Hundreds of US-led troops have launched an offensive against Al Qaeda and Taliban in eastern Afghanistan, officials said on Wednesday. The offensive involved ground troops and airstrikes in Tora Bora and targeted "hundreds of foreign fighters" who were using dug-in fighting positions, said coalition spokeswoman Capt Vanessa Bowman. There were no immediate reports of casualties among militants or US and Afghan troops.
Separately, three senior German police officers charged with protecting the German ambassador were killed and one was wounded in a roadside bomb near Kabull, officials said.
Police said the diplomatic convoy was hit by a remote-controlled roadside bomb. Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call and confirmed the bomb's nature. Also on Wednesday, attackers shot dead a British national in Kabul, a British Embassy spokesman said. The victim's identity or circumstances of death were not revealed. Police arrested two Afghan men suspected in the slaying, the Interior Ministry said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11134 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
I suspect that a lot of them were previously in those camps in relative safety in Pakistan, until we let it be known that we knew where they were. So the dumbasses fled to Tora Bora, and walked right into it.
#4
Is this OUR dreaded summer offensive? You can't dig deep enough.
RIP to the boys from Germany. When I was there many moons ago the PSD guys were GSG-9. BKA does protection work also but usually in permissive (suit and tie) environments. Either way heck of way to go.
#5
I hope that this time they don't rely on local warlords who speak with forked tongue and that we cut off the trails of retreat. Actually, I'd prefer we make Pakistan stand down along the border and let us assume control and move in from there. I'd like to chase them into the Afghan plains instead of the Pakistan ones.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
08/16/2007 9:27 Comments ||
Top||
#6
How many MOABs would be sufficient to do the job properly?
#11
Napalm, willie-pete, and ARCLIGHT strikes, from noon to noon, for five or six consecutive days. Then go in with sponges, ziplock bags, and sterile test-tubes to see who you bagged.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/16/2007 15:16 Comments ||
Top||
#12
What would be involved in collapsing the passes out?
Daisy? MOAB? bigger?
Jose Padilla was convicted of federal terrorism support charges Thursday after being held for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant in a case that came to symbolize the Bush administration's campaign to stop homegrown terror.
He was once accused of being part of an Al Qaeda plot to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the U.S., but those allegations were not part of his trial.
Padilla and co-defendants Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi face life in prison because they were convicted of conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim people overseas. All three were also convicted of two terrorism material support counts that carry potential 15-year sentences each.
The judge set a Dec. 5 sentencing date for all three defendants.
Click here to read the indictment (FindLaw pdf).
Estela Lebron, Padilla's mother, said she felt "a little bit sad" at the verdict but expected her son's lawyers would appeal.
"I don't know how they found Jose guilty. There was no evidence he was speaking in code," she said, referring to FBI wiretap intercepts in which Padilla was overheard talking to Hassoun.
The three were accused of being part of a North American support cell that provided supplies, money and recruits to groups of Islamic extremists.
The three were accused of being part of a North American support cell that provided supplies, money and recruits to groups of Islamic extremists. The defense contended they were trying to help persecuted Muslims in war zones with relief and humanitarian aid.
On account of a Muslim is de facto persecuted if not supplied with money for arms and new recruits? Is that what you're saying, chico?
The White House thanked the jury for a "just" verdict.
"We commend the jury for its work in this trial and thank it for upholding a core American principle of impartial justice for all," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council at the White House. "Jose Padilla received a fair trial and a just verdict."
Attorneys for Hassoun and Jayyousi said they would appeal. There was no immediate comment from Padilla's lawyers.
"We're very disappointed," said Hassoun attorney Kenneth Swartz. "We were hoping for a different verdict."
There was no reaction from any of the defendants when the verdict was read. Padilla, wearing a dark suit and glasses, stared straight ahead and leaned forward slightly. One person in the family section started to sob when Padilla's verdict was read.
Members of the jury declined interview requests from the media and were escorted out of the courthouse through a side exit by U.S. marshals.
Padilla was first detained in 2002 because of much more sensational accusations. The Bush administration portrayed Padilla, a U.S. citizen and Muslim convert, as a committed terrorist who was part of an Al Qaeda plot to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the U.S. The administration called his detention an important victory in the war against terrorism, not long after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The charges brought in civilian court in Miami, however, were a pale shadow of those initial claims in part because Padilla, 36, was interrogated about the plot when he was held as an enemy combatant for 3 1/2 years in military custody with no lawyer present and was not read his Miranda rights.
Padilla's attorneys fought for years to get his case into federal court, and he was finally added to the Miami terrorism support indictment in late 2005 just as the U.S. Supreme Court was poised to consider President George W. Bush's authority to continue detaining him. Padilla had lived in South Florida in the 1990s and was supposedly recruited by Hassoun at a mosque to become a mujahedeen fighter.
The key piece of physical evidence was a five-page form Padilla supposedly filled out in July 2000 to attend an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan, which would link the other two defendants as well to Usama bin Laden's terrorist organization.
The form, recovered by the CIA in 2001 in Afghanistan, contains seven of Padilla's fingerprints and several other personal identifiers, such as his birthdate and his ability to speak Spanish, English and Arabic.
"He provided himself to Al Qaeda for training to learn to murder, kidnap and maim," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Frazier in closing arguments.
