KANDAHAR, Afghanistan--The bodies of two Canadian soldiers killed yesterday by a roadside bomb explosion in southern Afghanistan are on their way home. Hundreds of soldiers stood row by row at a twilight ramp ceremony Sunday at Kandahar Airfield to say a final farewell to their fallen comrades.
Warrant Officer Gaetan Roberge and Sgt. Gregory John Kruse were killed during a security patrol in the Panjway district, in the western part of Kandahar province. The blast, which happened at around 12:15 p.m. local time, also killed an Afghan police officer and a local interpreter, and wounded four other Canadian soldiers and another Afghan interpreter.
Roberge was part of the Canadian team mentoring Afghanistan's fledgling national police force. He and the Afghan police were on a foot patrol about 25 kilometres west of Kandahar city when they came across a suspected bomb.
It has been a bloody weekend for Canadian troops in Afghanistan. Pte. Michael Freeman, 28, of Peterborough, Ont., was killed Friday when his armoured vehicle struck an explosive during a security patrol in Zhari district.
The attack that killed Roberge and Kruse happened mere hours before Freeman's flag-covered casket was loaded onto a military aircraft during a ramp ceremony.
The latest deaths bring to 106 the number of Canadian soldiers killed in the Afghan mission since 2002. One diplomat and two aid workers have also been killed.
Roadside bomb attacks have killed nine Canadian soldiers this month. December is now the bloodiest month since April 2007, when nine soldiers were killed. Since deploying to Kandahar province in 2006, however, Canada has generally sustained its heaviest combat casualties during the spring, summer and early autumn. Reporter can't resist...
A suicide bomber killed three Afghan police officers and two civilians and wounded four in Kandahar on Saturday, a senior police official said. The suicide bomber was on foot when he detonated the device next to a police checkpoint on the outskirts of Kandahar city. The policemen were in a military vehicle near the checkpoint and the civilians were also inside a car on the highway when the suicide bomber struck, the officer said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2008 00:51 ||
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Afghan and coalition forces said that they have killed six militants during a patrol in southern Afghanistan's most violent region.
The US coalition said on Saturday that the combined forces were on a patrol in Helmand province Thursday when they spotted militants pulling out weapons from a hiding spot. The combined forces killed the militants and destroyed the weapons.
Violence has spiked across Afghanistan the last two years. More than 6,000 people have died in insurgency-related violence in 2008, according to an Associated Press count of figures based on Afghan and Western officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2008 00:34 ||
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(Xinhua) -- Twelve people were killed and an unknown number of others were wounded on Saturday in fierce fighting in central Somalia that led a local Islamist group seizing a town held by the radical Islamist group of Al-Shabaab, residents said.
"Twelve people died in the fighting today. They include both civilians and the fighters," Omar Gesey, a local elder told Xinhua by phone from Gureil, 370 km north of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, "many others were wounded."
Residents said that the local Islamist group known as Ahlu Sunnah Waljamaeh has been regrouping on the outskirts of the town since being ousted and have waged a surprise attack on the Al-Shabaab militias who have now fled Gureil.
Reports from central Somalia say that the hardline group is being pursued by the local militias who vowed to drive them out of the other Somali towns.
Ahlu Sunnah Waljamaeh, the moderate Islamist group, accused Al-Shabaab of harassing their members and destroying the tomb of revered sheiks.
Al-Shabaab, which means youth in Arabic, is listed by the United States as a terrorist organization and is one of the major insurgent groups opposed to the Somali transitional government.
The group, which rejected a peace deal between the Somali government and another main faction, controls a number of main towns and cities in southern Somalia.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2008 01:28 ||
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#1
Destroying sheiks tombs, eh? Wahabis dont like tombs.
Those arrested received training in Syria on making explosives.
that 14 people had been arrested for plotting attacks in the Bahraini capital Manama, during a national holiday. The minister, Sheik Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, said those arrested received training in Syria on making explosives. Saturday's statement said the attack was set for December 17, a national holiday, and the planned targets included commercial streets, the diplomatic district and nightclubs in Manama. He added that two Bahrainis residing in London are believed to be the cell's leaders, but declined to elaborate further.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2008 00:55 ||
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NEW DELHI: Pakistan has rejected evidence provided by the US and UK on involvement of its citizens in the Mumbai attacks. It has said the information provided would not stand scrutiny in any court.
Most especially not an Islamic court ...
The evidence includes a confession by arrested terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab but Pakistani officials have contended that since it had been obtained by Indians under duress, this could not be admissible in court.
No doubt Inspectors Chaudhary and Mukharjee were swinging the number 7 truncheons with gusto ...
Meanwhile, India kept up the pressure on Pakistan. Foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Sunday that India had not served any ultimatum to Pakistan to take action on terrorists or terror camps. However, India insisted that Pakistan eliminate all terrorist groups from its territory as it had promised.
Addressing a group in Jharkhand, Mukherjee said Pakistan should admit that terrorists involved in the Mumbai attacks came from there. "If all these things are done, then there is no problem at all," he said. "Not once, but twice Pakistan had made a commitment. Once by Musharraf and now by President Zardari. Where is the commitment? Where is the action against terrorists," he added.
Telephone numbers of LeT commanders like Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Zarar Shah had been given, reports from Pakistan said, as well as call logs and intercepts. Both US and UK have told Pakistan that India's allegation that the LeT had masterminded the operation was correct.
Officials said US and UK came armed with a much more evidence of Pakistan's complicity than even India had access to. Thanks to their superior tech-int, they gathered more evidence against Pakistan, which, incidentally they did not share with India.
Pakistan's excuse now is that if it's expected to use all this evidence to put people like Lakhvi and Shah on trial, it would need testimonies from Indian witnesses, and all the mobile phones and satphones that were used for evidence. Evidently, this is a dead end-road. If and when India gives up its own information to Pakistan, it would be met with exactly the same kind of belligerence, say officials.
Which is the whole point. Remember, the Taliban tried this trick right after 9/11, and GWB wouldn't fall for it.
Within India, though, as more information becomes available, officials are coming round to the view that there was substantial involvement of the army-ISI complex.
"We have evidence and gave the names, not once but ten times. Pakistan had earlier accepted that the perpetrators of Mumbai attacks emanated from there. But now they are contradicting it," Mukherjee said. However, on the Mumbai attacks, he said India would give all information to Pakistan after the investigations were over.
Meanwhile, Mukherjee regretted that Pakistan had gone back on its statement that Maulana Masood Azhar had been detained. He said, "The Pakistani defence minister had earlier said that the Jaish chief was under house arrest. Now some others say he is not in Pakistan. Who is telling the truth? It is Pakistan which has to tell that."
This article starring:
Ajmal Amir Kasab
Posted by: john frum ||
12/28/2008 16:53 ||
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#1
Pak says evidence gathered by US, UK won't stand in court
#6
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM/WORLD MIL FORUM > CHINA: MUMBAI ATTACKS MASTERMIND NOT YET IDENTIFIED [advises PK, India not to resort to war]; + SINO-INDIAN WAR AFTER A PAKISTAN-INDIAN WAR WILL BE A DISASTER FOR ASIA.
TWENTY-three people have been killed and 15 hurt in a suspected suicide car bomb blast in an area of north-west Pakistan rocked by a violent campaign to impose Islamic law, police said. The bomb destroyed a school in the town of Buner on the edge of the restive Swat valley, where voters were casting ballots in a parliamentary by-election, and caused the collapse of a nearby market, police said.
"Apparently it was a suicide car bomb blast,'' said local police official Behramand Khan.
The car bomb went off today outside the school, but he said police were still unable to say whether the blast was definitely the work of a suicide attacker, as the area was littered with body parts and flesh. Further investigation was needed to identify the remains, he said.
"The bomb was so powerful that it completely destroyed the school building and badly damaged nearby houses and other buildings,'' he said.
Some of those killed were in a nearby market when the roof collapsed. Khan said he feared the toll would rise, as residents had told police that four people were still missing.
The mountainous Swat valley - once known as the "Switzerland of Pakistan'' - was until last year a popular destination for local and foreign tourists that boasted the country's only ski resort.
But the region has been turned into a battleground since radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah, who has links to Pakistan's Taliban movement, launched a violent campaign for the introduction of Islamic Sharia law in the valley. Pakistani troops launched a major offensive in the area last year, but have since scaled back their operations.
#1
Pakistani troops launched a major offensive in the area last year, but have since scaled back their operations.
