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Saddam hanged
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
8 00:00 49 Pan [4] 
8 00:00 Seafarious [1] 
1 00:00 Redneck Jim [1] 
4 00:00 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [1] 
12 00:00 frozen Al [3] 
11 00:00 Frank G [5] 
45 00:00 Dunno [6] 
7 00:00 Eric Jablow [1] 
23 00:00 xbalanke [8] 
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3 00:00 SpecOp35 [2] 
1 00:00 Mike Kozlowski [3] 
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3 00:00 Redneck Jim [3] 
3 00:00 Old Patriot [1] 
1 00:00 DMFD [1] 
2 00:00 pihkalbadger [1] 
Page 2: WoT Background
8 00:00 Eric Jablow [5]
2 00:00 phil_b [4]
9 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [3]
9 00:00 Jan from work [6]
3 00:00 SteveS [2]
12 00:00 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [2]
6 00:00 gromgoru [3]
1 00:00 Old Patriot [6]
1 00:00 Captain America [7]
2 00:00 Redneck Jim [1]
4 00:00 Steve White [1]
7 00:00 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [4]
3 00:00 twobyfour [3]
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19 00:00 Captain America [3]
3 00:00 N guard [1]
5 00:00 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [4]
1 00:00 Excalibur [3]
8 00:00 gromgoru [7]
1 00:00 gromgoru [2]
2 00:00 Redneck Jim [1]
1 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [2]
3 00:00 Excalibur [1]
7 00:00 SteveS [3]
Page 3: Non-WoT
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6 00:00 49 Pan [1]
4 00:00 tipper [2]
1 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [2]
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Page 4: Opinion
3 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [2]
5 00:00 wxjames [2]
21 00:00 Captain America [3]
Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
11 00:00 Anonymoose [4]
7 00:00 Anonymoose [1]
1 00:00 Shipman [5]
Afghanistan
cBS: Taliban Leader *VOWS* To Force U.S. Out
cBS Laura Logan [spit]
cBS) Mullah Dadullah is the Taliban's most bloodthirsty commander.
[sic invincible]
cBS News chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan reports. [spit].

The one-legged leader promises to go beyond the battlefields of Afghanistan and hunt down Americans at home. [spit]. "Even if they go back to America, we will have to take revenge," he says. "America has humiliated our country and our people. We will never negotiate."
glad to hear that goat boy
Mullah Dadullah is the military mastermind behind the bloodiest year ever for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. His ultimate goal is to overthrow Afghanistan's pro-American government.
warms Laura's cockels to say that [spit]
In spite of heavy casualties inflicted by U.S. and NATO forces, Dadullah claims that Taliban success has led to a surge in morale and strength in recent months.
happy to oblige the surge assbite. cBS Video here [as long as the link works]. I'll try and git another video soon as ima out of spittle.
Posted by: RD || 12/30/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Same vid: High Quality

268 MB .mpg 10 +- min DSL/Cable [dial up customers, grand chillins might see it]



Posted by: RD || 12/30/2006 2:16 Comments || Top||

#2  The one-legged leader promises to go beyond the battlefields of Afghanistan and hunt down Americans at home. "Even if they go back to America, we will have to take revenge"

That is an awful lot of limping you will have to do you silly named freak. Btw I think we should be loved by the Taliban, not sure what they have against us. We got them more virgins than a Dungeons and Dragons Convention.
Posted by: Ol Dirty American || 12/30/2006 13:20 Comments || Top||

#3  ...you silly named freak.

Mullah mullah bobullah
Banana fanna fo fullah
Fee fie fo fullah
Dadullah
Posted by: SteveS || 12/30/2006 13:59 Comments || Top||

#4  I challange him to an ass-kicking contest.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 12/30/2006 14:25 Comments || Top||

#5  A little something for the freak
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 12/30/2006 14:31 Comments || Top||

#6  The one-legged leader

I bet he's hopping mad...
Posted by: Seafarious || 12/30/2006 14:49 Comments || Top||

#7  Lol.
Posted by: .com || 12/30/2006 14:53 Comments || Top||

#8  I think we should be loved by the Taliban, not sure what they have against us. We got them more virgins than a Dungeons and Dragons Convention.

