Another dead of premature explodulation Eight Taliban were killed in a joint operation by Afghan and United States-led forces in southern Afghanistan, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday, AFP reported. The Taliban were killed on Friday in Helmand province. "In a joint operation by Afghan national police, national army and coalition forces in Helmand eight of the enemies of peace and stability were killed," the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Five other Taliban were wounded in the battle in Nad Ali district, it added.
Elsewhere in the province, one Taliban was killed when a bomb he was planting alongside a road exploded prematurely, the ministry said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2008 09:50 ||
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Afghan commandoes and coalition forces discovered and destroyed two-and-a-half tonnes of drugs found in a school in Arghestan district, Kandahar province, on Friday, according to an official statement.
The combined forces were conducting a foot patrol when a commando stopped to search a school and found that the building contained about two-and-a-half tonnes of marijuana besides a large room filled with marijuana seeds. The drugs were stored in two-foot-tall stacks that filled multiple 12ft-by-12ft rooms. No students or faculty were around and the school's furniture was found in the courtyard outside classrooms. The amount of rust on the furniture indicated that the school had not been in use for a long time. With the help of local villagers, the drugs were taken outside the school and destroyed.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2008 09:33 ||
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#1
Nice pic, Fred. Do you know what "black tar heroin" is, and how it's produced? We have a local school where a dozen or so students have been arrested for using or dealing in it. Wonder if it came from Afghanistan?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/21/2008 11:57 Comments ||
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#2
I guess the student and faculty got into some of the 2.5 tonnes of weed and simply walked away from the school--maybe giggling some as they walked away.
#3
OP, 'black tar' is heroin that's been crudely processed. Used to come mainly from Mexican labs that were set up by newbies, now from a couple places including Afghanistan according to a friend of mine who works the drugs beat in NY. Purity / potencies vary, but can be relatively high these days. Occasionally people die from the contaminants.
Three Danish soldiers were killed and one wounded on Friday when their armoured vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb or mine in Helmand province in Afghanistan, the Danish Army Central Command said. Their vehicle was travelling north of the town of Gereshk in a supply column when it was struck, Reuters quoted the army as saying. The injured soldier has been evacuated to a field hospital. Two Danes were killed earlier this month in fighting. Denmark has about 700 combat troops in Afghanistan. Seventeen have died in combat so far and three others were killed while trying to dismantle a mine.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2008 09:28 ||
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#1
The Danes have been steadfast. Not just on the field in Afghanistan (I don't know but sense they play a more serious role than some NATO contingents), but in not ankle-biting us about our initiatives elsewhere. The residual honor of western Europe owes its continued existence to the Danes as much as anything.
An Iranian warship has entered the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian vessels against pirates off the coast of Somalia, state radio said on Saturday. "After travelling more than 4,000 maritime miles ... an Iranian warship entered the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian ships against pirates," the radio said, without further details.
The Iranian ship joins vessels from the U.S., Denmark, Italy, Russia and other countries in patrolling the Gulf of Aden, which leads to the Suez Canal and is the quickest route from Asia to Europe and the Americas.
Iran said last month it was negotiating with pirates who seized a ship it had chartered but that it was ready to use force to free the vessel. The Hong-Kong-registered cargo ship Delight, with a 25-strong crew and 36,000 tons of wheat, was attacked in November in the Gulf of Aden as it headed for the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.
In October, the authorities in Tehran paid a ransom to secure the release of an Iranian merchant ship with 29 seamen hijacked off the Somali coast two months earlier.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"Iranian warship entered the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian ships against pirates"
Or are they collecting intelligence to inform the pirates of the locations of other warships in the area?
Gunmen in speedboats attacked two oil services ships and kidnapped at least two Russians in separate incidents in Nigeria's Niger Delta, a security contractor working in the oil industry said on Saturday. The Falcon Crest and Falcon Wings were attacked late on Friday off the coast of southern Nigeria's Akwa Ibom state near crude oil facilities operated by Canada's Addax Petroleum, the security source said, adding a Filipino captain on one of the vessels was killed.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2008 09:29 ||
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#1
Ah, screwing with the russians. You will live just long enough to regret this.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/21/2008 15:41 Comments ||
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ATHENS Protesters hurled firebombs at police who responded with tear gas Saturday, as new clashes hit Athens, a fortnight after the police killing of a teenager that sparked nationwide unrest. Hundreds of people gathered in the Exarchia district at the site of the December 6 shooting of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos for a protest organised by youths occupying Athens Polytechnic.
