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Guantanamo arraignment begins for five accused 9/11 plotters
Today's Headlines
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Good morning, starting year three
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And a fine start to the year it is!
Posted by: tipover || 06/06/2008 0:10 Comments || Top||

#2  And a fine start to the year it is

hubbers.. youse can say thatr a'gain and a'gain and a'gain tipover!
~:)
Posted by: RD || 06/06/2008 0:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Gee, that doesn't look much like Mrs Cleaver...

"Honey, I'm home!"

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 06/06/2008 1:37 Comments || Top||

#4  I could haver.

Somebody hadda sayit.
Posted by: Bobby || 06/06/2008 5:45 Comments || Top||

#5  and God bless you Fred
Posted by: mhw || 06/06/2008 8:38 Comments || Top||

#6  I just came here to get something off my chest, and you thought.....? Dirty boy!
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 06/06/2008 9:40 Comments || Top||

#7  Huba-huba!
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 06/06/2008 10:03 Comments || Top||

#8  To Have-'er or to Have-'er not?

dumb question......
Posted by: Spats Unusolet4887 || 06/06/2008 13:54 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Kabul releases Hekmatyar's son-in-law
Dr Gharat Baheer, the son-in-law of former Afghan premier Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, arrived in Peshawar on Thursday following his release from Afghanistan after serving six years in United States’ detention. Dr Baheer, spokesman for the Hizb-e-Islami, told reporters at Peshawar airport that his release was not the result of any deal. “I don’t know why I was arrested and why freed,” said Baheer, who was arrested in Islamabad in 2002 by Pakistani forces.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Hizb-i-Islami-Hekmatyar


Nine Taliban killed in Afghanistan: police
Militant attacks on international soldiers in Afghanistan Thursday left several civilians wounded and nine rebels dead in return fire that included air strikes, officials said.

In one attack, a suicide bomber ran at a NATO patrol in the town of Qalat, the capital of Zabul province, and detonated explosives that he was carrying, deputy police chief Faridullah Khan told AFP. The international troops suffered no casualties but four young civilian men were wounded, he said from the town which is about 400 kilometres (250 miles) south of Kabul.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has US and Romanian soldiers in Qalat.

No one immediately claimed responsibility but the attack was similar to scores of others carried out by the extremist Taliban movement, which makes heavy use of bombings in an insurgency against the Western-backed government.

Also in Qalat, Taliban militants attacked a joint Afghan and ISAF patrol on the main road travelling through the province, Khan said. The ambush sparked a clash and ISAF aircraft were called in. "Nine Taliban were killed in the aerial bombing. Their bodies were left at the battlefield and we have the bodies," Khan said. Afghan and NATO troops suffered no casualties.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Afghanistan: Two US service members die in helicopter crash
Two service members died in a helicopter crash Thursday as they were returning from a maintenance mission in southern Afghanistan, the US-led coalition said. There was no report of hostile activity related to the crash, the coalition said in a statement.

The coalition did not reveal the names or nationalities of the deceased pending notification of their families. The helicopter crashed at around 6:30 p.m. in Kandahar province, said Lt. Col. Rumi Nielson-Green, the top spokesperson for the US military in Afghanistan. The bodies of the two victims have been recovered, she said. "There was no enemy activity in the area," she said, declining to specify the type of helicopter involved. "They were really close to the return point."
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  2 inside. Sounds like a Kiowa.
Posted by: gromky || 06/06/2008 6:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Check flight?
Posted by: Helmuth, Speaking for Thusoling9307 || 06/06/2008 16:35 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Guantanamo arraignment begins for five accused 9/11 plotters
The accused mastermind of the September 11 terror attacks is facing a military judge in his long-awaited first public appearance before a war-crimes tribunal. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators have taken their seats at defense tables before Judge Ralph Kohlmann, a Marine colonel. Their arraignment Thursday is the highest-profile test yet of US military's controversial tribunal system. It comes seven years after the attacks. All five face the death penalty if convicted.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  KSM wants to become a martyr. I suggest any sentence OTHER than the death penalty. I'd prefer him to stay in solitary confinement at Gitmo until his breathing stops voluntarily. I wouldn't mind if they moved his cage to the area between high and low tide, though, so he could watch the sharks eying him hungrily.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 06/06/2008 11:31 Comments || Top||

#2  OP,
If I may have the honor of modifying your comments ever so slightly: KSM should be in TRUE solitary; that is, he never sees ANOTHER human being again.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 06/06/2008 14:33 Comments || Top||

#3  But let's set up a camera so we and the jihadis can watch him go insane.
Posted by: Hellfish || 06/06/2008 16:29 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Pakistani authorities arrest 3, seize explosives
Pakistani authorities arrested three suspected suicide bombers and seized more than a ton of explosives in a suspected terror plot near the capital, officials said Friday.

