This Day in History:
1788 - A fire in New Orleans leaves most of the town in ruins. (Global Warming)
1804 - Code Napoléon is adopted as French civil law.
1918 - World War I: Second Battle of the Somme begins.
1928 - Charles Lindbergh is presented the Medal of Honor for his first trans-Atlantic flight.
1945 - British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma.
1963 - Alcatraz, a federal penitentiary on an island in San Francisco Bay, closes.
The United States will change the way its forces are arrayed in Afghanistan as part of an overhaul of U.S. strategy in the flagging war, a senior defense official said Friday.
President Barack Obama is expected to unveil a revamped plan for fighting insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan next week. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the review is not complete, said it would call for new garrisons in far-flung Afghan communities. That would help the U.S. hold ground against a resurgent Taliban-led insurgency, the official said. Under today's hub-and-spoke system, U.S. forces leave protected bases to conduct anti-insurgent operations. When they leave, insurgents come back.
The forthcoming plan also places an onus on Pakistan to confront the threat of insurgents who use its territory as a sanctuary from attack by U.S. and allied forces, officials familiar with the program have said.
The emerging plan contemplates a large build-up of Afghan armed forces and security services, to as many as 400,000!!!, other defense officials said. That would be more than twice the number Afghanistan now has.
U.S. military leaders have said an able Afghan military is the key to allowing U.S. and allied forces to leave.
Obama's plan looks at goals over three to five years, with the goal of containing the insurgency, heading off the possibility that it could topple Afghanistan's fragile central government and providing enough security for Afghan citizens that they reject the insurgents of their own accord. ...
Posted by: ed ||
03/21/2009 00:04 ||
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#3
Reads more like a death wish than a wish list. The logistics of supporting 400K US troops in a land locked country surrounded by enemy states is mind boggling. Hard to tell who's dumbest here.
#6
What? I thought it was going to be all hillary! driving an ice cream truck from here on out...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/21/2009 12:54 Comments ||
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#7
Garrisons in far flung tribal area, with locals whose temperament shifts seasonally and at the end of a log difficult supply line. We've seen that someplace before.
#8
Napolean did far flung. We don't need to show again that it usually doesn't work. This may just be naive talk from the comander-in-chief, that the generals have a better grasp of things and the power to carry them out. It seems to me that it is going to take a lot more work to train 400,000 Afghani troops to be a well-trained national force than comparable effort was in Iraq.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
03/21/2009 14:12 Comments ||
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#9
Napolean could handle the far-flung well, he had the best of all assets a General might need...
(RIA Novosti) - The number of service personnel killed in a special operation in Russia's North Caucasus Republic of Daghestan has risen to five, a spokesman for Daghestan's interior ministry said on Friday.
Earlier in the day, the death toll had stood at three with three police officers wounded.
"As a result of a two-day special operation, five service personnel died, three police officers were also wounded in the clashes," the spokesman said. "For today, the special operation was suspended at nightfall, it will resume early on Saturday."
The ministry also said from five to seven militants had been killed during the operation, although the total figure was unknown due to intense gunfire in the woodland area, where the armed fighters were holed up.
The special operation in Kakashur started after a clash on Wednesday between law enforcement officers and militants. Police then encircled a group of 10 to 15 armed fighters.
The militants are thought to be members of a group aligned to Magomedali Vagabov, who is on a federal and international wanted list for attacks on police officers and terrorist-related crimes.
Sporadic terrorist attacks and militant clashes are common in Daghestan, and in neighboring Chechnya, although the Kremlin has officially ended its military campaign to fight separatists and terrorists there.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2009 00:00 ||
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A Jordanian national living in Chicago was taken into custody by the FBI Friday and was charged with mailing a threatening letter to the Ida Crown Jewish Academy, according to the FBI's Chicago office.
Mohammad Alkaramla, 24, was arrested by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in connection with a December 2008 mailing to the school at 2828 W. Pratt Avenue in Chicago. Officials believe the threatening letter was sent in response to Israel's invasion of Gaza Strip in late 2008.
The December 30 letter threatened that explosives would be detonated around the school if Israel did not cease its military actions in Gaza by January 15, according to the FBI. "No explosive devices were ever planted and no injuries were reported," the FBI release stated.