At the end of the demonstration, a group threw stones and Molotov cocktails at police and set fire to garbage bins, acts often seen in Exarchia since the boys killing.
Police also clashed with protesters after a separate demonstration against racism that was attended by around 200 people in Syntagma Square. Migrants are killed, schoolchildren are killed, said banners carried by the protesters who marched to the Greek parliament.
Protesters threw garbage at police who ringed a Christmas tree on the main square. The tree was brought in last week after the original was torched at the height of unrest following the schoolboys death.
Later, a group threw a petrol bomb at a building housing a banking services company, although there was only minor damage and the fire was quickly brought under control.
In the northern city of Thessaloniki, youths occupied a hall being used for a film festival while others pelted the city mayor with pastries , police said.
Masked youths Friday attacked the French cultural institute in Athens after about 1,000 students and communist activists staged a march to condemn a second shooting on Wednesday in which the son of a teachers union official was slightly wounded.
Protesters demanding justice over Grigoropouloss death continue to occupy hundreds of schools and many universities across Greece. The Athens Polytechnic, site of a 1973 student uprising that hastened the fall of military dictatorship in Greece, is among the occupied campuses.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Number of buildings burned during protests [not to be confused with athletic celebrations] on campuses after Kent State?
#3
Protesters hurled firebombs at police who responded with tear gas
No, it's not. Live rounds into protesting crowds, martial law and speedy trial/execution for the ringleaders would make damned sure this stuff doesn't happen again anytime soon.
Go back and look at the past news clips. Do a review of the situation on the ground.
The Greek police at this point are holding back because there's no public support for shooting anyone, let alone anarchists. The government is on shaky ground. It was before this started.
So at this point it's a holding action. Until ordinary civilians either get tired of it or start getting killed and their houses burned, it's gonna be more of this charade.
#5
$53 billion defecit.... 11 million populi. No lightweights these.... however, the Deutchbank ECB is not pleased and devaluation is not an option. Unhappy times ahead.
The Pentagon on Friday formally approved war crimes charges against a Guantanamo detainee accused of masterminding the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, potentially setting up a high-profile arraignment in the final days of the Bush administration.
Abd Al-Rahim Al-Nashiri faces a possible death sentence if convicted on charges related to the attack on the Navy destroyer that killed 17 US sailors in the Yemeni port of Aden, said Pentagon spokesman Jeffrey Gordon. Formal approval of charges, including murder, treachery and terrorism, triggered a 30-day clock for Al-Nashiri's first appearance before a US military commission at the Guantanamo Bay Navy base.
Al-Nashiri's Pentagon-appointed attorney, Navy Lt Cmdr Stephen Reyes, called the timing 'suspect' because president-elect Barack Obama, who takes office on January 20, has criticised the commissions and vowed to close the detention centre. Al-Nashiri, a Saudi of Yemeni descent, has been imprisoned at Guantanamo since 2006. He is one of the three terrorist suspects that the CIA has said it subjected to water-boarding in secret overseas prisons. The Pentagon also announced that it had dismissed pending charges against another detainee, Abdul Ghani, who was accused of firing rockets at a coalition military base in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002. The charges were dropped without prejudice and no explanation was provided.
Allegations denied: Also on Friday, Gordon rejected allegations that Guantanamo officials abused one of the first detainees ordered freed by a US federal judge. Mustafa Ait Idr told a private television station upon arriving in Bosnia this week that interrogators broke one of his fingers and that his captors desecrated the holy Quran. "The Department of Defence policy is clear. We treat all detainees humanely," Gordon said.
The 38-year-old Algerian and two other Algerian-born naturalised Bosnians were detained in 2001 on suspicion of plotting to bomb the US Embassy in Sarajevo. They had been held at Guantanamo since January 2002. A US federal judge ruled last month they should be released, saying the US government's evidence linking the men to Al Qaeda was not credible because it came from a single, unidentified source. The cases of more than 200 additional Guantanamo detainees are still pending, many in front of other judges in Washington's federal courts.