Senior police officer Rao Mohammed Iqbal told The Associated Press that several suspects, including the three alleged bombers, were arrested in the operation late Thursday in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

He provided no details on what the bombers allegedly wanted to target and whether the vehicles had been rigged to detonate. However, two security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media, said the arrested men were suspected of wanting to target "sensitive installations."

The arrests came just days after a suicide car bombing at the Danish Embassy in Islamabad killed six people.

Authorities seized three vehicles with more than 2,200 pounds of explosives, Iqbal said. Iqbal, deputy inspector-general of Rawalpindi police, said an official statement on the arrests would be issued later Friday.

Pakistan's Geo TV news network quoted Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik as saying a total of six people, including the three bombers, were captured.
Posted by: ed || 06/06/2008 07:15 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well, maybe they were just going to go do a little fishing. Yeh, that's it. Just a little boom boom fishing. Did anyone check to see if they had their fishing licenses?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 06/06/2008 11:30 Comments || Top||


Maoists blast power supply towers
Meanwhile on the eastern front ...
RAIPUR — Nearly 1,500 villages in Chhattisgarh's restive Bastar region were plunged into darkness yesterday after Maoists blasted power supply towers, officials said. Power was cut off yesterday morning in the Dantewada, Bijapur, Bastar and Narayanpur districts after leftist insurgents brought down 220 KV electricity supply towers at Barsoor in Dantewada district.

Officials said it may take a week or more to resume normal supplies. "Security has been put on high alert in the region with more police forces and paramilitary troopers of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) deployed at government installations,'' Inspector General of Police Girdhari Nayak, who is overseeing the operations against the Maoists, said.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  PHILIPPINES > PHIL MAOISTS ATTACK PORT, BURN TRUCKS. Nobody got killed albeit is being interpreted as a de facto warning to Manila as wel as Maoist escalatoty move agz same. ALSO, THE MAOISTS ARE DEMANDING TO BE GIVEN LARGE AUTONOMOUS LAND RESERVATIONS = LAND ENCLAVES where Manila has little influence or presence.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/06/2008 0:43 Comments || Top||


Taliban threaten drug, music dealers
MIRANSHAH: Taliban militants on Thursday gave music shop owners and drug dealers a 10-day deadline to close business or face the consequences, local officials said. Using megaphones, Taliban drove through Mir Ali town in North Waziristan delivering the warning, they said. “Drugs and music are destroying tribal culture. We will not allow this conspiracy,” shopkeeper Enayat Khan quoted the Taliban as saying. Officials said Taliban had similarly threatened opium, alcohol and hashish dealers.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  I thought they made all their money on heroin... of course they prefer only Infidels use it..
Posted by: 3dc || 06/06/2008 15:25 Comments || Top||

#2  “Drugs and music are destroying tribal culture.

Very interesting indeed. Appears to be having the opposite effect here in the States.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/06/2008 20:16 Comments || Top||


Swat Taliban, govt agree on militants' release
Tehreek-e-Taliban Swat (TTS) and the NWFP government agreed on Thursday on the release in three phases of Taliban arrested by the security forces during the recent Swat military operation.

Sources said 64 militants would be freed on Friday (today) from Timergara jail in the first phase. All prisoners would be released within two weeks, they added. The consensus was reached on Thursday afternoon, the sources said. TTS spokesman Muslim Khan said the first group of imprisoned Taliban would be freed on Friday (today).

Talking to Daily Times by telephone, the TTS spokesman said “foreign elements” were conspiring against the restoration of peace in Swat and the rest of the country. “These foreign elements are also conspiring against our religion,” he said, “But we will frustrate their evil designs and make the peace accord a success.” He denied local Taliban involvement in terrorist activities after the signing of the peace agreement, adding that a “third party”, which was against the peace accord, was sabotaging the truce. “But we will not allow them to succeed.”
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  To bad they don't tag them.
Posted by: 3dc || 06/06/2008 15:25 Comments || Top||


Two children killed in Quetta blast
Militants blew up a railway track in an attack in Quetta which killed two children in Balochistan on Thursday, police said. “Miscreants planted a bomb near the track which blew up a four feet-long piece of the track and killed two children,” Manzoor Tareen, a railway police officer told Reuters.

