the subject of protests for distributing Bibles in Turkey, the government-run Anatolia news agency reported.
One person who had his throat cut inside the publishing house and another who jumped from the third floor to escape were taken to local hospitals for treatment, the private Dogan news agency said. Anatolia said one of those taken to the hospital later died.
Nationalists previously had protested outside the Zirve publishing house in the city of Malatya, accusing it of proselytizing, Dogan reported.
Video footage broadcast on private NTV news channel showed one man being tackled by police outside of the building, and another in a neck brace being loaded into a stretcher.
Malatya is known as a hotbed of nationalists and is the hometown of Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish man who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981.
#2
Would not a nationalist seek to preserve such businesses that helps its nation's status and increase its coiffers through taxation?
I can see the protesting of proselytizing of any religion, but that would impart being a national secularist, if that is even a correct term.
This seems more of the Psylamist types to me.
The top military commander in Iraq will make a rare visit to Capitol Hill next week but House Democratic leaders unlike their Senate counterparts initially declined the Defense Departments offer of a Members-only closed-door briefing with Army Gen. David Petraeus, according to Congressional and administration sources.
A spokesman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) at first acknowledged Tuesday that the Pentagons request to have Petraeus give a House briefing had been denied due to "scheduling conflicts" next week. Later on Tuesday, Pelosis office contacted Roll Call stating that the Speaker was now working to set up a session....
According to an administration official, Pelosi and Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) initially declined recent requests from the Defense Department to schedule a briefing on either Wednesday or Thursday of next week.
The Pentagon first approached Armed Services Committee aides to set up a briefing, but panel aides said they were "too busy" to schedule a meeting next week, the administration official said. A second attempt to set up a briefing with the Speakers office was likewise declined....
"Its puzzling that for the first time that Gen. Petraeus is in the country since he was unanimously confirmed by the Senate that the House has declined an offer to talk to him. We would hope that they would reconsider," the official said before Pelosi reversed course Tuesday and agreed to set up a House-wide meeting with Petraeus next Thursday....
Democratic aides said the Pentagons request violated standard briefing protocols, as such sessions usually are conducted on a regular basis by the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of State. The aides said that sending Petraeus is an effort to blunt Democratic criticism of the war.
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/18/2007 13:25 ||
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#8
He smiled and shook my hand ever so gently, and he wore a lovely silk pinstripe suit with a dashing club tie. He respects us implicitly, and only wants to be our friend.
#9
They are spiteful and full of themselves. I mean do we not believe we are at WAR. I think this is part of the new realpolitik of denying that there is a threat. You cannot be a loyal opposition if it helps Bush fight the war, you don't want to be seen as anti-troop so you have to attack from a diffent angle - the war on terror is over-hyped and mostly arab rage at Israel. Iran, well they are very pro-American and western culture - its just that they are misunderstood by the American and European press. They have lots of oil and we need to be nice to them and talk. This idea of getting the Dems elected to the POTUS in order to get them on the right side of the WoT is so much BS. They will turn us into a nation of weak kneed apologists following the EU and UN directives and regulations and laws on just about everything. I sense survival mode is coming and we better start preparing for more Randy Weavers and Wacos. Problem for the new Dem administration is that there will more ex-SF types that will leave the AF's who won't be suckered by some blonde in disabled vehicle. This time it could be some real hot s**t.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
04/18/2007 15:31 Comments ||
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#11
This sounds EXACTLY like when Dorothy, the Scarecrow, et al have come to see the "Great and Powerful Speaker of the House Wizard of Oz"...his reponse:
Do not arouse the wrath of the great and powerful Oz. I said come back tomorrow.
#12
There are two kinds of yellow bellied cowards. Islamist cowards, and those they count on to cower in the face of their islamist terror: Democrat Party
#13
...So why aren't the 'Pubs tripping all over themselves to have public hearings? If it's just the House Republican leadership and a couple more, fine - but EMBARASS Pelosi and her cabal. Yes, I know the MSM won't cover it, but it will be a slap they cannot ignore - and when they're mad, they'll do stupid stuff.