Hunger strike: A judge has ordered an independent medical examination for a Saudi prisoner at Guantanamo who has been on hunger strike for more than three years. US District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled on Thursday after a hearing in Washington that a court-appointed medical expert would evaluate Ahmed Zuhair's physical and mental health, which his lawyers say has deteriorated sharply in recent weeks. Last month, his lawyer returned from visiting Zuhair and said his client appeared to weigh no more than 100 pounds and was vomiting repeatedly during meetings at the US base in Cuba.
Zuhair has been on a hunger strike to protest his confinement since the summer of 2005. He has not been charged with a crime, but the US says he trained with the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and was a member of an Islamic fighting group in Bosnia in the mid-1990s.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2008 09:34 ||
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#1
...who has been on hunger strike for more than three years.
Three years? Most humans do not survive three years on water alone. Or is this the new Gitmo Miracle Diet[tm] to reduce weight and cleanse the system. Soon to be available to the public for 19.95 with shipping and handling. But wait, that's not all...
Western side of 7-storey Ghakhar Plaza collapses after blaze
Army joins operation to rescue 70 believed buried under debris
Owner smells Mumbai attacks retaliation Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Rawalpindi Chapter Central Leader and the owner of Ghakhar Plaza Raja Shahid Zafar said that the fire might be conspiracy and retaliation of Mumbai terrorist attacks. He said this while talking to reporters on Saturday when he was visiting the Ghakhar Plaza building. He ruled out the possibility of short circuit. Zafar also condemned the terrorism. He expressed grief over the death of Ghakhar Plaza Manager Mansoor and other people who died in the incident. He said that the business community would unite to face the challenge.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2008 09:37 ||
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#1
It was the 7 armed man, Kintan Kimble who dun it, aka the Blue Elephant of the MASOOD!
Suspected Taliban abducted at least nine tribesmen from the upper tehsil of Orakzai agency on Saturday, said sources, as a NATO supplier was kidnapped in Landikotal. In Orakzai, the sources said the abducted people were members of the Shaikhan, Ali Khel and Mushti tribes. Meanwhile, two people were also kidnapped from Shahu area of Hangu district on Saturday. A police constable was kidnapped from the same area on Friday. Shahu Government High School was closed on Saturday for an indefinite period because of tensions over the killing of a grade six student. In Landikotal, the NATO supplier, Mehfooz Khan, was kidnapped on the Charwagzai main road while he was on his way to Peshawar. Mehfooz -- the owner of Torkham Pak Custom Clearance Agency -- was also kidnapped 15 years ago. Earlier in the morning, two other people were kidnapped from Ghariza Jamrud while they were travelling to Peshawar.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2008 09:29 ||
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Taliban killed three Pakistani truckers returning after transporting fuel to NATO forces in Afghanistan, officials said on Saturday, the latest in a growing spate of such attacks.
The attack occurred on Friday night when Taliban fired rocket-propelled grenades at two oil tankers in the Landi Kotal area of Khyber Agency, when they were coming back from the Afghan border, said Fazal Mehmood, a government official in Khyber.
The three Pakistanis were ferrying their vehicles back to Pakistan without the paramilitary escorts that often accompany the convoys on their way to Afghanistan, said Mehmood.
Despite the increasing attacks on supplies, about 60 trucks crossed the border on Saturday, a government official in Khyber said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2008 09:28 ||
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#1
so they finally found that soft spot they have been looking for now how long willl NATO take it before they pull out do something about it?
As the U.S. military works to improve security along a supply line that passes through Pakistan en route to Afghanistan, the pathway continues to be a viable means of logistics, a Pentagon official said today.
Taliban militants reportedly have torched about 300 trucks laden with supplies, including military vehicles, in five attacks last week alone. But roughly 150 truckloads of supplies continue to traverse the route each day, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said today. Is that 300 lost out of 1050 or 1350? Either way, it's an expensive loss rate.
This is a pretty brutal assessment of the British performance in Iraq from The Times (of London). My apologies to our British 'burgers, but it's worth a read.
