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Hezbollah at war with Leb
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 05/08/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is that a muff in her lap?

Just ask'n . . . .
Posted by: GORT || 05/08/2008 7:29 Comments || Top||

#2  I thought it was a litter-mate to the fox around her neck.

(And she's a got a classy profile. I wonder how big Mac ever got a dame like that.)
Posted by: Jonathan || 05/08/2008 9:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Maybe somebody a bit more scantily clad tomorrow?
Posted by: Fred || 05/08/2008 13:10 Comments || Top||

#4  Christ, how many species had to become extinct to make that coat and hat?
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/08/2008 13:28 Comments || Top||

#5  Re #3: But underneath all those dead animal skins, she is completely nekkid!!!!!!!
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 05/08/2008 14:00 Comments || Top||

#6  That's what we wanted to hear, USN.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/08/2008 14:20 Comments || Top||

#7  all foolin' aside, that is one gorgeous face...
Posted by: Enver Theagum2595 || 05/08/2008 17:06 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Talibunies ask for Divine intervention to get Cellphone Bomb to work- Denied - Video
Some Taliban Jamoccas try to target US convoy vehicles with a cellphone actuated RCIED. You can here them wearing out the send button. Even after asking for Allan's help nothing happens. Those dastardly infidels are using jamming devices.

Please step to the back of the Paradise ticket line. Next!


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/08/2008 00:42 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  While cell phone jammers are useful against some IEDs, many current designs are trigged by signal-loss.

That being said , haha .
Posted by: Mad Eye || 05/08/2008 5:21 Comments || Top||

#2  HA Puurrefect-O!!

Those Phantasmagorical Infidels and their Terrible' Machines!

Neat pic too...
Posted by: RD || 05/08/2008 5:42 Comments || Top||

#3  trigged by signal-loss

Could make acivating them tricky, if their cellphone service is at all spotty (doesn't that describe pretty much all cell phone service?)
Posted by: Menhadden Snogum6713 || 05/08/2008 7:37 Comments || Top||

#4 
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/08/2008 7:48 Comments || Top||

#5  The problem with IEDs that go boom with a signal loss is that the "loss" can be triggered from several hundred yards in front of a convoy. You get the boom, but you don't get any casualties.

For some reason, that photo reminds me of an angry toy poodle my cat used to terrify.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/08/2008 12:17 Comments || Top||

#6  For some reason, that photo reminds me of an angry toy poodle my cat used to terrify.

LOL OP.. the emotions on that face are hilarious.

The face looks like it wore a lifetime of *mean* on it.
Posted by: RD || 05/08/2008 12:45 Comments || Top||

#7  Team America F*ck Yeah!
Posted by: Frank G || 05/08/2008 13:08 Comments || Top||

#8  For repeat dialing press "1" for only a 50 cent charge!
Posted by: 3dc || 05/08/2008 13:14 Comments || Top||

#9  especially cell service in afghanistan. hell the moutains in NC are bad not too get some service
Posted by: sinse || 05/08/2008 15:01 Comments || Top||


Blast kills 2 soldiers of Afghan NATO-led force
An explosion killed two soldiers from the NATO-led force and a civilian in Afghanistan's southeastern province of Khost on Wednesday, the force said. Two more soldiers of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were wounded in the explosion which happened during a routine patrol, it said in a statement. It didn't give any more details.

It did not identify the casualties, but American troops form the bulk of the NATO-led force in Khost which lies near the border with Pakistan.

Earlier in the day, two police were killed after their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in the province, officials said.
Posted by: Fred || 05/08/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Twelve dead in Afghanistan violence
Twelve people including three foreign soldiers were killed in a spate of bombings and gun battles in Afghanistan, including one firefight between police and opium growers, officials said Wednesday.

The worst gun battle erupted when farmers, whom police said were linked to Taliban and other rebels, resisted anti-drugs forces trying to destroy their opium crop.

A policeman and four locals were killed in the fight in Laghman province's Alishing area, about 70 kilometres northeast of Kabul, provincial government spokesman Wakil Atak said. Five policemen were wounded, he said.

In one of a string of incidents in the eastern border province of Khost on Wednesday, two NATO soldiers and a civilian were killed when they were hit by a bomb during a routine patrol, the alliance force said. Another two International Security Assistance Force troops were wounded, ISAF said in a statement.

Sepatately, a provincial police administrator and his driver were killed when a roadside bomb blew up their vehicles on Wednesday, provincial deputy police chief Colonel Mohammad Youqoub told AFP. Hours later a child was killed and at least three other people, including another child, were wounded when explosives in a car allegedly being prepared for a suicide bombing blew up on the outskirts of the town, police said.
Posted by: Fred || 05/08/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
Roadside bomb kills 8 troops in Somalia
A roadside bomb killed eight Somali government soldiers and wounded six others when it tore through a convoy in the central town of Baidoa on Wednesday, witnesses said.

Witness Abdiqadir Aden said the blast destroyed one military vehicle as the convoy drove into Baidoa from a nearby army camp. Baidoa is the seat of Somalia's parliament. "The roadside bomb killed eight government troops, including their unit leader, and wounded six others," Aden told Reuters.

A nurse at Baidoa Hospital said doctors were fighting to save the lives of the other soldiers hit by the explosion. "The death toll might rise because they are in critical condition," said Musdaf Ali, the nurse.

The al Shabaab is the militant wing of a sharia courts group that ruled much of southern Somalia for six months in 2006 before being ousted by allied Somali-Ethiopian troops.

Since then they have been at the forefront of an Iraq-style insurgency targeting the government with assassinations, mortar strikes and roadside bombs. The group vowed to retaliate after their leader, Aden Hashi Ayro, thought to be al Qaeda's leader in Somalia, was killed in a U.S. air strike a week ago.
Posted by: Fred || 05/08/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Courts


India-Pakistan
Top LeT commander held
Posing as civilians under a new intelligence-based operation to target militant leaders, the Jammu and Kashmir Police have arrested top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Junaid and gunned down another militant from the Pakistan-based outfit and three from Hizbul Mujahideen.

