1) embed links. We had a link break the Burg for a bit yesterday because it was too darned long. Embed them or watch your comment evaporate.
2) format the pics you embed so that they are NO MORE than 400 pixels wide. If they get wider than that you end up possibly breaking the Burg. In the IMG SRC tag for the pic, be sure to include this statement: "width=400" (or less).
3) Put the source URL in the source box. I don't have time to fix these anymore. If you don't do this it's an automatic dump.
Thank you,
AoS
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/10/2008 00:00 ||
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NATO and Afghan forces killed a Taliban commander during a targeted operation just south of Kabul in a province militant fighters have poured into this year, the NATO-led force said Tuesday.
The commander, Mohammad Bobi, had facilitated suicide bombings and had a history of torturing and kidnapping Afghan civilians in the province of Logar, NATO said. Bobi was given the option of surrendering, but he instead attacked the combined force and was killed during an overnight raid, NATO said. His death was confirmed Tuesday.
This article starring:
MOHAMAD BOBI
Taliban
Posted by: ed ||
12/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Mohammad Boobie is dead. So is Moe Green, Barzini, Tataglia...
Five of the men accused of planning the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks said Monday that they wanted to plead guilty to murder and war crimes but withdrew the offer when a military judge raised questions about whether it would prevent them from fulfilling their desire to receive the death penalty. "Are you saying if we plead guilty we will not be able to be sentenced to death?" Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed operational mastermind of the attacks, asked at a pretrial hearing here.
The seesaw proceedings Monday raised and then postponed the prospect of a conviction in a case that has become the centerpiece of the system of military justice created by the Bush administration. A conviction would have capped a seven-year quest for justice after the 2001 attacks, but the delay in entering pleas will probably extend the process beyond the end of the Bush presidency.
The willingness of the defendants to "announce our confessions and plea in full," according to a document they sent to the judge in the case, Army Col. Stephen Henley, potentially bestows some hard decisions on the incoming administration. President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, but he has not indicated whether he will retain the military commissions that may be close to securing the death penalty for suspects in the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history.
If the judge ultimately accepts guilty pleas, the ability of the Obama administration to transfer the case to federal court -- a desire expressed by some Obama advisers -- might be constrained, said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.
the new administration may have to oversee an execution resulting from a process that many Obama supporters and legal advisers regard as deeply flawed.
That could mean the new administration may have to oversee an execution resulting from a process that many Obama supporters and legal advisers regard as deeply flawed.
A guilty plea, however, could shield the Obama administration from what some legal experts view as potentially hazardous proceedings in federal court, where evidence obtained by torture or coercive interrogation would not be admitted. CIA Director Michael V. Hayden has acknowledged that Mohammed was subjected to waterboarding, an interrogation technique in which a prisoner is restrained as water is poured over his mouth, causing a drowning sensation.
Although legal analysts say Mohammed and his co-conspirators would probably be convicted of terrorist offenses, the ability to obtain a capital conviction may have been undermined by the use of practices that have been criticized as torture. "It is absurd to accept a guilty plea from people who were tortured and waterboarded," said Romero, who is observing the proceedings. He said in an interview that the Obama administration should clearly signal that it intends to abolish the military commissions as well as the detention system, so the judge and other Pentagon officials will not move forward with the proceeding. The Obama team declined to comment Monday.
"Our success is the greatest praise of the Lord," Mohammed and the four others wrote of the attacks in a document they sent to Henley last month.
Binalshibh and Hawsawi have not yet been judged competent to represent themselves, and Mohammed and the two others said they would defer a decision on a guilty plea until all five could act together. But the motivation behind withdrawing the plea offer appears to be the prospect of execution, lawyers here said. Mohammed has expressed a desire to die as a martyr, yet Henley questioned whether a death sentence is permissible without a verdict by a military jury.
The Pentagon, in announcing formal charges against the five in May, said each was accused of "conspiracy, murder in violation of the law of war, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, destruction of property in violation of the law of war, terrorism and providing material support for terrorism."
"We all five have reached an agreement to request from the commission an immediate hearing session in order to announce our confessions," the defendants said in their letter, parts of which Henley read aloud Monday. They said they were not under "any kind of pressure, threat, intimidations or promise from any party."