The fundamental cause of the British failure was political. Tony Blair wanted to join the United States in its toppling of Saddam Hussein because if Britain does not back America it is hard to know what our role in the world is: certainly not a seat at the top table. But, for all his persuasiveness, Blair could not hold public opinion over the medium term and so he cut troop numbers fast and sought to avoid casualties. As a result, British forces lost control of Basra and left the population at the mercy of fundamentalist thugs and warring militias, in particular Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army.
The secondary cause of failure was a misplaced British disdain for America, shared by our politicians and senior military. In the early days in Iraq we bragged that our forces could deploy in berets and soft-sided vehicles while US forces roared through Baghdad in heavily armoured convoys. British leaders sneered at the Americans' failure to win hearts and minds because of their lack of experience in counterinsurgency.
Pride has certainly come before a fall. British commanders underestimated both the enemy's effectiveness and the Americans' ability to adapt.
If a fair-minded account of the Iraq war is written, credit should go to President Bush for rejecting two years ago the report by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group that called for force reductions. He defied conventional wisdom and ordered a troop surge instead. It has been an extraordinary success and, unlike Britain, the Americans will not withdraw in defeat. During debates in Washington, British forces' ignominious withdrawal to barracks was cited to argue that the United States could not contemplate being humbled in a similar way. In the end Bush was not a quitter. Blair "cut and ran". Credit to President Bush? In a European newspaper?
Britain's shaming was completed in March 2008 when Iraqi forces, backed by the US, moved decisively against the Mahdi Army, inflicting huge casualties and removing them from Basra. Operation Charge of the Knights was supervised by Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, exasperated that Iraq's second city was controlled not by Britain but by an Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia.
Trust in the British had fallen so low that neither the Iraqi nor the US government was willing to give us much notice of the operation. General Mohammed Jawad Humeidi remarked that his forces battled for a week before receiving British support.
It cannot be a defence of British policy that the war was unpopular at home. Our mission was to provide security for the Iraqi people, and in that the US and Maliki's government have recently had marked success and we have failed. The fault does not lie with our fighters. They have been extremely brave and as effective as their orders and their equipment would allow. I have never read otherwise.
It raises questions about the stamina of our nation and the resolve of our political class. It is an uncomfortable conclusion that Britain, with nuclear weapons, cruise missiles, aircraft carriers and the latest generation of fighter-bombers, is incapable of securing a medium-size conurbation. Making Basra safe was an essential part of the overall strategy; having committed ourselves to our allies we let them down. Conurbation? Off to the dictionary for that one.
The extent of Britain's fiasco has been masked by the media's relief that we are at last leaving Iraq. Those who have been urging Britain to quit are not in a strong position to criticise the government's lack of staying power. Reporting of Basra has mainly focused on British casualties and the prospect for withdrawal. The British media and public have shown scant regard for our failure to protect Iraqis, so the British nation, not just its government, has attracted distrust. We should reflect on what sort of country we have become. We may enjoy patronising Americans but they demonstrate a fibre that we now lack. Montgomery's rotating at orbital velocity if he heard about that one.
The United States will have drawn its conclusions about our reliability in future and British policy-makers, too, will need to recognise that we lack the troops, wealth and stomach for anything more than the briefest conflict. How long will we remain in Afghanistan? There, in contrast to our past two years in Basra, our forces engage the enemy robustly. But as a result the attrition rate is high. We look, rightly, for more help from Nato allies such as Germany, although humility should temper that criticism, given our own performance in Iraq.
Posted by: Matt ||
12/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Much of their argument is based on a false axiom, that is, the purpose of the British in Basra was just to hold Basra, in a conventional sense, not to control Basra, for which they were numerically ill equipped.
Holding Basra meant that as long as they just sat put, no other force could claim Basra, or use it to create a new front against US and allied forces elsewhere.
In Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign east to Ulm and Austerlitz, he had an entire army just stay in Italy, to guard his southern flank. Thus protected, his main army was able to achieve victory in perhaps the greatest battle in history, though grossly outnumbered. But that army just sitting in Italy still performed the vital role of holding Italy.
Even if the Mehdi Army revolt had been a success, and Najaf and Basra were under their control, the Brits would have denied them Basra.