A police team in the disguise of bus passengers arrested Junaid, an expert in making improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and said to be behind dozens of attacks on security forces and civilians in the last ten years. As part of the 'intelligence warfare' operation, a police party, posing as milkmen, killed another top LeT commander in Baramullah in the recent past, the police sources said. Three Hizbul Mujahideen commanders have been killed in similar surgical actions in Srinagar city and in Doda, they said, adding that 13 such operations have been carried out across the state.
Posted by: Fred || 05/08/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba


2 cops among 4 killed in Quetta
Four people, including two policemen, were shot dead on Wednesday in two separate incidents of violence, triggering a severe reaction by local businessmen, who shut down their businesses in protest against the killings. According to details, unidentified men shot dead two policemen on Quetta’s Sariab Road. Policemen Noor Ahmed Shahwani and Muhammad Nasir, and passerby Abdul Karim died. The Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack. In another incident, armed men broke into a garage in Satellite Town, killing a businessman, Sardar Muhammad, and injuring three others. Sources said the attackers had come to rob the people, and shot them when they resisted.
Posted by: Fred || 05/08/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Militants raze second Swat girls' school
MINGORA: A group of unidentified militants on Tuesday night set fire to the Sherpalam Primary Girls’ School in Swat’s Matta tehsil, police officials told Daily Times on Wednesday. A Matta Police official told Daily Times that the school, consisting of four classrooms and a veranda, was completely razed. This was the second girls’ school in the troubled Swat district reduced to ashes by masked militants in four days. Militants set fire to the Charbagh Girls’ High School three days ago. Meanwhile, police defused a 10kg improvised bomb near the Kanju Police ground and found a suicide jacket.
Posted by: Fred || 05/08/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TNSM


Gas supply suspended after blast in Sui
Gas supply to the Punjab was temporarily suspended on Wednesday after a blast damaged a 16-inch gas pipeline in the Sui area 238. The blast completely damaged a three-feet-long portion of the pipeline. Those responsible for the blast have not been identified. The Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) management said the pipeline would be repaired within the next 24 hours and the supply would be restored to the affected areas. Area police have registered a case and started an investigation.
Posted by: Fred || 05/08/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq arrested: report
DUBAI (Reuters) - The leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, has been arrested, the Arabic television station al-Arabiya reported on Friday, quoting the Iraqi Defense Ministry.
U-lu-lu-lu-lu-lu-lu!!!!
Arabiya said Muhajir had been detained in a joint Iraqi-U.S. operation in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. The U.S. military said it had no information on the reports at this stage.

Al Qaeda in Iraq was headed by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi until he was zapped killed in a U.S. air strike in June 2006. His successor, Muhajir, an Egyptian also known as Abu Ayyab al-Masri, was Zarqawi's close associate, and has a U.S. bounty of $5 million on his head.

In October 2006, the al Qaeda-led Mujahideen Shura Council said it had set up the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group of Sunni militant affiliates and tribal leaders led by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. In April 2007 it named a 10-man "cabinet," including Muhajir as its war minister.

Iraq's Interior Ministry said last May that Masri had been killed, but soon afterwards al Qaeda released an audio tape purportedly from him.

In an hour-long audio tape issued last month, Muhajir called for renewed attacks on American troops. He urged militants from the Sunni Islamist group to "celebrate" the recent announcement that the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq had passed 4,000. "We must celebrate this event in our special way, and make the defeated Bush join us in this celebration," he said. He called on al Qaeda fighters to provide "a head of an American as a present to the trickster Bush" in a month-long campaign that he called the "Attack of Righteousness."

Al Qaeda in Iraq shares a name and ideology if not organizational ties with Osama bin Laden's network, which was blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
This article starring:
Abu Hamza al-Muhajir
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/08/2008 17:10 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  AP confirms, and sources more directly

BAGHDAD - The leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was arrested in the northern city of Mosul, the Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman said Thursday. Mohammed al-Askari said the arrest of al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, was confirmed to him by the Iraqi commander of the province. There was no immediate confirmation or comment from U.S. forces.


News of the arrest was also reported by Iraqi state television.

"The commander of Ninevah military operations informed me that Iraqi troops captured Abu Hamza al-Muhajir the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq," al-Askari told The Associated Press by telephone.

He did not have any further details
Posted by: liberalhawk || 05/08/2008 17:16 Comments || Top||

#2  "Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq arrested"

Again?
Posted by: crosspatch || 05/08/2008 17:18 Comments || Top||

#3  wow, AQ in Iraq? Does Senator Obama know this?
Posted by: Frank G || 05/08/2008 17:25 Comments || Top||

#4  Arrested?
Time for talky-talk, makee-learnee.
Posted by: George Smiley || 05/08/2008 17:30 Comments || Top||

#5  24 hour rule people.
Posted by: Col B. Guano (ret.) || 05/08/2008 17:36 Comments || Top||

#6  Since the Iraqis are not as concerned as we are about human rights and other niceties, he may soon be begging to be taken to Gitmo.
Posted by: Rambler in California || 05/08/2008 18:39 Comments || Top||

#7  Next!
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/08/2008 18:54 Comments || Top||

#8  "Since the Iraqis are not as concerned as we are about human rights and other niceties, he may soon be begging to be taken to Gitmo."

All the Iraqis have to do is threaten to release him anywhere in Anbar province. He'll talk.
Posted by: Helmuth, Speaking for Thusoling9307 || 05/08/2008 19:59 Comments || Top||

#9  If he's in Iraqi custody there will be a phone call followed by a visit from armed men, followed by an escort to AQ territory and freedom.
Posted by: gromky || 05/08/2008 20:20 Comments || Top||

#10  sounds like rabbit season to me -- and i just opened a fresh bag of those Cadbury crunchy-shelled eggs...