This article starring:
ALI ABDUL AZIZ ALI
al-Qaeda
AMAR AL BALUCHI
al-Qaeda
American Civil Liberties Union
Anthony D. Romero
CIA Director Michael V. Hayden
Col. Stephen Henley
KHALID SHEIK MOHAMED
al-Qaeda
MUSTAFA AHMED AL HAWSAWI
al-Qaeda
RAMZI BINALSHIBH
al-Qaeda
TAWFIQ BIN ATTASH
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
So executing this dirtbag is not appropriate because he was 'tortured' according to the ACLU.
We know he did it, he confessed, and every concept of justice applied throughout human history (besides absolutist anti-death penalty positions) say he deserves to pay for his crime with his life.
What twisted morality. There will be no civil liberties to protect if we lack the seriousness and moral self confidence to deliver justice for confessed mass murderers who want to destroy our society and culture. For me, the most depressing day since 9/11 was when that left wing jury in Alexandria let Moussaoui live.
#2
For me the most depressing moment since 9/11 was when less than 10 years after the attack a man with the middle name "Hussein" was elected president of these United States. I don't know about y'all, but my family name was something different when my great-grandpa moved to this country. He wanted blend in, and assimilate with native-born Americans. It's very easy to change your name in this country. To something "American-sounding", for instance.
#3
Scooter your granpa probably did it because he loved America and wanted to be a part of it. Zero does not and wants to change or destroy America as you have come to know and love it. No need for the name change there.
#4
These guys will confess if it gets them to Paradise, or Vegas if they're not into this afterlife stuff. Who wouldn't. Selfish little twits. Put them in a big sack and drown them like unwanted puppies.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/10/2008 10:05 Comments ||
Top||
#7
I'm gonna piss a bunch of you off here, but.....I like the idea that they aren't gonna get death if the judge accepts their plea.
Think about it for a moment. They get death....they're martyrs for Islam. They'll get to make their little statement right before they get their (unfortunately) painless shot in the arm. Their portraits will be put in a place of honor in every stinking radical madrassah for decades. It's about as sexy as it gets in their twisted little world without involving a herd of underage goats.
They get stuck with life, and they might really luck out and get sent to Marion. Lovely weather there. Give 'em neighbors who just love pork BBQ, or maybe had a family member or friend who was in the WTC or the Pentagon on that fateful day. No martyrdom, no one will care much about their utterances, and when they finally croak, no odes to their studliness on Hamas TV from the little psychotic girl with the kiddie program.
The ACLU doesn't get fundraising mileage out of it, no one will be that interested in appealing it, and maybe we could drop Lynne Stewart in for conjugal visits (just kidding on that one).
If it helps, think of it as a death sentence that takes a really long time for fulfillment, and if they are lucky, they get a syphilitic llama in the afterlife as a reward.
#9
Ah, yes. Our girl Lynnie. Who's supposed to be in jail, but...
November 2008
Its over 6 months ago that I last wrote this column but I have managed to keep busy and to have a long lazy summer in the country...always with the thought in the back of my mind (and Heart) is today the Day, the Court will decide ? Whats at stake is whether they will give me a new trial based on the numerous and serious constitutional infractions that are present in the case or (worst case scenario) that the government will prevail and Judge Koeltl will re-sentence me to greater than the 28 months. It is also possible that they will affirm and I will start to pack my suitcase for surrender at a federal institution . However, that said, it is not unusual that the Court takes an extraordinarily long time to decide a difficult case. So we wait for the phone call and meanwhile, I stay busy.
There certainly are enough politics that need us!! Over the past months, I have attended and been keynote speaker at the Radford Virginia Conference, where we drafted and voted affirmatively on a new Declaration of Independence. In Cleveland, the formation of the National Assembly to End the War in Iraq and Afghanistan, which I had worked on with a national group of like-minded people since January, voted democratically ( 1vote per person) to work to unite the anti-war movement and to call for the kind of mass demonstrations that were so instrumental in ending the Vietnam war. In both conferences, I met many new friends and embraced old comrades-so important to me now.
