#4
What is that thing she is sitting in? Looks like an oversized ash tray from the '55 Pontiac I used to have. Probably not. Help me out guys.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/21/2008 8:53 Comments ||
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#5
Even the names say, Hi! I'll be your troll for today! Although not so much as to add, Would you like some rolls with that? One would think they'd be clever enough to come up with, eg. George or ItalianStallion. Nobody would ever suspect ItalianStallion of being a Russian/Chinese/Nigerian spammer, or perhaps a Saudi/Pakistani idiot freshly come from the mosque to taunt the kufr.
#4
I'm not a military guy, and certainly not a tactician, but is the even an enemy to engage?
We kinda suck at nation building, we excel at fighting. Shouldn't we stick to what we are good at?
bigjim-ky, why do you say we suck at nation building? Those countries where we've done it seriously -- Germany, Japan, South Korea come immediately to mind -- have turned out pretty well, I think. The thing is, nation building takes a generation or so. We've only been in Iraq for five years, in Afghanistan to make the country work for perhaps the last year. It isn't realistic, in my opinion, to expect a culture based on mistrust and violent disorder to become peaceful, law abiding and productive that quickly.
#7
Speaking comparatively, of course TW.
It is a slow cumbersome, expensive task that gets a lot of political drag back home. We are much better at the fighting part.
As a matter of argument: Should we rebuild A-stan?
Do we owe them that? Would it give us any net benefit? Is it even possible? Or would they prefer to live under a tyrants boot? Cause if they do, there isn't a thing in heaven or earth that could make a nation out of them.
#8
Conclusion
As the situation in Iraq continues to improve and indigenous forces assume greater responsibility for providing security in that country, the U.S. must redirect its attention and resources toward addressing the crisis that continues to build in Afghanistan. The rapidly deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan can be attributed directly to the lack of persistent presence amongst the rural Pashtun population, the failure to prevent Taliban freedom of movement along the border, and the inability to train sufficient numbers of capable ANA and ANP personnel. By surging an additional eight brigades into Afghanistan, however, U.S. and NATO forces can quickly regain the initiative from the Taliban and improve the security situation dramatically. A surge would establish and maintain a continuous presence in areas currently dominated by the Taliban, allow security forces to relentlessly pursue the enemy, and support the training of additional Afghan army and police units to augment, and eventually replace, the surge forces. If the U.S. does not surge these additional forces into Afghanistan, security will continue to deteriorate, the Taliban will assume control over much of the country, political instability will follow, and the U.S. will face strategic failure.
sounds like good advice - especially the "securing the border" and "denying safe haven" points raised in the article. The Pak political gaming, ISI connivance with the Taliban, logistical delivery nightmare make me want to declare victory, declare Pakistan a failed terrorist state and cut our losses
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/21/2008 17:48 Comments ||
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#9
Sounds like the Vietnam strategy.
Or am I wrong?
#11
We didn't cut out their supply, a donk congress overrode a presidential veto and did it. We are close to being in that situation again. But no one can question their patriotism, no sir.
#12
how about stopping nation buiding afghanistan in particular their main crop is opium. And there is no other crop that would meetnthe prcies that it brings. i say surge the troops and let the talibunnies and al q too keep coming i and getting killed because the kill ratio has been a pretty good on. Also pakiland can bitch all they want too about us striking inside their borders but i bet they still want their AID when it comes around again. I think India is getting tired of the militants too and are a strong enough military force too take on pakiland and the militants and pakistan doesn't want another clash with them.
Posted by: chris ||
11/21/2008 18:24 Comments ||
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#13
The thing is, TW, we are still in Germany, Japan and South Korea some sixty years after hostilities ended. There is justified fear that if we left those countries they would deteriorate again into chaos, dictatorship or war. Do we really want our people to be in Afghanistan for the next 100 years? I can see the case in Iraq but not in Afghanistan. The logistics are untenable, the people are uncivilized and it doesn't seem like there will ever be any ROI. The ideal, wishful thinking kinda thing would be if we could locate Binny, Blinky and Knothead in their little hidey holes and kill 'em. Then leave. If a surge can accomplish that then maybe we should surge but no nation building for Afghanistan. If we wanna spend our blood and treasure suppressing ungrateful, uncivilized jihadis then we could go after the pirates in Somalia which at least has a strategic location and maybe even some decent surf. Let the Chicoms have Afghansistan. They deserve it.
#15
EU: So you're saying that if we left Okinawa and Ramstein Air Base, Japan and Germany would descend into chaos? Isn't that overstating the case just ever so slightly?
Posted by: abu Chuck al Ameriki ||
11/21/2008 18:50 Comments ||
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#16
No closing of Ramstein until after I'm gone please.
At least three people have been killed after an explosive-laden truck targeted a compound of district government in eastern Afghanistan. The powerful blast took place on Thursday at around 3:30 p.m. (1100 GMT) in the Dowmand district of the eastern province of Khost, close to the border with Pakistan.
District Chief Lutfullah Babakar Khil confirmed the two policemen guarding the gate of the district government compound were killed in the blast and several others wounded. Later, one of the six wounded civilians died in hospital where eight policemen were being treated, according to the health department.
Some media reports said two foreign troops were also among those seriously injured in the blast.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack while the district chief maintained that Taliban militants were behind the blast.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Dozens of Somali Islamist insurgents have stormed a port while hunting the pirates behind the seizure of a Saudi supertanker that was the world's biggest hijack, a local elder said.
Looking for their cut of the boodle, are they ...
More likely hunting down the boyz tugging at their masters' beards...
Separately, police in the capital Mogadishu said they had ambushed and shot dead 17 Islamist militants, in the latest illustration of the chaos in the Horn of Africa country that has fueled a dramatic surge in piracy.
The Sirius Star - a Saudi vessel with a $100 million oil cargo and 25-man crew from the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Croatia, Poland and Britain - is believed anchored offshore near Haradheere, about half-way up Somalia's long coastline. "Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country and hijacking its ship is a bigger crime than other ships," Sheikh Abdirahim Isse Adow, an Islamist spokesman, said. "Haradheere is under our control and we shall do something about that ship."
Both the US Navy and Dubai-based ship operator Vela International said they could not confirm a media report the hijackers were demanding a $25 million ransom. That would be the biggest demand to date by pirates who prey on boats in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean off Somalia.
A pirate identifying himself as Jamii Adam told the Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that negotiations were taking place with the ship's owners, saying the ransom demanded was not excessive but declining to give a figure. He said it had cost the pirates $500,000 to seize the vessel. "We bore many costs to hijack it," he said.
Iran's biggest shipping firm said gunmen holding a Hong Kong-flagged ship carrying wheat and 25 crew members had set demands for its release, but it did not reveal what they were.
Pirates released a commercial vessel with 19 crew on board which had been hijacked in September, Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers' Association said on Friday. Mwangura said the crew were Romanians, but the Romanian authorities denied this. Interfax news agency said the crew included six Georgian citizens.
In Mogadishu, police said they laid in wait and shot dead 17 fighters from the militant al Shabaab insurgent group during an attempted attack on a senior official.
Islamist leaders deny allegations they collude with pirates and insist they will stamp down on them if they win power, citing a crackdown when they ruled the south briefly in 2006. Some analysts, however, say Islamist militants are benefiting from the spoils of piracy and arms shipments facilitated by the sea gangs. Analysts also accuse government figures of collaboration with pirates.