(get yer chocolate here & your popcorn from Barbara. Now who's got the beer concession?)
Posted by: Querent || 05/08/2008 20:22 Comments || Top||

#11  gromky- I like you and don't usually call bullshit, but you are FULL of it on this one - if it's accurate. He's Zarqawi Jr. Not a chance of release in one pice. I have to think it was a sock puppet degrading your good name?
Posted by: Frank G || 05/08/2008 20:33 Comments || Top||

#12  Good catch, but I'll be happier when the fat lady is singing.
Posted by: Spot || 05/08/2008 22:00 Comments || Top||


Residents says Iraqi soldiers warn them to leave Sadr City
BAGHDAD - Iraqi soldiers for the first time warned residents in the embattled Sadr City district to leave their houses Thursday, signaling a new push by the U.S.-backed forces against Shiite extremist who have been waging street battles for seven weeks.
"Are you ready to Ruuummmbbbblllleeee!!!!!"
Iraqi soldiers, using loudspeakers, told residents in some virtually abandoned areas of southeastern Sadr City to go to nearby soccer stadiums, residents said. UNICEF says about 6,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Sadr City, most of them from the southeastern section.

U.S. forces have increased air power and armored patrols in an attempt to cripple Shiite militia influence in Sadr City, a slum of 2.5 million people that serves as the Baghdad base for the Mahdi Army led by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The U.S. military is trying to weaken the militia's grip in the slum and disrupt rocket and mortar strikes from Sadr City on the U.S.-protected Green Zone, which includes the U.S. Embassy and key Iraqi government offices. Several civilians were injured in rocket or mortar attacks that hit downtown Baghdad this week.

The battles started in late March after the Iraqi government opened a crackdown on militias and armed gangs in the southern city of Basra, including some groups Washington says have links to Iran. At least four people were killed and 13 injured in clashes late Wednesday in Sadr City, Iraqi health officials said Thursday. It was not clear whether any militants were among them.

On Wednesday, Claire Hajaj, a UNICEF spokeswoman based in Jordan, said up to 150,000 people — including 75,000 children — were isolated in sections of Sadr City "cordoned off by military forces." She said about 6,000 have fled their homes. Iraqi soldiers on Thursday shut down a local radio station, al-Aahad, run by the Sadrists after raiding offices of the station in a neighborhood near Sadr City, police said.

Meanwhile, gunmen wearing police uniforms killed a police captain Wednesday after kidnapping him from a police station in Shiite neighborhood of Abu Dshir, police said Thursday. His body was found near the station. In the southeastern Shiite city of Kut, gunmen on Thursday stormed the Technical Institute and abducted a professor, Nuri Kamil Khanjar, local police said. It was not clear why Khanjar was kidnapped.
Posted by: Steve || 05/08/2008 08:47 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Mahdi Army

#1  In that the Mehdi thugs are firm believers in human shields, this is probably very good advice.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/08/2008 9:14 Comments || Top||

#2  This should have been handled several years ago.
High time we got it over with.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 05/08/2008 9:16 Comments || Top||

#3  "time to tent the house to rid it of pests. You'll have to leave for a couple of days"
Posted by: Frank G || 05/08/2008 10:10 Comments || Top||

#4  Start warming up the innocent women, children, kitten and baby duck counter.
Posted by: DK70 the Scantily Clad7177 || 05/08/2008 10:40 Comments || Top||

#5  Instapundit:
GETTING READY FOR A BIG PUSH IN SADR CITY, and a media-related prediction: "This will likely take weeks to complete. Once the battle starts, expect to read and hear plenty of media reports emphasizing civilian deaths, setbacks in the battle, defections in the Iraqi Army, and statements of defiance from Sadr. What we won’t hear is progress by Maliki and the US in finishing off Sadr’s forces until it suddenly becomes impossible to ignore it — and then we will hear about how inept the Iraqi forces were in achieving victory. Call it the Basra Narrative. Just because it failed in Basra doesn’t mean the defeatist media won’t use it again, and again, and again."

The basic rule of press coverage is that if there's fighting, we must be losing.
Posted by: Frank G || 05/08/2008 11:07 Comments || Top||

#6  The UNICEF spokeswoman is, in effect, a Madhi Army propagandist.

The Iraq govt needs to begin denouncing these types.
Posted by: mhw || 05/08/2008 11:13 Comments || Top||

#7  I agree with bigjim-ky.

It's about frakin' time.

I'm sure the MSM will spin the upcoming battles as "loss of control."
Posted by: Mizzou Mafia || 05/08/2008 12:34 Comments || Top||

#8  This should have been handled several years ago.

Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda.

The strategic and political situation was not conducive until recently.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/08/2008 14:29 Comments || Top||

#9  It all comes down too she ROE again. I mean hell just let our guys shoot the shit out of anyone bt=rave enough too leave the house
Posted by: sinse || 05/08/2008 14:59 Comments || Top||

#10  What people seem to be missing is that the Iraqi Army and Police are the ones doing the heavy lifting in this set of battles, not the US Army. This is the result of all of that training and equipping of the past 3 years - Iraqi forces that CAN take the battle to the enemy. Plus with the Iraqi forces being trained to go for single aimed shots and equipped with M-16/M-4 carbines, anyone doing a spray-and-pray with an AK is an automatic target, cause he ain't one of the good guys. It takes time to train a proper army, instead of the rent-a-thugs operation that most armies in the Arab world are.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 05/08/2008 15:47 Comments || Top||

#11  Shieldwolf makes a good point: though the Iraqi Army is nowhere near US quality, they are already the most professional in the Arab world, a fact that has to make an impression on Iraq's neighbors.
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/08/2008 18:59 Comments || Top||

#12  And they're not a bunch of theocratic nut jobs. I'd suspect we've done a lot of weeding in the last 3 years, too.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 05/08/2008 19:06 Comments || Top||


Iraqi troops showing "incredible maturity" in Basra operation
Major General Barney White-Spunner, the UK's senior military officer in southern Iraq, has been talking about his pride in the success of Iraqi troops during the ongoing operation in Basra which has seen them rid the city of a number of militia elements.

Speaking to Evan Davis on BBC Radio Four's Today programme Maj Gen White-Spunner described the current situation in Basra as Iraqi forces, supported by UK and other Coalition troops, continued the ongoing security operation, Charge of the Knights, in the city.