Padilla's lawyers insisted the form was far from conclusive and denied that he was a "star recruit," as prosecutors claimed, of the North American support cell intending to become a terrorist. Padilla's attorneys said he traveled to Egypt in September 1998 to learn Islam more deeply and become fluent in Arabic.
"His intent was to study, not to murder," said Padilla attorney Michael Caruso.
Central to the investigation were some 300,000 FBI wiretap intercepts collected from 1993 to 2001, mainly involving Padilla's co-defendants Hassoun and Jayyousi and others. Most of the conversations were in Arabic and purportedly used code such as "tourism" and "football" for violent jihad or "zucchini" and "eggplant" instead of military weapons or ammunition.
The bulk of these conversations and other evidence concerned efforts in the 1990s by Hassoun and Jayyousi, both 45, to assist Muslims in conflict zones such as Chechnya, Bosnia, Somalia, Afghanistan and Lebanon.
Hassoun is a computer programmer of Palestinian descent who was born in Lebanon. Jayyousi is a civil engineer and public schools administrator who is a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Jordan. Jayyousi also ran an organization called American Worldwide Relief and published a newsletter called the Islam Report that provided details of battles and political issues in the Muslim world.
"It wasn't a terrorist operation. It was a relief operation," said Jayyousi
MIAMI (AP) - Jose Padilla was convicted of federal terrorism support charges Thursday after being held for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant in a case that came to symbolize the Bush administration's zeal to stop homegrown terror. Padilla, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi face possible sentences of life in prison if convicted of all three charges in the case.
The three are accused of being part of a North American support cell that provided supplies, money and recruits to groups of Islamic extremists. The defense contended they were trying to help widows persecuted Muslims in war zones buy ammunition with relief and humanitarian aid.
The key piece of physical evidence was a five-page form Padilla supposedly filled out in July 2000 to attend an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan, which would link the other two defendants as well to Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization. The form, recovered by the CIA in 2001 in Afghanistan, contains seven of Padilla's fingerprints and several other personal identifiers, such as his birthdate and his ability to speak Spanish, English and Arabic. "He provided himself to al-Qaida for training to learn to murder, kidnap and maim," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Frazier in closing arguments.
Padilla's lawyers insisted the form was far from conclusive and denied that he was a "star recruit," as prosecutors claimed, of the North American support cell intending to become a terrorist.
"Lies! All lies!"
Padilla's attorneys said he traveled to Egypt in September 1998 to learn Islam more deeply and become fluent in Arabic. "His intent was to study, not to murder," said Padilla attorney Michael Caruso.
"He was gonna study murder, not commit it, yer Honorship!"
Central to the investigation were some 300,000 FBI wiretap intercepts collected from 1993 to 2001, mainly involving Padilla's co-defendants Hassoun and Jayyousi and others. Most of the conversations were in Arabic and purportedly used code such as "tourism" and "football" for violent jihad or "zucchini" and "eggplant" instead of military weapons or ammunition. The bulk of these conversations and other evidence concerned efforts in the 1990s by Hassoun and Jayyousi, both 45, to assist Muslims in conflict zones such as Chechnya, Bosnia, Somalia, Afghanistan and Lebanon.
Sure is a lot of conflict zones, huh.
Hassoun is a computer programmer of Palestinian descent who was born in Lebanon. Jayyousi is a civil engineer and public schools administrator who is a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Jordan. Jayyousi also ran an organization called American Worldwide Relief and published a newsletter called the Islam Report that provided details of battles and political issues in the Muslim world. "It wasn't a terrorist operation. It was a relief operation," said Jayyousi attorney William Swor.
#1
The liberals are going crazy about this. They were cursing and moaning on a chat system I hang out on. Someone announced it, and the replies were "fuck", "KANGAROO COURT", "i dunno...if the us had such a great case against him...why did it take 5 years to bring it to court?", and "If they got jurors to beleive that, just imagine what else he did!" It's amazing to see people not only 1) Refuse to acknowledge this guy joined AQ and 2) Display dismay at the fact that he was convicted.
#2
Padilla's attorneys said he traveled to Egypt in September 1998 to learn Islam more deeply and become fluent in Arabic. "His intent was to study, not to murder," said Padilla attorney Michael Caruso.
I guess Pakistan must've been closed that day?
Enjoy Florence, kid. Say hello to Zack and The Matchbook Kid.
NOBODY enjoys Florence. I need to get some photos and post 'em here for people to see. Well, if he liked Egypt, he'll "like" the weather in Florence - hot enough in the summertime to fry eggs, cold enough in the wintertime to make popsickles - outside. Of course, he won't see much of that - maybe an hour a day, every other day. Even the GUARDS hate it there.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/16/2007 15:29 Comments ||
Top||
#4
The libs are going completely ape-s**t. I love it. Max in a max, and liberal knickers going into knots.
#5
Most of the conversations were in Arabic and purportedly used code such as "tourism" and "football" for violent jihad or "zucchini" and "eggplant" instead of military weapons or ammunition.
I imagine the conversations went something like this:
"Have you received the zucchini and eggplant I shipped you."
"Yes, curse your moustache! I ordered fragmentation zucchini and thirty caliber eggplant, and here you have sent me white phosporus zucchini and five point five six milimeter eggplant. I am so angry I could put a nine millimeter eggplant between your eyes."