No fair, Ol Dirty American -- I wasn't expecting that! :-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/30/2006 16:15 Comments || Top||

#9  Article: The one-legged leader promises to go beyond the battlefields of Afghanistan and hunt down Americans at home. "Even if they go back to America, we will have to take revenge," he says. "America has humiliated our country and our people. We will never negotiate."

This guy has no brains. Imagine if Ho Chi Minh had said something like that. There would still be a South Vietnam today. Having said that, I'm grateful that the enemy is composed of a bunch of borderline retards.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 12/30/2006 16:46 Comments || Top||

#10  I heart Lara Logan.

:-( I'm sorry.
Posted by: Mizzou Mafia || 12/30/2006 20:28 Comments || Top||

#11  not good enuf, MM. Consorting with the enemy?
Posted by: Frank G || 12/30/2006 20:40 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Islamic courts unsurrender
Ethiopian tanks rumbled south from Mogadishu to attack Somali Islamists on Saturday after the religious movement's leaders called on their fighters to take a stand in the port city of Kismayu. Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, whose forces fled the Somali capital on Thursday, also urged thousands of residents gathered at a Kismayu stadium for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha to defend their country and faith from government troops backed by armor, soldiers and jet fighter planes from mostly Christian Ethiopia. "Our country is under occupation so we have decided to fight," he told the crowd as Islamist troops on trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns stood guard outside.

Ahmed said his Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) remained ready to negotiate with the interim government, but that the Ethiopian soldiers backing it must leave. He said the Courts were set up to restore stability in a nation that has been mired in anarchy, torn to pieces and squabbled over by warlords since the overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. "But now we are gearing up to kick these occupiers out of our country," the SICC chairman said.

Islamist troops abandoned the coastal capital they had ruled by sharia law for six months on Thursday in the face of a 10-day Ethiopian offensive of land and air assaults. Crowning the dramatic reversal, Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi swept into Mogadishu on Friday saying the fight for political survival had been won. On Saturday, President Abdullahi Yusuf landed in an Ethiopian army helicopter about 20 km (12 miles) outside Mogadishu and held talks with faction leaders and elders. "This government has a duty to return peace," he told reporters at a run-down military camp. "The whole country has become people and guns... We have passed 15 years of civil war. We now need to forgive each other and hold hands."

Sitting on a plastic chair under a large thorn tree, Yusuf said he would not enter the capital this time and would return to the government's base in the provincial town of Baidoa. "I will come to Mogadishu once everything is in place."
Posted by: Fred || 12/30/2006 11:03 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "I will come to Mogadishu once everything is in place."

Reminds me somehow of a Zaeger & Evans song.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/30/2006 12:13 Comments || Top||

#2  At least I know who has my dish towel...
Posted by: Raj || 12/30/2006 13:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Damn! What about the SIC promise to fight to the last man?
Posted by: twobyfour || 12/30/2006 13:19 Comments || Top||

#4  They did. What's left is worms.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 12/30/2006 13:26 Comments || Top||

#5  That clown is trying to look like his Arab slavemasters advisors I guess.


Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 12/30/2006 14:11 Comments || Top||

#6  Borrowed from Slappy White: Kiss me no? Kiss me yes? What's this 'kiss me yes business?' That's the way we greet you in our country. That's the way we keep a job in ours! Kismayu indeed, Sheikh.
Posted by: Phineter Thraviger || 12/30/2006 14:32 Comments || Top||

#7  wot hapned to the Powerful Islamic [spit] Courts?
Posted by: A-Stan Spetzlamist || 12/30/2006 15:27 Comments || Top||

#8  Unretreat, baby, unsurrender...
Posted by: Seafarious || 12/30/2006 19:08 Comments || Top||


