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Rantburg
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Today: 102 articles and 275 comments as of 14:26.
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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Zardari caves: Judges restored
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 03/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday:

Henny Youngman - died 1998 (91) "King of the One Liners" (Now)

Jerry Lewis - 83 "The Nutty Professor " (Now)

Olga San Juan - died 2009 (81) "Puerto Rican Pepperpot" (Now)

Nadja Tiller - 80 "Miss Austria 1949" (Now)

Jerry Jeff Walker - 67 "Musician - Pissin in the Wind" (Now)

Nancy Wilson - 55 "Heart" (Now)

Lauren Graham - 42 "Third Rock from the Sun" (Now)

This Day in History:
1802 - The Army Corps of Engineers is established to found and operate the United States Military Academy at West Point.
1867 - First publication of an article by Joseph Lister outlining the discovery of antiseptic surgery, in The Lancet. (Lister Bags & Listerine?)
1916 - The 7th and 10th US cavalry regiments under John J. Pershing cross the US-Mexico border to join the hunt for Pancho Villa.
1926 - Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket.
1935 - Adolf Hitler orders Germany to rearm herself in violation of the Versailles Treaty.
1942 - The first V-2 rocket test launch. It explodes at liftoff.
1945 - The Battle of Iwo Jima ends but small pockets of Japanese resistance persist.
1968 - Vietnam War: In the My Lai massacre.
1995 - Mississippi formally ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 03/16/2009 0:11 Comments || Top||


#3  Live action behind the DS & TP page one photo.

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 03/16/2009 1:20 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
The Grateful Dead
American troops who have served in Iraq find a lot differences await them in Afghanistan. One of the more amazing ones is the dead goat scam. Works like this. Any time a smart bomb gets dropped in an isolated location (which describes most of Afghanistan), and there is any chance of civilian casualties, the locals immediately make a fuss about seeking out who was hurt or killed. The village elders insist that outsiders stay away during this trying time. Even the foreign soldiers and Afghan police are put off (after the search for Taliban bodies, documents and equipment is completed. Being good Moslems, they bury the dead before sunset of the same day. The next day, the elders will claim as many civilian dead as they think they can get away with. The additional graves get a dead goat or other animal, so the proper stench permeates the mound of earth. Digging up graves is also against Islamic law, so the elders know the foreign troops have to take their word for it. The elders also know that the foreign troops, depending on nationality, will pay $1,000-$5,000 compensation per dead civilian. Not only is there a big payday, but the Taliban appreciate the bad publicity directed at the foreigners, and usually show their appreciation by cutting this village or valley some slack in the future.

This scam works because there aren't many public records in Afghanistan. The only ones who know exactly who lives in a village are the people there, and the elders speak for everyone. Investigators have a hard time interrogating individuals, because the elders, and everyone there, has a vested interest in not being found out.

Some of the elders get greedy. For example, despite an intensive investigation into a bombing last Summer in Azizabad (outside Heart), the villagers got paid for over 90 dead. Investigators, piecing together what information they could, were certain that there were only 15 dead civilians (plus Taliban). But you can't touch the graves, and even questioning the veracity of the claims gets you howls of indignation.

In Iraq, there were records, and most of the action was in densely populated areas. The investigation was prompt, and the Iraqis were not as bold and aggressive as the Afghans in keeping officials out. Iraq has a 5,000 year tradition of central government and officials who cannot be chased away. Afghanistan has none of that, at least out in the countryside. The local Afghan police are not enthusiastic about getting to the truth, since denying the villagers a payday will mean the police will be blamed, and the villagers will be eager to even the score down the line. If the police play along, they can expect a reward, from the village elders, for their trouble.

The scam benefits others as well. The Islamic media, and many news outlets in the West, like the idea that a lot more civilians are being killed. For the Westerners, "if it bleeds it leads", and there's a bonus if you want to get in some shots about how poorly the war is being run. Of course, if you interview the American troops involved, you get closer to the truth. But that's not a newsworthy story, and you don't really want to call the soldiers liars, so it's best to just stay away from them. Go for the story, not for the truth.
Posted by: ed || 03/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  The American troops figured this scam out a long time ago, and came up with an effective counter: don't dispute, inflate. If the village elder says a goat was killed, argue with him by insisting a herd of goats was killed, and demand they take payment for all of them.