Redeployed to the eastern border? Hmmm. Pak Army can't even secure Swat but now they're gonna go and try to fight India anyway. Somehow that's the kind of logic we've come to expect from them.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/28/2008 14:23 Comments ||
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Security personnel on Saturday arrested an armed man suspected of attempting to commit terrorism on the first death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto. Police officials said the suspect, Zafar Ali, was a resident of Karachi and was found carrying a pistol at Benazir's shrine, adding the accused was being questioned about his target and his relations with any militant or extremist group.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2008 00:52 ||
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The Taliban have announced the enforcement of sharia in the lower parts of Orakzai Agency, Taliban sources said. The Taliban announcement follows the 'enforcement of sharia' in the upper parts of the agency seven days ago. Sources said the Taliban were using loudspeakers in mosques to announce the decree and were asking the people to bring their issues to 'Taliban Islamic courts', which have been set up in Mashti Meela and Feroze Khel, for their resolution according to Islamic law. The Taliban have banned women from visiting bazaars and have imposed a complete ban on TV and CDs and video centres in the agency. They have, however, allowed women to visit bazaars for medical treatment, but that too if they are accompanied by a male elder of the family. There are 21 tribes in Orakzai and the Taliban have imposed Islamic law on 16 tribes. The other five tribes reside in areas where the Taliban have not announced sharia enforcement as yet. The tribal traditions earlier did not require women to veil their faces, but the Taliban decree has asked them to cover their bodies at all times. The Taliban have also established complaint cells in Ghiljo and Kandi Mishti (Upper Orakzai), and Mamoozai and Feroze Khel (Lower Orakzai).
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2008 00:51 ||
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#1
They seem to justify their Sharia interpretation of treatment of women as being protective of women, but it seems to me the world they are trying to create is what one created by militant homosexuals would look like.
#2
We discussed here that the Nazi SS were largely Homo?
Borrowing from those they Idolize?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/28/2008 12:32 Comments ||
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#3
I believe it was the Brown Shirts, or SD, who were mostly homosexuals. Hitler used them in his rise to power but then he turned on them most viciously in the infamous "night of the long knives." You might say he threw them under the bus when he no longer needed them. The lesson to be learned from this as far as homosexuals are concerned is they are better off with moderate practitioners of democracy who are at least willing to tolerate their peculiarities. Radical Islam, communism or fascism might tantalize them with the promise of power and glory but when the real hard boyz take over they will kill the degenerate homosexuals.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/28/2008 15:00 Comments ||
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Security forces and the Taliban on Saturday clashed in Sakhipul area of Jamrud tehsil in Khyber Agency, sources said. No casualties were reported. However, the security forces seized two vehicles along with ammunition.
Local sources said a Taliban convoy of around 11 vehicles was bound for Mohmand Agency from Khyber. The clash occurred when the convoy reached Sakhipul, where a number of army and Khasadar checkposts have been set up.
A new extremist group by the name of Khana Jangi (civil war) has emerged in Bara tehsil of Khyber. Headed by Riaz Ludhianvi, the organisation came to the surface when it claimed abducting a local journalist Rehmatullah, who was released after three hours in captivity. A member told reporters over telephone that the group was against a Bara-based organisation, adding Khana Jangi had both locals and foreigners as members, who would conduct guerrilla activities in the country.
Amr Bil Maroof Jamrud leader Muhammad Afridi said around 20,000 armed volunteers would fight along side the Pakistan Army in case of Indian aggression. He said the volunteers would make their own arrangements and would also protect the Afghan border.
Four people, including three children, of a family were killed on Saturday when a shell landed at their house in Bajaur Agency, sources told NNI. According to details, the shell fired from an unidentified location hit the house in Mandal area of Bajaur.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2008 00:50 ||
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PESHAWAR: Pakistan does not plan a complete withdrawal of troops from its Tribal Areas despite fears of an Indian attack, government officials told Daily Times on Saturday. "The Frontier Corps will stay to guard the border (with Afghanistan) and troops from the 11 Corps will continue to back up the frontline force," the officials said.
The 11 Corps will stay safely tucked in garrison and let the FC troops pretend to fight the Talibs. It's an arrangement that suits everyone ...
Brigades from other corps will go back to defend Pakistan against a possible Indian aggression, they said.
Pakistan had deployed more than 100,000 soldiers to sit in garrison battle Al Qaeda and Taliban in FATA after confidence-building measures with India eased tensions on the eastern border. But after the tensions soared again following the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last month, Pakistan on Friday reportedly began moving about 20,000 troops to the border with India.
Before the troop redeployment began, the military had studied the impact of the move on national security and if the Taliban could use the opportunity to regain land after the army pulled out. "We studied how Baitullah Mehsud will use the opportunity," the officials said. "We are not ready to take any risks with Baitullah."
And no need, since Baitullah already controls all of Swat ...
Regional military commanders secured 'guarantees' from Ahmedzai Wazir elders in South Waziristan they would not allow Baitullah Mehsud or foreign terrorists to take advantage of the decreased troop presence near the border with Afghanistan.
Tribal elders told Daily Times by telephone from Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan, that a 21-member Ahmedzai Wazir peace committee met local military commanders to discuss the tensions with India and the likely troop readjustment. "We have been told by military they need a readjustment of troops and asked the Ahmedzai Wazirs to guarantee peace in the area in case some of the soldiers are sent to the eastern front," the elders said on condition of anonymity.
And that's that. They couldn't guarantee peace last week but now they can. The Indians should rattle the saber more often ...
"We have told the military it should fight on the eastern front and leave the security of the western border to the tribesmen, or allow us to go to the eastern border for Pakistan's defence," the Ahmedzai Wazir elders said after meeting the military commanders. They said the Ahmedzai Wazir tribes would sacrifice their lives to keep Baitullah Mehsud or any foreign terrorists away from the western border.
According to the officials, troops from Swat have been redeployed after fighting for more than a year, but they said the soldiers would be replaced with reinforcements. "We cannot leave Swat at this juncture as the militants will step up their brutality and kill the civilians," the officials said.
Swat is lost. The Talibs have ordered the little girls not to go to school. All this is window-dressing ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/28/2008 00:05 ||
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#1
Oh deh Paks came over deh Mountain
Deh Paks came over deh Mountain
Oh deh Paks came over deh Mountain to see what they could...
But all dot deh could see
but all dot deh could see...
wuz other side of deh mountain
other side of deh moutain
Other side of deh Moutain wuz dot they could see.
ISLAMABAD: While shifting tens of thousands of troops from the Pak-Afghan border to the Indo-Pak border, decision-makers in Islamabad have informed Washington that Pakistan was left with no other option after the failure of the Bush administration to defuse the tension with India which is escalating with each passing day.
Remind me why we have the tension in the first place ...
Gosh. You mean they left their entire western border unprotected against incursions from Afghanistan? That was... ummm... brilliant.
Sources said troops are being redeployed on a significant scale and the move is not meant only to send a message either to Americans or Indians. They said Pakistan could no longer risk its security by keeping its forces on the Pak-Afghan border when Americans are not in a position to prevail upon the Indian establishment to tone down its "hostile posture". Sources also said there is a growing anti-American sentiment across Pakistan, apart from resentment toward Indian efforts to build up pressure on Pakistan.
I guess something that's full grown can be described as "growing." But I'd say Pak is making a major blunder here, unless B.O. lacks any testicles at all.
When asked how many troops are being relocated from the Pak-Afghan border to the Indo-Pak border, military sources in Rawalpindi said almost 40 per cent of the 80,0000 troops are being shifted. They added that the remaining 60 per cent of the troops would continue to guard the Pak-Afghan border besides continuing military operations against Taliban-linked militants in the tribal region and would not be pulled back. The sources, however, added that if the Indian military build-up along the Indo-Pak border continues, 20 per cent more of the Pakistani troops could be shifted from the western borders in a span of one week.
Part of this build-up is the 14th Division as we noted yesterday, but the Paks continue to deploy forces near the Indian border. They really think the Indians are coming this time.
Giving details of the Pakistani troops' redeployment, the military sources said two units of the Army had been withdrawn from Lower Dir district bordering the restive Bajaur Agency and Afghanistan's Kunar province while troops had also been pulled out of South Waziristan. The troops withdrawn from Lower Dir were not involved in any military operations and had been deployed there for back-up support.
Translation: they were there for show, so as to fool gullible Western reporters, and sat in the garrisons while the Border troops and paramilitary police did the work .. or as much work as they were willing and tasked to do.
The sources said some of the troops pulled out of the tribal areas were based in snow-bound areas where no fighting could take place at this time of the year. The sources added that the 10th Brigade of the Pakistan Army has been sent to Lahore, the 3rd Armoured Brigade of the Army had been ordered to march towards Jhelum, while the 10th and 11th divisions have been put on high alert and troops have been stationed in the Rajauri and Poonch sectors of Kashmir. To a question, the sources said shorter internal lines made full mobilisation faster and easier for Pakistan than for India. They pointed out that during 2001-2002 Pakistani troops had been deployed even before India had completed its own deployment, even though Pakistan began its deployment only in response to that of India. Approached for comments, Pakistani military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said: "We do not want to create any war hysteria, but we have to take the minimum security measures to ward off any threat".