Somali government forces control two more towns
(Xinhua) -- The forces of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) on Wednesday controlled two more towns, 40 to 60 km away from the capital Mogadishu, the official Ethiopian news agency reported. TFG Vice Defense Minister Salad Ali Jelle was quoted as saying the TFG forces controlled Bal'at town, some 40 km north of Mogadishu and Lego town, 60 km southwest of the capital. Several soldiers of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) have been killed in the fights to control the two towns, Jelle told a press conference in Baidoa, the seat of the TFG.
Guess they didn't all lay down their arms, huh?
Jelle said UIC fighters began fleeing from towns in disarray, adding that UIC fighters also engaged in clashes among themselves.
That'd prob'ly be the local boyz, who have a home to go to, versus the imported labor...
According to him, about 1,200 UIC fighters escaped by ship from Mogadishu to other countries. He said a second ship was loading UIC fighters at Mogadishu port on Wednesday afternoon.
Could we maybe sink that ship?
Jelle said UIC fighters in Kismayo port were fleeing to Mogadishu.
Posted by: Fred || 12/30/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Islamists vow no surrender to Somali govt and Ethiopia
A senior Somali Islamist leader on Friday vowed his fighters will “never surrender to Ethiopians and the government” and warned of guerrilla ambushes on the allied forces. “You think that Islamic courts have failed and the Ethiopian invaders have won in Somalia? I tell within days everything will be changed,” commander Sheikh Mohamed Ibrahim Bilal told AFP, a day after the Islamists left the capital Mogadishu. “We will never surrender to Ethiopians and the government of (President) Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed,” he told AFP from Kismayo, the Islamist last stronghold town about 500 kilometres (300 miles) south of Mogadishu.

Somali government troops and their Ethiopian allies took control of the former US embassy building in Mogadishu on Friday, tightening their hold on the capital after Islamist rivals fled. “Ethiopian troops and government soldiers have settled in the compound of the former US embassy. I can see more than 30 Russian-made military trucks,” said Abdi Hassan, one of hundreds of local residents gathered outside the former US mission.

The embassy compound, in a western neighbourhood of the coastal city, was abandoned more than a decade ago after US forces made a humiliating retreat from Somalia following an ill-fated mission depicted in the film “Black Hawk Down”.

Government forces took effective control of Mogadishu on Thursday after a 10-day offensive with Ethiopian allies to reclaim much of the territory seized by the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) since June. Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamad Gedi said parliament would vote to declare martial law to maintain control of a country which has been without an effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of a dictator.
Posted by: Fred || 12/30/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No quarter asked or given. Works for Me.
Posted by: Jackal || 12/30/2006 0:04 Comments || Top||

#2  They gave up their weapons; you would think they would give up their rhetoric. Losers!
Posted by: Sneaze Shaiting3550 || 12/30/2006 7:47 Comments || Top||

#3  You don't need to surrender,
Just die.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 12/30/2006 9:39 Comments || Top||


Somalia: Warlord back to his base in Mogadishu
(SomaliNet) Mohamed Qanyare Afrah, a member of parliament and among former warlords, who returned to Mogadishu capital on Friday under the protection of Ethiopian forces, said he was very happy about the new change in Somalia and he is welcoming the ousting of Islamic Courts Union from the capital.

Mr. Qanyare, who returned to his residence in Mogadishu, told the local media that he is against the plan in which the government wants to disarm the militias without giving their rights. “The militias should see the government as their own,” he said. “In my point of view, I do reject to say to the militia put down the weapons and leave for good, because if the militias who have nowhere to go are ordered to do that, they would damage the security. I would suggest the transitional federal government to consider that and make the militias themselves as government soldiers,” said Qanyare. “The government should place the militia instead of discharging them.”

Mr. Qanyare, once one of powerful warlords in Somalia, also welcomed the Ethiopian forces' entry into the capital without clashes. “Ethiopian forces should be thanked for their military operation against the so-called Islamic Courts which made the country base for terrorists,” said Qanyare. “The rule of Al-Qaeda members in Somalia has ended in failure and Somalis got their freedom back.”

He confirmed that he is fully working with the government for restoring the law and order in the capital. Mohamed Qanyare, an MP, said in a happy mood he had changed his position of being a warlord and is now ready to participate in reconstruction of Somalia.
Posted by: Fred || 12/30/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Meet the old boss...
Posted by: Grunter || 12/30/2006 1:09 Comments || Top||

#2  When you can still buy an AK for less than $80 in Mogadishu market and the stimilant Khat is trucked & flown in by the planeload from Kenya and there is no food except from UN handouts, then mogadishu if fucked! Period.
Posted by: pihkalbadger || 12/30/2006 11:29 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Swedish businessman abducted in Morocco
A Swedish businessman has disappeared in Morocco after men purporting to be police apprehended him in the coastal town of Tetouan. The man's family and Swedish diplomats in the North African country say they do not know why he was taken or where. It is also at this stage unclear whether the men who took him away on Christmas Day night were genuine police officers. "All we know at present is that a 54-year-old Swedish citizen was taken on the night of 25th December. Last time I spoke to the Swedish Embassy in Morocco we had no further information," said Sofia Karlberg at the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm to The Local.