Alkaramla appeared in U.S. District Court on Friday where he was formally charged with one count of sending an Interstate Threatening Communication and was ordered to be held without bond.
The arrest came as part of a three-month investigation. FBI agents searched Alkaramla's residence in February as part of the investigation. If convicted of the charge, which is a felony offense, Alkaramla could face a sentence up to ten years in prison.
Posted by: ed ||
03/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Once again, "anti-Zionism" turns out to be simple Jew hatred. Well done, FBI-Chicago! and thank you. Only, why did the newspaper feel the need to give the street address of the school? Are they intentionally tempting the weak of character?
#2
Brave stuff, O fearsome Lion of Islam, threatening to blow up a bunch of schoolkids. And yes, the street address seems like an unnecessary detail in so short an article.
SRINAGAR, India (AFP) -- An Indian soldier was injured Saturday when Pakistani troops fired at Indian army positions across the de facto border dividing Kashmir between the rivals, the Indian army said. The incident broke five months of relative calm along the heavily militarised border.
Pakistani troops fired 1,500-2,000 machine gun rounds towards Indian forward posts in the Western Uri sector, an army spokesman said. The firing lasted five hours, ending early Saturday morning, the spokesman said, adding that Pakistani fire was "unprovoked".
India in the past has accused the Pakistani army of providing covering fire for infiltrating militants. Last year India accused Pakistani soldiers of crossing the ceasefire line known as the Line of Control and killing an Indian soldier -- allegations Islamabad denied.
The firing comes at a time of heightened bilateral tensions, sparked by last November's Islamist militant attacks on Mumbai that India has blamed on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). New Delhi has also accused "official agencies" of Pakistan -- a reference to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency and other bodies -- of involvement.
Both LeT and Pakistan have denied any role in the attacks which killed 165 people while Islamabad has blamed the assault on "non-state actors".
Posted by: john frum ||
03/21/2009 07:50 ||
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Posted by: Frank G ||
03/21/2009 18:54 Comments ||
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#3
#1: g(r)omgoru Right on schedule.
#2 Frank: "Distraction" come to mind?
grom just as Frank said, this incident seems manufactured [like you said also] by Pakistan BUT what is perplexing is that why the HELL should Pakistan try and distract when India's Military seems and is so much more robust than Pakistan's Military?
The F'ing inscrutable muslim mind perhaps?
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
03/21/2009 22:00 Comments ||
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#4
It is sometimes claimed that Pakistan is afraid of India and therefore requires military assistance. The historical record shows otherwise. Pakistan has started the wars between itself and India, including the present jihad by ISI proxies.
These are not the acts of a state afraid of the Indian military.
The Pak military doctrine of offensive-defense relies on external balancers - the US, UN etc to come to its aid by demanding a quick ceasefire and imposing an oil and arms embargo that limit Indian effectiveness.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/21/2009 22:44 Comments ||
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#5
I'm not sure "afraid" or not plays into this. The Pak military is proven incompetent at every turn, and seems to periodically rouse itself to suffer another decadal loss. Time's up for another distractional loss of Pak manhood in the name of keeping same reputation. It makes sense ...to a Paki
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/21/2009 23:48 Comments ||
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"Foster Grant, white courtesy phone. White courtesy phone, Foster Grant."
Taliban militants bombed a power line in Peshawar late Thursday, hours after a first attack, plunging more than half the northwestern Pakistani city in darkness, officials said.
Militants planted four bombs next to four electricity pylons close to the Jaba Mill area of the city and detonated them by remote control, Shaukat Afzal, a spokesman for the state-owned water and power supply company told AFP.
Miscreants bombed another 500 kilovolt electricity transmission line in the Dala Zak road on the outskirts of Peshawar, said police official Anwar Shah. Militants had earlier launched a similar attack on four pylons in Urmur, on the outskirts of Peshawar before dawn, Afzal told AFP. The blast destroyed the grid station and left half the city without power, he said.
Militants' threats have forced hundreds of compact disc (CDs) dealers in Mardan district to pack up. A survey conducted by The News revealed that so far over 100 music and CD shops had been blown up in various areas of the district.