High? WTF? How many have they lost in Afghanistan over the entire year? My information shows total non-US casualties in Afghanistan for all of 2008 has been 133. I know that not all of those are British. Even if they were, 133 is a "high" attrition rate? That right there tells you the (lack of) value they place on the mission.
Screw 'em. If they are going to be crybabies about it, it might be better for them to take off and go home. We wouldn't want them to hurt themselves.
#3
England has always produced a high quality of soldiers. The failing of the English military, like always, has been the political leadership and politically placed generals. When the junior officers and regular soldiers were cut loose, they produced amazing battlefield victories.
The problem now, is the lack of political will from the leaders and lack of communicating to the population why it is necessary to fight. Combine that with a leftist MSM that trumpets defeat, the public will never support a war.
Thus, Britain will never see the need to defend itself until the barbarians are breaking down the gates.
#4
I think the short version of the article is that the UK is no longer strategic, but still tactical.
Be interesting to see if the former east europeans move to strategic postures - seems they could.
UK, France and Germany may only have Africa left to exercise strategy, or they may have to deal with their respective, um, domestic diversity situations.
#7
The article's a fair assessment, but the media's role is much greater than suggested. I would say: never underestimate the power of propaganda on the majority of people.
In my experience in the UK (possibly this is the same elsewhere) about half of people lack the inclination or intelligence to form their own considered opinions about politics. They rely on their acquaintances and the media to give them steer. The BBC, which has single-handedly led a concerted campaign to institutionally socialise debate and gut the national confidence, has been responsible for turning public opinion callously anti-war and reflexively anti-American. Anti-Americanism and anti-war sentiment in the UK are not principled, rational, choices but the result of indoctrination. The BBC has fomented both through silencing opposing views and legitimising the advocates through exploiting its position as a de facto monopolising news provider in this country. The Times should focus its spotlight on the BBC and help hold it to proper account.
#8
What Bulldog said (and a few others up-thread).
I know I've said this here before, but the most prominent impression I gained from British officers in my Baghdad office was one of demoralization, based on precisely the collapse of will noted in the article and comments. The sources of that collapse are probably several, but the effect of relentless indoctrination (presumably beginning, as in the US, in the educational process), especially what's become of the press, cannot be over-emphasized.
Adding to the pain of it all was the characteristically highly intelligent, humorous, humane, and articulate nature of all the British officers I encountered, without exception.
On a relevant side note, I'll never forget the BBC correspondent, a very nice and intelligent guy, who secretly confided to me his support for the US effort in Iraq - he made it clear that his views made him adopt a double-life, and that of course I could breathe nothing of his apostasy to other reporters.
#9
Much of their argument is based on a false axiom, that is, the purpose of the British in Basra was just to hold Basra
Much of your argument is flawed and based on false premise. More still than in a conventional war it military aspect is subordinated to teh political aspect. And here we allowed Al Sadr to get political weight, get a big influence on the Iraki constitution, allowed the isalmizatiion of South Irak, in addition that both within Irak and outside we gave the impression that far from being a liberation, Iraki Freedom replaced "modernist" and "secular" Saddam by Taliban-like rule.
To others: Stop dreaming about 1940 British. They are no more. New genartions have been molded by the Beattles, punk rock, drugas, hooliganism ad a dose of political correctness who would make you flee to California. And now they have plenty of Pakistanis within the gates.
#10
JFM, for all the our many flaws including occasional hooliganism and political correctness, I think we Brits have achieved considerably more in Iraq and Afghanistan, and for the WoT in general, than France.
JFM is correct. I find a tremendous amount to admire in the Britain that first built, then administered, the world's greatest empire. The Britons who threw it away with both hands, completely uncaring of their own or others' fates or responsibilities, I cannot understand. The Britons of the current day, unthinking, unthanking, gelt, as Kipling would say, I hold in near-complete contempt. The men who fought at Rorke's Drift, or who held the Residency at Lucknow, or who boarded the Altmark, or faced down the Graf Spee--these men would hold current-day Britain as not worth the sacrifice they made to keep her free.
One of my British friends, an expat who deeply bemoans the current state of affairs in his country, told me his grandfather (decorated RA veteran) said if he had known in 1939-45 that Britain would turn out as it has, he would not have been willing to fight for her.
I wonder how many American veterans of WWII feel the same way?