"A thousand pardons, efendi! I will correct this at once. You will get your eggplant and zucchini in time for football season."
"Can you throw in some of those 'Bouncing Betty,' you know, what do you call them?"
"Ah--breast implants?"
"Yes. A dozen of those."
Posted by: Mike ||
08/16/2007 15:49 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Their life sentences had better be "life" without possibility of parole. It's long past tea to begin making sure that anyone contemplating terrorist activity knows their ass will be locked away forever.
#13
IIRC his atty had complained that Padilla had turned into a vegetable during his horrible solitary incarceration. If so, his life sentence should be short and cheap: one season, miracle gro and water, til harvesting, then rototilling
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/16/2007 20:18 Comments ||
Top||
#14
The left today is defined by what its against and not what its for.
Yup. And if they DID come right out and tell us what they were for, the majority of Americans would be horrified. Well, in between episodes of American Idol, anyhow.
The fugitive former director of a defunct Islamic charity was arrested Wednesday by federal agents as he arrived in Oregon to face tax and money laundering charges, his attorney said. Pirouz Sedaghaty, 50, an Iranian native also known as Pete Seda, was detained at customs after arriving at Portland International Airport from Germany.
"Yer coming wit' us, Mother Teresa!"
Sedaghaty, a US citizen, decided it was time to return to confront the charges, attorney Tom Nelson told The Associated Press. "He is voluntarily returning home to clear his name," Nelson said. "He always said he would return and is now looking forward to working again in the community."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11130 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
His community belongs to those islamic scumholes that he choses to defend. Send him back there.
Two people were killed in a blast here on Wednesday, causing panic in the area and pointing to the emergence of Talibanisation in the district for the first time. The bomb exploded at around 9:00am at Saleem Tuition Centre in Turlandi, about 30 kilometres from the district headquarters. The explosion killed a teacher, Salimullah, 25, and his colleague Umer Nasir, 28. The bodies were found in pieces. Police said one of the dead had links with some jihadi organisations. Police claimed that "miscreants" wanted to explode the bomb on August 14, but they could not. A probe is underway to ascertain if the deceased were involved in the blast, police said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11132 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
Intelligence and law enforcement agencies have busted a gang of suicide bombers who had planned to carry out attacks on Independence Day, Interior Ministry spokesman Brig (r) Javed Iqbal Cheema said on Wednesday. Talking to reporters, Cheema said the law enforcement agencies had seized a large quantity of explosives from the suspected bombers' possession and had also arrested their ringleader on information gleaned from other members. However, he did not give more details about the group. The spokesman said the Interior Ministry had directed all provincial home departments to tighten security and strictly monitor the activities of terrorism suspects.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11135 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
Militants launched rockets at a security camp in Sheshwal, North Waziristan, on Wednesday, but no loss of life was reported. The security forces retaliated with attacks on suspected militant hideouts in the nearby mountains with heavy weapons. Separately, the local administration has lifted the ban on the supply of petrol and diesel, which was imposed for a week.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11133 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
Pakistani tribal elders have been threatened with reprisals for attending last week's talks in Kabul aimed at ending support for Al Qaeda and Taliban militants, officials said on Wednesday. The landmark tribal council or jirga, involving tribes from both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, pledged to eliminate terrorist sanctuaries in their respective tribal regions. But an anonymous letter sent to elders in the Bajaur tribal area threatened unspecified "action" against them for attending the jirga. "Your participation at the jirga was not a good decision," officials quoted the letter as saying. "Action will be taken against you," it warned.
Security official Adalat Khan said at least four tribal elders in a remote town in the region had received the warnings. Bajaur district is one of seven semi-autonomous tribal regions in northwest Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11135 views]
Top|| File under: TNSM
#1
The last time they tried throwing their weight around with the tribes, didn't they end up getting butchered and run outta town? The Uzbeks were featured on the menu, as I recall...
The Baloch Liberation Army said on Wednesday it had killed two security personnel in Dera Bugti and blown up a gas pipeline in Mustung district. The two men were killed when unidentified people fired rockets on their patrolling team in the Sui police area. Sources said four rockets were fired that killed Mumtaz Ahmed and Mukhtar Ahmed. "We accept responsibility for the attack on the occupying forces on Baloch land. More attacks will follow this," said Basham Baloch, a BLA spokesman, by satellite phone from an undisclosed location. Captain Mohammad Shahid, a spokesman for the Frontier Corps, denied the deceased were FC men.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11131 views]
Top|| File under:
The James gang rode in to Northfield Minnisota to rob a bank. They were met by an aroused citizenery, and the survivors ran for their lives. Witness here that principle applied in Iraq.
In an unprecedented combined action in Diyala Province, Iraqi police and citizen volunteers defeated a coordinated attack of approximately 40-60 al-Qaeda terrorists in the southern Burhitz area of Baqouba, Wednesday, and killed an estimated 21 insurgents, wounding more.
As the terrorists entered the city of Burhitz, a group of concerned local citizens, called Baqouba Guardians, and IPs stationed in Burhitz engaged the first wave of attackers, killing seven. At least two suicide bombers were killed before they reached their intended targets, with the bomb vests detonating prematurely.
The IP notified the Provincial Joint Coordination Center and requested Coalition Force attack helicopter support after the first engagement. Attack helicopters arrived and engaged another large group of heavily armed fighters staging near the first attack site, killing or wounding an estimated 14 terrorists.