TV4 reports that the man was taken from his home in Tetouan by men in civilian clothes. A female member of the family had answered the door to the men, who said they were looking for her brother-in-law. The men initially said they had a present for the man, to which the woman replied that he was not there. When she then tried to prevent them from entering they presented themselves as police. She says that they claimed the United States lay behind the action. They then, according to the woman, went to wake her father. "My father followed them voluntarily and answered questions," she said.

At 5am on 26th December the father disappeared with the men. One of the men returned the next day to promise that the father would soon be home if they were "reasonable", the daughter said. The men also left a phone number, which according to the family did not work. The family has contacted Moroccan police and prosecutors to search for the man, but so far with out success. They have also asked lawyers and the Swedish embassy in Rabat for help. According to a human rights organization quoted by TT, 40 people were rounded up by unknown men and taken to Rabat on the same night.

The small Swedish mission in Morocco has asked for help from the French Embassy in the country. The Swedish Foreign Ministry could on Friday morning not confirm whether the man was a permanent resident in Morocco. According to news reports he is Swedish and has lived in Sweden for over 30 years. His wife and six children, the youngest of whom is 6, remain in their home in Tetouan.
Posted by: Fred || 12/30/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
Two JMB men held with revolvers, bullets
Soon to be starring in their very own Crossfire Gazette.
TANGAIL, Dec 29: Police arrested two suspected Jamatul Mujaheedin Bangladesh (JMB) members from a bus after a brief gunfight at Rabnai area near a bypass crossing in the town Friday. Police Super of the district Israil Hawlader said the two arrested, Mohammed Fahad (24) and Saiful Islam (25), residents of Narayanganj, confessed to their involvement with the militant outfit.

Acting on a tip-off, a police team intercepted the Dhaka-bound bus from Meherpur district at the crossing. Four sophisticated revolvers, 80 rounds of bullet, 185 detonators and some bomb-making materials were recovered from their possession.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/30/2006 00:09 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Sophisticated Revolvers?
The technology is over a Century old, closer to two Centuries.
Nothing "Sophisticated" about it.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 12/30/2006 9:42 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Militant surrenders in Chechnya, another captured in Ingushetia
(Interfax-AVN) - A member of an armed group has turn himself in to police in Chechnya's Achkhoi-Martan district, a spokesman for law enforcement services told Interfax-AVN on Friday. "A man living in the village of Katyr-Yurt has surrendered to the authorities. He admitted to having been a member of a militant group led by a person [identified only by his last name] Byutukayev between June 2005 and October 2006," he said.

A cache with ammunition was found outside the village of Alkhan-Yurt in the Urus-Martan district, the spokesman said. Another cache containing weapons and a radio receiver was discovered near the town of Argun.
Posted by: Fred || 12/30/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Imam killed in Makhachkala
(Interfax) - The imam of a mosque in Makhachkala was killed on Friday morning, the press service of a city's department of interior affairs told Interfax. Magomed Saidmagomedov, the imam of a mosque in Abrikosovaya street, was found dead at about 5 a.m. near the mosque. He was shot dead after morning prayers, the press service of the interior affairs department said.
Posted by: Fred || 12/30/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Suni or Shia?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 12/30/2006 9:44 Comments || Top||

#2  Lots of questions - was he a long-term imam, or someone newly arrived? Was he a militant, or not? Did he preach aainst the violence in the Caucasus, or was he for it? PP "news" reporting - must have been done by a police officer.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 12/30/2006 14:58 Comments || Top||

#3  A good imam is a dead imam. No further questions asked.
Posted by: SpecOp35 || 12/30/2006 16:44 Comments || Top||


Europe
Czech police bring charges against Russian hijacker
(Xinhua) -- Czech police brought charges against a Russian passenger who allegedly threatened to hijack a Russian airplane early Thursday, Prague police spokesman Ladislav Bernasek said on Friday. "The foreigner has been charged with endangering the safety of the aircraft," Bernasek said. Police has proposed to take the perpetrator, 32-year-old Yevgeni Dagayev into custody, who faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty. The questioning started this morning, according to CTK.