The elder in Haradheere port told Reuters the Islamists arrived wanting to find out immediately about the Sirius Star, which was captured on Saturday about 450 nautical miles off Kenya in the pirates' furthest strike to date. "The Islamists arrived searching for the pirates and the whereabouts of the Saudi ship," said the elder, who declined to be named. "I saw four cars full of Islamists driving in the town from corner to corner. The Islamists say they will attack the pirates for hijacking a Muslim ship."
In Mogadishu, al Shabaab gunmen drove to the home of the local Madina district chairman early in the morning, but found police officers lying in wait, witnesses said. "We got information before they left their hideouts and we were able to surround them," said a police spokesman. "Thirteen of the dead bodies lie in the street near the chairman's house."
Residents said the al Shabaab fighters wore black scarves round their heads with Arabic script reading "God is great".
Somalis are traditionally moderate Muslims, and analysts say al Shabaab - which Washington has listed as a foreign terrorist organisation with close links to al Qaeda - does not have deep popular support, despite having the upper hand militarily.
The capture of the Sirius Star has caused panic around the world, with the rampant piracy threatening to become a further drag on trade at a time of global economic downturn. Kenya's Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula summoned foreign ambassadors in Nairobi to appeal for their countries to make all efforts to end the menace. "Act now and not tomorrow," he said.
There is big money involved in pirating. If my retirement nest egg goes to hell anymore, I might consider pirating. So there's risk to investing; there's risk to pirating. Salt spray in my beard, flying the Jolly Roger, treasure, women, adventure.
Wall off the entire country; airdrop captured terrorists in (parachutes optional); free weapons and ammo for everyone; allow no one out. Sort of the same way I'd run prisons ....
Dozens of Islamic militants stormed the Somali port of Haradheere on Friday hunting the pirates behind the seizure of a Saudi supertanker on Saturday, a local elder said...."The Islamists arrived searching for the pirates and the whereabouts of the Saudi ship," said the elder, who declined to be identified. "I saw four cars full of Islamists driving in the town from corner to corner. The Islamists say they will attack the pirates for hijacking a Muslim ship."...Sheik Abdirahim Isse Adow, an Islamist spokesman, said: "Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country and hijacking its ship is a bigger crime than other ships. Haradheere is under our control and we shall do something about that ship."
Posted by: john frum ||
11/21/2008 16:54 ||
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#1
Sounds like their bankers put the word out.
Make sure they get the message, boys. Stick to the Infidels. Or else...
Somali security forces and Islamic insurgents engaged in one of the fiercest gunbattles in recent weeks in the capital Friday, killing at least 17 people and wounding six, police and witnesses said.
The two-hour clash erupted when insurgents attacked the house of a local government official, residents in Mogadishu said. One of them, Dahir Mohamed, said he counted 15 bodies of young men on the street after the skirmish was over. It was not immediately clear if the dead were civilians or insurgents.
Police officer Abdinur Salad said two soldiers were killed in the clash and another six soldiers were wounded.
Posted by: ed ||
11/21/2008 10:34 ||
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Shippers controlling almost a quarter the global fleet of crude-oil supertankers may avoid Egypt's Suez Canal after an increase in piracy off east Africa, potentially raising the cost of delivering the commodity.
A.P. Moeller Maersk A/S, Europe's biggest shipping line, today became the first company to say it will divert oil tankers to sail around South Africa, following the lead of Norwegian chemicals shipping line Odfjell SE. Euronav NV, TMT Co. Ltd., BW Shipping Managers Pte, and Frontline Ltd. say they are reviewing whether to reroute their oil tankers.
"We've always told our captains to stay far from the coast in that region, but that may not be enough now," Euronav's Chief Financial Officer Hugo De Stoop said by phone from Antwerp, Belgium, yesterday. "Terrorists or pirates, I don't really see the difference."
Maersk, Frontline, Euronav, TMT and BW control 117 supertankers, enough to carry 2.7 days of global demand, according to Athens-based Optima Shipbrokers and data from the companies. Avoiding the Suez Canal, Egypt's third-biggest foreign-currency earner, will delay oil deliveries and reduce the supply of available vessels.
Not to mention it will whack the Gyptos with a loss in revenues for the Canal. You'd think they would be interested in fixing the problem ...
Jens Martin Jensen, interim chief executive officer of Hamilton, Bermuda-based Frontline's management unit, said Nov. 18 he may divert ships. TMT CEO Nobu Su, in an e-mail to Bloomberg yesterday, "urged" other owners to take the same action to secure trade routes.
Three supertankers are currently navigating the canal and two more are scheduled to, according to ship-tracking data. The vessels have to offload part of their cargoes into an adjacent pipeline for collection on the other side to avoiding scraping the floor of the canal.
Maersk owns 10 such ships, known as very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, as well as 60 refined oil tankers and 10 vessels designed to haul gas, spokesman Michael Storgaard said by phone from Copenhagen today. Most of its tanker fleet will be affected by the decision, along with three container ships.
Somali pirates on Nov. 15 seized their largest ever prize, a Saudi Arabian supertanker laden with 2 million barrels of crude, worth about $104 million at current prices. The ship itself is worth about $148 million. The Sirius Star is now anchored in Somalia's northern Eyl coastal region with the hijackers negotiating a ransom payment with Vela International Marine Ltd., a Saudi Arabian state- backed oil-tanker company.
There have been at least 88 attacks against ships in the area since January and Somalian pirates are holding 250 crew hostage on board 14 merchant vessels.
Shippers sailing to the U.S. and Europe from the Middle East would instead have to take vessels around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope rather than the Suez Canal. The waterway links the Mediterranean and Red Seas.
Bergen, Norway-based Odfjell SE, the world's largest owner of chemical transporters, already said it won't sail past Somalia while BW Gas Ltd., the biggest liquefied-gas shipper, may do the same. Customers have been given "the option to safeguard their cargo," BW Gas CEO Jan Hakon Pettersen said from Oslo yesterday. "For us, we would prefer them to use the cape route."
BW Shipping, operator of 17 supertankers, may soon direct ships under its control away from Suez, CEO Andreas Sohmen-Pao said by phone from Singapore today.
The Joint Hull Committee, representing ship insurers, is advising shipowners to "seriously consider" avoiding Somalian waters, Chairman Simon Stonehouse said Nov. 18.
Insurance premiums will rise and unless the Egyptian government becomes "more actively interested" in combating piracy in the region they risk damaging the business of the Suez Canal, Stonehouse said. "If they stop shipping through the Suez, going round Africa instead, that's going to reduce supply," said Glenn Lodden, an analyst at DnB NOR Markets in Oslo. "There's a clear incentive for owners to go around Africa."
Other shipowners are likely to follow should Frontline, Euronav and TMT choose to divert vessels and after the Joint Hull Committee urged companies to do so, Lodden said. Tanker owners may elect to charge more for sailing through Somalia's waters rather than rerouting, Per Mansson, managing director of shipbroker Nor Ocean Stockholm AB, said in an e- mailed note yesterday. "Maybe one or two will avoid, but most will go there against a premium to start with," Mansson said. Still, "one more hijacking of a tanker and the situation is in a different light."
The fact owners say they are considering rerouting is buoying demand for derivatives used to bet on the future cost of shipping, said Ben Goggin, a broker at SSY Futures Ltd., a unit of the world's second-biggest shipbroker.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Oh for heaven's sake - what is civilization or colonization good for anymore.