The children had been playing near the track. The blast disrupted rail links with the rest of the country, but railway police say the damage would be repaired quickly and service would resume within a few hours. The new government has initiated talks with Baloch militants and released several Baloch leaders in a bid to put an end to the violence.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  The new government has initiated talks with Baloch militants and released several Baloch leaders in a bid to put an end to the violence.


Idiots. Appeasement worked oooh so well for Neville Chamberlain. They , along with the murderers should be held accountable for these deaths .
Posted by: Mad Eye || 06/06/2008 9:13 Comments || Top||


Explosive-laden cars seized in Pindi
Police separately seized two explosives-laden vehicles from Rawalpindi on Thursday, but the drivers fled. Geo News said the government had imposed Section 144 in Rawalpindi and Islamabad and the Red Zone in Islamabad – where foreign embassies are located – has been closed for traffic. Police found 500kgs of explosives in the two vehicles, Geo said.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


Militants kill paramilitary soldier in Bajaur
Suspected militants tortured and shot dead a paramilitary soldier in Bajaur Agency, officials said on Thursday. The soldier’s body was found dumped near a road in Sheikh Killy, a village in Bajaur Agency, local military officer Javed Khan said. “The soldier was abducted late Wednesday and his body bearing signs of torture was found this morning,” Khan told AFP. He may have been killed on suspicions of spying for the government, he added. Pro-Taliban militants in the lawless tribal region have killed several people in recent months, accusing them of spying for Pakistani troops or US-led coalition forces across the border.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Five injured in police-Taliban clash in Nowshera
Five people were injured in a shootout between militants and police in Nowshera district of the NWFP on Thursday.

The injured included two policemen, two civilians and a militant commander. The policemen and civilians were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) in Nowshera, while the militant commander was moved to an undisclosed location for investigation. According to the details, a police mobile squad saw an armed man in the Sulemankhel Mohallah of Badrashi village on Thursday morning and asked him to surrender.

But the man opened fire at police and was soon joined by accomplices. The resultant exchange of fire continued for more than an hour. Injured Taliban commander Qari Hussain Amin was arrested, while police contingents besieged the area to arrest his associates.

Weapons seized: Police also seized weapons and ammunition from a mosque in the area. Locals said the mosque was being used by the militants as their headquarters. The Nowshera district police officer could not be reached for comment.

Three days ago, a Daily Times report had indicated increasing Taliban activities in Ziarat Kaka Sahib, Bahadarkhel and surrounding villages. Badrashi village is in the same zone.

There is an ongoing Taliban insurgency across the Frontier province and the clash occurred amid peace talks between militants and the coalition government.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Army to leave Mehsud areas after deal inked
The military will “withdraw completely” from the Mehsud areas of South Waziristan after Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud frees the remaining captured army and paramilitary soldiers, and the government and Mehsud tribes sign a peace deal, according to a draft truce made available to Daily Times on Thursday.

“If Clause 10 (A) of the peace deal is honoured, the army will vacate the Mehsud areas,” reads Clause 11 of the draft peace agreement. Clause 10 (A) refers to the release of “kidnapped army and Frontier Corps soldiers” by Baitullah in South Waziristan.

Taliban commander in South Waziristan’s Sararogha town Taj Muhammad told Daily Times on May 24 that militants led by Baitullah were “still holding dozens of soldiers” captured during operations or ambushes.

Cross-border attacks: The draft agreement does not include the condition of a commitment by the Mehsud tribes that they would not allow militants to continue cross-border movement for attacks on the United States and NATO forces inside Afghanistan. NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani says however that it is a “sticking point” among all the stakeholders – the Taliban, the government and the coalition partners in the war on terror (the US and the NATO countries).

“Mehsud tribes say they cannot include this point in the agreement since they have no common border with Afghanistan, (but) our allies (in war on terror) say this clause (of cross-border movement) must be included (in the agreement),” Ghani told Daily Times in his office on May 28.

The governor says the government is talking to the Mehsud tribes and not Baitullah, adding, “Let Baitullah say what he wants to say.”

The 15-point draft agreement binds the Mehsud tribes to oust Al Qaeda-linked foreign militants from their areas in one month after the peace deal is signed, but also announces a possible two-month concession in this regard.