The sources added that the 10th Brigade of the Pakistan Army has been sent to Lahore, the 3rd Armoured Brigade of the Army had been ordered to march towards Jhelum, while the 10th and 11th divisions have been put on high alert and troops have been stationed in the Rajauri and Poonch sectors of Kashmir. To a question, the sources said shorter internal lines made full mobilisation faster and easier for Pakistan than for India. They pointed out that during 2001-2002 Pakistani troops had been deployed even before India had completed its own deployment, even though Pakistan began its deployment only in response to that of India.
Approached for comments, Pakistani military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said: We do not want to create any war hysteria, but we have to take the minimum security measures to ward off any threat.
Pakistan is believed to have been producing more plutonium per year than India for several years and has between 20kg and 60kg of plutonium at present. But Pakistan, whose weapons program is generally uranium-based, has between 1,200kg and 1,250kg of highly enriched uranium, says the study.
Though a smaller arsenal does not matter much in the case of nuclear deterrence, if Pakistan overtakes India in atomic bombs, it will make it much more difficult for India to negotiate a fissile-materials cutoff treaty.
The ISIS study states that Pakistan has five functional ballistic missiles today, while India has a single Prithvi battlefield ballistic missile. Pakistan also has a defined nuclear command authority, while India is still groping to define its slogan of minimum nuclear deterrence. The question India must now answer is whether it should be satisfied with its conventional military superiority and allow Pakistan to maintain the parity it has achieved in the nuclear field or instead raise its nuclear and missile capacity citing a threat from China as the major justification.
But several strategic analysts, particularly those with a military background, say that India has not been building bombs since the 1998 tests and has been practising a moratorium not only on testing weapons, but also on building them, though they are not happy with the situation. Indeed, in their view, New Delhi allowed itself to be persuaded by the US to practice strategic restraint, though under another name, defence posture.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/28/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Pakistan was left with no other option after the failure of the Bush administration to defuse the tension with India which is escalating with each passing day.
Why is it OUR fault?? They were your g*ddamn terrorists.
#4
Compare wid PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > IFF WAR, INDIA WILL LOSE ONE-HALF OF ITS POPULATION, + INDIAN NAVY MOVES SIX MORE SHIPS TO WEST COAST. [Exact motive unclear at this time]. India's Navy has two combat fleets wid 13 major SURFWAR warships each, mainly Destroyers and Fast Frigates - this move means India will now have approxi 18 surface ships on the West coast.
Also from PDF > 600,000 TROOPS DEPLOYED IN BANGLADESH FOR INTERNAL SECURITY [new 3-Tiered sysytem]???
#5
WAFF.com > TALIBAN CREATE [fundamentalist/
radicalist]CALIPHATE IN SWAT [PK South Waziristan]; + TALIBAN SUCCESFULLY CLOSE IN ON SOUTHERN GATE OF AFGHANISTAN's CAPITAL, BEATING OUT US REINFORCEMENTS [ + NATO's].
* WORLD MIL FORUM > AFGHAN PRESIDENT: AFGHANISTAN WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY NEW REGIONAL COOPERATION OR TRADE AGEEMENT WITHOUT IRAN'S ACTIVE PARTICIPATION. Desires Iran to invest Invest INVEST I-N-V-E-S-T, D *** YOU, IN AFGHANISTAN LIKE ITS 1999!
#6
WORLD MIL FORUM > PAKISTAN MOVES 20,000 TROOPS TO NEAR INDIAN BORDERS [to match Indian mil buildup]; + PAKISTAN AIR FORCE ORDERED TO BEGIN ROUTINE AIR PATROLS TO PROTECT NUCLEAR FACILITIES FROM INDIAN ATTACK [air], + US ENVOY ADMIRAL MULLEN ASKS PAKISTAN GOVT, AIR FORCE TO TOLERATE LIMITED AIR STRIKES BY INDIA AGZ PAK-BASED MILITANT TARGETS.
You'll never take me alive, copper!
RAMADI, Iraq (AFP) -- Two Al-Qaeda prisoners who broke out of a police jail in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi were arrested early Sunday, hours after their accomplice was killed by Iraqi police snipers, police said.
The arrest of the two men brought to an end a dramatic series of events that began early on Friday when the three local Al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders escaped from cells in Forsan police station triggering a deadly firefight that killed 13 militants and policemen.
The man shot dead on Saturday by Iraqi forces was Imad Ahmed Farhan, nicknamed "Imad the Killer" because police say the Qaeda operative had confessed to murdering at least 100 people and setting over 100 roadside bombs.
Farhan's accomplices, Abdel Aleem and Lazeem, were arrested in the central Ramadi district of Andaluz early on Sunday following a desperate manhunt that lasted nearly two days, Ramadi police major Alaa al-Jassam, told AFP.
"They are now being held in a police station in Ramadi," said Jassam.
Farhan's two accomplices were found hiding in water tanks in a private home, Udai Mohammed Daud, an intelligence police captain, told AFP.
"They were arrested on the second floor of a home, hiding in water tanks," said Daud, adding they had taken the suspects without firing a shot after receiving a tip.
Farhan, 32, was killed by sniper fire around midday Saturday after a fierce gun battle in which he had taken a family hostage in a home on Street 20 in the centre of Ramadi, capital of Anbar province in western Iraq, police said.
Police had been carrying out a massive manhunt since Friday and found Farhan holed up in a home in central Ramadi. They were alerted to his whereabouts when one of the hostages was able to get word to a neighbour.
"The female hostage got to the back of the house and was able to tell her neighbour that they were hostages and that a terrorist was there," Colonel Salah Arar, commander of the southern sector of Ramadi police, told AFP.
"We took a police unit and a sniper squad with us and we identified the room in the house where he was," Arar said.
"One of our snipers shot him but only wounded him. Then as he tried to move across the roof from one house to another, one of our snipers shot him five or six times."
Pictures of a man alleged to be Farhan showed a body riddled with bullet holes.
Police raided the home of Farhan's sister on Friday and confiscated his passport and his national identity document in case he tried to flee abroad, Ramadi police captain Mohammed Daud said.
The daring and apparently well-planned breakout from the station began at around 2 am Friday when a prisoner called out that he was sick and a policeman went to a communal cell to check.
When the officer entered the cell holding 40 men, 13 of them Al-Qaeda members, they grabbed him and cut his throat with a makeshift knife. They then seized his gun and went to the police chief's office and slit his throat.
The Al-Qaeda prisoners then dashed into the courtyard where they shot a lieutenant and made it to the armoury before the gun battle erupted.
The prisoners and police battled for two hours before the officers managed to regain control of the complex. One prisoner was recaptured after suffering gunshot wounds.
The predominantly Sunni Arab city of 540,000 was a key Al-Qaeda stronghold in the aftermath of the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime by US-led forces in 2003.
Iraq's biggest province became the theatre of a brutal war focused on the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, while a string of towns along the Euphrates valley became insurgent strongholds and later safe havens for Al-Qaeda.
Farhan himself has been captured twice by US forces and following his release he took charge of Al-Qaeda financing in Ramadi. He later fled to Syria.
When he returned in 2007, he was arrested by Iraqi police but US forces demanded his transfer to Camp Bucca because of his criminal record.
He was then handed to Iraqi police four months ago and was set to go on trial.
"I interrogated him personally, and he admitted to me that he had killed more than 60 brothers of the south (Shiite) on the road between Ramadi and the Jordan border and had planted more than 100 roadside bombs that killed dozens," Arar said.
#4
I seen duck snipered with at 200 feets, didn't have a damn clue what hit them... btw wasn't a bolt action anything, also seen a rat snipered at 50 ft. with a .177 rnd propelled by something other than explsives.... wasn't bolt-ackshun either.... catch deh drift Jas?
BAGHDAD A car bomb killed at least 24 people, many of them Shiite pilgrims, and wounded 46 others when it exploded Saturday on a busy road in Baghdad that leads to the revered shrine of Kadhimiya, according to the Ministry of Interior.
That bombing, along with several others in recent weeks, was a stark reminder that even as violence has sharply fallen, insurgents still have the power to carry out deadly strikes in the heart of the capital. The attacks timing and location appeared to be intended to reignite sectarian passions.
Millions of Shiites are preparing to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. The observance falls during Muharram, the holiest month of the Shiite religious calendar, which begins Monday. Shiite families from across Iraq traditionally visit the shrine, with its shimmering twin golden domes, on Saturdays.
The explosion occurred at midday about 100 yards from Bab al-Dirwaza, one of the main gates to the shrine and the Kadhimiya districts bustling market, which has been a pedestrian-only area for several years because of a spate of deadly attacks in the area. According to several witnesses, the car that exploded was parked outside the fence of one of the nearby parking lots.