The interview began with an assessment by Evan Davis that the news coming out of Basra in recent days has been increasingly positive:

"That's certainly our view and I think it's very pleasing," said Maj Gen White-Spunner. "In Hayaniyah and al-Qibla the population was delighted to see the Iraqi forces and actually our main concern in the Hayaniyah, as I speak this morning, is trying to mend the sewage system.

"I think for me the greatest change in the last month has been this loss of public support for militias and this sort of longing for normality that we've seen amongst the population. So, you know, we're cautiously optimistic at the moment."


Evan Davis continued by asking whether the recent gains are sustainable, questioning whether if the sewers are not mended, that people may become discontented again and disorder could return to the streets:

"I think that's a very pertinent point. There's an awful lot of poor Shia families in Basra, and the economy has been slower to develop than we would have liked," Maj Gen White-Spunner conceded. "I think, as we've often said, maybe people were guilty of not appreciating quite how much it's been damaged during the 90s by Saddam. And there's always a danger of young people being lured into criminal gangs whilst normal social opportunities are not available to them.

"And there's certainly still some militia in the city and they certainly still pose a threat. But many of their leadership have been arrested by the Iraqis or have fled, and people in Basra very much hope that they won't come back. But your key point is absolutely right and there are a lot of initiatives ongoing, led by the government of Iraq, who are starting to spend a lot of money down here. There's also our own Basra Development Commission set up by the Prime Minister which is doing excellent work in trying to get private firms involved here."


Maj Gen White-Spunner was also challenged on whether he thought the current, relative stability could have been achieved earlier:

"I think what's critical to this is that it's Iraqi-led and it's - I know you've heard this line from us often - but I mean it had to be an Iraqi solution, there was never going to be a very long-term solution with the British running the security day to day in Basra.

"We had to train the Iraqi security forces, which is what we've been doing for the past few years. I have to say we do actually take a real sense of pride from what they've achieved, they've been incredibly professional in Basra.

"They've also been sensitive to the needs of the population. They have realised the importance of aid distribution, of doing humanitarian work, of sticking to arresting people only with arrest warrants, which I think shows a tremendous maturity. I think what we needed to happen is the Iraqi forces needed to be got to the stage that they're at now."
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/08/2008 00:27 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  -maybe off topic, maybe not-

Like it or not, anyone who has served in any branch of service of honor...

Here the earlier ROE's pay off. It has been 5 years and you have tought leadership and community to those whom the 'experts' said could never learn; once again proving the impossible quite possible

You are an inspiration.
All civvies look up to you; especially your locals.

/end unashamable admiration and unimaginable appreciation.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 05/08/2008 3:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Not off topic, I think, swksvolFF. I agree, in the face of those even here at Rantburg, who continue to say that what has been done cannot be.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/08/2008 7:57 Comments || Top||

#3  "INCREDIBLE MATURITY", in other words they don't drop their rifles and run like little girls ARVN troops anymore?
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 05/08/2008 9:19 Comments || Top||

#4  The better ARVN troops didn't drop their rifles, from what I recall.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/08/2008 12:18 Comments || Top||

#5  Of course, he didn't mention the fact that the Iraqi forces in Basra were from Anbar province, and trained by the US. The Iraqis are standing up to the job they need to do. It's more than encouraging, it's incredible they could have come so far so fast. In ten years, if nothing goes REALLY south, Iraq will have an army second only to the United States in capability.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/08/2008 12:40 Comments || Top||

#6  also alot are former military anyway so have some discipline. Also i don't really thie army should taken a close a look at as the police forces. every vid i have watched where US forces where ambusshed the iraqi police showed up right after or passed them in the road before hand
Posted by: sinse || 05/08/2008 15:08 Comments || Top||

#7  FLASH:

AP reports Iraqi army says Al Masri, head of AQ in Iraq is in custody. No confirmation from US sources.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 05/08/2008 17:02 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Five wounded in bus bombing in southern Philippines
A homemade bomb exploded in a passenger van during a downpour Tuesday in the southern Philippines, seriously wounding at least five people and damaging two other parked vans, police said. The bomb, apparently detonated by cell phone, went off while the van was about to leave a passenger terminal in the
farming township of Midsayap in North Cotabato province, Midsayap police chief Superintendent Chino Mamburam said. During the initial confusion that followed the blast, Mamburam told a local radio station that three people were killed. Police Inspector Lucas Dicay, however, said later at the scene that five were wounded, including children, with no fatalities.

Dicay said a man boarded the van, then left his backpack as he told passengers he was going to the toilet. The backpack exploded a few minutes later, Dicay said, citing witnesses.
Among the wounded were a mother and her two children. The mother's feet may have to be amputated, according to a doctor, Sanny Sandig. Army Col. Pedro Soria said troops secured the area and an investigation was under way.
Posted by: ryuge || 05/08/2008 06:01 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Beirut gunbattles as Hezbollah says govt 'declares war'
Fierce gunbattles erupted in Beirut on Thursday after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah charged that a Lebanese government crackdown on his group's activities was tantamount to a "declaration of war."

Lebanon's long-running political crisis was threatening to spiral dangerously out of control on the second day of clashes between rival factions in the deeply divided country despite urgent appeals for calm.

Supporters of the Western-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition were engaged in shootouts in at least three mixed Sunni and Shiite Muslim neighbourhoods of the capital, with militants using rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, a security official said. There were no reports of casualties, although armed clashes in other towns earlier left at least eight people wounded.

Nasrallah said his powerful Shiite militant group was ready to use its weapons, in a fiery speech on the second day of anti-government protests which saw supporters of rival factions block roads with burning tyres and force the closure of Lebanon's international airport. "The (government) decisions are tantamount to a declaration of war and the start of a war... on behalf of the United States and Israel," Nasrallah charged at a rare press conference via video link.

The government on Tuesday launched a probe into a private communications network run by Hezbollah, which is seen in the West as a terrorist outfit and which critics say has become a "state within a state" in Lebanon.