Approximately six citizens were killed and up to 20 more wounded during this attack. Iraqi Security Forces are continuing to secure the scene, pursue al-Qaeda, and move wounded to the Baqouba General Hospital.
this will not get any traction in the f'g MSM of course, we all know that...
BUT this is the kind of action when added up together all across Iraq will make a difference...
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
08/16/2007 16:18 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I always loved the piquancy of the baddest post-Civil War bank-robbing gang being taken out by ordinary citizens. Not lawmen, not rangers, not the sherriff or the Pinkertons, but ordinary townsfolk!
Up with certain things, the good people of Northfield would not put. My essay here, with details.
BAGHDAD -- Abu Mohammed is a policeman by day, patrolling the Shiite Muslim district of Sadr City. Come sundown, however, Abu Mohammed commands a platoon of Jaish al Mahdi, or the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia associated with radical cleric Muqtada Sadr that is widely accused of sectarian killings.
Abu Mohammed is not alone in this double life. By his account and those of U.S. military and Iraqi sources, Mahdi militia members have infiltrated much of the country's security apparatus, including the army, where they reportedly intimidate and bribe troops and commanders to look the other way as militants execute their brutal sectarian "cleansing" agenda.
"There is a Mahdi Army member in every family and in every home across Iraq and the military is not exempt," said Abu Mohammed, leaning nonchalantly in a Sadr City alley, as children played in the street. "The army wouldn't go after the Mahdi Army because many elements in the army are Mahdi Army. Here in Sadr City for example, there is one company and 35 of them are Mahdi Army."
Abu Mohammed, who insisted on identifying himself only by his battle name, represents one of the challenges U.S. strategists face in Iraq. While U.S. forces search out militia fighters and try to build a nonsectarian police force and army, men such as Abu Mohammed are surreptitiously undoing their work.
In addition to infiltrating Baghdad army units in Shiite neighborhoods, the Mahdi Army has been able to bring political pressure on commanders, and on at least one occasion, to create its own army units packed with its fighters.
The Sadr movement has used Iraqi soldiers and national police officers to push deeper into predominantly Sunni Arab districts in west Baghdad, U.S. Army officers said. It also swayed the leadership of an Iraqi army battalion in the spring to mount strikes in Fadil, a Sunni district in east Baghdad, the U.S. officers said.
The nexus has included soldiers carrying out killings or turning a blind eye as Sadr fighters slip through checkpoints. In late March, in the early phase of the U.S. military buildup, a Mahdi fighter who gave his name as Abu Haidar bragged to The Times that Iraqi army officers had provided vehicles to his group to carry out executions. "We have a deal with the Iraqi army and police," he said.
In one of the more troubling examples of the relationship between the militia and Iraqi government, the Defense Ministry in January authorized lawmaker Baha Araji, a Sadr loyalist, to form a plainclothes army unit to patrol the Shiite district of Kadhimiya, U.S. army officers and a Shiite politician told The Times.
"The Baha Araji company was a 300-man element of plainclothes Jaish al Mahdi operatives . . . that have subsequently been put in Iraqi army uniforms," said Lt. Col. Steven Miska of the 1st Infantry Division. "Nobody in the Iraqi army chain of command wanted those guys in uniform. It was a political decision."
Sadrist member of parliament Falah Hassan defended the company's creation. "This battalion was protecting Kadhimiya," he said. The district houses a key Shiite shrine.
The Defense Ministry disbanded the unit in May. The commander became the head of a new battalion that included many of his former troops. The other Araji soldiers were placed in Kadhimiya's Bravo Company. The U.S. Army arrested three Bravo members last week after finding them meeting with Mahdi fighters. The battalion's intelligence officer was arrested for shooting at U.S. soldiers April 29 outside a Sadrist mosque.
"We've slowed them down, but they are still slowly expanding their reach. Jaish al Mahdi expansion is taking place," a U.S. Army military intelligence officer in west Baghdad said on condition of anonymity. "Like water, they are going to find a crack and move through the weakest area."
Senior U.S. military officers involved in training Iraqis acknowledge that militia influence in the army has been a problem, but said they believed the challenge is small compared with the danger in the police force.
They believe the militia has been able to woo and intimidate soldiers who live in areas under the group's control.
"In some ways, we shouldn't be surprised some of the people involved may have succumbed to these types of militia pressures," said Brig. Stephen Gledhill, deputy head of the U.S.-led army and police training efforts.
U.S. officers said the Defense Ministry was dealing with the challenge.
"They are building more and more capacity to identify the problems . . . and then go after them," U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Williams said.
The use of sympathetic or infiltrated Iraqi army battalions to drive out Sunnis has been most evident in the western neighborhoods of Hurriya and Ghazaliya.
In November 2006, Iraqi soldiers watched as Shiite militiamen forced thousands of Sunni families out of Hurriya after a bombing in Sadr City, U.S. and Iraqi officers said.
A month later, an Iraqi commander and four staff officers responsible for the Hurriya district were arrested on suspicion of murder, extortion and links with the Mahdi Army. The judge released them after seven days when no evidence was presented. The day they were released, an Iraqi lieutenant colonel who had filed a statement against the five was killed at a checkpoint.