On the street in front of the lot, which was cordoned off by American and Iraqi forces, the chassis of a car lay amid the wreckage of a minibus and five other vehicles in one lane. A womans shoe and shreds of the black head-to-toe cloak commonly worn by Iraqi women mixed with blood, broken glass and metal. A smashed bus was in the other lane.
Rescuers tried to force open the doors of vehicles to remove the dead and wounded, witnesses said. Many badly burned bodies were simply piled up on wooden market pushcarts.
Muhammad Hamdan, 58, who narrowly escaped the blast, had come to the shrine with his wife and six children to pray to be cured of a heart ailment. Those who perished are martyrs, God willing, he said.
Residents and visitors expressed shock and anger that the bombing occurred in what is considered one of the citys most secure enclaves. The neighborhood is ringed with Iraqi Army and police checkpoints, where each entering vehicle is scanned with a hand-held bomb detection device. The area receives special attention because it is home to the shrine and the base of Ayatollah Hussein Ismail al-Sadr, a Shiite cleric close to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.
The tight security led several residents to lash out at what they assumed to be incompetence or corruption that had allowed the bombing to happen. This area is highly protected, Mr. Hussein said. Not even a rat could come in. The terror is from within.
A Kadhimiya resident, Fawzia Qazzaz, standing on her porch overlooking the scene, screamed at security personnel as tears rolled down her cheeks. Either their bomb detection equipment is faulty or they are implicated in the terror, she said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/28/2008 00:00 ||
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Thousands of angry protesters across the Arab world railed against Israel's deadly attacks on Gaza today, as the British foreign secretary, David Miliband, backed the UN security council's calls for an immediate end to the violence.
Demonstrations erupted in countries including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iran, Iraq and Turkey, with many protesters waving banners demanding a stronger response from Arab nations to the air strikes, which have left at least 280 people dead.
Stone-throwing protesters in Hebron, Ramallah and other West Bank towns confronted Israeli troops firing rubber bullets and teargas. A Palestinian medic said a Palestinian man was killed by Israeli fire during an angry demonstration in the West Bank village of Naalin.
Miliband said the UK supported "an urgent ceasefire and immediate halt to all violence" and that he and the prime minister, Gordon Brown, were following the developments with "grave concern". A rise in rocket attacks by Hamas and yesterday's "massive loss of life" in Gaza made this a "dangerous moment", Miliband said, adding that the "deteriorating humanitarian situation is deeply disturbing".
The US, however, said that Hamas should take the first step to end the violence. "We believe the way forward from here is for rocket attacks against Israel to stop, for all violence to end," said the US ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad.
In Beirut, a Hamas official spoke to a crowd of about 1,000 people who gathered with Lebanese and Palestinian flags. His speech was met with cries of "death to Israel" from some in the crowd. In the capital of Syria, more than 5,000 people marched towards the central Youssef al-Azmeh square. In Amman, Jordan, around 5,000 lawyers marched to demand the Israeli ambassador's expulsion and the closure of the embassy, and there were also protests outside the Israeli embassy in Turkey.
Protesters burned Israeli flags and fired AK-47s in the air at demonstrations across Iraq. "We have been waiting for an action from Arab leaders for almost 60 years," said Jaleel al-Qasus, the Palestinian envoy to Iraq, at a protest in the Baladiyat district of Baghdad. "Our efforts have been in vain."
There were also demonstrations in the Iraqi cities of Samarra, Falluja and Mosul, where a suicide bomber killed a teenage boy. The Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, a leading opponent of the US in Iraq, backed the demonstrations. "The massacre of innocents in Gaza is proof of what we are saying. All this is happening with backing of the American government and colonial states," he said in a statement.
There were also protests in the typically quiet streets of Dubai, where hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the Palestinian consulate.
In New York, the UN security council avoided apportioning blame in a cautiously worded statement that called for "an immediate halt to all violence". "The members called on the parties to stop immediately all military activities," said the council's current president, Croatia's ambassador, Neven Jurica. He said both sides should address "the serious humanitarian and economic needs in Gaza", stressing "the need for the restoration of calm in full".
The call for an end to violence was repeated by leaders across the world. Pope Benedict warned that "the native land of Jesus cannot continue to be witness to so much bloodshed, repeating itself without end," while Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, said through its foreign ministry that Israel's attacks "will prompt new tensions".
The secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, said his organisation was shocked by the "unimaginable and unacceptable" air strikes. Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, described Israel's assault as a "crime against humanity". In one of the most aggressive responses, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a religious decree to Muslims, ordering them to defend Palestinians, according to state television.
"All Palestinian combatants and all the Islamic world's pious people are obliged to defend the defenceless women, children and people in Gaza in any way possible," Khamenei said in a statement reported on state television. "Whoever is killed in this legitimate defence is considered a martyr." Iran refuses to recognise Israel, which has accused it of supplying Hamas with weapons.
The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, blamed Hamas, a rival to his Fatah movement, for sparking the Israeli attacks by failing to extend the Egyptian-brokered truce that came to an end last week. "We talked to them [Hamas] and we told them, 'Please, we ask you, do not end the truce. Let the truce continue and not stop,' so that we could have avoided what happened," he said in Cairo after talks with the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak.
The US president-elect Barack Obama made no statement. His spokeswoman Brooke Anderson told the New York Times Obama had spoken about events with the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, but that "there is one president at a time".
Posted by: john frum ||
12/28/2008 15:34 ||
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#1
seething meter is reading "meh", we've seen better protests and riots over friggin cartoons. Sorry Paleos, nobody loves you
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/28/2008 15:45 Comments ||
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#2
"We have been waiting for an action from Arab leaders for almost 60 years"
Funny, I have the same thought about Daisy and Donald Duck.
#3
Thousands of angry protesters across the Arab world railed rolled their eyes and shrieked yet again in impotent spittle-spewing rage against Israel's deadly attacks on Gaza today,
That should be more accurate.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
12/28/2008 17:52 Comments ||
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#4
OMFG! Am UpRoar? Damn, no one said nothing about a damn uproar. Halp! The Arab Street is COme alive!
#6
Arab league hasn't even met yet. Egypt and KSA not too fond of Hamas these days. Tzahal probably has at least 7 days to work before pressure to let up builds. And sending in humanitarian aid at the same time as the attacks is a very nice touch, to take the winds out of the left's sails.
Gaza residents on Sunday breached the border fence with Egypt in several places and hundreds have crossed the frontier prompting Egyptian border guards to open fire, said officials and witnesses on both sides of the border.
Perhaps the Egyptians are well aware of the unsavory reputation of the Gazooks?
A resident of the Gaza Strip side of the border, Fida Kishta, said that Egyptian border guards opened fire to drive back the Palestinians. Residents have also commandeered a bulldozer to open new breaches.
Funny how it's a big problem when the Israelis drive bulldozers through stuff but not when Paleos do it ...
The border breach came shortly after Israel Defense Forces aircraft bombed more than 40 tunnels linking the blockaded Gaza Strip with Egypt's Sinai desert.
"The air force just attacked over 40 tunnels found on the Gaza side of the border. Those tunnels, we believe, were used for smuggling weapons, explosives and sometimes people," an IDF spokeswoman told reporters.
#7
Gaza residents on Sunday breached the border fence with Egypt in several places and hundreds have crossed the frontier prompting Egyptian border guards to open fire
A classic pincher movement by Israel's new allies.
Posted by: regular joe ||
12/28/2008 12:41 Comments ||
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#8
Their "Arab brethren" are finally getting tired of their sh!t?
#9
It's not Palestinians in general but Hamas in particular that the Egyptian government is squeezing. Mubarak has made several public statements lately about the danger that Iran poses to the Middle East.
#11
This website I'm about ot link is from a PoV from a Isreali citizen, with info and links. He's updating as things happen and I founf it very informative.
Posted by: Charles ||
12/28/2008 13:22 Comments ||
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#12
Good thing I tripled my popcorn order.
They're backing another boxcar up my specially approved neighborhood siding right now. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/28/2008 13:23 Comments ||
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#13
Fedex has space allocated for Rantburgers all over the world for popcorn to supply their needs. Barbara---expect a truckload of Fedex boxes coming to your house for orders.
This is it, folks. Full tilt boogie popcorn mission.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/28/2008 13:44 Comments ||
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#14
FedEx has already notified me to expect 2 of their trucks at the loading dock early tomorrow morning.
I've called the third shift for the Industrial-Strength Popcorn Popper™ back from vacation early. Nobody's complaining about it, either - they all recognize the importance of our mission.
We'll be ready when the trucks arrive. Go IAF!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/28/2008 13:55 Comments ||
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#15
A classic pincher movement by Israel's new allies.
I am channeling Lucky and he approves of this message. Also smiles at purdy much everyone. Only has a few seconds, velo against DevilBikers. Gotta go... OUT!
Whereas Saturday, the Israeli bombers struck with missiles, Sunday, dropped CBU-24 bunker busters which detonate 30 minutes after penetration on the Philadelphi tunnels.