Six shops were totally destroyed while 20 were damaged near the Punjab Regimental Centre (PRC), 15 shops were blown up in Chato Chowk, 10 destroyed in Mir Afzal Khan Market, 10 at Hoti Chowk, six in Bakhshali, two at Ghari Chowk, nine on Gaju Khan Road in the City Police Station limits, while 25 shops were blown up in Takhtbhai bazaar and five were recently bombed in Sherghar.
Talking to this scribe, PRC Audio-Video Market President Haider Khan said: "Actually, we informed the police after receiving threats from unidentified people to close down our business, but the police did not take any action." He added that homemade bombs were planted near the market, destroying six shops and causing damage to 17 others.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I never knew just how many discwallas existed in Talibanistan until the turbans activated the goon squads.
PESHAWAR: Curfew has been imposed in Tehsil Landikotal of Khyber Agency. According to political administration, the curfew was imposed in the wake of ongoing clashes between security forces and militants which erupted last night. The curfew will remain in force till 7:00 AM Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2009 00:00 ||
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KOLKATA: The Pakistani national arrested here on Thursday on suspicion of being a militant belonged to the Al-Badr terror outfit and was assigned to a group for carrying out suicide attacks on troops in Kashmir, city police officials said here on Friday.
Shahbaz Ismail, a resident of the Dera Ghazi Khan district in Pakistan, had sneaked into India through the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal's Malda district on March 18 and was arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) of the city police after being tipped off by the Border Security Force (Eastern Frontier).
Joint Commissioner (STF) Rajeev Kumar said Ismail had confessed that he was on his way to Kashmir to lead a group of militants, who had already assimilated there, and launch suicidal attacks against troops posted there.
Ismail earlier confessed to be an ex-Pakistan Ranger head constable and resigned to join the terror group last year. An Al-Badr activist named Yusuf Baloch inducted Ismail into the outfit as a commander because of his paramilitary training, Mr. Kumar said.
He was produced in a magisterial court and remanded to police custody till April 4.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2009 00:00 ||
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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Security was stepped up in all the three international airports in Kerala following an alert about LTTE threat to the key installations, police sources said here on Friday. The Air India security office here received the alert message from its Mumbai office, they said. The CISF, incharge of airports security, has stepped up vigil at the airports in Thiruvananthapuram, Nedumbassery (Kochi) and Karippur (Kozhikoe).
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2009 00:00 ||
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The US military said at least 11 insurgents have been killed in an air strike on their hideout in the south of Diyala province.
Military spokesman Major Derrick Cheng on Friday that ground forces searched the site after the strike and found a cache of weapons and parts to build improvised bombs.
It is not yet clear whether civilians were killed in the strike that an Iraqi security official says occurred Thursday morning.
Cheng says the suspected insurgents were hiding near several bunkers south of Balad Ruz, northeast of Baghdad.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
if they where in the presence of these ppl i wouldn't consider anyone else they find a civilian
The Sri Lankan military on Friday claimed it had encircled the "last standoff" of the LTTE west of the "No Fire Zone" in Puthukkudiyirippu. Separately, the pro-LTTE TamilNet quoted political head of the LTTE, B. Nadesan, as urging the Chinese and Russian governments to allow the Sri Lankan Tamils' plight to be discussed at the U.N. Security Council a second time. His Comments followed reports that China was not in favour of a second Security Council meeting on Sri Lanka.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2009 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.
Greece's Merchant Marine Ministry said pirates have seized a Greek-owned cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia. 
The US military said at least 11 insurgents have been killed in an air strike on their hideout in the south of Diyala province. 
The Sri Lankan military on Friday claimed it had encircled the "last standoff" of the LTTE west of the "No Fire Zone" in Puthukkudiyirippu. Separately, the pro-LTTE TamilNet quoted political head of the LTTE, B. Nadesan, as urging the Chinese and Russian governments to allow the Sri Lankan Tamils' plight to be discussed at the U.N. Security Council a second time. His Comments followed reports that China was not in favour of a second Security Council meeting on Sri Lanka.