#3
Just the LASlimes trying to create dissention. We KNOW that the Mahdi Army has infiltrated the police and military. That's one reason Petreus wanted Kurds to help subdue Baghdad. What we need to do is address the source of funding and training for the Mahdi Army - Iran. Nuke the border (their side), hit Qom and Tehran, and wipe Bandar Abbas and Busher off the map. Then tell Sadr we'll withdraw from his city in a couple of days - so we can safely bomb it into oblivion. Set up checkpoints toward the south, to catch his useless a$$ as he bugs out for Karbala or Najef.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/16/2007 15:38 Comments ||
Top||
Coalition Forces killed 11 terrorists and detained four suspected terrorists during operations Wednesday targeting al-Qaeda operations in central and northern Iraq.
Coalition Forces continued to attack Baghdad's car bombing network, targeting an individual who has attempted to coordinate carjackings and use the vehicles and drivers as suicide car bombers. As the assault force approached the target building, four armed men maneuvered to a position on a nearby rooftop. Coalition Forces, responding to the organized hostile group, engaged the men, killing all four. Inside an associated building, ground forces found a cache of weapons and terrorist media. During the engagement, the roof of the targeted building caught fire. Coalition Forces called Iraqi emergency crews, who responded to the scene and contained the fire.
North of Muqdadiyah, Coalition Forces raided a suspected safe house complex while targeting a foreigner who provides weapons to al-Qaeda in Iraq. As ground forces approached the targeted buildings, three men scrambled for their weapons. Responding appropriately, Coalition Forces engaged the three armed men, killing them. When the ground forces called the remaining people out of the building, one man resisted and made threatening movements toward the assault force. Coalition Forces, perceiving a hostile threat from the man who was part of an armed group, engaged the man in self-defense and killed him.
Three more armed men ran into a building in a nearby palm grove. Coalition Forces called in close air support to engage the maneuvering terrorists, and surveillance teams confirm three terrorists were killed in the strike. The building where they hid was destroyed.
Two individuals on the scene were detained for their suspected involvement in facilitating the movement of weapons to al-Qaeda in Iraq for terrorist activities.
Coalition Forces also raided three buildings in Kirkuk while hunting an al-Qaeda in Iraq leader known for extortion, kidnapping, weapons trafficking and directing car bombings. Ground forces detained two suspected terrorists during the operation. "Whether al-Qaeda in Iraq is using Iraqis or foreigners to conduct their brutal attacks, we will target those criminals who terrorize the Iraqi people," said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, MNF-I spokesperson. "Our operations are degrading the ability of the terrorists to operate freely."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
Iraqi Special Operations Forces, with U.S. Special Forces as advisors, detained four suspected members of the rogue Jaysh al-Mahdi militia, including a brigade commander, Aug. 14 in the Baghdad area.
The Shi'a extremist brigade commander directs more than 150 insurgents who conduct improvised explosive device and indirect fire attacks against Iraqi and Coalition Forces in the area. Reports indicate the brigade commander and his team buy and sell weapons in Sadr City and transport them to Al-Hurriya.
Additionally, the commander allegedly directs the extra-judicial killings of innocent civilians and government employees who oppose their criminal activities. Further intelligence shows the group also sets up illegal checkpoints to stop and hunt down Sunni citizens.
The commander's rogue JAM cell developed an extensive and complex system to use cell phones and laptops to detonate IEDs in order to ambush and kill Coalition and Iraqi Forces and citizens.
On the way to detain the brigade commander, Iraqi and U.S. team members came under ineffective small arms fire. No U.S. or Iraqi members were harmed in the intelligence-driven operation. The men are currently being detained for questioning about their alleged actions to attack and kill Iraqi and Coalition Forces, and other various illegal activities.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11132 views]
Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
#1
Based on the article bemoaning the infiltration of the Iraqi army and police, I'd assume the cell members have daytime careers in one or the other. From that article:
"There is a Mahdi Army member in every family and in every home across Iraq and the military is not exempt," said Abu Mohammed, leaning nonchalantly in a Sadr City alley, as children played in the street. "The army wouldn't go after the Mahdi Army because many elements in the army are Mahdi Army. Here in Sadr City for example, there is one company and 35 of them are Mahdi Army."
It seems Mr. Abu Mohammed is didn't quite read the situation correctly.
Soldiers from the 1/6th Iraqi Army Scouts, with U.S. Special Forces as advisors, detained three suspected key Al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders during an intelligence driven operation Aug. 14 in the Mansour area of Baghdad. The forces detained an alleged group leader and both his cell leaders. Both cells traffic weapons into the Mansour area and conduct mortar and rocket attacks to harm Iraqi and Coalition Forces.
One cell leader is suspected of coordinating extra-judicial killings against innocent civilians and Iraqi government personnel. Intelligence reports indicates the other cell leader finances al-Qaeda with money supplied to him by foreign associations and has also orchestrated numerous vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attacks against Iraqi military and political figures. The forces also seized weapons, ammunition, military uniforms, and computer equipment at the detainees' locations. No U.S. or Iraqi members were harmed during the operation.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11131 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
#1
IONews vv Specops, HOTAIR.com > CIA hunter-killer team [SPECOPS/SPECFORS elements?] searching for Mahdi inside Iran. Related from HOTAIR via KAMANGIR.net quoting FARDA NEWS[Iran} > BUSH IN PURSUIT OF ISLAMIC MESSIAH??? Netters argue US CIA has lousy record of capturing = killing people of interest compared to Israel's MOSSAD???