Assuming anyone was turned towards them in the first place.
Whereas Saturday, the Israeli bombers struck with missiles, Sunday, dropped CBU-24 bunker busters which detonate 30 minutes after penetration on the Philadelphi tunnels
Gave them 30 minutes to get out, eh? I wonder if even the US would have given them that much slack. I don't wonder if the Paleos would have given the Israelis that much slack had the tables been turned.
#20
Mubarak has the same opinion of Hamas that he has of the Islamic Brotherhood. Can't imagine why ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/28/2008 17:55 Comments ||
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#21
Gezz, is there a more pathetic group of people who are otherwise intelligence and hardworking...the violent jihad thuggery thing has really screwed these people. Lesson for the West.
#3
Don't get fooled people. Egypt is doing the actual "not allowing the wounded to leave Gaza." Egypt can care less about the number of Hamas wounded. This is just your typical "put on a good face" propaganda from Egypt.
#7
those aren't wopunded and if they are they are walking wounded, what makes you think Hamas even gives a shit about even their own woumded they would rathe rkeep them for the propaganda purpose if nothing else sounds like you got a hard on for Hamas too me
#8
Let's look at this objectively, folks. Hamas has been pushing Israel's buttons for months. They don't have much to go after the Israelis with except a bunch of jihadi idiot-bots. So they play the humanitarian crisis card. They cause enough trouble to close the border, to stop supplies, to stop fuel and electricity. Instant humanitarian crisis. Then they push Iareal's buttons a little too much, and the IAF takes out their HQ. Now their staff is being degraded. They got the propaganda, but they are losing the brains, too.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/28/2008 13:52 Comments ||
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#9
"They got the propaganda, but they are losing the brains, too."
Brains? This is Ham-Ass we're talking about here, AP.
What brains?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/28/2008 13:58 Comments ||
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#10
"brains"
relatively speaking?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/28/2008 14:04 Comments ||
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#11
Ok OK. Bloody nit pickers ye all are. Retract the term "brains" and insert "middle management." Correct all communiques. That is all. Now back to my popcorn.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/28/2008 14:21 Comments ||
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#14
CBS showed pix last night of wounded little children being carried from the rubble. I might have felt sorry for them but for two things:
1) standard propaganda technique
2) IAF bombed Hamas HQ. What were little children doing there?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/28/2008 16:33 Comments ||
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#15
What were little children doing there?
Taking care of the puppies, kittens and baby ducks, what else?
(You'll know they got hit good if they have that psychotic Farful, or whatever that Mickey Mouse knock-off's name is, staggering onto the set of that kiddie program wearing a sling.)
At least one Palestinian was dead and three others were injured in a tunnel collapse on Saturday in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, medical sources told Ma'an.
Put in another workmans comp claim to Mutual of Gaza ...
The Ministry of Health's Dr Mu'aweyah Hassanein told Ma'an that paramedics have not yet managed to recover the body of 23-year-old Walid Khaled Al-Shorbagy, who was killed in the collapse.
Al-Shorbagy? What kind of Paleo name is that?
I find it delightfully euphonious, a valuable enrichment of the language. Now we can say not only "deader than Tut" and "deader than a rock," but also "deader than Shorbagy."
This article starring:
WALID KHALED AL SHORBAGY
Hamas
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2008 00:43 ||
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#1
At least they don't have to dig a hole and bury him. Allan's already done that. Allan is great.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/28/2008 9:29 Comments ||
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#2
OK, folks, this was a difficult news item to commemorate in a limerick, but here goes, *ahem*:
There once was a man named Shorbagy
Who found tunneling a bit of a draggy
He found himself deep
Like a wolf-cornered sheep
With his guts spread around all zig-zaggy
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/28/2008 14:04 Comments ||
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Members of the National Resistance Brigades (NRB), the armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), were targeted by Israeli warplanes in eastern Gaza Saturday night. The group was east of Gaza City on a mission to launch shells at Israeli targets when they were spotted by Israeli aircraft flying low over the area. The Israeli plane released shells on the area but all activists escaped the attack unharmed. The NRB affirmed that they will continue their resistance activities.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2008 00:36 ||
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#1
they will continue their resistance activities
after changing their underwear and pants
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/28/2008 7:31 Comments ||
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Ma'an -- Death shrouds the hallways of Gaza City's Ash-Shifa medical compound Saturday, its smell creeping in from all corners. Amputated bodies are strewn throughout hallways because morgues in the city can no longer accommodate the dead.
The heart [urp] bleeds ...
"Doctor Bob! Doctor Bob! The only part of him left that's any good is his elbow! Everything else is mangled!"
"I guess we're gonna have to amputate!"
In one corner a man stands with his seven year old son in a cardboard box because the hospital ran out of sheets to cover the dead with. This is how he will carry him home and bury him.
Life's tough when you start a war with somebody.
Another man stands dazed, in shock after watching his son Mohammed killed during his graduation ceremony at the de facto police headquarters. The father of one of Mohammed's classmates stood next to his son as he was decapitated. The man is still screaming. In the packed hospital waiting room a mother sits silently staring into the distance; her son was pronounced dead shortly after she brought him in.
Despite the ugly scene at the medical compound people poured in, seeming not to notice the horror of blood and body parts they hurriedly try to pick out clothing or personal items of loved ones hit by Israeli missiles somewhere in the Gaza Strip.
Twelve year old Ayaman is screaming at his father who tries to prevent him from seeing the bodies of his uncle and brother, torn to pieces under sheets. "I'm not afraid to see them," he screamed. In a rage as his father holds tight, Ayman catches the hand of a resistance fighter; "shell and kill them as they did to us," he says.
Who the hell writes this crap? Goebbels?
Yaha Muheisen stops searching for his son's body for a moment to speak to Ma'an's reporter. "whatever Israel did it will not defeat us," he says, "it will not weaken our power."
We can't fight worth shit, but our power to seethe can't be matched!
Forty-year-old mother Nawal Al-Lad'a did not find the bodies of her two sons in the medical compound, so she left to look amid the rubble. Husam Farajallah, a university student, was at the hospital collecting the body of his relative. He called what happened in Gaza a "black day" in the lives of all Palestinians, and wondered how the world could watch and do nothing.
Why not? They watched and did nothing as the Paleos were shelling civilians in Israel.
Medics in Gaza lied confirmed that the majority of those killed in the day's attacks were civilians, including men, women and children. Most were cut to pieces, making the job of doctors and medics difficult, and the task of giving bodies back to families painful and gruesome.
The carnage among the puppies, kittens, and baby ducks was particularly atrocious.
The medics working in the field continue to dig up bodies from the densely populated urban areas of Gaza City.
The scenes remind many Palestinians of the images that came out of the Sabra and Shatila massacres from Beirut in 1982, when thousands of Palestinians were killed by the Lebanese Phalangist militia.
They managed to get that tidbit out there early, didn't they ...
As the death toll climbs and no word on a halt to the attacks has come from Israel, Gazans fear for their lives and loved ones.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2008 00:35 ||
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#1
I'm sorta confused here. Are these the same folks who party in the street and throw candy every time a bomb goes off in an Israeli bus or some sniper manages to get a head-shot in on some kid in one of the settlements?
#3
You mean like the civilians who surround the houses of known terrorists as human shields against bombing? Or the civilians who party in the street and throw candy every time a bomb goes off in an Israeli bus or some sniper manages to get a head-shot in on some kid in one of the settlements? Or the civilian mothers who encourage their kids to be suicide bombers?
#4
aha! A pro-Paleo troll. I laugh and sneer at terrorists getting their due. Civilians? FOAD. I remember the paleo trash handing out candy and ululating in the streets after 9/11. The entirety of Gaza could be wiped from the Earth and I wouldn't feel bad, sorry.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/28/2008 7:36 Comments ||
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#5
Shermanize Gaza. Make them howl and wish they'd never started this war.
#6
Perhaps we should be more open to alternative viewpoints. OK Cherelet, what's your genius solution for the bunch of pricks who call themselves "Palestinians". Or do you just think you're so superior that the rest of humanity needs you to point out that the situation is bad but not quite superior enough to come up with an viable solution yourself.
#7
It is worthwhile to keep in mind that hamass is a wholely owned subsidiary of Shia murder incorporated otherwise known as Iran. Hamass is nothing more that a sunni version of Lebanon's hezbollah. Iran now has two fronts in it's war against the West (Little Satan included).
#9
Tenille, you realize that Hamas located their arsenals and bases in civilian areas specifically to get their people killed, and they would not do this unless idiots like you rewarded them with propaganda support?
#10
The people fully support and give aid to Hamas and cheer and celebrate when Israeli and western civilians are blown to pieces. Therefore, the civilians of Gaza are the enemy as well.