The draft peace agreement says only those Taliban prisoners who have not been charged in a court of law will be released.

Dispelling Western fears about peace deals in Waziristan, Ghani said: “This is not the endgame. You need to create space and a peace deal will reduce the space for militancy.”
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  just saying... Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever is native to the region...
Can't see the Taliban and their AD 600 meds being able to control it in any meaningful way...
Posted by: 3dc || 06/06/2008 1:32 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Recruitment of suicide bombers down - Job market tight
About 6,000 Al Qaida fighters have been killed since the beginning of the Iraq war five years ago, half of whom died in suicide operations, according to a top official in the Iraqi army. The official said the killings took place between 2003 and April 2008.

The high number of Al Qaida deaths was "a result of cooperation between Iraqi security forces and US forces," Gen Anwar Ameen, Inspector General at the Iraqi Defence Ministry, told Gulf News.

He said Al Qaida members were killed either by US or Iraqi forces, or killed themselves in suicide bombings. "This is a defeat for the organisation, not only in Iraq but also worldwide. I am certain Al Qaida will need decades to be able to again recruit the number [of fighters] it lost in Iraq," he added.

Anwar said Al Qaida no longer had the ability to recruit as many suicide bombers as it did between 2003 and 2005, which explains the decline in the number of suicide operations in Baghdad, from twenty per week a couple of years ago to the present three or four every one to two weeks, according to him.

American forces in Iraq are likely to see this as positive news, in the belief that defeating Al Qaida in Iraq would lead to its defeat in Afghanistan.

But some Iraqi military analysts think otherwise. One such analyst, al qaeda spokesman Emmad Al Maliki, told Gulf News: "Certainly, Al Qaida's strategy in Iraq is to beat the American political and military project, then to establish a new Taliban-like regime in Iraq, and move on to the second phase of recruiting and exporting fighters to countries in the region and worldwide, as well as feeding the battlefield in Afghanistan."

"That means Iraq will be turned into a large camp for Al Qaida to train and recruit fighters," said Al Maliki. "But if it does not achieve this, it does not mean that the organisation in Afghanistan or Pakistan has been defeated. Iraq is part of Al Qaida's strategy, but not its [entire strategy]."

Others also think the Iraqi and US armies have no reason to gloat about the 6,000 Al Qaida members who have been killed in Iraq. Adnan Al Janabi, an officer in the former Iraqi army, told Gulf News: "I think 6,000 Al Qaida elements [killed], compared to more than 4,000 American casualties, despite the American superiority in intelligence, weapons and surveillance, also represents a blow to the American forces."
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 06/06/2008 12:12 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think 6,000 Al Qaida elements [killed], compared to more than 4,000 American casualties, despite the American superiority in intelligence, weapons and surveillance, also represents a blow to the American forces.

Moron. We also killed 600,000 innocents.

Well, at least according to George Soros and Lancet.
Posted by: Bobby || 06/06/2008 12:25 Comments || Top||

#2  So the industry is past the explosive growth phase?
Posted by: gorb || 06/06/2008 13:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Too many early retirements!
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 06/06/2008 14:16 Comments || Top||

#4  we've been killing sunni insurgents who werent actual AQ members (though allie dto AQ) and also Sadrists.

So that explains the casualty divergence issue.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 06/06/2008 15:02 Comments || Top||

#5  Far more importantly, the Roach Motel Theorem has been proven.

That is, we exterminated their best and brightest, or at least most lethal, because they first had to have the wherewithal to travel and train. And only a tiny minority have the chutzpah to do that. When they are gone, there ain't no more.

We did the equivalent of wiping out an armies elite forces, leaving only draftees behind.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 06/06/2008 16:57 Comments || Top||

#6  2008-2010/2012 > POST-DUBYA POTUS SUCCESSOR > IMO, its more a [aesthetic] LULL = TEMPOR BREAK than per se defeat of AL QAEDA.

Again, iff Dubya-USA mostly stays put in Iraq and Afghanistan, and refuses to iattack and invade Iran now as per OSAMA-MOUD's END TIMES ISLAMIST APOCALYPSE, IRAN + MILITANTS WILL USE THE INTERIM TO GO NUCLEAR AMAP ASAP.