(Hell, we did this for decades in Germany.)

Of course, this blows their mind, but it cheaply instills in them two beliefs: Americans are powerful and wealthy.

And Afghans (and most other people) always want to support the winning side.

In many cases, Americans make it a point never to visit without bearing gifts. Not bribes, as such, but things that matter. For example, Americans seem to be obsessed with digging water wells for even the puniest of villages.

In exchange, since Americans bring the good stuff, if the Afghans don't come running hoping for something good, the Americans know something is up. And that is worth a lot more than a well.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/16/2009 0:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Snopery knows no boundary. It's the old tie the ancient mule to the railroad tie trick.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/16/2009 7:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Digging up graves is also against Islamic law

Wait till they get a view of what portable ground radar can do. It's just not for CSI investigations anymore.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/16/2009 8:30 Comments || Top||

#4  "radar is unislamic"

/new fatwa
Posted by: Frank G || 03/16/2009 8:39 Comments || Top||

#5  Rantburg is unislamic. Thank God (and Fred and the rest of the R-burgers). Expect a fatwa in 10, 9, 8,.....,1,0 minutes.
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/16/2009 9:51 Comments || Top||

#6  I shall issue a fatwa against anyone who issues a fatwa against Rantburg. My fatwa has about as much moral truth and integrity as the other one, so they cancel out. In cases of extreme irritation, we'll call on al-Aska Paul to settle the argument.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/16/2009 10:46 Comments || Top||

#7  My fatwa has about as much moral truth and integrity as the other one, so they cancel out.

Dear Old Patriot! Your fatwa must have a great deal more moral truth and integrity, because you do. I have so declared; any who question my authority in such matters may come and tell me in person.

/So there!
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/16/2009 16:40 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
4 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan — Four American soldiers were killed in eastern Afghanistan in a roadside explosion on Sunday, the United States military said, in the worst of several attacks by insurgents around the country.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, a spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said.

In a separate attack on Sunday, a suicide bomber blew himself up on a main road south of Kabul, killing two Afghan civilians and wounding nine others. The bomber was standing outside a high school and may have been planning to attack members of an Afghan intelligence security force that passed by just minutes later, said Gen. Sayed Abdul Ghafar, the head of police criminal investigations in Kabul.

The wounded were shopkeepers working in nearby stores and people in passing cars, bystanders said. “It was 12 o’clock, I was washing my hands to get ready for lunch and suddenly I heard a loud explosion followed by smoke and dust,” said a 21-year-old shopkeeper, Hejratullah. “When the smoke cleared, I saw my father, my brother and my uncle were lying on the ground and blood was pouring from their bodies.”

“I saw lots of people in the cars wounded and shouting for help but there was no one to help,” said Mohammad Haroon, a mechanic whose neighbor was wounded.

An explosion in the southern city of Kandahar narrowly missed the mayor, Ghulam Haider Hamedi, as he arrived for work Sunday morning. One passer-by was killed and six others were wounded when a remote-controlled bomb placed on a wheelbarrow beside the gate to his office exploded. Mr. Hamedi’s car was badly damaged, but he was unhurt. He said enemies of Afghanistan were to blame for the attack. “They do not want progress or stability in Afghanistan,” he said.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What happened to the running death toll? This is a good war under a good president, so we stop counting?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 03/16/2009 9:26 Comments || Top||

#2  And there won't be any 'grim milestones' ...
Posted by: Steve White || 03/16/2009 9:39 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Dead bodies found at old Somali factory
Al-Shabaab fighters have discovered what they described as the remains of thirteen bodies in a factory in Baidoa, south central Somalia. Journalists and local elders were asked to come to the former factory of Hasey - about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) east of Baidoa - to see the bodies, allAfrica reported.