#11
Wasn't it these Civilians who elected HamAss as their government? These same cheer when a HamAss sponsored rocket kills a civilian in Israel (But I guess _those_ civilians don't matter to you since the're jewish).
Unlike HamAss, Israel does not deliberately target and murder civilians. In fact they take extraordinary measures to give fair warning ahead of time up to and including calling the residents of the target area ahead of time. HamAss on the other hand deliberately plants secondary bombs to kill those who arrive (first responders) to help the victims of the first bomb.
The civilian deaths are not the fault of Israel but of HamAss for deliberately placing their ammo dumps and bases in the center of civilian populations as well as firing rockets (deliberately targeted at civilians) from civilian centers.
This is pretty good, given the propaganda driven practice of locating terrorist facilities next to schools, mosques, apartment buildings and the like.
The complicit media and peace movement must, of course, bear responsibility for the deaths of human shields, since this strategy would be worthless without their predictable cooperation.
#14
Hamas asked for it. They are not interested in peace. Terrorist have a lot of offspring and that's who are screaming revenge. I'm glad this is contained in Gaza where Hamas rules.
Posted by: Grolush Darling of the Hatfields3195 ||
12/28/2008 13:43 Comments ||
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#15
Cherelet,
I plead guilty. Have mercy on me, Honorable Kos Kiddie.
#16
Cherelet, I don't know what you mean by "civilians". There's nothing civil about this culture of death that elected Hamas, encourages suicide bombing of civilians, and launches ceasefire rocket attacks against their neighbor.
#17
Cheret: Yeah, kinda similar to some people on this blog cracking jokes and cheering on the death of civilians in that respect.
Rifle-toting Palestinian gunmen in ski masks are civilians? That's a new one. I do remember Palestinians handing candy and celebrating after 9/11, though - when Arab Muslims killed almost 3,000 Americans, 95% of them civilians. The only problem with the Israeli attack is that the tally of dead Palestinians doesn't come with more zeros at the end.
In the heaviest military strike against the Gaza Strip since the 1967 Six Day War, the Israel Air Force bombed over 170 targets on Saturday, killing more than 230 Palestinians, as Israel launched "Operation Cast Lead," aimed at putting a stop to Hamas rocket attacks against the South.
In two waves, over 100 fighter jets and attack helicopters dropped dozens of smart bombs and hundreds of tons of explosives on Hamas training camps, headquarters, weapons storehouses, underground missile silos and command-and-control centers scattered throughout the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian officials said that at least 15 civilians were among the dead in Gaza.
In response, 80 Kassam rockets, Grad-model Katyushas and mortar shells pounded southern Israel throughout the day. One rocket scored a direct hit on an apartment building in Netivot, killing 58-year-old Beber Vaknin and wounding several others.
As ground forces amassed outside Gaza ahead of a possible ground operation, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned that Saturday's aerial bombardment was just the opening salvo of a long operation that defense officials told The Jerusalem Post would likely last several weeks. "There is a time for a cease-fire and a time to fight," Barak said. "Now is the time to fight."
Defiant Hamas leaders threatened revenge. Hamas "will continue the resistance until the last drop of blood," vowed spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.
Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal called on West Bank residents to rise up against Israel in a renewed intifada.
Soldiers from the Paratroop and Golani Brigades were deployed along the Gaza border ahead of the possible ground offensive. Defense officials said that anyone and anything identified with Hamas was a potential target.
At least two senior Hamas commanders were killed in the air strikes. One was identified as Maj.-Gen. Tawfiq Jabar, commander of the Gaza Strip police, who was killed at the Gaza Police Academy during a graduation ceremony; 70-80 Hamas operatives were reported killed in that attack.
Officials said that Israel did not plan on conquering the Gaza Strip or toppling the Hamas regime, but would likely continue the air strikes together with limited ground assaults against Hamas infrastructure and Kassam launch sites.
"We will not stop until Hamas halts its rocket attacks and terrorist activity," one senior defense official said.
The operation was given three goals - to stop Hamas's rocket attacks against Israel; to stop the smuggling of weapons into Gaza; and to stop Hamas's terrorist activity against Israel.
"Our purpose is to hit Hamas in such a way that will force it to halt any firing and other hostile activities against Israeli citizens and against the IDF," Barak said. "We will do everything it takes to defend our citizens and bring about a significantly improved situation along our border."
The IDF opened the underground military command-and-control center located at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv. Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi manned the post together with several top generals throughout the day. OC Air Force Maj.-Gen. Ido Nehushtan was inside the IAF underground command-and-control center nearby.
"The goal of the operation was to shock, awe and deceive the Palestinians," a senior IDF officer said Saturday, referring to Barak's decision to open the crossings on Friday - done to deceive Hamas into believing that Israel was delaying a military response to the rocket attacks.
Reports that the cabinet planned to convene on Sunday to discuss the situation in Gaza were also aimed at deceiving Hamas.
The air strikes caused widespread panic and confusion in Gaza. Black clouds of smoke rose above the Strip, ruled by Hamas since June 2007. The IDF said it had avoided striking at targets next to schools and inside densely-populated apartment buildings, but urged Gazans to stay away from Hamas infrastructure.
The IDF Central Command also went on high alert out of concern that Hamas terrorists would try to infiltrate Israeli cities to perpetrate suicide bombings. Military sources said there was also worry that Hamas would try to kidnap soldiers in the West Bank and that Hizbullah might attack along the northern border.
Olmert cautioned Israel's enemies against trying to take advantage of the fact that Israel was busy in Gaza.
In a televised speech, Mashaal warned Israel that it would not achieve by fighting what it had been unable to achieve through diplomacy.
While the Damascus-based Hamas leader maintained that his organization was interested in renewing the cease-fire with Israel, he said this would only be possible if Israel and opened all crossings in and out of the Strip.
Mashaal defended his group's actions and the continued rocket attacks on Israel that led to the IAF offensive, saying Israel - and not Hamas - was responsible for the renewed bloodshed.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2008 00:30 ||
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#1
and Khaled, hiding under his daughter's bed in Damascus, is oh so brave with his comrade's lives.
P*ssy
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/28/2008 7:40 Comments ||
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#2
"jets and attack helicopters dropped dozens of smart bombs" i.e. bunker busters
This is a major blow to Hamas, not because of the amount dead. Hamas never gets phased about the "number" of deaths. They can always import more Hamas members (from Iran & Hezbollah controlled areas of Lebanon).
Israel til date, refused to use "bunker busters" in the Gaza strip. This is a major blow to Hamas because their underground CC have been completely wiped out in the Gaza Strip. Essentially, you just have a bunch of ants running around without a mound to hide.
Once the Hamas CC is wiped out, I really hate to say this, the Palestinian Authority under Abbas can take over. I am not a big fan of terrorist group PA, but I would rather have PA take over than Hamas. By the way, the PA is rooting for Israel to take out the Hamas CC. "the enemy of my enem......" The PA can "take care" of the roaming ants, once the Israeli operation is finalized.
One of the reasons I prefer PA over Hamas is because the PA are Sunni Muslims and Hamas, Shiites. Hamas is more dangerous due to their Shiite brethren in Iran re-supplying with advanced weaponry. The Shiites (Iran) would never provide weapons to the Sunni's (PA). The Shiites consider Sunni's as apostates.
However, since the PA is recognized by the UN, the PA can get weapons to fight Israel from the EU, Egypt, and the Sunni areas of Syria. Egypt gets advanced weaponry from the U.S. as part of the Jimmy Carter "peace" deal, many moons ago. The IDF can stamp down the PLO/PA resistance with two hands tied behind their back and blindfolded.
At least five Palestinians were killed as IAF aircraft continued to hammer Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip late Saturday night and early Sunday.
Palestinians said aircraft targeted a mosque near Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, destroying it. Two bodies were retrieved from the rubble. The army said the mosque was a base for terrorist activities.
Isn't 'mosque' the Arabic word for 'weapons depot'?
Palestinian sources reported early Sunday morning that IAF aircraft had targeted the Al Aqsa TV station used by Hamas. The studio building was destroyed, but the station remained on the air with a mobile unit, the sources said.
Palestinians counted about 20 air-strikes in the first hours of Sunday.
On Saturday night, an IAF aircraft attacked a Kassam launching crew in, killing three of its members. Palestinians said four others were wounded in the attack.
More than 170 targets were hit by IAF aircraft throughout Saturday. At least 230 Gazans were killed and over 780 were wounded, according to Palestinian sources. Officials said at least 15 civilians were among the dead.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2008 00:30 ||
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#1
Palestinian sources reported early Sunday morning that IAF aircraft had targeted the Al Aqsa TV station used by Hamas. The studio building was destroyed, but the station remained on the air with a mobile unit, the sources said.
Posted by: Herman Wheque2343 ||
12/28/2008 3:03 Comments ||
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#3
I guess they'll have to go back to reading the Sunday Comics or beefing up the K-12 with an extra hour or two a day of hate-filled propaganda classes until the next cease-fire allows them to rebuild the transmitter.