"Our answer to this decision is this," Nasrallah said. "We have the right to confront he who starts a war with us by defending our rights and our weapons." He said Hezbollah was ready for dialogue but demanded that the government rescind its measures.

"We have not used our weapons inside the country but we will use them to defend our arsenal."

The latest unrest in Lebanon, engulfed in its worst crisis since the end of the 15-year civil war in 1990, erupted on Wednesday during a general strike over price increases and wage demands.

"If this situation continues, everyone will lose and this will affect the unity of the military," the army command warned.

As the crisis escalated, UN Middle East envoy Terje Roed Larsen told the Security Council that Hezbollah's separate paramilitary infrastructure "constitutes a threat to regional peace and security."

Israel, which fought a devastating war with Hezbollah in 2006, said it had no comment on the latest events in its northern neighbour, with foreign affairs spokesman Arye Mekel bluntly stating: "It's none of our business."

Armed men, some hooded, were seen in several mixed Sunni and Shiite neighbourhoods of Beirut, where troops and riot police were out inouspread and many schools and businesses remained shut for a second day. Protesters burned tyres and lit fires along the airport road, which remained blocked by large mounds of earth dumped by Hezbollah supporters, while government loyalists set up road blocks and set tyres ablaze along the main highway to Syria and between Beirut and the southern coastal city of Sidon.

Newspapers drew parallels with the lead-up to the civil war while the growing tension brought expressions of support for Prime Minister Fuad Siniora from key Arab powers Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which warned Hezbollah against any steps that might worsen the situation.

Lebanon's political crisis has left the country without a president since November, when pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud stepped down at the end of his mandate with no elected successor. While the rival factions have agreed to the election of army chief Michel Sleiman, they disagree on the make-up of the new cabinet and so far 18 sessions of parliament to choose a president have been cancelled.

Hezbollah's ally Amal warned that the situation could get out of hand. "It is clear the majority is seeking an escalation and wants to push the country toward a civil war," an official told AFP. "What we are trying to do is calm down the situation."

An airport official said all flights had been cancelled until Thursday afternoon and it was unclear whether traffic would resume later.

As-Safir newspaper, close to the opposition, said the situation was a "stark reminder for the Lebanese of the dark days of the civil war."

"The two camps have crossed all the red lines and are heading toward an armed confrontation," added Al-Akhbar, also close to the opposition.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit repeated Cairo's support for Siniora and implicitly blamed the opposition for the crisis. "The party that is pushing for confrontation and which persists along this path with disregard for civil peace will surely bear the historic responsibility for its actions," he reportedly told Lebanese majority leader Saad Hariri.

Saudi Arabia also warned those behind the latest incidents to "reconsider their position, and to realise that leading Lebanon towards turmoil will not bring victory to any party except extremist external forces."
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 05/08/2008 12:07 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Weren't the Paleos one of the seven players in their last civil war? Maybe the Jooos could ship them up there to help out with the festivities. Trouble, meet Paleos, Paleos, meet trouble.
Posted by: Guillibaldo Thogum8821 || 05/08/2008 12:17 Comments || Top||

#2  so far wire serv reports indicate Hezbollah vs Sunni Leb militias. No reports of involvement by Leb Army, by Christians, by Pals, etc.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 05/08/2008 12:29 Comments || Top||

#3  IF a protracted war breaks out between Hezb'allah and the Sunnis, Druze etc.. there are at least two things I hope for:

1) The Sunni Clerics around the World and Saudi Arabia in particular, *DO* lots of Fatwas against Hezb'allah, there by drawing al-Qaeda and their likes out of the woodwork in Iraq to fight in Lebanon against Hezb'allah.

2) As the War in Lebanon escalates It would be a Puurfect time for Israel to Strike Iran and take out their reactors and centrafuges..
Posted by: RD || 05/08/2008 13:00 Comments || Top||

#4  I suspect Iran is encouraging this, in some demented way, to take the heat off of Sadr's thugs in Iraq.
Posted by: 3dc || 05/08/2008 13:08 Comments || Top||

#5  3dc...just like iran did 3 years ago when they were up for security council review of nuke program..
Posted by: Dan || 05/08/2008 13:18 Comments || Top||

#6  Like I said on another thread, crapping in your own bed is an Arab thingy.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/08/2008 13:47 Comments || Top||

#7  Hmmmmm. Maybe "somebody else" is pissed off for some reason and has their Hezzbie lapdogs doing their bidding?

Beirut- Hezbollah has linked its private telephone networks to the Syrian Army's communications system as well as to Syria's mobile telephone network allowing Syrian intelligence to operate freely in Lebanonand avoid Lebanese controls, al-Mustaqbal's Faris Khashan wrote Tuesday.

Internal Security Forces Commander Gen. Ashraf Rifi and Director of Military Intelligence Brig. George Khoury were assigned by the government more than a month ago to discuss the issue with Hezbollah, Khashan added.

However, Hezbollah's security chief Wafiq Safa and the party's international relations official Nawaf Moussawi informed Rifi and Khoury that "anyone who touches the network would be treated the same way we treat the Zionist enemy," he wrote.

Khashan labeled Hezbollah a "militia," noting that Hezbollah is not registered with the interior ministry as a political organization operating in Lebanon. He said police counter-terrorism expert, Maj. Wissam Eid, has been assassinated because he managed to detect the serial assassinations committed against March 14 figures to the Hezbollah telephone network.

He reported that Hezbollah sped up work on extending the network after Eid's assassination, "which means that the killing was aimed at destroying evidence on previous assassinations, including one that appears linked to Hezbollah."

The crime also aimed at creating "safe communications criteria for further assassinations," he added.

Khashan urged the government to speed up efforts aimed at separating the Hezbollah network from the Syrian networks, lodge complaints with the U.N. Security Council and the International Telecommunication Union against Syria, inform the International Investigation committee of the development, allow municipalities to interrupt the Hezbollah network in their respective jurisdictions and link the network to the public telephone network.