Al-Shabaab spokesman, Sheik Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansoor, said that he was saddened by the discovery, blaming the country's former government, the US and Ethiopia for the killing. "As you can see they have cruelly killed our brothers and this is the same thing jointly done by the governments of Somalia, Ethiopia and the United States," Abu Mansoor said.

He called on al-Shabaab fighters to investigate other compounds used by foreign soldiers to look for possible bodies of people, who may have been killed over the past two years.
Posted by: Fred || 03/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Somali rivals in deadly clashes
Fighting between rival armed opposition groups has killed at least 13 people in central Somalia, residents say.

Members of the Ahlu Sunna Wal-jama'ah group clashed with rivals from the al-Shabab movement outside the town of Wabho, north of Mogadishu, the Somali capital, in fighting that began on Saturday. "Thirteen people are dead - eight of them combatants, from both sides - and seven others were injured," Abdisamed Adan Yusuf, a local resident told the AFP news agency.

The fighting continued on the outskirts of the town on Sunday, residents said. Ahlu Sunna Wal-jama'ah said its fighters had captured seven al-Shabab members. "We lost one and four others were injured from our side," Sheikh Abdullahi Sheikh Abu Yusuf, a spokesman for the Ahlu Sunna, told the Reuters news agency. "We shall conclude the war in a short while," he said. "Wabho is now in our hand and we are now about to capture El Bur, their biggest base." There was no immediate comment from al-Shabab.

Sharia-based law

The two groups have clashed repeatedly over control of the region. Al-Shabab and allied groups control much of southern and central Somalia and want to impose their version of sharia, or Islamic law, in the country.

Earlier this month, Somalia's cabinet voted to make Islamic law the basis for the country's legal system in an attempt to isolate more extreme armed groups by agreeing to a demand supported by much of the Somali population. The bill must still be approved by parliament.
Posted by: || 03/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab

#1  I gotta show that picture to my brother, he;s shown me a picture of a Ghetto Gun, seems normal until you notice the sights are on the side of the gun, not on top.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/16/2009 13:14 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Five killed in blast at Yemen tourist site
Four tourists believed to be South Korean and a Yemeni man were killed in an explosion at a tourist site in Yemen, a Yemeni security official said on Sunday.

The official said authorities were investigating the incident in the city of Shibam in the southern province of Hadramout and trying to identify those behind it.

The explosion occurred as the tourists visited the city dubbed the Manhattan of the Desert, which boasts the world's oldest skyscrapers dating back to the 16th century, the official told Reuters.

Asked if the explosion was an attack, the official said: "Maybe it was a terrorist attack, but it could also be remnants of dynamite from a mine going off."
Posted by: || 03/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Yemen


India-Pakistan
Obama told: help Pakistan or risk a repeat of 9/11 in America or Britain
A team headed by Bruce Riedel, a former CIA Middle East expert, asked to overhaul US policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan, has concluded that stabilising Pakistan is now the higher priority, a source familiar with the discussions has revealed.

The report, prepared in conjunction with the National Security Council, will focus on the need to co-opt moderate Taliban elements and shut down militant safe havens in Pakistan's he lawless northwest border region. It will also urge a sharp increase in military and civil assistance.

But The Sunday Telegraph has learned that the need to prevent a repeat of the September 11 attacks has become the driving force behind the review, which could be published as early as this week.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/16/2009 12:31 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But The Sunday Telegraph has learned that the need to prevent a repeat of the September 11 attacks has become the driving force behind the review, which could be published as early as this week.