How about convoys, escorts, raiding parties, shore bombardments, reflagging, utimata, and so on and so on.
You'd think they'd learn even as we unleash the really big weapons - global recession and/or depression - if that doesn't teach them, I'm afraid we're off to Coulterville - invade, kill and convert.
#6
I must be missing something. If companies are willing to spend so much money on ships, instead of paying the flipping ransom, how about some escort ships (mercenary type)? How about a couple of helicopters on a super tanker? I must be missing something. How about a Trojan horse?
Posted by: Art ||
11/21/2008 9:24 Comments ||
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#7
The fact that we let pirates dictate terms to us shows that our will to protect our civilization is once again in the toilet.
#9
Egypt's second industry might be tunnel exports on their eastern border.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/21/2008 10:07 Comments ||
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#10
Ignorance of Journalist have no cure i guess.
210000t is the maximum that Canal can take and that is very recent. Supertanker is an informal term used to describe the largest tankers.
From Wikipedia:
Today it is applied to very-large crude carriers (VLCC) and ULCCs with capacity over 250,000 DWT.
Supertankers were made because small tankers were blocked by war in Suez canal.
#11
The fact owners say they are considering rerouting is buoying demand for derivatives used to bet on the future cost of shipping, said Ben Goggin, a broker at SSY Futures Ltd.
Derivatives were part of the cause of the financial meltdown. I smell Soros and company in the middle of this.
#12
IIRC, Suez Canal fees under Nassar rose so high that going the long way around the Cape became more economical for a while. So everyone is a pirate: the Somalis, the Egyptians. They all want a piece of the action.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/21/2008 10:44 Comments ||
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#13
Um, the Saudi ST was taken off the coast of Kenya. Ain't no Persian Gulf-Suez Canal route I can think of which features a Kenyan pit-stop. The fact that the *ONLY* major oil tanker taken so far was clearly on a Cape-of-Good-Hope route is almost suggestive that the pirates might not have been wanting to shit where they eat.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/21/2008 12:00 Comments ||
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#14
i agree with penguin , and the saudis sending in the shabaab this could just too save face and make it look like they really aren't behind it
Posted by: chris ||
11/21/2008 18:29 Comments ||
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(AKI) - Saudi oil giant Aramco, whose subsidiary Vela International owns the hijacked supertanker Sirus Star said on Wednesday it would make contact with the Somali pirates who seized the ship on Saturday. The pirates have demanded a ransom for the release of the tanker, the largest one ever hijacked, which has a 25-member crew on board and is fully loaded with two million barrels of oil worth over 100 million dollars. The vessel is now anchored off the Somali coast.
"During the course of the day we will make contact with the Somalis and negotiate the release of our oil tanker," Aramco said in a statement quoted by Arabic satellite TV channel Al-Arabiya.
The pirates in an audio tape released on Wednesday demanded a ransom in exchange for the release of the Sirius Star and its crew, an unspecified and negotiable sum that could reportedly reach four million dollars.
In the tape, the pirates have warned that they have a machine that can detect false banknotes, said Bili Mahmoud Qabusad, spokesman for the Somali region of Puntland's president. According to Qabusad, the pirates probably come from the Somali capital, Mogadishu and set sail ten days ago on their mission to hijack the Sirius Star.
Also on Wednesday, the Indian navy said one of its warships in the Gulf of Aden opened fire on a ship belonging to pirates operating off the coast of Somalia, sinking the vessel. The Indian navy said the pirates on board were armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers and threatened to blow up the warship and then opened fire on it.
More than 92 ships have been attacked his year, more than three times the number in 2007, according to the International Maritime Bureau. At least 14 of these vessels, carrying over 250 crew members, are still in the control of hijackers.
An estimated 25-30 million dollars has been paid in ransom to Somali pirates this year, according to a UN report released on Tuesday.
Multinational naval vessels began patrolling the Gulf of Aden in August and have reportedly thwarted two dozen attacks. Private US security firm Blackwater has announced it is launching a flotilla of gunboats for hire by the shipping companies crossing the Gulf of Aden's 2.5 million square miles of sea.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Private US security firm Blackwater has announced it is launching a flotilla of gunboats for hire by the shipping companies crossing the Gulf of Aden's 2.5 million square miles of sea.
Oops! Things may get very ROUGH for the pirates, very soon.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/21/2008 10:51 Comments ||
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#2
The price is under 50 a barrel. Maybe if they wait long enough the pirates will pay Aramco to take it back
#3
That last graphic is hard to read. I reloaded the graphic. Mods---please delete above graphic. Thanks!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/21/2008 15:27 Comments ||
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#4
Alaska Paul,
From your map, it appears that all of the ships being held are being kept in Puntland. This suggests active collaberation by the Puntland government.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
11/21/2008 17:04 Comments ||
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#5
S.Arabia has elite commando units don't they? They certainly have a marginal regard for human life. Why wouldn't they try to retake the vessel? Are Aramco employees among the crew? Cause if they aren't, I don't see why they don't go 'all in' on this.
#7
Frozen Al---speaking of frozen,it is 11F in anchorage and -7F in Fairbanks.
Puntland will tell you, dinars to donuts, that they don't have the power or resources to deal with the pirates. Maybe they don't. I just have a hard time believing them.
From Wiki:
Politics
President Mohamed Musa Hersi dismissed the parliament of Puntland on December 9, 2007, and effectively rules by decree.[6] This follows a year of defections and secessions from Puntland over the increasingly autocratic governing style of the president sparked initially by a demand earlier in 2007 for an audit of the budget. Fallout from this political crisis include the defection of Ahmed Abdi Xabsade to Somaliland and the invasion of Sool by Somaliland and his supporters, the secession of Puntland-controlled Sanaag and subsequent creation of the state of Maakhir, and recently the defection of the commander of Puntland military forces in Sool to Somaliland.
Economy
Bosaso is the largest city of Puntland
Puntland has 1600km of coastline, which is abundant with fish and other natural marine resources. However, after the collapse of the Somali central government in 1991, the coast was left unguarded against foreign intruders. As a result, many ships equipped with heavy trawls and other unlawful fishing equipment have worked in Puntland's territorial waters. These ships violate catch regulations, including some which keep their catch alive and stock them in waters where fishing has been depleted. Puntland's coastal authorities continue to receive complaints from local fishermen about the damage being done by these outsiders.
Puntland exports great quantities of seafood such as lobsters, dried fish, shark vines, and tuna. Sea salt is also produced.
Other economic products and activities of Puntland include livestock, frankincense, gum arabic, manufacturing and agriculture.
In Lasqorey district there is a medium size fish processing plant that produces and processes great quantities of tuna fish. The products of Lasqorey fish factory reach commercial level, and its tuna are found throughout Puntland and also outside the region. A fish processing plant is also being constructed in Habo, which locals hope will reduce poverty and unemployment and improve the economy of the area.
Piracy threatens shipping near the Puntland coast, with pirate crews operating out of ports on the coastline.[7] The pirates actually have an income of $30m per year [now $150 mil per year per Rantburg article], $10m greater than that of Puntland as a whole.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/21/2008 18:27 Comments ||
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#8
You're gonna have to get down to the Bush Co. for some warm chili and crackers Pual...ehhehehe.