*ASYMMETRIC WARFARE > for Iran in NEAR-TERM to defend agz US = US-ALLIED attack, inavsion, and occupation, ONLY NEED A HANDFUL OF RELIABLE HIGH-YIELD STRATEGIC NUKE-WMDS WEAPS + DELIVERY SYSTEMS, BUT WOULD NEED MOSTLY BATTLEFIELD = TACTICAL LEVEL NUKES-WMDS + DELSYS [VSRBMS, SRBMS, MBMS, IRBMS], aka LIMITED WARFARE, ESPEC AGZ ISRAEL's VAUNTED AIR-GROUND FORCES = ARMOR.

ONCE IT BECOMES ABSOL CLEAR THAT THE JIHAD = ISLAMIST RADICALISM IS GOING NUCLEAR, OSAMA BIN LADEN . etc > THE US MAY HAVE TO ATTACK-INVADE IRAN REGARDLESS OF THE MERITS + REGARDLESS OF ANY RISK OF ANTI-US "GREAT POWER" CONFONTATION AND INTERVENTION.

Lest we fergit, IRAN's RADICAL MULLAHS > ASYMMETRIC WARFARE > have no qualms/scruples detonating NUKES-WMDS on IRanian soil in order to defend agz US = US-Allied invasion and occupation.

* ANTI-US SECULARISM-GOVTISM-GLOBALISM, etal. > PCorrectness = "AUTHORITARIAN" USA-Washington DC may have to devol into "TOTALITARIAN" USA-Washington DC in the name of NATIONAL-GLOBAL SECURITY + ANTI-NUCLEAR TERROR = ANTi-NUCLEAR RADICALISM-MILITANTISM.

RIGHTISM >= LEFTISM, "FASCISM" >= COMMUNISM, "INDIVIDUALISM" >= GOVERNMENTISM, LIBERATRIAN-"LAISEZ FAIRE" >= REGULATION, etc.

ION, BOSTON CELTICS beat the LAKERS in GAME 1.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/06/2008 22:14 Comments || Top||

#7  "Al QAEDA will need DECADES to again recruit..." > wel-l-l, ISN'T WHAT HIDDEN IMAMS-MAHDIS, + DYNASTIES, ARE FOR.

SHIA ISLAM - IS NOT THE HIDDEN IMAM-MAHDI A DESCENDANT OF MOHAMMED [and Babe FATIMA, etc.], OF ISHMAEL MOSES AND ABRAHAM, DISTANT COUSIN TO THAT CRAZY WEIRDO RADICAL CHRISTIAN JESUS???

IOW, WOT > Surreally, WAR BWTN MEMBERS OF THE HUMAN = "DIVINE/HOLY" FAMILIES = GODS-HEAVEN, correct!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/06/2008 22:27 Comments || Top||


Apache-matic, it slices, it dices, it makes mounds and mounds of Jihadi-slaw
AH-64 followed an Insurgent carrying an AK-47.

He and some buddies had been shooting at a Iraqi Army Check Point. Two of his insurgent team were taken out by an Apache but he escaped. Later the second Apache found him on his way home and took him out with 30mm cannon fire.

Graphic


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 06/06/2008 03:53 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Damn nice shooting guys. Well done.
Posted by: Woozle Elmeter 2700 || 06/06/2008 9:12 Comments || Top||

#2  30mm for one person? Isn't that a bit of overkill? (Not that there is anything wrong with that.)
Posted by: Rambler in California || 06/06/2008 11:51 Comments || Top||

#3  Is there any way they could get a tank main gun up into the air like that?
Posted by: gorb || 06/06/2008 12:00 Comments || Top||

#4  That is some EXCELLENT FLIR imagery. You can actually see the jerk's AK-47 being carried in his right hand.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 06/06/2008 12:15 Comments || Top||

#5  Fireworks and a happy ending!

What's not to love? :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 06/06/2008 13:47 Comments || Top||

#6  Gorb__

I think I read that the Spectre has a 105mm cannon along with 20mm & 40mm guns. Is that close enough?
Posted by: Ularong Peacock4279 || 06/06/2008 13:48 Comments || Top||

#7  Gorb, you basically have that with the arty on an AC-130
Posted by: 3dc || 06/06/2008 13:49 Comments || Top||

#8  This is not a recommendation for clemency, but I do wonder what the ROE is for the pilots if the target hears the rotors and decides to throw his weapon down and stand there in the dark with his hands up?
Posted by: Chomotch the Really Smart6908 || 06/06/2008 13:50 Comments || Top||

#9  The 105 is supposed to be replaced by a 120mm mortar/gun.
Posted by: ed || 06/06/2008 13:57 Comments || Top||

#10  Beauty

Comes in many forms.