In the summer, I sat on my front porch in Northern New York and watched the grass and my grandchildren grow!! Ralph went as a delegate to the Green Party Convention to assure that Cynthia McKinney (the only politician who supported me when she was in office) would be the candidate. We worked right up to election day on her campaign. Although our political preference is not that forum, we felt that it was important to present the contradictions and most importantly, to alert the Black and progressive community to the choicevote for Barack and join the imperialists or for Cynthia to end the empire, abroad and at home.
Also during the summer, while cooking like a mad woman, all the wonderful fruits and vegetables, I also keynoted the founding of what was at first called the Muslim Innocence Project, later changed to Project Salaam. The need was felt to gather together those sympathetic to Muslims targeted by the government and the grave injustices faced by them in the Courts, and justice system. Meeting on a Saturday (!) In late August(!) we determined to become a clearing house for cases, tactics repeated by the government in trial (i.e. the use of Ben Ladin, even if totally irrelevant) and set up a list serve. (Musliminnocenceproject at riseup.org)
In September, Ralph and I were off to the Bay Area to serve as keynoter (one more time!)for the Radical Feminists who were celebrating 40 years. It, too was a marvelous conference, with international speakers and attendees. The final banquet was as boisterous and joyful and optimistic as the Left should always be. We are lucky enough to have been given the insight and the camaraderie !!
In October, I participated in an October 11 forum in NYC sponsored by folks in the Assembly who believed that we need to hold the politicians feet to the Fire. Also, the Jericho march at the UN for political prisoners and POWs held in the US.
We were then off the Guild convention in Detroit. Ian Head, our webmaster and comrade, was honored. It was another joyous meeting ground with my olbuddies embarked on cases, I long to be a part of(the Minneapolis RNC conspiracy case) and some of the young law students, now lawyers, who told me that my stand is what brought them into the law. (Be still my heart.) Finally, there was the publication of a new book, Let Freedom Ring, a tour de force(900+ pages) gathering all there is on political prisoners and pows,(I wrote the Afterward, she said modestly!)
Now, Ralph is attempting to start a firewood delivery businessbringing quality Northern forest hardwoods to the city, where they cant keep their holidays without them (paraphrasing Robert Frost). If you have a fireplace or a stove, go to BurnBabyBurnfirewood.com, and Ralph and his rascals will show up on your doorstep!
I have written so much but I want to answer the many people who ask if the new presidency could help my case. I have to say I am doubtful. The legal bureaucracy is entrenched, there is little sympathy, except for the notion that I am one of the vestiges of Bushs many injustices. I KNOW THAT NOTHING CAN HAPPEN WITHOUT THE MASSIVE SUPPORT OF THE PEOPLE !! On a personal level, if Obama will pardon Leonard, Mutulu, Marilyn, Sekou et.al., I will gladly do my time.
#12
The thing that would worry me most about anything besides a prompt application of the death penalty is that you know someone's going to take hostages to trade for them and now we have a President Olmert of our very own.
#14
Ms Stewart writes like a teenage girl, all exclamation points and emotions -- appropriate to her maturity.
As for the 9/11 planners, let them rot in maximum security solitary confinement for the rest of their very long lives: alone, unloved, unremembered. And give them nothing but the softest core Romance novels to read, so they can feel it all more acutely.
New Delhi: Indian Air Force (IAF) has been put on the highest level of readiness since Operation Parakram in 2001. The level of readiness has been raised to 'Passive Air Defence' (PAD). The high alert is in response to heightened perceptions of air attack on Indian positions.
All IAF aircraft have been armed with bombs and missiles and are ready to take off within minutes. Even the warships of the Western Naval Fleet are aggressively patrolling the Arabian Sea.
The alert has been sounded in view of intelligence reports of air strikes at Indian installations from across the border or an aerial attack by terrorists groups based in Pakistan. However, the alert is still defensive in nature and intended to protect Indian targets.
Leave of all key personnel in the Western and South-Western Air Commands, which face Pakistan, has been cancelled. Percentage of personnel allowed to go on leave, too, has been reduced from 30 per cent to 10 per cent.
However, there is still no mobilisation of troops on the border and Indian Army is not on the highest level of readiness.