Two Apache helicopters observed and engaged two rocket launchers aimed for the Green Zone while flying over western Baghdad on August 14. Two helicopters from the 4th Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment observed the launch of one of the rockets and immediately responded to the site where two homemade launchers were set up in a soccer field. The pilots attacked the launchers and prevented them from firing additional rockets into the International Zone in western Baghdad.
Meanwhile, paratroopers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment attached to 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, moved to the site on foot in an attempt to capture the individuals responsible for attacking the International Zone. Alpha Company arrived on scene shortly after the initial rocket launch, but was unable to apprehend the insurgents responsible for the attack. The Soldiers questioned several citizens near the site who provided information on the men responsible for the rocket attacks and their affiliation with a criminal militia gang.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11130 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
The death toll in the suicide bombings Tuesday in northern Iraq has risen to at least 500, local officials in Nineveh province said Wednesday. Iraqi Army and Mosul police sources earlier put the number at 260, but said it was likely to rise. 320 were reported wounded.
The Tuesday truck bombs that targeted the villages of Qahtaniya, al-Jazeera and Tal Uzair, in northern Iraq near the border with Syria, were a "trademark al Qaeda event" designed to sway U.S. public opinion against the war, a U.S. general said Wednesday. The attacks, targeting Kurdish villages of the Yazidi religious minority, were attempts to "break the will" of the American people and show that the U.S. troop escalation -- the "surge" -- is failing, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon said.
The bombings highlight the kind of sectarian tensions the troop surge was designed to stop. Al Qaeda in Iraq is predominantly Sunni, and Mixon said members of the Yazidi religious minority have received threatening letters, called "night letters," telling them "to leave because they are infidels."
"This is an act of ethnic cleansing, if you will -- almost genocide when you consider the fact the target they attacked and the fact that these Yazidis, out in a very remote part of Nineveh province, where there is very little security and really no security required to this point," Mixon said.
Sunni militants, including members of al Qaeda in Iraq, have targeted Yazidis in the area before. Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said there were three suicide trucks carrying two tons of explosives. At least 30 houses and other buildings were destroyed. Khalaf said the carnage looks like the aftermath of a "mini-nuclear explosion." More bodies are expected to be found. The U.S. military said there were five bombings -- four at a crowded bus station in Qahtaniya and a fifth in al-Jazeera.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11137 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
#1
The bombings highlight the kind of sectarian tensions the troop surge was designed to stop
I doubt it. That much explosive material and the fact that these guys didn't have anything to do with anything suggests to me that Iran is involved somehow. If this is true, what do they want to accomplish?
#2
If only it was a vengeance killing, it might not be so ridiculous.... These are the same tribe that stoned the 17-year old girl to death.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=424916597572131628 (one of many videos on it)
If only they had logic. You might actually be able to end this crap.
Posted by: NOLA ||
08/16/2007 6:37 Comments ||
Top||
#3
As someone else pointed out, this happened way up in northern Iraq real close to the Syrian border in a rural area. It *is* a sign the surge is working. You don't think the terrs would much rather murder 500 in downtown Baghdad than out in the boonies? They cannot anymore. The surge is working. I imagine the next time strangers show up in a remote village, someone will happily drop a dime on them.
#5
The U.S. military said there were five bombings -- four at a crowded bus station in Qahtaniya and a fifth in al-Jazeera.
I don't think al-Jazeera means to him what it means to us. Or, is this a sign from the military that *secretly* we know who's behind all the propaganda and we're about to put a serious whoopin' on 'em?
Posted by: BA ||
08/16/2007 10:27 Comments ||
Top||
According to Palestinian sources, an explosion ripped through a house in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis late Thursday, and Hamas security forces said three people were wounded in a "mysterious blast."
Witnesses initially reported an Israeli air strike, of course they did but the IDF, which acknowledges such attacks, said it had no information about a strike. musta been some other air force
A woman and four soldiers were wounded in separate terrorist insurgent attacks in Yala and Narathiwat, while a series of false alarms unsettled areas in Yala.
A bomb exploded at a restaurant in Yala municipality on Thursday, wounding 35-year-old Sakeena Yuso, who is now in hospital. The bomb was hidden in a litterbin behind the restaurant.
During the day, dummy bombs were found at six other locations along roads in the Yala's provincial seat, together with spikes being strewn on roads. In addition a ten-wheeled truck of the Sila Industry company was set ablaze. The authorities found a bottle of gasoline and tyres. Two Thai posts before bed and one when I first get up, all with multiple terrorist incidents. Yikes!
This very strangely edited article starts out with the survey about Thai teens, then suddenly veers into reporting on a bunch of terrorist incidents - some of which are not mentioned in the previous article I posted today.
Police conducted search and detained two terrorist insurgent suspects during a pre-dawn raid in this southern border province on Wednesday, while militants created a series of disturbances in Pattani's eight districts on Tuesday night.
A more than 200-man combined military and police force raided Banbadomathee village in Tak Bai district, detaining two suspects and seizing radio transceivers, binoculars, cell phones, two kilogrammes of nails, and remote-controlled bombs similar to that which exploded and wounded Narathiwat police station deputy commissioner Pol.Col. Noppadol Pueaksomon, on April 19. The suspects' clothes and motorcycles were contaminated with explosive powder.