In other words, President Obama could make his mark in history not by losing Iraq after his predecessor had all but won there, but by encouraging the situation that led to a second 9/11 on his watch, after his predecessor had prevented that for eight years. A nice way to sharpen the gentleman's focus on the important things!
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/16/2009 16:35 Comments || Top||

#2  CHINESE MIL FORUM > VARIOUS > CHINA SENDS A NAVAL PATROL SHIP TO SOUTH CHINA SEA, + REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES MAY RESPOND [serious matter] TO CHINA'S CLAIM OF SOVEREIGNTY + CHINA IS TURNING XISHA ISLANDS INTO A SEA/MARITIME MILITARY FORTRESS, + CHINA SENDS PLA MARINES TO PARACELS FOR JOINT MILITARY TRAINING [Post-MILEX PLA, etc. to Stay-Or-Leave]?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/16/2009 19:09 Comments || Top||

#3  PARACELS? Is that anything like a paradoc[tor]s, JosephM?
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/16/2009 21:17 Comments || Top||

#4  ION ISRAELI MIL FORUM > AL QAEDA: WE CAUSED THE US-GLOBAL FINANCIAL COLLAPSE [ala 9-11 + ME Wars].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/16/2009 22:21 Comments || Top||


Militants torch 13 Nato vehicles
In a fresh attack on Nato supplies here on Sunday, suspected militants torched 13 military vehicles and over a dozen containers in a parking lot in Hazarkhwani after torturing three security guards.

A police official said that a group of around 60 militants attacked the Pak-Afghan Container Terminal on the Ring Road near Hazarkhwani, which transships logistics to Nato forces fighting against Taliban in Afghanistan, and set on fire containers and vehicles by firing rockets and hurling petrol bombs at the facility around 3:00am.

It has been learnt that the attackers overpowered three guards -- Mamoor, Abdul Samad and Abdul Ghaffar -- before entering the venue and then started torching the vehicles.

A party of nearby Agha Mir Jani Shah police station, according to a police official, rushed to the spot and exchanged fire with the attackers, who managed to flee the spot. "We traded fire with the attackers for almost half an hour after which the miscreants fled the scene," a police official said.

"Thirteen vehicles, including trucks and mini-trucks, were torched in the attack," an official of Agha Mir Jani police station told this scribe. The official, however, did not mention torching of any container.

Eyewitnesses said 13 vehicles, including trucks, dumpers and armoured personnel carriers as well as 20 containers, were set on fire. Five of the containers were reduced to ashes while the rest were damaged partially.

The fire caught by the containers and vehicles could not be extinguished till 11:00 am. "It was like a war between two militias. We heard bangs as well as exchange of fire via automatic weapons. The fresh incident tormented the area residents who thought of getting rid of the threat after the government's decision to shift terminals to the Punjab," a local, Rahim Jan, recalled.

The government had ordered not to park Nato containers in the local terminals after a number of attacks on these establishments during the past few months. Several companies, however, never cared about the government directives as well as security arrangements to the goods being transported via this route to Afghanistan.

It may be mentioned here that police had recovered two bombs connected with cellular phones from the Ring Road near the Canal Road only a few hours before Sunday's attack on container terminals.

"The two bombs were having around 10 kilograms of explosives and over 4,000 ball bearings. The explosives were connected with cellular phones for detonation through a phone call," said Inspector Atiq, an officer supervising the area.

Over 300 containers and military vehicles, including Humvees, had been set on fire by suspected militants in around 10 attacks on these terminals on the Ring Road between Pishtakhara and Hazarkhwani areas since December last year.
Posted by: Fred || 03/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


Officials: Missile attack kills 5 in Pakistan
A suspected US missile strike killed two Arabs and three other people in northwest Pakistan late Sunday, intelligence officials said, in the latest in a barrage of American attacks on suspected militant targets in the region.

Pakistan's border region with Afghanistan is home to scores of al-Qaida and Taliban militants and the United States is pressing Islamabad to do more to fight them. The remote lawless area is believed to be a likely hiding place for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Since last year, Washington has stepped up attacks by unmanned planes believed launched from bases in Afghanistan. It rarely acknowledges carrying out the attacks, which have killed many militants but angered Pakistan's government.

The identities of those killed in Sunday's attack were not immediately known, two intelligence officials said.

It took place in Chota Janikhel village close to Bannu town, they said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Posted by: Fred || 03/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


Two missile attacks in Bannu, causalities feared
BANU: Two missiles have reportedly been fired in Banu on early Monday, Geo T.V reported. Casualties have been feared in the attacks, sources added.
Posted by: Fred || 03/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Pakistan fighters torch Afghan supply truck
Pakistani Taliban set fire to 20 trucks carrying supplies to Western forces in Afghanistan Sunday in the first major attack on a vital supply route through Pakistan in several months, police said.