#14
The Britons who threw it away with both hands, completely uncaring of their own or others' fates or responsibilities, I cannot understand.
Then you need to read more about the Great War, Darwin, and Marx. And The Strange Death of Liberalism by George Dangerfield.
My interpretation is having brought so much change to the world they began to suffer from cognitive dissonance when the change undermined the foundations of their world view. WWII was its last gasp. Like the champion relay runner, it handed off the baton just as it was about to collapse from the effort. To whom will we hand it?
#17
JFM, for all the our many flaws including occasional hooliganism and political correctness, I think we Brits have achieved considerably more in Iraq and Afghanistan, and for the WoT in general, than France.
We, in France, don't have shariah courts. For occasional hooliganism I refer you to a text published in Rantburg around ten years ago who talked of rot in British mindset far deeper than occasional. Pay attention to the part about girls wanting to be taken home and showing their b..bs to persuade the automobilist. While you could call it by another name because no violence is involved I still think that it has the same roots and particiâtes in the same rot.
#18
In Belgium I recently met an old guy, tall, dignified, white mustache, ex-British Army, WWII. Fought in Market Garden. His image of Americans was the 82nd Airborne, whom he fought with. He was so happy to share his story with an American, who I guess he doesn't meet many of living in Belgium. No trace of anti-Americanism.
#20
I should have made it clear when I posted the article that this piece is a piece by Times columnist Michael Portillo rather than an editorial by the Times.
As of right now, the Portillo column has drawn more comments here at Rantburg than it has at the Times website. I don't know what that means.
Posted by: Matt ||
12/21/2008 10:20 Comments ||
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#23
The secondary cause of failure was a misplaced British disdain for America, shared by our politicians and senior military.
The frustration among the Senior British military started when they came in believing they were the Counter-Insurgency Big Cocks but thought that their role in the US operational plans had not been clearly defined. Some may argue thats a justifiable complaint others call it arrogance.
#25
"In the early days in Iraq we bragged that our forces could deploy in berets and soft-sided vehicles while US forces roared through Baghdad in heavily armoured convoys."
I remember one British poster at another site attempting to support this contention by posting a picture of Royal Marines doing just that, riding around in berets in an open LandRover. Problem? The picture was clearly captioned as having been taken in Bosnia, where there are no IED attacks on allied troops.
This makes me wonder if IQ has fallen that badly since my departure from the UK 40 years ago, or if misplaced and bigoted contempt for American intelligence has really grown that much.
#27
I lived in Britain for 18 months, and met a lot of Brits, both civilians and military. A lot of them are great individuals. A few, however, are enough to make me fear for Britain's fate.
One of the BIG problems in Britain is that too many of their "leaders" are living in a fantasy world of British Imperialism, as if the clock stopped in 1935. The Empire is gone, except for a few places that wouldn't survive as independent nations. The arrogance, insolence, and bigotry that abounded in the Foreign Office in the early portion of the 20th Century still exists, however. Coupled with an entrenched bureaucracy that doesn't really CARE what the rest of the world is up to, more socialism than the US would tolerate, and an economy that manages to struggle along somehow under the pressure of the bureaucrats, most British just try to make it from day to day. The EU may be the straw that breaks the camel's back, and Britain will become just another piece of real estate in Europe's death spiral.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/21/2008 15:09 Comments ||
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#28
anymouse's son spent time in Basra helping to clean up that cesspool. Agree...the Brit Pols are spineless. It's not the UK military.
Israel launched its first air strike on the Gaza Strip Saturday, a day after the six-month-long ceasefire between the Jewish state and Hamas
" The Israeli escalation confirms the need to unify and strengthen the resistance in the face of this aggression that did not respect the truce as is evident from the ongoing Gaza blockade. "
Fawzi Barhoum, Hamas spokesperson
rulers expired, the army and Palestinians said.
An Israeli military official said the air strike targeted members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade who were firing rockets towards Israel.
The attack came hours after two rockets fired from Gaza landed in Israel, causing no damage or injuries, the army said.
Ali Eliyan Hijazi, 25, a member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade was killed and two others were wounded when a missile exploded in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, Palestinian medics said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#4
Justifiable response to the Occupation... er...Zionist aggression...er...the closure of the crossings in response to the rocket attacks!