Following the Mumbai terror attack, the defence chiefs had briefed defence Minister AK Antony about the steps being taking to beef up security at the border and to prevent a 9/11 type of terror attack involving aircrafts. It would appear that Indian intelligence has received some kind of buzz about a 9-11 style Islamo-kazi attack. With the 'stans just over various borders, it wouldn't be necessary for the jihadis to hijack a plane, they could just buy one and fly it out.
During Operation Parakram, IAF was on 'Active Air Defence", which means aircrafts were primed to destroy enemy targets.
The Mumbai police said Tuesday that the 10 men who carried out the terrorist attacks here last month were among 30 recruits selected for suicide missions, and that the whereabouts of the other 20 were unknown.
#5
The correct response would be for inda to get a team with vans, drive around pakistan kidnapping people and ejecting them with scopalamine and ebola.
Lets see if disposable terror teams still seam like a good idea after that.
At some point, if they want war so badly, India is going to have to give it to them. If I might suggest, bouncing critical rubble is probably wise, that the jihadis lose the things they so dearly want to have at hand when they die.
/easy for me to say, I know. I'm sure those in charge of such things have been thinking about the problem for longer than the 20 seconds I devoted to it.
A senior government official and his seven bodyguards were kidnapped near North Waziristan, the region's chief administrator said on Monday.
Assistant Political Agent (APA) Mir Ali Asmatullah Wazir was on his way home for Eid celebrations when he was kidnapped in Bannu, Political Agent Mutahar Zeb told Daily Times.
"The APA has gone missing after crossing the Kajhori checkpoint," the crossing point into North Waziristan, Zeb said. No group has so far claimed responsibility for kidnapping.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
In the USA we just arrest our government officials.
Security forces and Taliban exchanged gunfire in Baro Banda area of Kabal tehsil on Monday, one day after an official statement declared the area safe, locals and officials said.
The firing followed an attack on a security forces vehicle by the Taliban in Baro Banda where a local jirga brokered peace under which the local Taliban accepted to vacate the area.
The firing followed an attack on a security forces vehicle by the Taliban in Baro Banda where a local jirga brokered peace under which the local Taliban accepted to vacate the area.
Confirmation: Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said he could not confirm if his fighters or other groups were involved in the attack. "I am not in a position to confirm who attacked the (government) forces," he told Daily Times. Baro Banda was declared 'clear' of the Taliban on Friday by the security forces visiting the area along with local elders. "Intense fighting is going on between the forces and the Taliban after the attack," residents told Daily Times. No loss of life was reported at the time of filing of this report.
Golly gee, how .. um .. intense ...
Bodies: Meanwhile, three decapitated bodies were found on the outskirts of Mingora where cases of targeted killings have risen in the recent weeks, police said. The bodies were identified as Itebar Muhammad and his sons -- Pir Muhammad and Taj Muhammad. No group has claimed responsibility so far.
Separately, a Taliban was killed and several others injured in clashes with security forces in various parts of Bajaur Agency on Monday, official sources said. The security forces' shelling destroyed several Taliban hideouts in the Charmang, Chamarkand, Asghar Shah and Hilal Khel areas of Nawagai tehsil and Umarai and Tanai areas of Mamoond tehsil.
Security officials said that the security forces had strengthened their control on the Nawagai Khas headquarters and advanced towards other areas, adding that new checkposts were being set up in the area. Heavy deployment of Levies personnel had been made around the Civil Colony in Nawagai. Government departments have started functioning in the area.
Meanwhile, Bajaur Agency residents are leaving their houses in many areas of the tribal region following growing security forces' action against the Taliban. Hundreds of local tribal volunteers belonging to the Salarzai tribe are guarding the house of Salarzai Qaumi Lashkar leader Malik Munasib Khan, which was attacked with rockets last night.
Meanwhile, Eid was celebrated on Monday in some parts of Bajaur including Mamoond, Chamarkand, Charmang and Nawagai.
Kohat police and the army arrested 14 people during a joint search operation in the surroundings of the semi-tribal belt of the Frontier Region on Monday. An official statement said the operation was carried out in the area following the hijacking of a pickup carrying eight teachers to Bazid Khel Primary School on December 3. Kohat District Police Officer Abdullah Khan said that additional security measures have been adopted across the city.