The Pentagon said Wednesday a military approach was not the answer to a surge of piracy off the Horn of Africa and suggested that shipping companies do more on their own to protect their vessels. "You could have all the navies in the world having all their ships out there, you know, it's not going to ever solve this problem," said Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary. "It requires a holistic approach from the international community at sea, ashore, with governance, with economic development," he told reporters. This isn't the first time something like this has ever happened. We've got virtually all the navies in the world on the scene, and their actions are apparently absolutely uncoordinated. We've got a restricted area for ship movements, which is why the pirates are having a heyday. I'm not a navy guy, know nothing about sea tactics, but I suspect the "Pentagon" spokesman who put this out is an Army guy, too. This seems like an occasion for forming convoys at either end of the Gulf and escorting them with warships. The pirates show up, they become a hole in the water.
Morrell said at least 18 ships are currently being held for ransom by Somali pirates, along with 330 mariners taken hostage. This year there have been 95 attempted ship seizures by pirates in the Gulf of Aden, 39 of them successful, he said.
Not only has the incidence of piracy increased, but pirates are going farther out in the high seas. A US-bound Saudi supertanker carrying two million barrels of crude oil worth 100 million dollars was captured Sunday by pirates some 450 miles off the Kenyan coast. "Trust me, this subject is being dealt with at the highest levels of this government," Morrell said. "It is a real concern. And we are constantly evaluating what the best approach is." The live fire exercise! Put to sea and go KILL THEM!
"I'm just trying to get you to think beyond the notion of, 'The answer is strictly kinetics. We've got to board more ships. We've got to fire on more pirates.'"
The White House said President George W. Bush had been briefed about the seizure of the Saudi supertanker. "Ensuring the safety and well being of the crew is of paramount importance in preventing or dealing with issues of piracy," said spokeswoman Dana Perino. "And the goal would be to try to help get this ship to safety, secure the crew, and then work with our international partners to try to alleviate the piracy problem, full stop," she told reporters.
Perino said Washington was "working with other members of the Security Council right now" to work out how "to more effectively fight against piracy." Double Yawn, no, triple yawn.
"It's a very complicated issue. There's a lot of international laws that factor into these efforts," she said. Very much the lawyer answer.
Morrell urged that the UN Security Council extend a resolution that authorizes anti-piracy activities. But he said commercial shipping companies also should stick to safer sea lanes away from shore and invest in protective measures, including technical devices and armed guards. You mean like hire their own navies.
"The shipping companies, also have an obligation to secure their ships to prevent incidents such that we've been seeing at alarming rates over the past several months," he said.
The State Department convened a high level group of officials to examine the issue, but spokesman Sean McCormack called it "an international problem" that the United States was not going to solve alone. Of course the Department of State would want to study it at length, consult with the UN, visit other countries, and shy away from a military role at all costs.
#1
So its been what? 24+ hours since the Indian Navy put a pirate ship on the bottom and there have been exactly how many protests? None that i have seen or read about. Seems like some nations that have navies could read something in those tea leaves and get a clue; like maybe the whole civilized world thinks its really OK to splash the bastards! and since India went first, the next guy to do so wouldn't even be getting a cherry.....
a whole bunchaballessphucks...
#3
"commercial shipping companies also should stick to safer sea lanes away from shore and invest in protective measures, including technical devices and armed guards."
I can agree with that. Shipping companies want to externalize their costs as much as they can. Hiring Blackwater to guard their ships would be expensive. Why do that when you can just pick up the phone and whine to the US Navy ("somebody should DO something!"). They should bear some responsibility for their own security.
Sure, it would cost them money. And they would need to decide which is more expensive: taking risky routes with a hired security force or taking a less risky route that burns more fuel and takes more time. But the bottom line is that these people *do* need to take bear more responsibility for their own security.
#4
The Liberians(don't they flag most commercial ships?) need to go shopping at the great American arms manufacturer Dillion Aero. Very little training needed to get off a few hundred thousand rounds from one of their recoilless Gatling guns. Low maintenance too.
#5
Mr. Morrell graduated with a B.A. in Government from Georgetown University in 1991. The following year he received a M.S. from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. While in graduate school, he worked as a desk assistant, production assistant, and researcher for ABC News in New York. He began his journalism career with ABC News as an intern in the Washington bureau in 1990.
#9
Piracy is not covered (and privateering is outlawed) by international law. That is to say that pirates can be killed, their boats destroyed without fear of legal reprisal == unless American progressives have something to say about it.
#11
Why does this remind me of the late 60s and the touchy feely law enforcement approach by the pseudo intellectuals that rationalized increases in crime by blaming society and poverty for sociopathic behaviors? It only resulted in an even greater spread of crime. The same intellectually bankrupt people are obviously in charge again. Call me when they implement 'Operation Harry Callahan'.
#14
the feel goods control the pentagon now. what kind of drivel is this? Of course military action is the answer, it has always been the answer for piracy.
#16
The somali pirates and their handlers got quite a business plan going. They are dealing with a bunch of wimpy dumsh*ts who are willing to pay large ransoms. So far only a few pirates killed. What a business model. To save time, how about hiring a shipping agent and prepaying a ransom/transit fee through the area, and the ships will not have to stop. After all, time is money.
I think that the world will have to go through this piracy madness in order to straighten itself out. Just like this country will have to have this leftist virus run its course to straighten out, if the host isn't killed in the meantime.
Man! Ima sure glad that bureaucrats don't run doctors, or we would be in trouble. OOPS! Bad example.....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/21/2008 10:53 Comments ||
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#17
So we've gone from Jefferson's age of Wooden Ships and Iron Men to the UN age of Iron Laws and Wouldn't Men. Disgusting.
If they built modernized Butler Class DE named the William Eaton I would join to fight pirates, f'nA.
Couldn't they just build a machine to run across the deck railing like an Roomba and fire a blunderbuss downward, all controlled by camera from the bridge?
#18
I thought the Israelis had developed a non-lethal repellant horn, sound that made pirates violently ill? It would disable them long enough to get a clean shot off. The insurance companies should require some sort of preventative measures. I know many aren't insured and take their chances, but surely they have the right to self-defense. And if the Saudi supertanker was heading to the US, it is a national security issue to protect oil shipments and trade. The Europeans have to decide if commerce is vital enough to protect and take care of their own interests or they can cave to Islamists and pay the price. Giving the UN control over the seas is certainly not the answer, either. The "holistic approach of the international community" hasn't achieved diddly squat with the Iranians, or anyone else for that matter. If they had been effective in Somalia years ago, we wouldn't be in this mess. I still say J-DAMing the entire mess is the most cost-effective solution in the long run.
#20
The sooner the world starts paying more attention to derelict states like Somalia the sooner problems like these will abate. This will actually cost a lot less than increasing the military presence to guard ships.
...trinbagonian2dbone@live.com
#21
Originally The Marines were created specifically to deal with Pirates
Posted by: Albert Spusotch7979 ||
11/21/2008 11:51 Comments ||
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#22
Somalia is a failed state. Err.. no longer a state.
The people have been lawless for 30+ years...
Sounds like a good testing ground for BZ gas...
Can we turn pirates into flower children with just some gas?