Meanwhile, suspected insurgents created disturbances at more than 20 locations in Pattani's eight districts. In Saiburi district, a police check point was attacked and a policeman was shot in the leg.
In Thungyangdaeng district, Banpiten School was torched and completely destroyed. Eight attackers threatened security guards with guns and stole two computers from the Piten Tambon Administrative Office, before setting the office alight. Staff workers were able to extinguish the fire before the building was
damaged.
In Yarang district, trees were felled across a road and in Yaring district, bolts were removed from an electric power pole and spikes were strewn on a road.
In Muang district, five public phone booths were burned and two electric utility poles were sabotaged when bolts were remove, while in Panare district, two mobile phone signal towers and Banbo-it School were torched.
In Maikaen district, tyres were set afire at four spots on a road, while in Nongjik district, a trailer, a ten-wheel truck, and a van were set ablaze. Spikes were strewn, tyres were burned, and an electric pole was felled, temporarily blocking a road.
Southern terrorists insurgents struck Narathiwat province in a series of attacks on Wednesday night.
The first attack was reported at a small gas pump in Si Sakhon district. The explosive device was hidden inside a plastic pipe, placed near the pump and set off using a mobile phone. The stations owner saved lives by shouting to locals to stay away immediately after noticing the device.
In Bacho district, a naval army base came under attack by suspected terrorists insurgents. In Sungai Padi district, military officials exchanged gunfire with another group of terrorists insurgents. There were no injuries reported from either attacks.
Other attempts to bring about chaos to the province were reported throughout the day with attackers placing metal spikes on roads, obstructing major routes by felling trees and burning car tyres. Several people were injured when two minivans drove into trees in Kaluwoh sub-district.
#1
Done, and gladly. Surely somebody in our esteemed three-letter entity readership can find a desk, a modem, and a salary for the finest analysis west of the Euphrates.
We'll throw in the half-nekkid movie stars for free.
#2
You deserve it above all. I have few monies but many "refers". Rantberg is one of my few outlets instead of smiting. Commentary is insightful and very posh for this kinda place. And the women are whoo hoo!
#11
Fred: 9.09 days of ITO per diem headed your way. Keep up the groot werk! You are our Boom van die Kennis van Goed en Kwaad (Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil).
Jeebus, phil_b! You do the cryptic? My past Oxford doctorate bossfluent in Chinese, French, German and Englishused to do the cryptic and I could barely get one or two clues in the whole damn puzzle. He was awestruck to watch me plow through the big NYT Sunday crossword in an hour or two but the stinkin' cryptic was a total ball breaker.
Example:
Eastern emir's negative to a Scottish poet = Nabob (nay Bob, as in Robert Burns).
Phuque but I wanted to strangle the lot of those cryptic writers.
#22
Done. Rantburg is the first thing I read every morning, and better than most gummint products.
Fred, the company I work for is looking for folks like you, email me if you're interested, we're DC Metro govt contractors in sectors fitting your bio.
Sofia
Posted by: sofia ||
08/16/2007 8:52 Comments ||
Top||
#23
I'm in. At my church, they give your envelopes with your own account number on it. They track your giving (and also your attendance). Falter a little and they raise your kid's tuition at school. I like Fred's tithing policy better. When your running out of beer and bandwidth, give the crowd a holler.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
08/16/2007 9:21 Comments ||
Top||
#24
phil_b: Would that be "water" (H to O)?
Posted by: Dar ||
08/16/2007 10:08 Comments ||
Top||
#25
Fred:
Some beer money on the way. First time I've done it, and it's waaaay overdue. Thanks for your (and the other mods) hard work at keeping the BEST site on the 'net for WoT (and other shenanigans') news.
I used to peruse MULTIPLE websites every day (Newsmax, WND, Boortz, Hannity, etc.) and then I was turned on to the 'burg. Haven't searched any of those other sites in years. And, we get to have tea, courtesy of TW, to boot!
Posted by: BA ||
08/16/2007 10:49 Comments ||
Top||
#26
Seafarious made the point earlier, and I had forgotten it, so I'll make it again: you Amazon shoppers should enter via Fred's portal. You get the stuff you need and Fred gets a cut. What could be better?
Well gold, ok. .. .. Um, silver, ok. .. .. Gems, yeah. .. .. Certificates of deposit, sure, you got me, um. .. .. Bearer bonds, yewbetcha .. ..
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/16/2007 11:55 Comments ||
Top||
#27
Fred, I dropped a little change in the begging bowl. Worth every penny. And here's hoping the employment fairy taps you on the shoulder soon. (And no, I don't mean a gay boss. NTTAWWT.)
Posted by: Jonathan ||
08/16/2007 12:19 Comments ||
Top||
#28
Done, and I'll think about buying at amazon from here (I try to think about clicking on the ads from time to time too). It's a bit hard for me, because I planned to spend that money on pr0n. Oh, well, there always will be more.
#33
Email me and I'll give you my snail mail address.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2007 14:07 Comments ||
Top||
#34
Thanks so much. Hope the little I sent helps some.