This article starring:
Malik Munasib Khan
MUSLIM KHAN
TTP
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2008 00:00 ||
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The fresh arson attacks by terrorists on NATO supplies outside Peshawar have deepened apprehensions of the possible fall of the city to the Taliban.
The armed men stormed two poorly guarded freight terminals on the city's Ring Road in the early hours on December 7 and burnt around 150 vehicles bound for NATO forces in Afghanistan. A similar attack was carried out on December 8 at exactly the same time on the same road, and the assailants, chanting slogans of "Allah-o-Akbar" and "death to America" burned 50 more trucks and armoured vehicles.
In an attack on December 1, the Taliban had torched 21 vehicles, including 18 military trucks, one crane and two Humvees. A total of three people have so far been killed and another three injured in the three attacks. Citizens question the ability of police and armed forces to ensure the writ of the government after attacks on areas less than a kilometre away from Peshawar. The attacks have also forced many people to believe the fall of the city to the Taliban was imminent if the situation persisted.
Many of the people living in the city's upscale areas like Hayatabad have already shifted their families to their native towns and villages. "We've stopped evening walks and attending dinners outside," said Ashraf Ali, a dweller of phase six of the upscale locality. "People from Peshawar and other parts of NWFP had come to Hayatabad to live in a peaceful atmosphere and ensure better education to their children, but they are returning to the city again in the face of looming Taliban threat to the area (Hayatabad)."
He said all shop owners in phase six closed down after Isha (night) prayers and a complete silence prevailed in the area. "I have stopped offering Isha prayers in mosque fearing something bad," said Ashraf Ali. The upscale Hayatabad township is among the city's most expensive and well-planned area with all the facilities of modern life, including well-paved roads and streets, communication, hospitals, schools and parks.
However, its proximity to the Jamrud and Bara areas of Khyber Agency, where Taliban activity has increased during the previous month, has harassed the residents. The kidnapping of Afghan and Iranian diplomats recently has further deepened the fear. "Hayatabad has become the most insecure area nowadays," said another resident Shaheen Buneri. People, who had come here in search of a peaceful life, were now shifting their families and the sharp decline of property rates here testified to that, he said. A senior government official told Daily Times, "We can no longer reassure the people with words that things will get better. This is terrible ... this is getting out of control now."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#3
Gorb, there is no reason fro Pakistan to ask for help; after all they are a soverign country. As they endlessly remind the world whenever a 'suspect US drone' snuffs another talibunnie or other bad guy.
Taliban torched at least 53 vehicles destined for NATO forces in Afghanistan in a brazen attack on the outskirts of Peshawar early on Monday -- the second such raid in two days, police and locals said.
Armed gunmen shouting 'God is great' attacked Bilal Container Terminal near Jamil Chowk in Hazarkhani area on the Ring Road at around 3am, said Zahid Ali, a local resident.
He said he heard gunshots and explosions after which a large part of the terminal caught fire. The fire was so intense that the trucks continued to smoulder after several hours of rain.
City Superintendent of Police Chaudary Ashraf said it was a sabotage attack. The number of attackers could not be ascertained, he said, and it was not clear how they entered the terminal and set the vehicles on fire.
He denied any bullets had been fired and said the four guards deployed at the terminal had not seen anyone. He said four or five Taliban had probably managed to enter the compound, but added it was improbable many more than that were involved.
A senior police official, asking not to be named, told Daily Times two people entered the terminal and told a guard and the security in-charge of the compound they wanted to set the trucks on fire.
The police official said that more than 100 Taliban had taken part in the previous night's raid on two terminals, but said the figure of 400 in some reports was 'simply an exaggeration'.
He said it was premature to say if the attacks originated from Khyber Agency, and added that police and intelligence agencies are working on the cases.
A Pentagon official said on Monday the attacks would have a minimal impact on US and NATO forces in Afghanistan and no effect on combat operations.
"The overall impact on our logistical efforts to resupply US forces, NATO forces . . . as well as Afghan forces has been small and had an overall insignificant impact to date," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. "There's been no direct bearing on our immediate combat capabilities."