A dozen more trucks and trailers were damaged when the militants, armed with automatic weapons and rockets, attacked a terminal on the outskirts of Peshawar city. "Taliban militants fired four rockets on a truck terminal on the ring road on the city's outskirts and destroyed eight trucks completely," local police official Gohar Khan told AFP. "The militants also torched 12 more trucks and trailers."

The trucks torched early on Sunday were parked at a depot on the outskirts of the city of Peshawar. Khan also said police arrived during the attack, in which the two truck drivers were shot and injured, but the Taliban fled to the neighboring tribal area. "Our policemen exchanged gunfire with the militants for half an hour but they managed to escape," Khan said.
Posted by: || 03/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


Iraq
US shoots down Iranian drone over Iraq
The U.S. military in Baghdad confirmed Monday that an American fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone over Iraq last month.

The drone was first detected flying into Iraqi airspace Feb. 25, about 60 miles northeast of Baghdad, the military said. Once pilots confirmed the drone did not belong to Coalition Forces, the pilots were directed to shoot it down. The drone was tracked in Iraqi airspace for more than an hour before the decision was made, the military said.
Does the pilot get to paint a little, tiny Iranian flag on his fighter?
An Iraqi official said the Iranian aircraft went down near the Iraqi border town of Mandali. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
Posted by: Frozen Al || 03/16/2009 13:28 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That's the same as an enemy aircraft, paint a half flag per shootdown (No pilot)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/16/2009 14:14 Comments || Top||

#2  On second thought, have a distinctly different aircraft silhouette to stencil on the side.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/16/2009 15:01 Comments || Top||

#3  The Ship's "Sign Shop will fix one up quickly.

(All major ships have a sign shop, unless you went aboard you'd never realize just how many sign are on, in and around onboard ships)

If you ever get a chance to visit any Navy vessel count the signs, you'll stop quickly, they seem endless.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/16/2009 15:08 Comments || Top||

#4  The drone was tracked in Iraqi airspace for more than an hour before the decision was made,

There appears to be some C2 problems there.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/16/2009 15:54 Comments || Top||

#5  Iran shrugs. Surfs over to eBay to start shopping for a new air force.
Posted by: Iblis || 03/16/2009 15:58 Comments || Top||

#6  There appears to be some C2 problems there

Not really, depends on where the drone was and what it was doing, hell they could have been tracking it while it was still INSIDE Iranian borders and just watching to see if it would crossover and if it came into contact with anything worth monitoring. Its kinda pointless to shootdown a drone that flies over desert (doesn't do any sigint/elint work) and then flies back over desert taking nothing but photos of.....sand... ;)
Posted by: Valentine || 03/16/2009 16:47 Comments || Top||

#7  I agree with Valentine. A lot of times it just isn't worth the effort or cost to shoot one down as it flies over desert or non-US vital areas. Sounds like it got close to a US base and they took it out.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/16/2009 21:13 Comments || Top||


Iraq/Afghan War News: Iraq to get Abrams Tanks
Iraqi military forces will take possession of 140 M1A1 Abrams tanks with U.S. military assistance by the summer of 2010, U.S. officials said.
Note how this article lauds the "Long War Journal" for it's scoop on this months ago
The independent online Long War Journal reported in December that Iraqi troops would train on the M1 at the Besmaya Range Complex east of Baghdad. Iraq's army had under Saddam Hussein used the Russian T-72 tank.
Posted by: 3dc || 03/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Am I the only one who thinks you shouldn't give Abrams tanks to Arabs until you have something who could defeat them as easily as an Abrams would defeat a 1942 Sherman?
Posted by: JFM || 03/16/2009 9:07 Comments || Top||

#2  I imagine (140*high probability) accidents. What IED detection ability will they have?
Posted by: Captain Spuling5210 || 03/16/2009 9:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Am I the only one