Mike
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/18/2007 16:22 Comments ||
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#14
They wouldn't want mere fact to get in their way of demonizing the war would they?
Funny how Pelosi can find time to take a trip over and visit a hostile dictator or three but can't find the time to be briefed on the war in which our troops are being killed.
#15
In my eyes, Petraeus ranks higher than any of you slugs in the capitol. I have some choice words for you myself. You put your political careers ahead of anything. You put the nation in danger, and you refuse to try something that was working to see how it worked. You are doomed 110. DOOMED.
Blood is on Your hands. Nemo, fiddling as rome burns. Putting our guys under undue stress and danger by Constantly undermining them.
An Iraqi army brigade commander has been arrested after a string of bombings that killed more than 180 people around Baghdad.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki says the officer was arrested because of the weakness of security measures to protect civilians in Sadriya a Baghdad marketplace where more than 120 people died in one bomb blast.
The marketplace attack was the worst of six bombs on a particularly bad day even by Baghdad standards.
#2
Exactly, TW. To my way of thinking, heads OUGHT to roll over this - and perhaps not only Iraqi ones. Of course that would mean examining our war-without-warfare "strategy" (and yes, Petraeus' approach is merely the old one, with an injection of "duh!" common sense like maintaining a presence in troubled neighborhoods). Martial law? Preventive detention? Ringing off areas that harbor terrorists? Applying power in a place where absolutely nothing else is respected or even understood? Nah - that's not sophisticated enough. I'm finally going to force myself to look at Petraeus' COIN manual - hope it has an executive summary, so I can get despondent without spending too much time in the process ....
#3
The bombers were not able to get into the marketplace but they knew what time everyone left. They set the bombs up where all the vehicles were waiting for the people on their way out of the market.
They should stagger the times people leave that market. That general getting fired might cause his replacement to get a bit creative in ways to save lives in order to keep his job.
Suspected Sunni insurgents penetrated the Baghdad security net Wednesday, hitting Shiite targets with four bomb attacks that killed 183 people the bloodiest day since the U.S. troop increase began nine weeks ago.
The most devastating blast struck the Sadriyah market as workers were leaving for the day, charring a lineup of minibuses that came to pick them up. At least 127 people were killed and 148 wounded, including men who were rebuilding the market after a Feb. 3 bombing left 137 dead.
Wednesday's car bombing appeared meticulously planned. It took place at a pedestrian entrance where tall concrete barriers had been erected after the earlier attack. It was the only way out of the compound, and the construction workers were widely known to leave at about 4 p.m. the time of the bombing. More at link.
Posted by: ed ||
04/18/2007 17:56 ||
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#1
God speed to the innocent victims. At some point, these born into Islam will realize: "If this is my religion, I don't want anything to do with it".
#3
Saudi Arabia must be taken offline immediately. If not, at least snuff the following:
Prince Sultan Ibn Abd al-Aziz
Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz
Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz
The House of Saud desperately needs a shot across the bow such as this. Why a demonstration of this sort was not provided after 9-11 is something that Bush must wrestle with for his remaining life.
Basra, Apr 17, (VOI) - The director of Basra International Airport said that the airport stopped flights on Tuesday for security reasons, while eyewitnesses said that the British base in the airport was rocketed.
"Flights were halted at the airport on Tuesday afternoon for security reasons," Director of Basra airport Razzaq Qassem told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) over the phone.
However, eyewitnesses living near the airport said that it was attacked by Katyusha rockets. "One of the rockets landed on the runway and caused some damage," Nedal Jaber, a technician at the airport, told (VOI).
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I think it is safe to say that rocket attacks fall into the 'security reasons' category.
A truck laden with nitric acid and explosives overturned before the driver could attack a joint security station operated by US and Iraqi troops north of Baghdad, the US military said on Tuesday.