Early on Sunday, Taliban gunmen burned about 150 vehicles including several Humvees, when they attacked the Al-Faisal and Port World Logistic (PWL) terminals in the same area.
On December 1, Taliban torched 21 vehicles at the Al-Faisal terminal and killed two people during the attack.
The PWL terminal had come under attack on November 25 when a bomb went off in its premises, but there were no casualties.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
You can tell we are touching a raw nerve with the ISI!!!!
#2
The economic slowdown has seriously impaired the business of UPS, FedEx, DHL etc. There might be a fringe benefit - lots of excess capacity in the air cargo fleet for diverting to an A'stan airlift if need be.
#4
How does losing more than two hundred trucks on your primary logistics conduit *not* materially affect your posture? Even by US Army logistical standards, that's a pretty fucking significant loss of carrying capacity. Unless I completely misunderstand the situation, a half-dozen successful raids means that the Kyber Pass route is *closed* until further notice, right?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
12/10/2008 11:14 Comments ||
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#5
The terrorists are on a roll. India is wondering what to do, the supply chain into Afghanistan is being cut, and the President's term of office is concluding, so they figure that nothing will happen till after 20 Jan 2009, and the odds after that is that nothing will happen then. Opportunity knocks.
Posted by: Alaska Paul in Emmonak, AK ||
12/10/2008 12:12 Comments ||
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#6
they aint shouting 'God is great' they are shouting 'allahu akbar' a very important difference.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
12/10/2008 12:30 Comments ||
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#7
Probably lost more vehicles in Pakistan this past week than in the past two years in Afghanistan. And Uncle Obama's "Big Idea" is an Afghan surge, presenting even more undefended targets for Paki primitives to shoot and burn? Or was it a Paki invasion? I forget
Posted by: ed ||
12/10/2008 13:08 Comments ||
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(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - Pakistan has given the United States approval to submit the names of two former senior officials to the United Nations' Security Council as declared terrorists. They are former director of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, Retired Lt. General Hamid Gul and former ISI official, retired squadron leader Khalid Khawaja.
"There were accusations that the ISI had links with the militancy and therefore there was a demand to clamp down on the ISI but instead they are aiming to take us on," said Khalid Khawaja. "Now you tell me what relations we have with ISI. We are retired people."
Sources said that the thread of investigations had begun with people considered to be the architects of jihad in South Asia during the post-Soviet Russian era and who still support the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
KHALID KHAWAJA
al-Qaeda
RETIRED LT. GENERAL HAMID GUL
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
One of the architects, and perhaps the godfather himself, of the taliban, and the protector of Usama and the rest of the base. I always believed that Hamid Ghoul represented a mortal threat to any Paki civilian or military leader that was not sufficiently Islamist.
Iraqi police have arrested 30 members of an al-Qaida cell, including the alleged mastermind of truck bombings that killed 17 people in the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, officials said Tuesday.
Tariq al-Karbouli, the alleged leader of the cell, was picked up Monday in the Abu Ghraib area west of Baghdad, Iraqi officials said. The other members of the cell were apprehended in a series of raids that ended early Tuesday, the officials added. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
Two bomb-laden trucks exploded Thursday at police stations in Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, killing 17 people and leveling buildings, police reported.
The brazen attacks in the most heavily guarded city in Iraq raised questions about the ability of Iraqi security forces to ensure security as the U.S. scales down its combat role under the newly ratified U.S.-Iraqi pact, which calls for an American pullout within three years.
One of the Iraqi officials said al-Karbouli, who works for a government-owned yogurt company, said explosives used in the attacks were smuggled into the city over a period of time hidden under bananas and other foodstuffs. The official said al-Karbouli had confessed to his role in the bombings, but that the 11 other people directly involved were still at large.
This article starring:
TARIQ AL KARBULI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Posted by: ed ||
12/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
AQI won't be able to handle many more victories like this.
#2
The Iraqi Police seem to be reacting faster and faster to AQI bombings. This bodes well for the future.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
12/10/2008 11:22 Comments ||
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#3
P.S. from Strategy Page:
Ten Sunni Arab terrorism suspects were arrested in Baghdad and Fallujah by Iraqi security forces. With the recent arrests of key terrorists in Baghdad, Fallujah and Basra, Iraqi and American counter-terror experts believe they will see a further decline in terrorist violence. There are still believed to be two or three major terror gangs out there, capable to carrying out several suicide bombing attacks a month. But the police are on to these outfits, something made possible by the crushing of major Sunni and Shia terror organizations in the last year.