National Enquirying minds want to know. Description of BZ
#23
I am actually starting to admire the pirates. They are the only ones with the bravado to do something while the rest of the world wrings their hands. Shit... if they get away with it for much longer, I might be tempted to sell my house, go to the region, live life like a man should - women, drink, booty (of both kinds). They are living life by quality, not quantity - which has a lot of merit behind it. I'm sitting here on my ass in a cube. My biggest worry is what I'm having for dinner and paying off my credit card bill. These dumb bastards honestly have more of a real life then any of us reading about them now. They are living life while we are reading about it and playing armchair general.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
11/21/2008 12:25 Comments ||
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#24
What about sending bounty hunters after them for big rewards financed by the companies who are getting hit? Then you have a whole counter industry springing up around killing off the pirates for profit.
Posted by: Dave ||
11/21/2008 12:48 Comments ||
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#25
What, no one can find where they are storing 17 SHIPS?
Everyone coordinate and pay ransoms for hostages at once, then go in there and clean house.
#26
If Blackwater or Aegis wins a security contract there will be very significant decline in this buggery. As it should be I suppose, but unfortunately none of their successes will be made public. Floating headless torso's of murdering pirates, poor, economically disenfranchized Somalia, Yemeni, or Kenyan nationals is currently a very weak sell in the west.
#27
"Originally The Marines were created specifically to deal with Pirates"
And I thought one of the original missions of SEAL teams were to gain control of hijacked shipping. But anyway, check this out:
BLACKWATER - the US governmentÂ’s prefered private military contractor in Iraq - is considering ambitious plans for a small fleet of two or three anti-piracy vessels, each able to carry several dozen armed security personnel ready to undertake any legal operation.
#32
I think the evil Bushitler is staying away from this one because if he jumped in, it would be yet another case of (the evil white imperialist) Man's inhumanity to the black man. Better for the Indians to get involved. Maybe the Saudis will jump in, since it's one of their ships that got taken, and it's in their neck of the woods. Heck - the Gyppo's should be all over this one.
#34
Back in the days of the pirates of the Caribbean, crewmen had an average lifespan of one year after turning pirate, I've read. Officers tended to last a bit longer, but still.
#37
Pompeius Magnus cleared the med with wooden ships...
Posted by: Snavirt Scourge of the Weak6536 ||
11/21/2008 18:09 Comments ||
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#38
Pompeius Magnus cleared the med with wooden ships...
Posted by: Snavirt Scourge of the Weak6536 ||
11/21/2008 18:16 Comments ||
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#39
In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson sent USS CONSTITUTION to the Mediterranean Sea as flagship of the third Mediterranean squadron. The mission was to attempt to force the Barbary pirates from their renewed policies of aggression against U.S. merchant shipping. With Commodore Edward Preble initially in command, USS CONSTITUTION and other ships of the squadron mounted five attacks against Tripoli.
While she's still a commissioned naval ship I don't think she's up to the task anymore - and who in today's navy could sail her or fire her guns?
#40
"It requires a holistic approach ......... wid economic development" > TRUE ENUFF. THese Pyra-a-ates exists mainly due to the absence of any efective andor trustworthy public authority + lack of econ prosperity. Unless the UNO, AFRICAN UNION, + OTHER REGIONAL ORGS CAN GET THEIR ACT TOGETHER AND CHANGE THINGS FOR THE BETTER, INSTEAD OF MORE PDENIABLE FAILURE, THE BOYZ WILL JUST CONTIN TO MOUNT WHAT CAN ASCRIBED AS A "MARITIME JIHAD" + RAMPAGE FROM REGION TO REGION, ETC. UNLESS SOMEBODY STOPS THEM.
Not unlike Radical Islam, we should not be surprised iff they desire to one day "go Nukular" = procure WMDS/CBRNS.
Southern Yemenis just elected their own representative body, the Southern Arabian Liberation Council (SALC), which has called for an electoral boycott claiming the central government, not just the election, is illegitimate in the south. Note, article is from a leftist publication.
Yemen’s government deploys the institutions, processes and rhetoric of democracy to legitimize its rule and gain western support. In reality, the consolidation of democracy has made little progress since 1994 when Saleh’s forces re-imposed a unified state on southern Yemen by force. At the center of the national dynamic is greed. Saleh’s regime loots the state treasury at every step of administration. Brutal security forces, secret police, corrupt courts and systematic torture are the systems in place for those who do not succumb to bribery, blackmail and threats. While the forms of democracy have spread, the practice has not.
Why the hell do we even bother? For the first time, a federal judge today ordered the release of enemy combatants from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ruling that the government had provided insufficient evidence to continue their detentions.
The decision came in the case of six Algerians who were detained in Bosnia after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and have been held at the military prison in Cuba for nearly seven years. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon, a Bush appointee, ruled that five of the men must be released "forthwith" and ordered the government to engage in diplomatic efforts to find them new homes.
In an unusual move, Leon also urged the government not to appeal his ruling, saying "seven years of waiting for our legal system to give them an answer" was long enough.
In the case of the sixth Algerian, Belkacem Bensayah, Leon found that the government had met its evidentiary burden and could continue to hold him. Bensayah's lawyers said he would appeal.
The landmark ruling is the first by a federal judge who has weighed the government's evidence in lawsuits brought by scores of detainees who are challenging their detentions. In June, the Supreme Court ruled in a case brought by the Algerians, that Guantanamo Bay detainees have the right to challenge their detentions in federal court under the legal doctrine of habeas corpus.
In October, a federal judge ordered the release into the United States of a small band of Chinese Muslims held at Guantanamo Bay, but in that case the government presented no evidence to justify their continued detention and no longer considers them enemy combatants. The government has been unable to find another country willing to take them in.
In the case of the Algerians, the government presented mostly classified evidence in closed hearings that its attorneys asserted proved the men planned to attack U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The government dropped earlier allegations, mentioned by President Bush in his 2002 State of the Union address, that they had plotted to bomb the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo.
Leon said the government did not provide enough credible and reliable evidence during a series of closed hearings to justify the detentions of the five Algerians: Lakhdar Boumediene, Mohamed Nechla, Mustafa Ait Idir, Hadj Boudella and Saber Lahmar. He said the allegations were provided by a single source in an intelligence document. The government did not provide enough information about the source to determine whether he or she was credible or reliable, Leon ruled.
Leon made the ruling in the U.S. District Court's large ceremonial courtroom, which was filled with lawyers and law clerks hoping to witness a historic ruling. As he read his ruling, Leon had to wait for an Arabic interpreter to translate his words for the detainees, who listened via audio-link to the military prison.
The detainees' lawyers hugged each other. "I have the feeling of relief for the five" who were ordered released, said Robert Kirsch, one of the Algerians' lawyers.
The "judge did what he thought he had to do," Kirsch said. "I just hope the government listens."
Dean Boyd, a Justice Department spokesman who attended the hearing, said the department's attorneys were reviewing the ruling and would issue a statement later. It is not known whether the government will appeal.
President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to close Guantanamo Bay, but the Bush Administration has aggressively fought the release of detainees by the courts.
On Monday, an appeals court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case of the Chinese Muslims. The government was granted a stay to appeal the October ruling by U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina that the men, all Uighurs, should be freed into the United States. The government has argued the judge does not have the authority to order the release of detainees into the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Good. Take them out to the middle of the Atlantic and release them. Good riddance.
#7
Catch and release could work here, if release was into the shark infested waters around Cuba.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/21/2008 9:49 Comments ||
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#8
First, I would pay no attention to this idiot's braying. But, if a release would come forth, I'd bring these five "cuties" right to the judge's doorstep, knock on the door, unshackle them, and tell them to make themselves at home. Tell them the judge welcomes them entirely and said that his home is their home. Could make the slate on America's Funniest Home Videos.