And the nightime termination of this jihadist is a beautiful answer to their terrorist practices including sawing off the pitiful heads of bound up living prisoners.

thanks GolfBravoUSMC..

ed The 105 is supposed to be replaced by a 120mm mortar/gun.

AC-130U Spooky

Continuing the distinguished combat history of side-firing AC-130 gunships, the new AC-130U Spectre gunship was fielded as a replacement for the AC-130A aircraft and to supplement the AC-130H gunship fleet.

Its mission is to support conventional and joint special operations forces any time, any place. The AC-130U Gunship program initially consisted of 13 [later 17] new Lockheed C-130H airframes, modified by Boeing, which assumed responsibility for the AC-130U contract when it merged with the Rockwell Corporation, the original contractor on the program.

The modifications allow the aircraft to perform the full range of special operations and conventional gunships missions. It provides surgical firepower, night and adverse weather operations, and extended loiter time on target in Special Operations Forces (SOF) and conventional roles.

The AC-130U is named for the AC-47D and has the "Spooky" nickname rather than the "Spectre" nickname used by all other AC-130 gunships.

The AC-130U was armed with a 25mm Gatling-gun (capable of firing 1800 rounds per minute), a single-barrel, rapid-fire 40mm Bofors cannon, and a 105mm Howitzer. The AC-130U replaced the two 20mm cannon used on the AC-130H with one trainable 25mm cannon while retaining the other weapons. The AC-130U employs the latest technologies and can attack two targets simultaneously.

The U-model gunship is one of the most complex aircraft weapon systems in the world today.....

Pimp My Gunship Get Smart: the 120mm Smooth Bore

The basic idea is to upgrade from dumb, short-range munitions to smart long-range ones. Out goes the 105-mm howitzer in favor of a 120mm smoothbore – you’d call it a mortar, except that a downward-firing mortar is weird...
Posted by: RD || 06/06/2008 15:11 Comments || Top||

#11  Most impressive. Great shooting. No wonder they want us out of Iraq -- our guys are battle hardened and ready to turn bad guys into goo anywhere anytime.
Posted by: regular joe || 06/06/2008 15:25 Comments || Top||

#12  Has anyone else noticed how callous we have become in 7 years of war: The snarky celebrations when persons of jihad are hideously killed, ripped apart, by our taxpayer-funded death machine, the sudden brutal extinction of life, the pain, the loss of dreams and personalities? Doesn't the hooting, joyous celebration of death and dismemberment bother any of you?

Nah, me neither.

Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 06/06/2008 22:12 Comments || Top||

#13  I think I read that the Spectre has a 105mm cannon along with 20mm & 40mm guns. Is that close enough?

I guess it will have to do until they can get the 120 up and running. I suppose after they do that they can work on the full-auto thing . . . . >:-}
Posted by: gorb || 06/06/2008 22:37 Comments || Top||

#14  Doesn't the hooting, joyous celebration of death and dismemberment bother any of you?

Rather than just cry into my pillow at night, I justify it by thinking about all the pre-teens who don't get barbequed alive by dead jihadis and presented to their parents with an apple in their mouth at dinnertime as a warning to the village not to get in the way of their activities.

Those ba$+ards can't die fast or horrible enough to make me happy.
Posted by: gorb || 06/06/2008 22:43 Comments || Top||


We have no heavy weapons: Sadr - Long War Journal Slide Show of concrete proof
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 06/06/2008 03:42 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Muzz telling lies? Say it ain't so...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 06/06/2008 7:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Whoops, looks like they got caught with the blocks of concrete that they have been denying in that last slide! :-)

Sadr logic: Since these weapons are capable of being picked up and carried by a single terrorist individual , they must be light weapons!
Posted by: gorb || 06/06/2008 12:03 Comments || Top||


Video: CRAM test fire
Posted by: 3dc || 06/06/2008 03:13 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Armed group leader captured in Mosul
(VOI)- Policemen arrested a senior leader of what is called al-Mustafa army during a security raid in eastern Mosul, said a police source on Thursday. "Police forces waged a crackdown operation in al-Wehda neighborhood in eastern Mosul, where there detained Ghanem Abdullah, a senior leader of what is called al-Mustafa army," the source told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq (VOI) on condition of anonymity. Al-Mustafa army is al-Qaeda-linked armed group. He did not add more details.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