In response to Saturday's IAF air strikes on Hamas in Gaza, Palestinians fired over 80 rockets and mortar shells at areas throughout the western Negev. In Netivot, 58-year-old Beber Vaknin was killed and five people were wounded - one seriously - when their house was hit by a rocket. All the wounded were evacuated to Beersheba's Soroka Hospital.
"After the first rocket landed, people wanted to see what had happened," one of Vaknin's neighbors told The Jerusalem Post on Saturday night. "He went outside to look around when the rocket hit, and he was killed by the shrapnel. The medics said the shrapnel pierced his heart."
Vaknin was unmarried and held a clerical position in the southern town. "He was a solitary, elderly guy," the neighbor continued. "He has brothers, one here in Netivot, but otherwise, he didn't have any family."
Later a rocket hit a house in the community of Mivtahim, seriously wounding one person and lightly wounding another. A Magen David Adom team treated them at the scene.
In Ashkelon, at least 10 rocket strikes were reported, with one hitting an apartment building. For the first time ever, a Kassam rocket struck Kiryat Gat. The "Color Red" warning siren also sounded in Ashdod, although no rockets were reported to have landed there.
Nobody was hurt in any of the other attacks. Israeli citizens living within a 20-kilometer radius of Gaza were ordered to remain indoors as Kassam warning systems blared throughout the area.
A tense calm fell over Sderot on Saturday night, with residents remaining indoors and on high alert. "We've heard the 'Color Red' siren a couple of times today, but in general it's been quiet here in the last few hours," Sderot Municipality spokesman Shalom Helevi told the Post on Saturday night. "Some Kassams have landed nearby, but in open fields, and no damage has been reported."
"We're following the instructions of the security forces and Home Front Command," Helevi continued. "Residents are aware that in this range, they have 15-17 seconds to get themselves to a secure room, while residents who live closer to the Strip - within four and a half kilometers - have even less time. But the people of Sderot know quite well how to handle this situation; we've been living it for eight years, and I can tell you that we absolutely support the IDF operation in the clearest terms, and are willing to suffer the consequences of rocket fire here in Sderot as long as the army is working to bring an end to it. It's about time we acted, and the residents of Sderot are ready for anything."
Maj.-Gen. (res.) Doron Almog appeared on Channel 2 Saturday night and warned residents of the South that they should expect further rocket fire.
"There will be more rockets in the coming days," Almog said. "Hamas has hundreds of defined positions - some of which we've already hit, some of which we have not - and they will try to regroup and mount a response with increased rocket fire on the country's south."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2008 00:30 ||
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#1
where is all the bitching about killing a civilian on the article tenille?
Does Israel have telephone listings for all the surrounding countries and territories? It seems to me they did something similar before attacking Hizb'allah in Lebanon.
Militants often operate against Israel from civilian areas, and that has led to steep civilian casualties in the past when Israel has retaliated. Late Saturday, thousands of Gazans received Arabic-language voice mails on their cell phones from the Israel Defense Forces, urging them to leave homes where militants might have stashed weapons. Now back to the beginning of the article:
Israel Air Force warplanes struck targets in Gaza early Sunday, including a mosque and a TV station, after a day of intensive air strikes that killed at least 230 Palestinians and wounded close to 800.
Hundreds of Israeli infantry and armored corps troops headed for the Gaza border early Sunday in preparation for a possible ground invasion, military officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity under army guidelines. Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Sky News that he would not rule out widening the offensive in the Gaza Strip to include a ground invasion.
Barak on Saturday also said Israel "cannot really accept" a cease-fire with Hamas, rejecting calls by the United Nations and the European Union for a truce after Israel Air Force strikes killed at least 230 people in Gaza. "For us to be asked to have a cease-fire with Hamas is like asking you to have a cease-fire with Al-Qaida," Barak said in an interview with Fox News. "It's something we cannot really accept. Our intention is to totally change the rules of the game," he said. Pretty please with sugar on top?
In the first attack early Sunday, Palestinians said Israeli aircraft bombed a mosque near Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, destroying it. Another target early Sunday was the Al Aqsa TV station used by Hamas. Its studio building was destroyed, but the station remained on the air with a mobile unit.
#2
I'm with Barack on this one. If they've the ability and will to do it, it's time to end Hamas. The Lightbringer is too much an unknown quantity and an opportunity has presented itself to act before he takes office.
Happy Huntin, IDF!
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/28/2008 0:35 Comments ||
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#3
I love it - it's called "reverse 911" when the fire authorities in SoCal use it to issue evacuation instructions. This is a much more interesting application.
Mike, good thinking. I wonder if the impending ascent of the nice young man really is affecting their operational decisions.
#5
I just wish they were heading east. Or is this really a feint?
Actually, NM, it is a message to Iran: "You think you can nuke us without fear of retaliation, because we're reluctant to kill "innocent civilians"? Think again!"
#8
I saw the Defense Minister on CNN and the Anchor asked if he thought the strikes were "A proportional response to the rocket attacks from Gaza." I don't understand what a proportional respose wold look like? Were the Israel suposed to fire unguided rockets into civilian targets?
Given how they cheered and handed out candy during the original 911, they deserve everything they get. I hope Israel wipes out the entire nest of vipers.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
12/28/2008 13:55 Comments ||
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The Israel Defense Forces on early Sunday began mobilizing tanks and reinforcing ground troops near the Gaza border, in preparation for a possible ground incursion.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Sky News that he would not rule out widening the offensive in the Gaza Strip to include a ground invasion. Barak on Saturday also said Israel "cannot really accept" a cease-fire with Hamas, rejecting calls by the United Nations and the European Union for a truce after Israel Air Force strikes killed at least 230 people in Gaza. "For us to be asked to have a cease-fire with Hamas is like asking you to have a cease-fire with Al-Qaida," Barak said in an interview with Fox News. "It's something we cannot really accept."
Asked whether Israel would follow up the air strikes with a ground offensive, Barak said, "If boots on the ground will be needed, they will be there."
"Our intention is to totally change the rules of the game," he said.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert earlier on Saturday said no country in the world would put up with the rocket and missile strikes Israel suffers from and that the time had come to react. Olmert's words came during a press conference he held hours after the Israel Defense Forces and the IAF carried out attacks in Gaza that Palestinian officials said left at least 230 dead and hundreds wounded. "Israel has done all it could to preserve the cease-fire with Hamas, but our desire for quiet was met with terror," Olmert said.
Olmert added that Israel "is not itching for a fight, but will not back down from one either."
The Prime Minister also vowed to restore quiet to the lives of Israel's southern residents, adding that they "will not be abandoned." He also said that the IDF operations in Gaza would take time, and asked for patience.
Leader of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, accused Israel on Saturday of a "massacre" of Palestinians, saying "Palestine has never witnessed an uglier massacre."
Where is Ismail, anyways?
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/28/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Here's to you idiots (Paleostinians) finally learning about cause and effect. Your towns are being blown to sh!t because you're stupid and can't get along with anyone. Your choice, live or die.
#2
They picked a good time to go in. Obama is hiding in the dark in Oahu and the rest of us are too busy with the new toys Christmas season to spend time watching the Green Helmet Guys on CNN.
#6
Reports from Israel say that the house next to Haniyah was hit today; Haniyah uses that place sometimes for meetings, storing documents and the like (probably not explosives except some hand weapons).
Israeli Arabs on Saturday protested Israel Defense Forces attacks in the Gaza Strip, with demonstrations and clashes with police breaking out in communities throughout Israel.
In East Jerusalem, a police officer was lightly hurt by an Israeli Arab who hit him with his car. The driver, who has a criminal record, was arrested by police shortly thereafter. On Salah-a-Din Street in East Jerusalem, dozens of youths lit dumpsters and hurled stones at police. One assailant was arrested by police at the scene.
In the Shuafat refugee camp, hundreds of Palestinian protestors threw rocks at security forces. In the West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit, a three-year-old boy was lightly hurt after he was hit in the eye by a rock thrower.
In the Bedouin village of Rahat in the Negev, around 400 residents protested the attacks, while mosques throughout the town broadcast prayers of mourning.
Hadash, the predominantly Arab leftist party, will stage a demonstration on Saturday in Nazareth to protest the IAF operations in Gaza. Hadash chairman Mohammed Barakeh called on the government "to immediately halt the crime in the Gaza Strip."
"Escalation will not bring quiet and calm," Barakeh said. "It is inconceivable for the Palestinian people in Gaza to live between starvation and bombardment. The government and the defense minister are trying to gain political capital in an election period on account of the bloodletting of the Palestinian people."