Hezbollah should be asked to choose either to give up its illegal network or be declared an "illegal organization," Khashan concluded.


http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2008/05/hezbollah_netwo.php
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/08/2008 13:55 Comments || Top||

#8  Israel, which fought a devastating war with Hezbollah in 2006, said it had no comment on the latest events in its northern neighbour, with foreign affairs spokesman Arye Mekel bluntly stating: "It's none of our business."

Thus they throw Lebanon under the big Hezbollah Bus once again.

Ask not who the Bus is coming for, Israel, it's coming for _you_, and it's not going to be stopped by throwing all the non-Hezbollah-supporting Lebanese under it.
Posted by: Abdominal Snowman || 05/08/2008 14:05 Comments || Top||

#9  Nobody can stop the Lebanese from fighting, not even Israel, Abdominal Snowman. They tried that once, remember? And got blamed for Sabra and Shatilla (or whatever the names were) for their pains. This time the Lebanese Army actually might be allowed to fight Hizb'allah, as they were allowed to fight the Al Qaeda-linked Palestinians in that one "refugee camp". If the Lebanese can't fix this themselves, with the U.S. sitting on the far side to keep Syria from interfering (much), then it can't be fixed. And should Israel get involved when they're already fighting the Gazans, keeping the lid on the West Bank, and Syria has got troops practically lined up at the border?
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/08/2008 14:11 Comments || Top||

#10  #8 Israel, which fought a devastating war with Hezbollah in 2006, said it had no comment on the latest events in its northern neighbour, with foreign affairs spokesman Arye Mekel bluntly stating: "It's none of our business."

Thus they throw Lebanon under the big Hezbollah Bus once again.


Just because they have no comment publicly doesn't mean they're not taking sides privately. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Israel was providing the Lebanese army with info and other support.
Posted by: PlanetDan || 05/08/2008 14:27 Comments || Top||

#11  I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Israel was providing the Lebanese army with info and other support.

Doubtful.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/08/2008 14:33 Comments || Top||

#12  It would be insane for Israel to publicly back the Leb govt, and no help to the Leb govt. It would immediately be used by Hezb/Iran propaganda.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 05/08/2008 14:34 Comments || Top||

#13  re info - Im not sure (based on 2006) that Mossad has Hezb penetrated anyway. As for sigint and sat pics, the Lebs can get that from the US, France, etc rather than from Israel.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 05/08/2008 14:36 Comments || Top||

#14  Israel can help by quietly backstopping against Syria, and by general background cooperation (including intel) with the US. Also by continuing the policy of restraint and negotiations on the Pal front, which strengthens the US position generally.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 05/08/2008 14:38 Comments || Top||

#15  Probably Israel has some agents among low ranking
Hezbollah folks but no one in or close to the inner circle.

The IDF can, however, send air drones over Beirut using off shore platforms and send the info somewhere for redaction and transmission.

Posted by: mhw || 05/08/2008 14:47 Comments || Top||

#16  Hizbullah are scum AS. And so are the rest of the Lebanese. Israel has been paying the price of your Dep. of State ME fantasies---fantasies whose main source is that Arabs are very competent flatterers and your diplomats & journalists, and even ordinary travelers, just lap it up---for thirty years now. This time around we'll watch the animals killing each other with the greatest of pleasure. And then, God willing to send us a PM with balls to defy our great ally, we'll finish off the victors.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/08/2008 14:57 Comments || Top||

#17  Israel could probably do most good by encouraging some of the local Sunni nations to send some of their more elite killers incognito into Lebanon, so that the Hezbollah leadership starts having fatal accidents.

Nothing like an invisible hand to unnerve bad guys.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/08/2008 16:26 Comments || Top||

#18  Bibi aint going into Leb, Grom. hes too clever for that.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 05/08/2008 16:59 Comments || Top||

#19  This time Wally's Druze will be on the other side.
Posted by: phil_b || 05/08/2008 17:49 Comments || Top||

#20  This would be a great opportunity for France to assist the Leb Govt. Hey...I'm serious! The more pressure that can be brought upon Hezb/Syria, the better.
Posted by: remoteman || 05/08/2008 18:11 Comments || Top||

#21  Have no fear - I'm sure the ever vigilant UN peacekeepers will maintain calm in the country.
Posted by: DMFD || 05/08/2008 19:13 Comments || Top||

#22  Lib I beleive he is referring to Damascus. And only a brief visit.
Posted by: OldSpook || 05/08/2008 19:33 Comments || Top||

#23 
Letting Hezbollah have Lebanon's population as its personal human shield for attacking Israel with hasn't exactly been good for Israel's security in the past, what makes everyone think it'll be good for it now? Or good when someone finally figures out the best way to get a Bomb into Israel is on the top of a SMERCH-sized rocket that's part of a cloud of a couple hundred others with conventional warheads?
Posted by: Abdominal Snowman || 05/08/2008 22:39 Comments || Top||

#24  Hezbollah is Iran West. I doubt that a majority of Syrians welcome their presence on their frontier. I would think that the government of Lebanon would have a free hand in laying waste to those savages.
Posted by: McZoid || 05/08/2008 23:52 Comments || Top||


Nasrullah: Lebanese government decision is a declaration of war
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Secretary General of Hizbullah Sheikh Hasan Nasrullah on Thursday afternoon described the Lebanese government's decision to dismantle the resistance ground telecommunication network as declaration of war against Hizbullah. In a press conference aired by the Hizbullah-affiliated satellite TV station Al-Manar, Nasrullah threatened to "cut the hands which might think of reaching to the Lebanese resistance."

Nasrullah also said he considers that Lebanon has entered a new phase after the last government session during which the government, which he described as "illegitimate," called for the dismantling of Hizbullah's ground telecommunication network. The network has always been and will continue to be one of the Lebanese resistance's most important weapons," he added.

Hizbullah's leader affirmed that the network was established in 2000. He also revealed that Hizbullah had accepted a request from the Lebanese security committee to dismantle a cable which was erected between Ad-Dahia and the southern Beirut; the cable was erected during 2006 war against Israel.