In a statement, the US military said a security patrol went to assist the driver of the truck after it overturned and found it loaded with eight containers of nitric acid and explosives. It said the driver confessed he had been paid to attack the joint security station in Mushada, which also houses the towns police station, north of Baghdad.
Separately, a group linked to Al Qaeda said on Tuesday it had decided to kill 20 Iraqi troops and policemen whom it had kidnapped, after the government failed to meet a deadline to free female prisoners. Our Islamic court ... has ruled (to execute) them and we shall soon issue pictures of it, said the Internet posting from the self-styled Islamic State in Iraq.
On Saturday, the group said it was giving the government 48 hours to free all women held in Iraqs prisons, saying otherwise it would kill the 20 men, whose pictures it published. It also demanded that the government hand over to it Interior Ministry agents accused of involvement in the widely publicised alleged rape of a woman and other reported rapes and civilian killings.
Saturdays statement said the 20 men of various ranks, one of whom was identified by his Interior Ministry identification card as a security unit commander, had been abducted northeast of Baghdad. It did not give the date of the kidnappings.
The US military said it captured eight suspected insurgents on Tuesday in raids near Fallujah and Baghdad. Six suspects detained in Karmah, a village northeast of Fallujah, allegedly had ties to Al Qaeda, the US military said in a statement. Two suspects detained in Baghdad were accused of providing and transporting materials for car bombs, it said.
Five more US troops have been killed in a series of attacks in Iraq, the military reported on Tuesday, taking the losses to 50 in this month alone. Two marines were killed on Monday in combat operations in the western province of Anbar, the military said. Another two soldiers were killed and two wounded when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in Fallujah also in Anbar on Saturday. Another soldier died when hit by an explosively-formed projectile, a kind of a roadside bomb, in southern Baghdad on Monday, a separate statement from the military said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
As a reminder, CONSERVATIVE GRAPEVINE > THE CORNER > insurgents have used WMDS NINE TIMES IN ATTACKS INSIDE IRAQ, and NO ONE CARES, thus DemoLeft-MSM's "NO WMDS IN IRAQ" rants on.
#2
Does it count as 'using a WMD' if it does not cause mass destruction? Does it count as actually being a WMD if it is not capable of generally causing mass destruction? Maybe they get a free pass until they actually succeed in poisoning a few thousand people in one shot.
#4
this seems like a waste of nitric acid to me. nitric acid is the prime component in the manufacture of many powerful improvised explosives, and could have been used been put to better use.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
04/18/2007 9:46 Comments ||
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Glenmore,
What if it only causes a few hundred casualties?
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
04/18/2007 10:22 Comments ||
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Abu
That was my thoughts reading this? Sounds basicly like a fert bomb along the lines of the Oklahoma system. I don't see why it would be considered a chemical attack?
I read somewere the other day they think they have a handle on the Cholorine bombs by holding all inbound cholorine trucks until a armed escort could be arranged. The cholorine trucks were from Jordan, Syria, Iran but enroute oddley were being hijacked. Jordan is somewhat trustworthy but Syria/Iran I still don't see why we don't proclaim each of those borders closed and shoot without notice anything/person caught in the no-go-zone between.
It would make sense if they felt they had way more nitric acid than they were capable of using or way more than they could ever hope for.
Perhaps the IED factories have been wiped out. I doubt to that degree, but maybe. Unless a significant number of them got taken out without being replaced, I don't think they would have this kind of excess. And if they did, the suppliers would have to be in cahoots to know to pool it and give it to someone willling to do this kind of attack.
I'm no chemist, but I am assuming it doesn't take more than a five gallon bucket to make a decent bomb. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I'm sure it doesn't take a tanker full.
Something is fishy here and it seems there ought to be enough info out of an investigation to do some serious harm to one of the terrorists crucial suppliers.