#9
I hope all Rantburgers have a working knowledge of biofeedback. I'd hate any of us to have a heart attack because of the stupidity of our government. That second part of the second paragraph of our Declaration of Independence is beginning to look better and better.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/21/2008 11:41 Comments ||
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#10
They're in your garage judge, please take care of the feedings.
Now there's a Fox sitcom waiting to happen. Judgey and the Jihadis. I'll bet it would be...zany.
#12
when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
D*mn, it's hard to edit Roggio for length.
The Taliban continue to ruthlessly attack the Bajaur tribes that are organizing against the extremists as Pakistan's practice of compelling the tribes to fight the Taliban may destabilize the region further.
The Salarzai tribal in Bajaur has been hit hard over the past several months. Tribal leaders claim to have raised more than 10,000 fighters to form a lashkar, or tribal militia. The Salarzai have been burning the homes of Taliban members and providing security for the region.
The Pakistani military has been battling the Taliban in Bajaur since August. The tribal area is a known command and control hub for al Qaeda's operations in northeastern Afghanistan. The military has relied on airstrikes and artillery barrages to dislodge the Taliban from fortified positions.
Pakistan's strategy to counter the Taliban with tribal fighters is flawed in several ways, several US military and intelligence official who wish to remain anonymous told The Long War Journal. The tribal groups are disorganized and often do not want to work in conjunction with the military. But even more troubling, the Pakistani military has forced many the tribes in Bajaur and elsewhere to turn on the Taliban. Bush seems to be telling the Pakistanis the same thing he told the world in 2001 - pick a side, if you are not my ally then you are my enemy. If your enemy is ruthless you cannot sit by and allow the bulk of the population to ride the fence; whether you use force or bribery you have to get their cooperation.
Ultimatums to the tribes have occurred beyond Bajaur. In Khyber, the military "sent a notice to local tribal elders in Jamrud warning that in case of a failure to expel Taliban from their areas, they would have to face the consequences under the FCR [Frontier Crimes Regulations]," Daily Times reported. The Frontier Crimes Regulations is a set of antiquated laws dating back to 1848 that govern Pakistan's tribal areas. The law allows the military to practice collective punishment on the tribes if they fail to live up to agreements.
US officials interviewed by The Long War Journal say that Pakistan's counterinsurgency strategy is a recipe for disaster. "Pakistan's practice of compelling the tribes is counter to the successful Awakening movement in Iraq which rose up to fight al Qaeda in Anbar province on their own accord," a senior US military officer said. "An "awakening" ultimately has to originate with the people, the tribes. In Pakistan, most of the tribes are ambivalent or supportive to the Taliban, and are hostile to the government."
Compelling the tribes to fight may actually sabotage Pakistan's attempts to defeat the Taliban. "Tribal leaders are furious at having their homes leveled in airstrike and massive artillery barrages," a senior US official said. But not furious enough to fight the Talib, nor even to cooperate with the government so less Draconian tactics could be used effectively.
"In the long run, Pakistan is alienating the people they are supposed to be protecting. Unless Pakistan is willing to conduct a ruthless, protracted campaign against its own people, like the Russians did in Chechnya, destroying everything and everyone in its path, this will fail," the official said. "And I see no indication Pakistan has the political will to go the way of the Russians in Chechnya." These are not "its own people;" Pakistan cannot survive as a country with such active enemies within its borders. Either it subdues them, whatever it takes, or it carves them off into an independent country - sort of like fighting cancer with chemo or surgery (the soft approach of bribery is more like hospice care - easing the path for the terminal.) The problem for Pakistan with the 'carve off the bad parts' approach is that it won't stop with the NWFP. Of course, that may be inevitable, as Pakistan is a concocted country much like Yugoslavia was.
US military officers are stunned at the lack of understanding of counterinsurgency in the Pakistani military after seven years of fighting in the tribal areas. "[The Pakistanis] have learned nothing. They need to turn this around, and fast," a US military officer who was involved with the formation of the Iraqi Awakening said. The officer was concerned these actions would cause the tribes to turn on the government in the long run. The Awakenings worked because the tribes became more disgusted with AQ, less fearful of the Shia central government, AND convinced the central government and the US had the will and means to prevail. These tribes don't even have a past veneer of civilization like the Iraqi tribes did, so Tali/AQ may not seem as offensive. Also unlike Iraq, the tribes aren't afraid of the US leaving and removing restraints on the Pakistan central government. And so far (as was the case for years in Iraq) the tribes are not convinced the government has stronger WILL than the Tali/AQ.
"The potential for blowback in the tribal areas and beyond is enormous," said the officer. "We could never have made the Anbar tribes to fight al Qaeda. It was never about guns, money, or power. The Anbar tribes fought for survival. The Pakistani tribes will fight for survival too, but in this case, they likely will see the government as the oppressor."
#1
Seems to me that the "pick a side" approach works when you can offer the tribes greater security than the other side. If you can't, it's likely to hasten your own demise. Where does that leave Pakistan's military?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/21/2008 10:15 Comments ||
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#2
The Awakenings worked because
...the awakeners [in Iraq] are light years less primitive than the troglodytes in the pak tribal areas.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/21/2008 11:39 Comments ||
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#3
Summary: Afghanistan is not Iraq. The "Awakening" may not occur in Afghanistan as most of the tribes are relatively comfortable having the Taliban and AQ around. Some of our military are thinking "inside the box" since they seem to think the "Awakening" of Iraq is directly applicable to the new situation. I hope Petraeus is not one of them.
#4
"Pakistan's practice of compelling the tribes is counter to the successful Awakening movement in Iraq which rose up to fight al Qaeda in Anbar province on their own accord," a senior US military officer said. "An "awakening" ultimately has to originate with the people, the tribes. In Pakistan, most of the tribes are ambivalent or supportive to the Taliban, and are hostile to the government."
"Of their own accord"? What planet is this guy on? We paid the Iraqi Sunnis to help us fight al Qaeda. Pakistan doesn't have billions of dollars a year to spend paying the tribes to fight al Qaeda. We went the Mr. Nice Guy route because we had to, for PR reasons, and because we were able to afford it, financially. Most countries go the Pakistani route because they're not made of money, and more importantly, because it has worked for thousands of years, way before the expression "counter-insurgency" became a part of the English language (and indeed, way before there was an English language). Getting friendly border tribes to fight unfriendly border tribes isn't some kind of innovation - it's a time-tested tradition.
#5
In fact, from the government's standpoint, the main problem with bribing one border tribe to fight another is that the bribed border tribe gets stronger, while your coffers are emptied, and the state gets weaker.
#6
Who know what the people in the NWFP think. If this is good intel coming from people who know the 'lay of the land' then I guess it's good. If it's brainstorming from idiots at the pentagon who are trying to duplicate the awakening movement, I think it's screwed....inherently.