Georgian soldier killed in central Iraq
(VOI)- The Georgian Ministry of Defense on Thursday said one its troops was killed in central Iraq. A "Georgian military serviceman died when enemy forces attacked the checkpoints(….)in 8-10 km away from the Base CLEAR in Diala," the ministry said in a statement on its official website. The statement added "the checkpoint known as “Sons of Iraq” was attacked on June 4th at 21:00." Five Georgian soldiers were killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency


Mortar rounds injure 3 civilians in Diala
(VOI)- Three civilians were injured on Thursday by mortar shells in northeast of Baaquba, a police source said. "Five mortar shells hit al-Khadraa neighborhood in Jalawlaa, Khaniqeen district, northeast of Baaquba, wounding three civilians," Lieutenant Nehad Ali told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq (VOI). "Security forces cordoned off the area and rushed the wounded to a nearby hospital for treatment," he added.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency


Al-Qaeda gunmen killed in Baaquba
(VOI)- Suspected al-Qaeda gunmen was killed on Thursday by unknown armed in the city of Baaquba, said a police source. "Unidentified gunmen shot and killed Houbi Khalil Ismail in al-Tahrir neighborhood in Baaquba," the source, who wished to be unnamed, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq (VOI). "The suspected al-Qaeda gunman was a detainee in the Bucca detention center in Basra and was released last week," he added.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


Car bombing in Baghdad neighborhood leaves casualties
(VOI) - The primary toll from the bombing in a Baghdad neighbourhood was three individuals killed and six others wounded, including three policemen, a security source said. "A car bomb parking near Hassani ice-cream shop went off targeting a checkpoint in Karrada," a police source, who requested anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI).

"The bombing left three individuals killed and six others wounded including three policemen," the source added. Earlier, a police source said a car bomb detonated near a restaurant in an upscale Baghdad neighbourhood of Karrada, leaving a number of casualties. The source noted "the police sealed off the accident area and denied access to civilians." Karrada is an upscale neighbourhood housing a number of political parties offices and commercial thoroughfares
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency


Iraqi forces prevent Sadrist lawmaker's motorcade in Baghdad
(VOI)- A Sadrist MP said on Thursday that an Iraqi force prevented her motorcade from leaving Sadr City in eastern Baghdad and detained her bodyguards. "The Iraqi checkpoint in Sahet Hamza in Sadr City prevented me from leaving the city and detained my bodyguards," Zainab al-Kanani told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq (VOI). She did not give more details. Meanwhile a source from the Baghdad's operations command, asked for anonymity, told the VOI that the command has no information about the incident.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Mahdi Army


5 al-Qaeda suspects killed, 5 arrested in Diala
(VOI) – A joint security force killed five gunmen and arrested five others believed to belong to al-Qaeda network during a raid in eastern Baaquba city, an Iraqi army source said on Thursday.

"In cooperation with the Multi-National Force (MNF), a joint force from the Iraqi army's 5th division and Diala police carried out a raid in al-Makheeta village, Abu Seida district, with the aim of tracking down al-Qaeda operatives," the source, who requested anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq- (VOI). "The forces killed five al-Qaeda members during the operation," the source noted, adding that five others believed to belong to the organization were arrested. The source did not provide further details.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Gaza agency working with Blair seized by Hamas
Hamas has seized control of the Palestinian water agency that is spearheading Middle East envoy Tony Blair's signature project in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian and Western officials said on Thursday.

Hamas's takeover of the Palestinian Water Authority in Gaza cements the group's control over the territory and could cast doubt on the future of the North Gaza Sewage Treatment Works project -- a centrepiece of an economic package touted by Blair to try to bolster the chances of a peace deal this year.

The seizure comes ahead of a planned tender by the Water Authority for building a water treatment plant, and amid delicate negotiations with Israel on bringing critical building supplies into Gaza, which Hamas Islamists seized a year ago.

An official with the World Bank, which is coordinating the project, said construction was expected to move forward as planned because the Water Authority officials involved work out of a separate office and still report to President Mahmoud Abbas's Western-backed government in the occupied West Bank. "There are, as yet, no adverse implications for the project to proceed," a Blair spokesman said. "We will continue to monitor the situation carefully."

Gazans view the project as urgent -- last year, five people drowned in a wave of raw sewage from a plant in northern Gaza. Israel had argued that equipment needed to repair the sewage system could be used to make rockets that are fired into Israel.