The terrorists can still kill, but they can no longer keep the police out of entire towns or neighborhoods. The cops can go where they want, and more Iraqis feel safe in providing tips to the police. U.S. military counter-terror databases are proving useful to the Iraqi police, because many of the terrorists they are pursuing are known to the Americans as some of the "usual suspects" that U.S. troops have arrested, or identified, over the last five years.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
12/10/2008 11:50 Comments ||
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#4
Gosh!!! I hope they were read thier rights and given legal representation before they were interrogated.
An angry mob burned a church and several houses in the central region of Indonesia's Moluccas islands, injuring two people, after a local Christian teacher offended Islam, police said on Tuesday.
" People burned houses, a church, and blockaded a road and hit two people at a market this morning "
Johanis Huwae, police spokesman
The Moluccas, in the eastern part of predominantly Muslim Indonesia, has a substantial Christian population. Some parts of the Moluccas were hit by separatist, communal, and religious tension after former President Suharto stepped down in 1998. A peace pact to resolve the conflict was signed in 2002, and while there has been sporadic violence since then, the area remains relatively peaceful.
A police spokesman said the conflict erupted on Tuesday after the teacher at a school in Letwaru village, a predominantly Muslim area, allegedly "stained Islam." He did not give details.
"People burned houses, a church, and blockaded a road and hit two people at a market this morning," said Johanis Huwae, Maluku provincial police spokesman, adding that the police have detained the teacher.
In May, a church in West Java had to be put under constant guard by police after it was stormed by hard-liners.
The Jakarta Post newspaper said that more than 30 churches have had to close their doors in West Java since 2004 because of attacks. Dozens of churches have also been forced to close in other provinces, added.
According to a current decree by the Indonesian religious affairs ministry, houses of worship must obtain the approval of at least 60 percent of local residents and have at least 90 followers to be able to operate.
About 85 percent of Indonesia's 226 million people are Muslims but, in some parts of the eastern islands, Christians make up roughly half the population.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
A police spokesman said the conflict erupted on Tuesday after the teacher at a school in Letwaru village, a predominantly Muslim area, allegedly "stained Islam." He did not give details.
(AKI) - At least five Tamil Tiger militants have been killed in fresh clashes in northern Sri Lanka where government forces claim to be closing in on the rebel capital, the Defence Ministry said on Tuesday. The ministry said there was conflict across several fronts on Monday, inflicting "maximum damage" on the rebels.
The separatist rebels were killed in the district of Mullaittivu, which borders Kilinochchi, believed to be the political headquarters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Officials in Sri Lanka claim government troops are poised to finally capture the political headquarters of the rebel Tamil Tigers after months of fierce fighting.
They've said that a lot more often than they've done it.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government is also reported to have called snap local elections in key regions of Sri Lanka, in a bid to gauge public support for the ongoing conflict.
The LTTE did not comment on the latest military statement, but accused the army of setting off a roadside mine in Mullaittivu on Monday, killing three people. "Three civilians including a mother and her nine-year-old child were killed when a Claymore attack of the army hit the motorbike the three were travelling on," the LTTE said on Tuesday.
The attacks came as troops fought on the outskirts of Kilinochchi, where the Tamil Tigers maintain their political base.
The national parliament on Monday approved the annual budget for 2009, which allocates a record 1.6 billion dollars to the war effort, up from 1.5 billion dollars in 2008.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2008 00:00 ||
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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.
NATO and Afghan forces killed a Taliban commander during a targeted operation just south of Kabul in a province militant fighters have poured into this year, the NATO-led force said Tuesday.
Five of the men accused of planning the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks said Monday that they wanted to plead guilty to murder and war crimes but withdrew the offer when a military judge raised questions about whether it would prevent them from fulfilling their desire to receive the death penalty. "Are you saying if we plead guilty we will not be able to be sentenced to death?" 