Unidentified men beheaded two people in Shakar Tangi area of Orakzai Agency's Upper tehsil on Thursday. The two were residents of Kohat and Bannu. A source said the political authorities were reluctant to retrieve the bodies, dumped on a road along with a letter, because of the tense situation in the area. Separately, a public call office was damaged by unidentified people near the Fidiya Chowk of Orakzai Agency's Lower tehsil. Also on Thursday, transporters observed a strike in the agency against the arrest of Rabiakhel and Akehl tribesmen. The protesters alleged that the political authorities had arrested the tribesmen under the collective punishment clause of Frontier Crime Regulation and impounded their vehicles, adding the authorities had also not visited the agency for the last two years, leaving the tribesmen at the mercy of Taliban. The protesters said Levies forces were also stationed in Hangu and the political authorities were arresting the tribesmen on the pretext of militancy.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Taking a head count there means something different there than it does here.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/21/2008 10:01 Comments ||
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Security forces arrested four Taliban and recovered 12 suicide vests from them in Charsadda's Shabqadar tehsil on Thursday, a private TV channel reported. According to the channel, the Taliban were arrested during a search operation in Shana Ghondai area, adding handcuffs and weapons had also been seized from them.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
four Taliban and recovered 12 suicide vests
If that isn't the definition of optimism then I don't know what is.
Posted by: ed ||
11/21/2008 7:51 Comments ||
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#2
So that means you strap 3 onto each of them, take them out in front of nearby tali-symps and detonate them as a demonstration of what will happen to anyone thinking of joining them.
(AKI) - Pakistani security forces killed at least 33 militants on Thursday, among them foreigners in the restive Swat valley in North West Frontier Province and the Bajaur tribal area bordering Afghanistan. Pakistan's Geo News says that security forces used fighter jets and artillery to pound militants' hideouts in the area of Tehsil Matta, killing 16.
In a separate incident, eight others were killed when mortar shells landed on houses in the Alam Ganj area of Tehsil Khawazakhela.
Earlier on Thursday, nine militants, among them seven Uzbek nationals were killed by Pakistani security forces in Bajaur.
The Pakistani government launched a major offensive against militants in Bajaur three months ago and Pakistani troops and tribal militias are continuing to battle Taliban guerrillas there.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
When I read about all the Taliban casualties, I wonder when they are going to be protected by the endangered species act. It makes the Pakistani military sound a lot more functional than they possibly could be. Then I remember, This is feel good news generated by a very shakey government. More pop corn, please.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/21/2008 9:58 Comments ||
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#2
In combination with that Roggio article about blundering Pakistani pressure on the tribes, I can't help but wondering if we oughtn't be upping the terrorist-to-fluffy-bunny ratio on Pakistani propaganda these days. Like, maybe inverting the ratio compared to expected values in similar reports on the other side of the border.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/21/2008 12:03 Comments ||
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#3
their body counts sound kinda like the Sri lankan body counts too me. hyped up a little and prob hitting th low man on the totem pole if you know what i mean
Posted by: chris ||
11/21/2008 18:31 Comments ||
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(AKI/DAWN) - Four militants and two women were killed and several others sustained injuries while a girls' school was destroyed in Pakistan. The school was located in the area of Bar Bandai in the volatile Swat valley.
Military sources said the security forces pounded militant hideouts killing four and injuring several others on Wednesday in the ongoing search operation in the restive Swat region. Curfew was imposed in the troubled areas of Kabal tehsil.
Two women were killed and four combatants were injured as some misfired shells fell on their houses in Khwazahkela tehsil.
The government girls' primary school was destroyed by unknown miscreants by planting explosives in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday. The four-room school building was completely destroyed and its furniture and records were damaged in the explosion.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2008 00:00 ||
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At least 24 Taliban fighters -- including 11 foreigners and one local commander -- were killed in the military operation in Bajaur on Thursday as warplanes pounded Taliban positions in Swat, killing 20 fighters using a school building in Matta area, according to official sources, local residents and AFP.
Also, a private TV channel reported on Thursday that security forces have completed the deployment of Frontier Corps (FC) contingents in Mohmand, and a full-scale military operation in the agency is likely after the federal government's approval.
The foreign fighters killed in Bajaur were suspected to be Uzbek nationals, FC sources told Daily Times. They said the Taliban casualties came when security forces targeted fighters in the Darbari, Saparai, Gatki, Bagori and Zorbandar areas of Mamoond and Nawagai tehsils of Bajaur. "We making significant progress against the militants who are on the run," said the FC sources -- with troops headed towards Nawagai. The movement towards Nawagai and Mamoond comes after troops gained control of Loyesam. "Taliban strongholds have been destroyed," an ISPR spokesman said in a press release in Rawalpindi, but went on to mention that "a few pockets of resistance remained". The spokesman also said that 'Operation Sher Dil' was separate from ISAF's 'Operation Lionheart' in Afghanistan.
NATO spokesman: NATO's spokesman in Kabul, Brigadier General Richard Blanchette, said co-ordination with Pakistan had been improving, and the Pakistani military was routinely helping NATO forces direct fire in retaliation to attacks from inside Pakistan, Reuters reported. 'Operation Lionheart' was aimed at co-ordinating operations with Pakistani forces, he added.
Separately, the private TV channel quoted a top security official as saying that the situation in Mohmand Agency was alarming with Taliban holed up in the area. He claimed that the Taliban in Bajaur were getting support from Mohmand Agency. He warned that if the Mohmand-based Taliban were not reined in, "Peshawar and Charsadda would be in grave danger". The channel also quoted military sources as saying that locals in Mohmand Agency were ready to form lashkars against the Taliban.
In Swat, fighter jets pounded Taliban hideouts in Ghat Piocher area of Matta tehsil on Thursday, and ISPR confirmed the bombing. AFP quoted security officials as saying that 20 Taliban fighters were killed in the bombing.
Swat Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan, however, said that five houses and a local school were destroyed in the bombing, but there were no casualties. Meanwhile in Khwazakhel tehsil, at least eight civilians -- including six women -- were killed and 33 injured as security forces tried to target Taliban positions in Alam Ganj area, local sources told Daily Times.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2008 00:00 ||
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A suicide bomber killed at least nine people and injured four others on Thursday at a mosque in Mamoond tehsil of Bajaur Agency, APP reported. Officials told Daily Times that a pro-government tribal lashkar head, Malik Rehmatullah, was among the dead. The tribal elder had received threats for his pro-peace attitude. The suicide attack occurred at a mosque in the Badan village area of Mamoond tehsil when people were offering evening prayers, the officials said. A wounded worshipper told reporters at a hospital in Khar, headquarters of Bajaur Agency, that "we were offering evening prayers when a man blew himself up in the middle of us killing six instantly and leaving four others seriously injured". No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but tribal elders and political administration have accused the Taliban.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2008 00:00 ||
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(AKI) - A mass grave from the era of former dictator Saddam Hussein containing the remains of 150 people has been discovered in an area south of the capital Baghdad, the Iraqi government said on Wednesday. The victims are believed to have been executed in a crackdown against the Kurdish minority by Saddam.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the victims were from the area of Kalar, located in the northeastern province of Suleimaniyah. Suleimaniyah province, known as Zamwa prior to its founding, is the cultural base of the Sorani-speaking Kurds and an important economic centre for the Kurdish semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan.
A memorial ceremony was also held on Wednesday in the holy Shia city of Najaf as the victims' remains were transferred to the northern Kurdish city of Erbil.
Saddam's former regime is believed to have used chemical weapons in his Anfal campaign against the Kurds, causing the deaths of an estimated 100,000 Kurds.
An Iraqi court last year sentenced to death Saddam's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majeed on genocide charges for his role in the Anfal campaign. Al-Majeed, once one of the most feared figures in Iraq, was nicknamed Chemical Ali because of the poison gas that was used during the Anfal campaign.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
One day Iraq will dedicate a statue in honor of Bush the Liberator.