#9
Gorb: you are on target with the amount of acid needed. i dont want to give easy advice on 'how to' here but suffice it to say that there are several rather simple and (by comparison to the usual terrorist methods) 'safe' ways to have concocted a powerful explosive. i really dont know what they might have been thinking using as reported as a nitric acid (HN03) spill is not particualry dangerous outside of contact with the eyes. in fact normal battery acid (sulfuric acid - H2SO4) is significantly more dangerous in direct contact with skin/eyes.
the chlorine gas that was previously used was a danger becuase chlorine is very reactive and when exposed to water (sweat/tears/lungs)produces hydrochloric acid (HCl)which causes severe burns. nitric acid is essentially as reactive as HCl or H2SO4, but would not disperse like chlorine gas, and does not react as agressively with organic compounds (like flesh) as sulfuric acid does.
i hope this isnt too dry and boring...
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
04/18/2007 17:45 Comments ||
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The military just busted a Baghdad warehouse with 3000 gallons of nitric acid. While it may better be used to make explosives, terrorism is a media war and an acid or chlorine attacks garner more breathless headlines than the run of the mill car bomb.
Posted by: ed ||
04/18/2007 18:11 Comments ||
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#11
Just had a thought on perspective...
By decent bomb, I was thinking an anti-personnel device with say the boom of an artillery shell (155MM) not the boom of a 2000 pounder...
5 gallons of concentrated HNO3 can produce 10-15 KG of HE if you get decent yeild. Again it depends on the 'recipe' and the skill of the chemist.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
04/18/2007 18:16 Comments ||
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I don't know about the rest of you guys but I'm worried about material that may be supplied to insurgents by Iran, Syria, N. Korea, Pakistan and how they are getting it to them. Who supplies the nitric acid and the chlorine gas? How do we know they aren't getting ready to ship some here to home grown groups through their shipping supply channels? I think maybe through Islamic companies and charities. I wonder are they using the prison system gangs to tranfer orders and information? I hate it when you can just feel that something is amiss but you can't quite put a finger on what it is or how it will take place.
I just know the one person I was able to get the most iformation from has become very cautious about his little hints. He just keeps reminding me that things are "moving toward the future". Has started reading his bible and going to church.
Usually this means a way to make a mockery of christianity and how to figure out ways to do dirty work while appearing legit on the surface.
I wonder who is providing he money to pay these
driver's and where are they when the vehicles are loaded? Seems to me figuring this out would curb many of AlQ's attacks. But oh well, who listens to average everyday people?
Suspected Islamic rebels shot dead two men in Thailand's restive Muslim-majority south, including a Buddhist they beheaded, police said Wednesday.
Militants killed the two Buddhists, aged 51 and 50, in an ambush late Tuesday in Narathiwat, one of three insurgency-torn southern provinces bordering Malaysia. They then beheaded the 50-year-old man early Wednesday, police said.
Also in Narathiwat, at least five bombs hit power transmission stations late Tuesday, but the attacks caused no power blackout and there were no reports of casualties.
Well, so this article seems to read. Evan the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz are under Iranian Navys full control. I often wonder just what is really going on inside these folks heads, when they speak like this. Can it be, they really, really do believe what they are saying? Or, is lying, boasting just a way of life? H/T Michael Rubin at The Corner
TEHRAN -- Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei called on members of the armed forces to maintain their religious and revolutionary identity here on Tuesday.
After the Islamic Revolution, the armed forces were turned into an army with a religious and revolutionary identity, Ayatollah Khamenei said in a meeting with a group of army commanders on the eve of Army Day. The Islamic Republic established an innovative sociopolitical system based on religion, he stated.
With its religious democracy and anti-hegemonistic character, this initiative found its place in the world, especially among Muslim intellectuals, and the superpowers had to accept it, he added.
As far as equipment, experience, and human resources, the Army of the Islamic Republic is now much stronger than it was at the beginning of the revolution and during the Sacred Defense (1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war), Ayatollah Khamenei noted.
The Leader also called on Army personnel to continue with their activities and innovation and to make efforts to ensure that religious and talented people flourish in the military. -----------------General says enemy not powerful enough to attack Iran
Army Commander Major General Ataollah Salehi said here on Tuesday that the enemies of Iran can never attack the country because they know the military might of the Islamic Republic.