The former British prime minister is the special envoy to the Palestinians from the Quartet of international powers. Hamas officials had no immediate comment.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Since Blair wasn't inside, no popcorn.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/06/2008 6:17 Comments || Top||


Israeli Man and Gaza Child Die in Strikes
A mortar fired from Gaza killed a 52-year-old Israeli worker on Thursday, and two hours later, an Israeli missile aimed at the source apparently killed a 4-year-old girl playing in her yard. The Israeli army said it believed the missile hit the Hamas militant aimed at, but Palestinian medical workers said the missile hit a nearby house, killing the child and wounding her mother. The Israelis said they could not confirm that but were checking.

Maj. Avital Leibovich, an Israeli military spokeswoman, said that if a child was indeed hit, it would be further evidence of the way Hamas fires from within civilian areas. She said two weeks ago, Israeli commandos in Gaza found missile launchers and anti-tank missiles buried near a school basketball court. “We try to take out the mortar and rocket launchers,” she said. “But they are mobile and lightweight.”

Palestinian witnesses in the southeastern portion of Gaza that came under counterattack said the Israeli missile attack was from a drone but they were not sure if the child suffered a direct hit or shrapnel wounds. She was not identified by name.

The Israeli killed Thursday, was Amnon Ronsenberg, a 52-year-old father of three. He was the 16th person killed since 2004 by mortar or rocket fire from Gaza. Hamas, which has ruled Gaza alone for the past year, said it fired three mortar shells “as a response to the nonstop aggression against our people.”
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  2 hours later? What sort of counterbattery is that?
Posted by: 3dc || 06/06/2008 1:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Mr. Lawyer was in conference and couldn't be reached.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 8:40 Comments || Top||

#3  If I hit you and you hit me back, we are not even, because nothing of this will happen if I was not punched. This fact repeated thousands of time is a big problem, and the Israeli government does not seem to understand.
A bully will stop only when you beat the heck out of him.
Posted by: Ana || 06/06/2008 9:08 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
State TV: Iranian guards kill 12 armed 'suspects' in northwestern Iran
State television says Iranian guards have killed 12 armed "suspects" in a shootout in the northwestern part of the country. The report on Thursday quoted Shahnam Rezai, spokesman of police in Western Azerbaijan province, as saying the suspects were part of a 40 member group who planned to carry out sabotage operations in Iran.

Rezai says four Iranian border guards were also killed in the shootout. It took place near the Iraqi border and near the Iranian Kurdish town of Piranshahr, located about some 500 kilometers west of Teheran.

The report did give a name for the group. Iran has been carrying out strikes against a Kurdish separatist group, known as the PEJAK. It is the Iranian wing of Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, of Turkey.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  We should always remember whatever Iranian state TV reports is always - bunk & disinformation.
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 06/06/2008 10:01 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
51[untagged]
7Taliban
4al-Qaeda in Iraq
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3Iraqi Insurgency
3Hamas
2Govt of Pakistan
2Govt of Iran
1Global Jihad
1Govt of Syria
1Hizb-i-Islami-Hekmatyar
1Mahdi Army

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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2008-06-06
  Guantanamo arraignment begins for five accused 9/11 plotters
Thu 2008-06-05
  Iraq police arrest five Shias wanted for over 720 murders
Wed 2008-06-04
  US-Iraq Negotiating Status Of Forces Agreement
Tue 2008-06-03
  Norway, Sweden close Islamabad embassies in wake of Danish kaboom
Mon 2008-06-02
  Darul-Uloom Deoband issues fatwa against terror
Sun 2008-06-01
  Australia ends combat operations in Iraq
Sat 2008-05-31
  100 Talibs killed in Farah
Fri 2008-05-30
  Suicide bomber kills 16, injures 18 near Mosul
Thu 2008-05-29
  Lebanese president reappoints prime minister
Wed 2008-05-28
  Yemen reports crushing Zaidi rebels near capital
Tue 2008-05-27
  Leb: 9 wounded in gunfight between pro-gov't, opposition supporters
Mon 2008-05-26
  Lebanon Elects Suleiman President as Hezbollah Gains
Sun 2008-05-25
  Iraq says Qaeda cleared from Mosul
Sat 2008-05-24
  Second man arrested after Brit blast
Fri 2008-05-23
  AQI Moneybags Poobah captured by Iraqi Security Forces


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