#4
"Saddam's former regime is believed to have used chemical weapons in his Anfal campaign"
What the hell is with that qualifier? They've hung men, including Hussein himself, based on court fucking convictions. What will it take for some asshole writers to drop the allegedlies and "is believed to have"s?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/21/2008 12:12 Comments ||
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#5
Not much detail here but it's a little odd that an Anfal site was anywhere near Najaf, as seems indicated. There were Anfal mass graves down near the Kuwaiti border (evidence from one was used in the Anfal case), but in central-southern the only sites I'm aware of were, logically enough, graves from the 1991 Shi'a rebellion.
Don't hold your breath for any statues. Privately, regard for Bush and Americans among many Iraqis has and will remain very high. Toxic, stupid public culture in the Arab world ensures that that regard remains a discreet open secret. Meanwhile, here in the US, the insane demonization and public trashing of Bush has made the Arab world look less nutty by comparison. Quite an accomplishment.
#6
Make sure you're right, they go ahead.
-Davey Crocket
History will be the ultimate judge of President G.W. Bush, I have had my doubts about some of his decisions, but Iraq isn't one of them. Ask any Kurd, or Chaldean, or Maronite, or Amahdi, or Yazidi.
(AKI) - A militant belonging to the armed wing of the Islamist Hamas movement, the al-Qassam Brigades was killed on Thursday after a tank fired a missile towards him. Mohammed Abed Al Shakour Al Arer was killed as he went on 'a mission' east of Gaza City, said the official website of the Brigades. The 19 year-old youth came from the al-Shojaeya neighbourhood.
"Al-Qassam Brigades mourn the death of the Mujahedeen, reaffirms the commitment and determination to continue the resistance against the belligerent occupation forces," said a statement on the website.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak told Israeli forces to keep Gaza's border crossings shut on Thursday, ignoring pleas by the United Nations to allow humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory.
This article starring:
MOHAMED ABED AL SHAKUR AL ARER
Hamas
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#3
how about we deport all our gangbangers with their weapons and send then too pakistan or afghanistan, it would make a real good reality show and would get rid of 2 parasites for the price of one. and for those of you who say they would make allegiances gangs in LA who live a block away kill each other just about everyday over opetty shit INCLYUDING drug turf
Posted by: chris ||
11/21/2008 18:53 Comments ||
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#4
sorry wrong regiong of the world but i b et it would work no less
Posted by: chris ||
11/21/2008 18:54 Comments ||
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An explosion at an anti-government protest site in central Bangkok early Thursday killed one person and wounded 23 others, prompting a leader of the demonstration to call for a mass rally against the government on Sunday.
Police said they believe the explosion was caused by a grenade. It exploded about 3:30 a.m. at Government House, the prime minister's office complex that demonstrators have occupied since late August. The explosive landed on the canvas of a large marquee, showering those who were sleeping below with shrapnel. "It landed on the roof, otherwise many more people would have been injured," said Kamron Trongma, who was nearby when the explosion happened.
Police told news services that a 48-year-old man received shrapnel wounds to the chest and neck area and was killed. Some of the others who were injured were taken to hospitals.
The demonstrators, led by the People's Alliance for Democracy, have vowed to bring down the government, which they accuse of being a proxy for controversial former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The current prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, is Thaksin's brother-in-law.
The dispute between the predominantly urban, middle-class demonstrators and the government, which was voted into power last year with the backing of millions of Thailand's rural poor, has paralyzed the country's political process and gouged deep political divisions between the rural and urban populations.
The demonstrators have ruled out any compromise, vowing to maintain their protest until the government is forced out of office.
In the wake of the attack, media magnate Sondhi Limthongkul, the protesters' most influential leader, called on supporters to gather Sunday for a major rally against the "killer government."
He accused the police of cooperating with whomever attacked the protesters Thursday. "Without police cooperation, they could not have access to such weapons," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2008 00:00 ||
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The good news yesterday was the conviction on all counts of Monzar al Kassar,the international weapons trafficker and friend of numerous terrorist organizations.
Al Kassar and his accomplice, Luis Moreno Godoy were convicted in New York of conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals; conspiracy to murder U.S. officers and employees; conspiracy to acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles; conspiracy to provide material support and resources to the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), a designated foreign terrorist organization; and money laundering. The convictions represent the first time anyone has been charged with and convicted of the anti-aircraft missile statute.
Al Kassar, like Viktor Bout and others, are part of the shadowy world of facilitators that work across criminal and terrorist organizations, supplying them with what they need-from weapons to passports to money laundering services.
Successfully targeting these shadow facilitators hurts both groups and is one of the more effective ways of crippling the terrorist/criminal enterprises they empower.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
(AKI) - Saudi oil giant Aramco, whose subsidiary Vela International owns the hijacked supertanker Sirus Star said on Wednesday it would make contact with the Somali pirates who seized the ship on Saturday. The pirates have demanded a ransom for the release of the tanker, the largest one ever hijacked, which has a 25-member crew on board and is fully loaded with two million barrels of oil worth over 100 million dollars. The vessel is now anchored off the Somali coast.
For the first time, a federal judge today ordered the release of enemy combatants from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ruling that the government had provided insufficient evidence to continue their detentions.
Unidentified men beheaded two people in Shakar Tangi area of Orakzai Agency's Upper tehsil on Thursday. The two were residents of Kohat and Bannu. A source said the political authorities were reluctant to retrieve the bodies, dumped on a road along with a letter, because of the tense situation in the area. Separately, a public call office was damaged by unidentified people near the Fidiya Chowk of Orakzai Agency's Lower tehsil. Also on Thursday, transporters observed a strike in the agency against the arrest of Rabiakhel and Akehl tribesmen. The protesters alleged that the political authorities had arrested the tribesmen under the collective punishment clause of Frontier Crime Regulation and impounded their vehicles, adding the authorities had also not visited the agency for the last two years, leaving the tribesmen at the mercy of Taliban. The protesters said Levies forces were also stationed in Hangu and the political authorities were arresting the tribesmen on the pretext of militancy.
(AKI) - Pakistani security forces killed at least 33 militants on Thursday, among them foreigners in the restive Swat valley in North West Frontier Province and the Bajaur tribal area bordering Afghanistan. Pakistan's Geo News says that security forces used fighter jets and artillery to pound militants' hideouts in the area of Tehsil Matta, killing 16.
At least 24 Taliban fighters -- including 11 foreigners and one local commander -- were killed in the military operation in Bajaur on Thursday as warplanes pounded Taliban positions in Swat, killing 20 fighters using a school building in Matta area, according to official sources, local residents and AFP. 
A suicide bomber killed at least nine people and injured four others on Thursday at a mosque in Mamoond tehsil of Bajaur Agency, APP reported. Officials told Daily Times that a pro-government tribal lashkar head, Malik Rehmatullah, was among the dead. The tribal elder had received threats for his pro-peace attitude. The suicide attack occurred at a mosque in the Badan village area of Mamoond tehsil when people were offering evening prayers, the officials said. A wounded worshipper told reporters at a hospital in Khar, headquarters of Bajaur Agency, that "we were offering evening prayers when a man blew himself up in the middle of us killing six instantly and leaving four others seriously injured". No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but tribal elders and political administration have accused the Taliban.
(AKI) - A militant belonging to the armed wing of the Islamist Hamas movement, the al-Qassam Brigades was killed on Thursday after a tank fired a missile towards him. 