Thanks to the endeavors of its experts, the Iranian Army has made many achievements in various fields of military technology, and this has actually strengthened the sovereignty of Iran, he stated. Commenting on the military maneuver that is to be staged later today, concurrent with Army Day (April 18), Salehi said, We take pride in our resolute defensive will that is strengthened by the martyrs of the Islamic Revolution and eight years of (Iraqi) imposed war on Iran.
He went on to say that the enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran have realized that they can never materialize their threats against the country, adding, If incurring damage on Iran was a victory, they would have won the eight-year imposed war against Iran. We are not worried about any possible damage and are certain of victory. This is a fact that the enemies are well aware of.
Maintaining the military might of Iran and staging joint maneuvers of the Army, Air Force, and Navy during the first half of the Iranian calendar year (began March 21) are some of the most important objectives of the Army, he said. -----------Persian Gulf under Iranian Navys full control: admiral
The Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz are under Iranian Navys full control, the Iranian Army Navy Commander Admiral Sajjad Kuchaki said on Tuesday.
The Navy is in a unique and perfect situation and is able to win any irregular and attrition warfare, Kuchaki told the Mehr News Agency.
Through different war games and the continuous patrolling in the southern Persian Gulf waters the Navy has demonstrated that the enemy will receive a serious and unpredictable response if it does the slightest provocative action against Iran, the general argued.
The commander said that the forces under his command have built military and telecommunication systems through which they have detected the enemys weak points and will give a striking response to any threats. We seek innovation in the war against the enemy. If we fight with a specific tactic one day, that tactic will not be useful for a second war.
The Navy submarines are equipped with a modern technology and will not allow any foreign country to make any adventurous move against the Islamic Republic, he commented.
The admiral proposed that security in the region should be established by the Persian Gulf littoral states because the destiny of the region should be determined by regional countries. The Navy has adopted a defensive strategy, Kuchaki said, adding, Our message is establishment of security and friendship. Why should a country that is 8,000 kilometers away from region want to establish security in the region?
An enforced security brings about captivity, but a security that is established by the regional states will bring about (permanent) peace, the top general commented.
#11
Tried to post this in Opinion but it wouldn't go...
Cartoonish Self-Sufficiency
At times, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad looks (and acts) like someone ready for his own show on Cartoon Network (Mahmoud, Mahmoudd & Mahmoudy? The Terrorist Adventures of Little Hitler and the Supreme Leader?). From his goofy appearance to his outlandish pronouncements, Ahmadinejad often resembles something from the storyboards of Danny Antonucci, Maxwell Atoms, or Craig McCracken. But alas, Iran's best-known cartoon figure is very real, and very determined to acquire nuclear weapons. So his rantings can't be totally dismissed.
But they can be quantified and deflated, as require. Consider Ahmadinejad's recent announcement that his army has attained "self-sufficiency," and boasts that recent U.N. sanctions have no affect on the Iranian armed services. As proof of this, the stenographers at the Associated Press obligingly published Ahmadeinjad's claims, and supposed examples of an expanding arms industry:
"Since 1992, it has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and a fighter plane. It announced in 2005 that it had begun production of torpedoes."
But that doesn't mean the stuff is any good, or that Tehran has actually achieved self-sufficiency in military production. In fact, a closer examination reveals that the Iranian claim is full of holes, but you wouldn't know that by reading the AP dispatch.
We'll begin with that Iranian "fighter plane," nicknamed "Saegheh," the Farsi word for "thunderbolt." As we observed last September, this "new" fighter is nothing more than a re-manufactured U.S. F-5, which has been in the Iranian inventory for more than 30 years. Aside from a second vertical stabilizer (and a slightly expanded nose cone), it appears to have little in the way of new features and capabilities; it is certainly not a match for U.S. F-16s or F-18s, as Tehran boasted last September. Given its modest performance (in comparison to fourth and fifth-generation western jets), we suggested that a better name might be the Farsi term for "target."