No
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/16/2009 9:15 Comments || Top||

#4  Hopefully they have a remote cutoff switch.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/16/2009 10:46 Comments || Top||

#5  Even an Abrams can't stand up to an A-10, and there are dozens of other weapons that can stop one. Tanks have almost outlived their usefulness - even the Abrams. One $50,000 UAV with a Hellfire missile or two can put a stop to them rather abruptly. All this does is give the Iraqis something to scare the pants off the Iranians.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/16/2009 11:00 Comments || Top||

#6  Its cheaper to leave them there rather then bring them back and overhaul them. I doubt the maintenance needed to keep them running will be as rigidly followed after we leave. You can bet on cutting that number by 1/3 in the first 2 years of them taking them.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 03/16/2009 11:45 Comments || Top||

#7  Tanks have almost outlived their usefulness

You could be right and I am sure it will be right one day. But that is what the French were saying May 9th, 1940.
Posted by: JFM || 03/16/2009 11:54 Comments || Top||

#8  And on May 10th, they were saying things like, "Andre, get my brown trousers!"
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 03/16/2009 12:02 Comments || Top||

#9  Well, JFM, if that can make you feel better about it, IIRC, it's the MBT of both egypt & saudi arabia already, courtesy of the US military aid.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 03/16/2009 12:06 Comments || Top||

#10  And on May 10th, they were saying things like, "Andre, get my brown trousers!"

The British had brown trousers as standard ones; :-)
Posted by: JFM || 03/16/2009 12:46 Comments || Top||

#11  OP is right about airpower being easy tank killers, even the Abrams. I support leaving some there to keep Iran and Syria honest. They have nothing that can face the M-1 and it is cheaper to leave them there. Even if Iraq goes toes up and we see these on the path to Israel, I'm pretty confident in the IAF's ability to knock them out right quick.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/16/2009 12:58 Comments || Top||

#12  Are the A1 s the item that is in-country? In that case it does make sense to leave them. What's the latest mark? A3?
Posted by: Shipman || 03/16/2009 13:48 Comments || Top||

#13  Are the A1 s the item that is in-country? In that case it does make sense to leave them. What's the latest mark? A3?

Well, let's wiki it, shall we?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrams_tank#Variants_and_upgrades
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 03/16/2009 16:10 Comments || Top||


15 suspects held in new security crackdown in Baquba
US-backed Iraqi forces arrested 15 suspected militants in a new security crackdown in Baquba, 65 km northeast of Baghdad, police said. The operation will continues throughout northeastern Diyala province, an area where Al Qaida still retains influence, they said.

Meanwhile, a Katyusha rocket hit a storage unit in an oil refinery in Baghdad's southern Doura district, police said, causing a fire. Local guards managed to put it out.

In other security developments elsewhere in Iraq on Saturday, gunmen shot dead an off-duty policewoman in a market in central Mosul, 390 km north of Baghdad, police said.
Posted by: Fred || 03/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
New IDF Tactics Led to Victory in Gaza
Since the inconclusive Second Lebanon War of 2006, the Israeli army has been developing tactics and adding equipment and capabilities to fight more effectively in asymmetric conflicts. The recent success of "Operation Cast Lead" in the densely populated Gaza Strip shows that an industrial military that coordinates operations among land, air and sea units, makes effective use of advanced technology, and shares intelligence and leads from the front can decisively defeat an asymmetric enemy.

In this 22-day battle (Dec. 27, 2008-Jan. 18) the asymmetric enemy was, of course, Hamas, a militant group of fundamentalists that controls the Gaza Strip and has been launching crude but deadly rockets into Israel for years. Israel's stated goal was to stop the rocket offensive. Before it could do that, forces had to fight decisively on urban battlefields that were full of traps. Since taking over Gaza two years ago, Hamas has turned the area into a fortress. Weapon and ammunition depots were everywhere—even in mosques. Israeli intelligence pinpointed more than six mosques in Gaza City that were ar­senals, a fact confirmed by huge secondary explosions after they were attacked.