/That's the ticket!
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/21/2008 10:51 Comments ||
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#5
The orwellian, surreal inversion of "news" is nowhere better captured than right here. As others here have commented, what exactly started this round?
"It all started when I hit him back".
My favorite pithy rendition of this contemptible idiocy.
#7
Exactly right, Verlaine. The hypocrisy of the international media and US policy has reached Kafkaesque dimensions.
If the Mexican army decided to start lobbing rockets into El Paso some fine morning, there wouldn't be two boards left nailed together or one brick standing on another in Ciudad Juarez by nightfall.
Yet Israel is expected to silently endure this provocation, and this expectation has become institutionalized.
On a brighter note, I predict that media and academic support for Paleo terrorism will start to decline as falling oil revenues reduce the supply of honoraria, gifts, fellowships, investment capital and other bribes currently flowing into our self-appointed cultural elites.
At $40 a barrel, the day might come when oil ticks can't even buy a British journalist, let alone an American one.
#8
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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - An Israeli air strike against a rocket squad killed a Palestinian militant Saturday, the first Gaza death since Hamas formally declared an end to a six-month truce with Israel.
Since November, Israel has tightened the blockade to pressure Gaza militants to halt their rocket fire on Israeli border towns. However, sporadic fighting has continued, and Gazas Hamas rulers declared Friday that they would not continue a truce that had taken effect in June.
On Saturday, Palestinians fired 10 rockets and at least 23 mortar shells from Gaza into Israel, causing some property damage but no casualties, the Israeli military said. An Israeli air strike at one of the rocket squads in northern Gaza killed a militant, said the army and Palestinian medics. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah movement, identified the dead man as one of its fighters. Hamas said carried out the mortar fire.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
extra-large smackdown please?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/21/2008 8:52 Comments ||
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#2
FREE On-Demand TV Shows, Movies, Music(over 6 million digital quality tracks), Unlimited Games, Money, and FREE College Educations (Stanford, Oxford, Notre Dame and more) @ InternetSurfShack.com
Two separate bombings in the southernmost provinces of Pattani and Yala on Saturday night caused one death and left at least 12 persons wounded.
In Pattani's Anohru subdistrict, a bomb squad and police responded to the Super SP department store on Klapor Road after a homemade bomb weighing an estimated five kilogrammes exploded. Detonated by mobile phone, the explosion claimed one victim, identified as Suenee Wansulong, according to police. Eight others, including two sons of Mrs. Suenee, were wounded and were rushed to Pattani hospital. Police found the remains of a motorcycle, bomb fragments and parts of a mobile phone including its SIM card.
The initial investigation showed that the bomb was hidden in a motorcycle which had been parked in front of the department store, and it was triggered using a mobile phone. Police were checking footage of the closed circuit television monitors to identify the persons who left the bomb-laden motorcycle at the site. Police believed that the attackers had targeted police who had set up a check-point nearby.
Meanwhile, in nearby Yala province, unknown persons left a bomb in front of Park View Hotel in the provincial seat, which exploded, wounding four victims. After inspecting the scene police said that they estimated a 30 kilogramme bomb was built into a gas cylinder hidden in a car which was parked at the hotel, but it failed to explode with full force, causing less damage than otherwise would have been the case. After the incident, police and military personnel joined forces to inspect the scene and check footage from the closed circuit television to try to identify the assailants.
COLOMBO (AFP) -- Sri Lanka's navy has destroyed a Tamil Tiger vessel carrying arms and other supplies off the island's northeastern coast, according to the defence ministry.
Navy patrol craft "completely destroyed" the vessel of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) off the coast of Mullaittivu in a pre-dawn assault, the ministry said in a statement. It said four more rebel craft in the area supporting the arms ship were also attacked by navy patrol craft.
"The enemy logistics vessel was completely destroyed," the statement said. "It is believed that the enemy vessel was carrying a large quantity of warlike materials to the LTTE since it sank engulfed in a ball of fire under the heavy naval fire."