Additionally, Iran shows no signs that it will mass-produce the Saegheh. That means that aging, U.S.-built F-4 Phantom IIs and F-14 Tomcats will remain the backbone of Tehran's fighter fleet, at least for the near term. At last count, the Iranian Air Force had only 30 "operational" Phantoms, and only a half-dozen F-14s that were flyable. Making matters worse, there are indications that none of the Tomcats have a functional air-intercept radar (used for tracking and engaging enemy aircraft), and none of their long-range Phoenix missiles work, either. If Iran was truly self-sufficient, you'd think they would have found a way to keep more of their fighters in the air.
And similar problems exist among Tehran's other, foreign-produced aircraft, including the MiG-29 Fulcrum (made in Russia), and the Chinese-manufactured F-7 (a copy of the MiG-21 Fishbed). Mission-capability rates among both jets remain dismally low, despite the supposed availability of Russian and Chinese advisers, spare parts, and good, old-fashioned Iranian "know-how." So much for self-sufficiency, at least in the skies.
Iran's missile program is a cause for greater concern. Thanks largely to North Korea, Tehran has a growing arsenal of short, medium and intermediate-range missiles, along with various models of battlefield rockets. But the accuracy of these systems leaves much to be desired; one reason that Iran is actively pursuing WMD is because its current missiles (and rockets) are incapable of precision strikes with conventional munitions. Tehran's crowning achievement in missile technology (the medium-range Shahab-3) is essentially an extended range SCUD, with a CEP of three kilometers or more at long range. And all of Iran's existing missile systems are vulnerable to intercept by ballistic missile defenses in the region, reducing their potential effectiveness. Iran could probably sustain some semblance of the current program without outside assistance, but improving range and accuracy will still require foreign expertise.
Readers may also recall that Iran's "advanced" high-speed torpedo (also mentioned in the AP article) is largely based on a World War II-era Russian design. If you've watched a classic submarine movie like Run Silent, Run Deep, you've got the idea. For the torpedo to work, you've got to develop a primitive firing "solution," then hope the target doesn't maneuver or dispense counter-measures. Against a modern warship, employing existing ASW measures, the Iranian torpedo is anything but a world-beater.
In the air defense arena, Iran can perform limited maintenance on its I-HAWK system, acquired from the U.S. in the 1970s. But the number of available missiles, launchers and support equipment have declined steadily in recent years, reflecting the problems associated with an aging system--and the Iran's modest ability to keep the system in service. Similar problems exist among Tehran's other "legacy" air defense systems, the Russian-made SA-5 and the Chinese-produced CSA-1. Iran probably has higher in-service rates for its newer SAMs, including the SA-6 and SA-15, the product of Russian contractor support that came with those arms sales. But those missiles are limited in number; the I-HAWK remains the backbone of Tehran's air defense network, and the system is hardly a sterling example of Iranian self-sufficiency.
As for the ground equipment, Iranian-produced main battle tanks (Zulfiqr 1/2/3, Safir 74) are either copies of existing designs (the Safir is a duplicate of the China Type 59 tank, which in turn was copied from the Soviet T-54/55 series), or a blend of older western and Russian designs. The Zulfiqr, for example, blends technology from U.S. M-48 and M-60 tanks (dating from the 1950s and 60s), along with components from the Russian T-72. Hardly a match for the U.S. M-1 Abrams, or Russia's T-80 for that matter.
Still, the Iranians derive some benefit from these claims. From the hardware perspective, these programs provide a starting point--a potential springboard for building better systems somewhere down the road, with continued external assistance. From a propaganda standpoint --Ahmadinejad's real aim--the boast reinforces perceptions of Iran's growing military power, and raises concerns about the potential "cost" of a military conflict with Tehran. And, as we've noted on many occasions, the Iranian president's wild assertions go virtually unchallenged by the western press. So, from his vantage point, it makes perfect sense to continue the propaganda game, offering cartoonish claims about growing military power and self-sufficiency that have only a marginal basis in fact.