Underground shelters, some built into fortified but occupied homes, were used to hide hundreds of rockets that Hamas planned to launch against Israel. Almost every apartment building in the suburbs was boobytrapped or held arms caches rigged to be set off by explosives if Israeli soldiers entered. Many streets and alleyways concealed a labyrinth of bunkers and tunnels, also boobytrapped.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/16/2009 15:03 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But...but...I thought Hamas won. /sarc
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/16/2009 17:20 Comments || Top||

#2  Putting some of the networked warfare concepts into practice.
Posted by: phil_b || 03/16/2009 19:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Weapon and ammunition depots were everywhere—even in mosques.


Heh, even in mosques. Somebody needs to get out more.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/16/2009 19:45 Comments || Top||

#4  No wonder Obama was trying to get relief to the Hamas as quickly as possible. They were hit hard and were howling like wounded dogs for help from their allies (which now includes Barak Obama).
Posted by: Shavins Big Foot8769 || 03/16/2009 19:48 Comments || Top||

#5  "Weapon and ammunition depots were everywhere--even especially in mosques."

Fixed.

No extra charge.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 03/16/2009 21:24 Comments || Top||


Two Israeli policemen shot dead in West Bank
"Two policemen who were travelling in the Jordan Valley were shot dead. According to the initial investigation it is an attack," Rosenfeld told AFP. He said the attack took place near the Jewish settlement of Massua in the northern Jordan Valley.

An anonymous caller claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of the "Imad Mughniyeh Group" in a telephone call to AFP. The group is named after Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh who was killed in a car bomb attack in Damascus in February 2008 that was blamed on Israel. The Jewish state denied any involvement.

Police and the army sent reinforcements to the area where the attack took place and troops had launched search operations in a bid to track down the assailants, Rosenfeld said.

The website of Haaretz newspaper reported that one of the policemen was killed on the spot and that the other died of his wounds shortly after the arrival of emergency services. Their car was found on Highway 90 which skirts the border with Jordan to the east.

According to police, the driver of the car lost control of the vehicle after he was hit by gunfire.

The Jordan Valley shares a 70-kilometre (43-mile) border with Jordan and represents a third of the West Bank which has been occupied by Israel since 1967.
Posted by: || 03/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  The joys of the Peace Process.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/16/2009 9:16 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Army, ISF troops restore order after armed clashes break out in Sidon
The Lebanese Army conducted a major crackdown on armed groups in Sidon on Friday after clashes broke out on Thursday night. Around 1,000 army soldiers and ISF officers cordoned off large swathes of central Sidon, leading to the arrest of eight armed people and the confiscation of weapons.

Security sources say that one of the key perpetrators is a man called Mohammed Saleh, a Palestinian.
Wotta surprise.
He was arrested by Fateh officials inside the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian camp, who pledged to hand him over to the ISF on Friday evening.

For the past four years Sidon has been plagued with periodic outbreaks of violence between armed groups stemming from both political and personal disagreements.

Late on Thursday, two groups of armed men began fighting in a bout of violence that lasted for more than an hour. The skirmish began as a personal argument between youths near the Saha Bakery in central Sidon. It quickly deteriorated into exchanges of gun sex machine gun-fire, with clashes spreading across the city, sending residents into panic. A sound grenade was dropped, causing a loud explosion in the city center.

There were no injuries reported in the fighting, which prompted the Lebanese Army and the Internal Security Force to conduct extensive patrols through Sidon overnight, before launching an major operation to catch the culprits.

The incident was condemned by all political parties. Sidon MP Bahia Hariri said: "Sidon refuses to allow anyone to mess with its security. I confirm that the security forces will restore security and stability to our city."

There are signs that residents of Sidon have had enough of the violence. Security sources told The Daily Star that they received help from residents in catching the perpetrators and added that they also arrested several drug dealers in the swoop. They said that the operation had also taken place in Sidon's suburbs as well as the city center and pledged that the crackdown would continue until all wanted people have been arrested.
This article starring:
Mohammed Saleh
Posted by: Fred || 03/16/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:



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