MK Jamal Zahalka, who is the chairman of the Balad faction, called for Defense Minister Ehud Barak to be tried for "war crimes" in Gaza. "Barak is trying to win votes in exchange for Palestinian blood," he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/28/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Protest at full volume - try a hunger strike, yeah that will do the trick, hunger strike for peace - you jagasses
#7
WORLD MIL FORUM > STATES SHOCK: IFF NEEDED, CHINA VOWS TO PROTECT PALESTINIANS' RIGHTS AND INTERESTS WID "MILITARY DETERMINATION" [covert warning to INDIA], as per below:
* SAME > CHINA WARNS INDIA: UNILATERAL CROSS-BORDER STRIKES AGZ PAKISTAN IS UN-ACCEPTABLE, + CHINA WARNS INDIA TO HEED LESSON OF 1950's ANTi-AMERICAN KOREAN WAR IN ITS DEALINGS WITH "LITTLE BROTHER" PAKISTAN.
Long-term preparation, careful gathering of information, secret discussions, operational deception and the misleading of the public - all these stood behind the Israel Defense Forces "Cast Lead" operation against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, which began Saturday morning.
The disinformation effort, according to defense officials, took Hamas by surprise and served to significantly increase the number of its casualties in the strike.
Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago, even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. According to the sources, Barak maintained that although the lull would allow Hamas to prepare for a showdown with Israel, the Israeli army needed time to prepare, as well.
Barak gave orders to carry out a comprehensive intelligence-gathering drive which sought to map out Hamas' security infrastructure, along with that of other militant organizations operating in the Strip. This intelligence-gathering effort brought back information about permanent bases, weapon silos, training camps, the homes of senior officials and coordinates for other facilities.
The plan of action that was implemented in Operation Cast Lead remained only a blueprint until a month ago, when tensions soared after the IDF carried out an incursion into Gaza during the ceasefire to take out a tunnel which the army said was intended to facilitate an attack by Palestinian militants on IDF troops.
On November 19, following dozens of Qassam rockets and mortar rounds which exploded on Israeli soil, the plan was brought for Barak's final approval. Last Thursday, on December 18, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the defense minister met at IDF headquarters in central Tel Aviv to approve the operation. However, they decided to put the mission on hold to see whether Hamas would hold its fire after the expiration of the ceasefire. They therefore put off bringing the plan for the cabinet's approval, but they did inform Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of the developments.
That night, in speaking to the media, sources in the Prime Minister's Bureau said that "if the shooting from Gaza continues, the showdown with Hamas would be inevitable." On the weekend, several ministers in Olmert's cabinet inveighed against him and against Barak for not retaliating for Hamas' Qassam launches.
"This chatter would have made Entebe or the Six Day War impossible," Barak said in responding to the accusations. The cabinet was eventually convened on Wednesday, but the Prime Minister's Bureau misinformed the media in stating the discussion would revolve around global jihad. The ministers learned only that morning that the discussion would actually pertain to the operation in Gaza.
In its summary announcement for the discussion, the Prime Minister's Bureau devoted one line to the situation in Gaza, compared to one whole page that concerned the outlawing of 35 Islamic organizations.
What actually went on at the cabinet meeting was a five-hour discussion about the operation in which ministers were briefed about the various blueprints and plans of action. "It was a very detailed review," one minister said. The minister added: "Everyone fully understood what sort of period we were heading into and what sort of scenarios this could lead to. No one could say that he or she did not know what they were voting on." The minister also said that the discussion showed that the lessons of the Winograd Committee about the performance of decision-makers during the 2006 Second Lebanon War were "fully internalized."
At the end of the discussion, the ministers unanimously voted in favor of the strike, leaving it for the prime minister, the defense minister and the foreign minister to work out the exact time. While Barak was working out the final details with the officers responsible for the operation, Livni went to Cairo to inform Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak, that Israel had decided to strike at Hamas.
In parallel, Israel continued to send out disinformation in announcing it would open the crossings to the Gaza Strip and that Olmert would decide whether to launch the strike following three more deliberations on Sunday - one day after the actual order to launch the operation was issued.
"Hamas evacuated all its headquarter personnel after the cabinet meeting on Wednesday," one defense official said, "but the organization sent its people back in when they heard that everything was put on hold until Sunday."
The final decision was made on Friday morning, when Barak met with Chief of Staff General Gabi Ashkenazi, the head of the Shin Bet Security Service Yuval Diskin and the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Amos Yadlin. Barak sat down with Olmert and Livni several hours later for a final meeting, in which the trio gave the air force its orders.
On Friday night and on Saturday morning, opposition leaders and prominent political figures were informed about the impending strike, including Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, Yisrael Beuiteinu's Avigdor Liebermen, Haim Oron from Meretz and President Shimon Peres, along with Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/28/2008 00:00 ||
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"Hamas evacuated all its headquarter personnel after the cabinet meeting on Wednesday," one defense official said, "but the organization sent its people back in when they heard that everything was put on hold until Sunday."
#2
The minister also said that the discussion showed that the lessons of the Winograd Committee about the performance of decision-makers during the 2006 Second Lebanon War were "fully internalized."
Looks like Omlet is handling his legacy issue better than Bush. Unless Bush is really the king of disinformation.
At least five people have been killed and several others injured in a suicide bomb blast outside the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo.
The blast occurred early Sunday in Wattala town, a few miles (kilometers) from the capital, when a suicide bomber detonated explosives at a checkpoint near a market.
The victims were members of the paramilitary Civil Defense Force (CDF). The death toll is expected to rise.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the finger of blame was quickly pointed at Tamil Tiger rebels, who have been fighting for an autonomous Tamil homeland in northern and eastern Sri Lanka since 1983. Hundreds of people have been killed in the violence.
The suicide attack comes as the Sri Lankan troops are battling the rebels and advancing on several fronts in the northern part of the island.
In recent months, Sri Lankan troops have pushed the Tigers out of the east of the country and have advanced rapidly into the north, vowing to defeat the rebels and dismantle their de-facto state in the north by the end of this year.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/28/2008 01:24 ||
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(CNN) -- Sri Lanka's navy on Sunday said it had destroyed a Tamil Tiger rebel boat allegedly attempting to smuggle in military supplies through the northern coast. Commander D.K.P. Dissanayake, a navy spokesman, told CNN that four rebels were killed in attack after the boat was engulfed in fire. He said the incident occurred just after midnight Sunday but gave no other details.
The Tiger rebels had no immediate response.
Since they were drowning ...
On December 20, the Navy said it destroyed a similar rebel boat trying to smuggle military supplies through the coast near the northeastern coastal village of Mullaitivu. However, a second supply boat was caught on Air Force aerial surveillance cameras unloading along the coast. "They included assorted ammunition, artillery shells, mortar shells and other items," a senior Air Force official told CNN. He spoke on grounds of anonymity since he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/28/2008 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.
A suicide bomber killed three Afghan police officers and two civilians and wounded four in Kandahar on Saturday, a senior police official said. The suicide bomber was on foot when he detonated the device next to a police checkpoint on the outskirts of Kandahar city. The policemen were in a military vehicle near the checkpoint and the civilians were also inside a car on the highway when the suicide bomber struck, the officer said.
Afghan and coalition forces said that they have killed six militants during a patrol in southern Afghanistan's most violent region. 
(Xinhua) -- Twelve people were killed and an unknown number of others were wounded on Saturday in fierce fighting in central Somalia that led a local Islamist group seizing a town held by the radical Islamist group of Al-Shabaab, residents said. 
PESHAWAR: Pakistan does not plan a complete withdrawal of troops from its Tribal Areas despite fears of an Indian attack, government officials told Daily Times on Saturday. "The Frontier Corps will stay to guard the border (with Afghanistan) and troops from the 11 Corps will continue to back up the frontline force," the officials said.
BAGHDAD A car bomb killed at least 24 people, many of them Shiite pilgrims, and wounded 46 others when it exploded Saturday on a busy road in Baghdad that leads to the revered shrine of Kadhimiya, according to the Ministry of Interior.
Ma'an -- Death shrouds the hallways of Gaza City's Ash-Shifa medical compound Saturday, its smell creeping in from all corners. Amputated bodies are strewn throughout hallways because morgues in the city can no longer accommodate the dead.
Another man stands dazed, in shock after watching his son Mohammed killed during his graduation ceremony at the de facto police headquarters. The father of one of Mohammed's classmates stood next to his son as he was decapitated. The man is still screaming. In the packed hospital waiting room a mother sits silently staring into the distance; her son was pronounced dead shortly after she brought him in.
At least five Palestinians were killed as IAF aircraft continued to hammer Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip late Saturday night and early Sunday. 
The Israel Defense Forces on early Sunday began mobilizing tanks and reinforcing ground troops near the Gaza border, in preparation for a possible ground incursion. 
Israeli Arabs on Saturday protested Israel Defense Forces attacks in the Gaza Strip, with demonstrations and clashes with police breaking out in communities throughout Israel. 