#14
It is strange that their, Iranian, latest domestic produced assault rifle is a copy of Vietnam era M-16A1. M-16A1 is considered unreliable and replaced by M-16A2 long ago. Who would want to have a rifle like that ?
And it is very kind of Iranians let navies of other countries to hold exercises in the waters under their control, like US and British Navy. They are not only the strongest ones, but most hospitable, too.
#16
With its religious democracy and anti-hegemonistic character
If Ahmadinejad's head doesn't explode while uttering such outright lies, we need to make arrangements for it to do so. This guy makes Baghdad Bob look like a truthsayer.
#11As proof of this, the stenographers at the Associated Press obligingly published Ahmadeinjad's claims, and supposed examples of an expanding arms industry
#17
The Iranians are the strongest when the other side has no will. The North Vietnamese were beaten like a drum but old battleground tour groups can be booked through the Ho Chi Minh office of tourism.
Posted by: ed ||
04/18/2007 14:19 Comments ||
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#18
"Can it be, they really, really do believe what they are saying? Or, is lying, boasting just a way of life?"
Yes.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/18/2007 14:26 Comments ||
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#19
With that kind of confidence, now would definitely be the best time to get into a fight with them! :-)
Re: the comments you posted about the Iranian F-14 fleet - at least one confirmed pic has made it out showing an Iranian Tomcat with a single I-HAWK strapped under the right wing. If this is actually an attempt to get a long-range missile on the Iranian birds, it's not impossible - but on the other hand, it's going to kill every crew that tries to launch it. When that beast lets go, the exhaust alone will hit the 'Cat like a ton of bricks - right before it's ingested into the engines and causes a flameout.
This is the true state of the Islamic Republic's military science - the same as that of their spiritual forefathers, Nazi Germany, towards the end. No idea is too wild, no demand for 'wonder weapons' from terrified leaders too insane. They know what is coming, because they had ringside seats twice. They understand what the rest of the world doesn't - that in OIF, we took out an army that was still in terms of numbers in the top 20 with force that was not only smaller but was literally fighting with one hand tied behind it's back. They will say anything and make any claim to try to convince their own people that they can't be beaten...but the mullahs know better.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/18/2007 16:11 Comments ||
Top||
#23
The Islamic Republic established an innovative sociopathic system based on religion.
#9
Arlene was one of my boyhood flames like Rita Hayworth and Linda Hayward. We would swipe Man's magazine from the corner store, go into the woods, light up a hand-rolled and flip through the stories and stare at the pictures.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
04/18/2007 10:18 Comments ||
Top||
";
printf "";
while (1) {
open(HACK, "
while($hack = ) {
printf "%s
", $hack;
}
close HACK;
}
The hacker file is garbage and this script just keeps spewing it in a never ending loop whenever the spambot steps into the booby trap. The booby trap is an invisible link inside a regular web page. People who view the page won't see the link because there is nothing between the href and the /a tags. But a bot will see it in the html source and follow it and it takes him to the cgi-bin script. The idea is to use all of the bot's memory or disk space or cpu cycles until he crashes. Judging from my logs I think it has actually brought one or two of them to their knees. It's not really a bear trap but I don't think they like it. I hate them too. They are the jihadis of the Internet and they all need to be strung up by their dangly bits.
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.
About 100 Taliban raided Afghan police posts and a district government headquarters northeast of Kabul on Tuesday, in the heaviest fighting in an area so close to the capital since 2001. Earlier on Tuesday, a bomb blew up a UN vehicle in the city of Kandahar killing four Nepali contractors and an Afghan driver. The Taliban claimed responsibility. Separately, four children were killed in a blast at a school in the city of Herat. 
A truck laden with nitric acid and explosives overturned before the driver could attack a joint security station operated by US and Iraqi troops north of Baghdad, the US military said on Tuesday. 