Sheikh Nasrullah revealed that the Lebanese government has been bargaining with Hizbullah to end the rally in central Beirut in exchange for the government to disregard the issue of the ground telecommunication network. The Lebanese government has decided to dismantle it claiming it was illegal.

Nasrullah claimed that the Lebanese government decided to try everybody who was involved in the establishment of the network only after they received a report from the US State Department demanding they do so. He reiterated that thiss decision was a declaration of war against Hizbullah and the Lebanese resistance.

"We are announcing today our decision to defend ourselves rather than declaring war against anybody. We will not agree to be killed in the streets any more, and we will not agree on any more plots against Lebanese resistance' weapons," Nasrullah said at the end of his press conference.
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/08/2008 11:53 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  From the live feeds on CNN it looks like open warfare.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 05/08/2008 12:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Israel - it would be a good time to take out Sadr in such a way that Lebanon's army got the credit.
Posted by: 3dc || 05/08/2008 13:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Sadr Nasrullah - their all the same...
Posted by: 3dc || 05/08/2008 13:10 Comments || Top||

#4  time to eat something... - (theirthey are...)
Posted by: 3dc || 05/08/2008 13:12 Comments || Top||

#5  Looks like Crybaby should have asked for Israel's help to beat them up when he had the chance.
Posted by: gorb || 05/08/2008 15:31 Comments || Top||

#6  CNN this AM > Hizbullah Leader claims Govt of Lebanon has declared OPEN WAR agz Hizb.

HMMMMMM, LEBANON's "last chance" for sovereignty and independence, versus Radical Islam = Hizb Hezb Huzb, etc. helping protect + empower NUCLEARIZING IRAN + FUTURE NUCLEAR ISLAMIST TERROR BY CONTAINING-ISOLATING US-ALLIES "OVER THERE" I.E AS FAR AWAY LINEARLY FROM IRAN + CENTRAL ASIA AS POSSIBLE - Hizb = Iran also gets to PC protect SYRIA by being first to militarily resist any potential new IDF invasion of Lebanon. PROB MAKE THE SAME ARGUMENT FOR SADR EXCEPT THAT HIS MAHDI ARMY + ALIGNED HAVE LARGER DISTANCE TO COVER TO PROTECT IRAN VV ISRAEL.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/08/2008 22:34 Comments || Top||


Beirut Airport Besieged by Hezbies
Tension went high between Hizbullah and Premier Fouad Saniora's government on Wednesday as the party besieged Beirut airport and headed to declaring civil disobedience after eight people were wounded in mushrooming rioting. Scores of Hizbullah trucks and bulldozers erected barricades along the airport road, besieging at least 300 passengers who had arrived aboard four jetliners.

Hizbullah officials informed mediators that the airport would remain closed and the ongoing riots would be escalated into civil disobedience until the Saniora Government withdraws decisions it had adopted against the Party's communications network and head of the airport security department Wafiq Shoqeir.

Meanwhile, the Voice of Lebanon radio said Hizbullah members were dressed up in police uniforms and penetrating districts of Beirut controlled by their rivals of the Mustaqbal movement. A government source also said Hizbullah was massing gunmen in downtown Beirut, sparking fears of a possible attack against Saniora's office.

The development followed day long riots across Beirut as the labor union suspended a demonstration it had called for.

Three members of the Mustaqbal movement were wounded when assailants from the Hizbullah-led opposition demolished their office with 30 Rocket-Propelled Grenades in Beirut's densely populated Nweiri district. Two Lebanese Army soldiers were injured by rocks while trying to disperse a clash between opposition supporters and residents of the Tariq Jedideh district.

Two news photographers and a passer by were beaten up by rioters in Korniche Mazraa thoroughfare and suffered minor fractures, hospital sources said.

Meanwhile tension escalated as staccato bursts of automatic rifle fire echoed across several Beirut districts amidst efforts by army and police patrols to contain the violence.

Trucks run by Hizbullah's Jihad al-Binaa institute loaded dirt along the Beirut Airport road, blocking traffic to the facility, which has been closed to civil aviation.

Ghassan Ghosn, chairman of the General federation of Labor Unions (GFLU) said a demonstration that had been scheduled to start at 10 a.m. was "suspended" due to the blocking of roads that prevented potential participants from reaching Beirut's Barbir Square where it was supposed to start. Ghosn, however, said the general strike was persisting and blamed the government for not providing protection for the demonstrators.

The strike was observed only in Hizbullah-controlled regions of Lebanon, where supporters of the party set fire to rubber tires, blocking traffic. However, the strike call was totally ignored in areas loyal to the March 14 majority.

Life was normal in north and Mount Lebanon as well as in areas of east Lebanon and Beirut not loyal to Hizbullah.

About 150 Hizbullah operatives infiltrated from their makeshift Tent City and blocked the Beirut port road with rubber tires and obstacles for nearly 30 minutes, but were challenged by motorists who drove across the barricades before an army patrol intervened and reopened the road to traffic.

The strike observed by Beirut Airport workers was scheduled to end at 3 p.m., but Hizbullah refused to reopen the road to the facility. Nevertheless, three jetliners landed at the facility shortly after the deadline.

Meanwhile Mustaqbal Movement MP Mohammed Qabbani said the majority was considering activating the Rene Mouawad airport in north Lebanon if the dispute with Hizbullah persisted.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/08/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  I wonder how long the pretense that Lebanon is a country will go on?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/08/2008 5:13 Comments || Top||

#2  ...And with the airport secured, the Iranians can start flying in 'humanitarian' aid, one AK-47 at a time.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 05/08/2008 8:57 Comments || Top||

#3  Hezbies massing?
Can't the govt. figure out what to do when the enemy masses? They have planes don't they? A fuel/air device would prolly do the trick.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 05/08/2008 8:58 Comments || Top||

#4  Can't do that bigjim. When Hezbullies mass they do it in schoolyards and hospitals and apartment blocks amongst throngs of baby ducks and fluffy bunnies.
Posted by: Menhadden Snogum6713 || 05/08/2008 13:02 Comments || Top||

#5  Duck and rabbit both taste good, MS. (Granted, the little ones don't have much meat.)