The Sri Lankan navy had earlier said it had sunk virtually the entire fleet of arms-carrying ships of the Tiger guerrillas, who were known to operate a lucrative shipping business through front organisations.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2008 00:00 ||
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sounds like the Tigers sre having a terrible, terrible, really bad year. And they have been doing so for a very long time. How solid are the stat put out by the Sri Lakan government?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/21/2008 4:30 Comments ||
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Eight Taliban were killed in a joint operation by Afghan and United States-led forces in southern Afghanistan, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday, AFP reported. The Taliban were killed on Friday in Helmand province. "In a joint operation by Afghan national police, national army and coalition forces in Helmand eight of the enemies of peace and stability were killed," the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Five other Taliban were wounded in the battle in Nad Ali district, it added. 
Afghan commandoes and coalition forces discovered and destroyed two-and-a-half tonnes of drugs found in a school in Arghestan district, Kandahar province, on Friday, according to an official statement.
Three Danish soldiers were killed and one wounded on Friday when their armoured vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb or mine in Helmand province in Afghanistan, the Danish Army Central Command said. Their vehicle was travelling north of the town of Gereshk in a supply column when it was struck, Reuters quoted the army as saying. The injured soldier has been evacuated to a field hospital. Two Danes were killed earlier this month in fighting. Denmark has about 700 combat troops in Afghanistan. Seventeen have died in combat so far and three others were killed while trying to dismantle a mine.
An Iranian warship has entered the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian vessels against pirates off the coast of Somalia, state radio said on Saturday. "After travelling more than 4,000 maritime miles ... an Iranian warship entered the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian ships against pirates," the radio said, without further details.
Gunmen in speedboats attacked two oil services ships and kidnapped at least two Russians in separate incidents in Nigeria's Niger Delta, a security contractor working in the oil industry said on Saturday. The Falcon Crest and Falcon Wings were attacked late on Friday off the coast of southern Nigeria's Akwa Ibom state near crude oil facilities operated by Canada's Addax Petroleum, the security source said, adding a Filipino captain on one of the vessels was killed.
ATHENS Protesters hurled firebombs at police who responded with tear gas Saturday, as new clashes hit Athens, a fortnight after the police killing of a teenager that sparked nationwide unrest. Hundreds of people gathered in the Exarchia district at the site of the December 6 shooting of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos for a protest organised by youths occupying Athens Polytechnic.
The Pentagon on Friday formally approved war crimes charges against a Guantanamo detainee accused of masterminding the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, potentially setting up a high-profile arraignment in the final days of the Bush administration. 
Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Rawalpindi Chapter Central Leader and the owner of Ghakhar Plaza Raja Shahid Zafar said that the fire might be conspiracy and retaliation of Mumbai terrorist attacks. He said this while talking to reporters on Saturday when he was visiting the Ghakhar Plaza building. He ruled out the possibility of short circuit. Zafar also condemned the terrorism. He expressed grief over the death of Ghakhar Plaza Manager Mansoor and other people who died in the incident. He said that the business community would unite to face the challenge.
Suspected Taliban abducted at least nine tribesmen from the upper tehsil of Orakzai agency on Saturday, said sources, as a NATO supplier was kidnapped in Landikotal. In Orakzai, the sources said the abducted people were members of the Shaikhan, Ali Khel and Mushti tribes. Meanwhile, two people were also kidnapped from Shahu area of Hangu district on Saturday. A police constable was kidnapped from the same area on Friday. Shahu Government High School was closed on Saturday for an indefinite period because of tensions over the killing of a grade six student. In Landikotal, the NATO supplier, Mehfooz Khan, was kidnapped on the Charwagzai main road while he was on his way to Peshawar. Mehfooz -- the owner of Torkham Pak Custom Clearance Agency -- was also kidnapped 15 years ago. Earlier in the morning, two other people were kidnapped from Ghariza Jamrud while they were travelling to Peshawar.
Taliban killed three Pakistani truckers returning after transporting fuel to NATO forces in Afghanistan, officials said on Saturday, the latest in a growing spate of such attacks.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - An Israeli air strike against a rocket squad killed a Palestinian militant Saturday, the first Gaza death since Hamas formally declared an end to a six-month truce with Israel.
COLOMBO (AFP) -- Sri Lanka's navy has destroyed a Tamil Tiger vessel carrying arms and other supplies off the island's northeastern coast, according to the defence ministry.