Posted by: Jan ||
08/16/2007 14:11 Comments ||
Top||
#35
It's a bad month for me, too, Fred, but I should be able to scratch up a couple of bucks. Email me your snail mail addy again. I saved it last time, but because of my medical condition (CRS), I can't find where I stored it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/16/2007 15:11 Comments ||
Top||
#36
I'm in ... this weeks Kiva money redirected to Rantburg!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/16/2007 18:41 Comments ||
Top||
#41
Back on topic, just emptied my PayPal account into yours, Fred. Can't think of a better use for it.
I'm planning on putting some stuff on eBay this weekend - if I sell anything I'll send that along, too (with a little held out for Michael Totten).
[Of course, I've been planning to do this the past two weekends.... :-( ]
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/16/2007 18:47 Comments ||
Top||
#42
Fred, if the response from everyone doesn't get you where you need to be, make sure you say so.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
08/16/2007 19:03 Comments ||
Top||
#43
#39 Went through that time. Thanks, and thanks to all of you. Hope this is the only time I have to ask...
If I asked more than every year or two you'd get tired of it.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2007 19:17 Comments ||
Top||
#44
I've hit the Amazon tip jar very recently and will hit it again soon. It may be the best money I spend all year. Thanks Fred.
And thanks Steve White, for the reminder about making Amazon purchases through the Rantburg portal. I never think of that, and it's crazy to waste any opportunity to benefit a good cause - especially one that costs nothing.
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.
Hundreds of US-led troops have launched an offensive against Al Qaeda and Taliban in eastern Afghanistan, officials said on Wednesday. The offensive involved ground troops and airstrikes in Tora Bora and targeted "hundreds of foreign fighters" who were using dug-in fighting positions, said coalition spokeswoman Capt Vanessa Bowman. There were no immediate reports of casualties among militants or US and Afghan troops. 
Jose Padilla was convicted of federal terrorism support charges Thursday after being held for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant in a case that came to symbolize the Bush administration's campaign to stop homegrown terror.
The fugitive former director of a defunct Islamic charity was arrested Wednesday by federal agents as he arrived in Oregon to face tax and money laundering charges, his attorney said. Pirouz Sedaghaty, 50, an Iranian native also known as Pete Seda, was detained at customs after arriving at Portland International Airport from Germany. 
Two people were killed in a blast here on Wednesday, causing panic in the area and pointing to the emergence of Talibanisation in the district for the first time. The bomb exploded at around 9:00am at Saleem Tuition Centre in Turlandi, about 30 kilometres from the district headquarters. The explosion killed a teacher, Salimullah, 25, and his colleague Umer Nasir, 28. The bodies were found in pieces. Police said one of the dead had links with some jihadi organisations. Police claimed that "miscreants" wanted to explode the bomb on August 14, but they could not. A probe is underway to ascertain if the deceased were involved in the blast, police said.
Pakistani tribal elders have been threatened with reprisals for attending last week's talks in Kabul aimed at ending support for Al Qaeda and Taliban militants, officials said on Wednesday. The landmark tribal council or jirga, involving tribes from both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, pledged to eliminate terrorist sanctuaries in their respective tribal regions. But an anonymous letter sent to elders in the Bajaur tribal area threatened unspecified "action" against them for attending the jirga. "Your participation at the jirga was not a good decision," officials quoted the letter as saying. "Action will be taken against you," it warned.
The Baloch Liberation Army said on Wednesday it had killed two security personnel in Dera Bugti and blown up a gas pipeline in Mustung district. The two men were killed when unidentified people fired rockets on their patrolling team in the Sui police area. Sources said four rockets were fired that killed Mumtaz Ahmed and Mukhtar Ahmed. "We accept responsibility for the attack on the occupying forces on Baloch land. More attacks will follow this," said Basham Baloch, a BLA spokesman, by satellite phone from an undisclosed location. Captain Mohammad Shahid, a spokesman for the Frontier Corps, denied the deceased were FC men.
BAGHDAD -- Abu Mohammed is a policeman by day, patrolling the Shiite Muslim district of Sadr City. Come sundown, however, Abu Mohammed commands a platoon of Jaish al Mahdi, or the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia associated with radical cleric Muqtada Sadr that is widely accused of sectarian killings.
Coalition Forces killed 11 terrorists and detained four suspected terrorists during operations Wednesday targeting al-Qaeda operations in central and northern Iraq.
Iraqi Special Operations Forces, with U.S. Special Forces as advisors, detained four suspected members of the rogue Jaysh al-Mahdi militia, including a brigade commander, Aug. 14 in the Baghdad area. 
Soldiers from the 1/6th Iraqi Army Scouts, with U.S. Special Forces as advisors, detained three suspected key Al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders during an intelligence driven operation Aug. 14 in the Mansour area of Baghdad. The forces detained an alleged group leader and both his cell leaders. Both cells traffic weapons into the Mansour area and conduct mortar and rocket attacks to harm Iraqi and Coalition Forces. 
Two Apache helicopters observed and engaged two rocket launchers aimed for the Green Zone while flying over western Baghdad on August 14. Two helicopters from the 4th Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment observed the launch of one of the rockets and immediately responded to the site where two homemade launchers were set up in a soccer field. The pilots attacked the launchers and prevented them from firing additional rockets into the International Zone in western Baghdad. 
The death toll in the suicide bombings Tuesday in northern Iraq has risen to at least 500, local officials in Nineveh province said Wednesday. Iraqi Army and Mosul police sources earlier put the number at 260, but said it was likely to rise. 320 were reported wounded. 