And with an fuel/air burst, they'd be pre-cooked! :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 05/08/2008 13:28 Comments || Top||

#6  Napalm 'em. It sends a message: "Not only are you not welcome, but we'll see to it you don't get to paradise, and if you do, your 'virgins' will be scared sick at the sight of you".

Hezbollah needs a serious thumping, and Nasrullah needs to be the guest of honor at a necktie party. The freedom of Lebanon demands it. If asked, we need to help out - if for nothing else, for repayment for 1983. No troops on the ground, but round-the-clock bombing, strafing, and recon.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/08/2008 13:35 Comments || Top||

#7  If they are massing at the airport and besieging passengera, perhaps they are out in the open and concrete doesn't offer much concealment
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 05/08/2008 14:10 Comments || Top||

#8  They have planes don't they?

No. They have about 40 helos: Alouettes, UH-1s and some Robinson R44s.

They did set up a rig to be able to drop a bomb from an Alouette, and used it during the refugee camp battle. Might be hard to deliver napalm with any kind of effectiveness.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/08/2008 14:39 Comments || Top||

#9  the US has planes though that they can't see coming so we should send them a couple of strikes too help out. since iran wants too fight a proxy war in Iraq then we should do do in lebanon
Posted by: sinse || 05/08/2008 15:10 Comments || Top||


Hezbollah declares Leb Army an enemy
Beirut, Lebanon - Hezbollah isolated itself further on Wednesday when internal sources revealed that the militia no longer considers the Lebanese Army an ally, claiming they have joined the enemy. Hezbollah has issued an internal memorandum to its party members noting increased provocation against the resistance and the cover some Lebanese factions are providing to any possible Israeli aggression on Lebanon.

"Hezbollah's enemies have seen signals of weakness in the party's decision not to retaliate yet to the assassination of Imad Mugniyah, and this might encourage Israel and its Lebanese allies to come up with a new adventure. Media reports have been focusing lately on Hezbollah's activities in establishing military bases. This is also part of the provocation against the resistance," the memorandum said.

The source also told the Kuwaiti daily As-Seyassah that Hezbollah no longer has good relations with the Lebanese army. "Members of an official security service that is allied with March 14 have been talking about the cameras placed near airport runway 17 for several weeks. When the cameras were discovered, the information was released through the defense minister, and the Army Intelligence Services confirmed it. This means that the historical close relationship between the Lebanese army and the resistance is over for good. The military institution has taken sides with the other party," the source said.
Say, what was the name of those jokers in that Paleo camp in Lebanon who went up against the Leb army? Anybody remember them today other than their mothers?
The internal memorandum also said that an Israeli report has confirmed Hezbollah's suspicion that a PSP official was involved in Mugniyah's assassination.

"Hezbollah called on its officials to take security measures and move into secondary residences. It also called on its members to be prepared for any scenario," the source added.

He also said that the present campaign against Hezbollah is more dangerous than the 2006 July War. "Internal factions are participating in this campaign, and as the number of our allies has decreased, so has their readiness to provide the party with a political cover, especially since the FPM, headed by MP Michel Aoun, has become inefficient on the Christian level. The same is true of Hezbollah's Sunni allies."

"Thus, Hezbollah will be more or less alone in the coming confrontation," he added.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/08/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Leb Army an enemy of Hezbollah? It's O.K. Jimmy Carter will go over and patch up the tift.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/08/2008 11:30 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Suspected al Qaeda 'media chief' rejects U.S. court
Osama bin Laden's suspected "media director" rejected U.S. terrorism court proceedings against him and renewed his allegiance to the al Qaeda leader on Wednesday in a hearing marred by technical flaws in a new Guantanamo courtroom.

With the lights momentarily out due to a power failure in the windowless military courtroom set up to try Guantanamo prisoners, Al Hamza Ahmad Suliman al Bahlul declined to enter a plea at his arraignment on three terrorism-related charges.

He had earlier held up a handwritten "boycott" sign and declined to answer when asked whether he was rejecting his military attorney, though in a lengthy statement to the court he indicated he would not contest the charges against him.

"I am not going to say I'm not from al Qaeda," Bahlul said. "We will continue in our jihad and nothing is going to stop us."

Bahlul, who is from Yemen, was charged with conspiracy, solicitation to commit murder and providing material support for terrorism. He was accused of preparing a propaganda video glorifying the attack on the American destroyer Cole, preparing the videotaped will of Sept. 11 ringleader Mohamed Atta, and operating computer and communications gear for bin Laden.

"I am renewing my allegiance to Sheikh Osama bin Laden," said Bahlul, who wore a beard and loose green shirt as he sat at the corner of the defense table, with two military bailiffs behind him.

The hearing at the U.S. naval base in southeastern Cuba was marred by audio-visual failures and the power outage that for several minutes darkened the courtroom, which was completed earlier this year as part of a $12 million court complex built to handle a wave of trials expected to begin later this month.

The session continued in the dark, as Bahlul was asked whether he wished to enter a plea. "Apparently not," said the judge, Army Col. Peter Brownback.
Posted by: Fred || 05/08/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  Once again, I renew my call for enforcing the Geneva Conventions. Al Hamza whatever is an illegal combatant. His only defense is that he is not an illegal combatant - he was an innocent goat herder who happened to pick up a gun he found on the ground right before the Americans came over the hill. He pointed it at them in a traditional Muslim gesture of friendship.
Since he says he is part of al Qaeda, that is not the case.
Convict the bastard and shoot him.
All in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.
Posted by: Rambler in California || 05/08/2008 0:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Because rejecting a US court always turns out to work in the end... like maybe %0 of the time!
Posted by: 3dc || 05/08/2008 13:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Okay, fine. Take him back to his cell.
See ya in about six months, Boobbahlul...
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/08/2008 13:30 Comments || Top||



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  Hezbollah at war with Leb
Wed 2008-05-07
  Hezbollah telecom network shut down
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Mon 2008-05-05
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Sun 2008-05-04
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