The Airbus 321 flying from Moscow to Geneva, with 170 passengers and eight-member crew aboard, was forced to make an emergency landing in Prague shortly before 11 a.m. (1000 GMT), as one of the passengers, Dagayev, who was allegedly under the influence of alcohol or drugs, threatened to damage the plane with a bomb explosion and demanded the plane fly to Cairo. "A drunk person was on board. He provoked a brawl with passengers, threatened to damage the plane and demanded that it change the course," Itar-Tass news agency reported.

After landing, the Czech law enforcement officers removed the suspect from the plane. None of the passengers or crew were hurt, and no bomb was found. Most of the passengers left for their original destination of Geneva late Thursday. Dogayev's relatives left for Zurich this morning.
Posted by: Fred || 12/30/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Troops destroy rebel bases
Pakistani troops backed by military helicopters on Friday dismantled several rebel bases in Balochistan, AP quoted security officials as saying. At least eight helicopters took part in an operation against rebel tribesmen in Zain Koh near Dera Bugti, said a security official. “The helicopters achieved their target by destroying the positions of miscreants,” the official told AFP.

He said the tribal militants had been active in the area in recent months. He said that it was an early morning operation and “we have no information about any casualties”. A purported spokesman for the militants said the tribesmen suffered no casualties. Calling reporters from an undisclosed location, he claimed that one helicopter fell during the raid and a dozen people were “believed killed”, but security officials rejected the claim. In another incident on Friday, police arrested a tribal militant wanted over bomb blasts, and killed his accomplice on the outskirts of Quetta, said a senior police official.

Daily Times Monitor adds: Unidentified assailants threw two hand grenades into the joint servant quarters of the Saddar police station and Quetta District Jail, but there were no casualties, reported Aaj TV.
Posted by: Fred || 12/30/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...That'll show the miscreants.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 12/30/2006 8:06 Comments || Top||


Kashmir roadside bomb kills one, injures three
One person was killed and three others slightly injured on Friday when a powerful roadside bomb exploded in a middle-class neighbourhood of Srinagar in Indian-held Kashmir, police said. “So far we have information about the death of one person. The area has been cordoned off and we are trying to ascertain further details,” a police spokesman said.

The dead person was identified as a civilian who was on his motorcycle at the time of the blast, which occurred in Srinagar’s Hawal district and around 200 metres from an army camp. “The improvised explosive device (IED) was planted by militants, apparently to target the nearby camp,” the police official said.
Posted by: Fred || 12/30/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Bomb Kills 31, Wounds 58 in Iraqi Town; Bomber Beaten To Death
A bomb planted on a minibus killed 31 people in a fish market in a mostly Shiite town south of Baghdad on Saturday, and the man blamed for parking the vehicle was cornered and killed by a mob as he walked away from the explosion.

There was no indication that the explosion, in Kufa, a Shiite town 100 miles south of the Iraqi capital, was related to the execution of Saddam Hussein. The attack came on the eve of when Iraq's Shiites begin celebrating Eid al-Adha, the most important holiday of the Islamic calendar. Shoppers had crowded the market to buy supplies for the four-day festival.

At least 58 people were wounded, said Issa Mohammed, director of the morgue in the neighboring town of Najaf.

Television footage showed hundreds of men in traditional Arab headdresses swarming around the vehicle's charred frame, toppled on its side in the street. Ambulances and fire trucks pulled up to the site, and a coffin could be seen being loaded onto the top of a car.
Posted by: .com || 12/30/2006 12:21 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ambulances and fire trucks pulled up to the site, and a coffin could be seen being loaded onto the top of a car.

A coffin? Are they kept on hand? Or was the attack on a funeral?
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 12/30/2006 13:32 Comments || Top||

#2  The mob vengeance is a good sign. It means the public has had enough of lawlessness run rampant that the government hasn't stopped, and are starting to stand up to defend themselves. It also means they feel strong enough to fight back.

And being a criminal of any kind is a LOT harder when the public actively does anything to stop you, and doesn't just turn away.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 12/30/2006 13:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Happy Eid al-Adha, set off a bomb, what a religion *sigh*. I hope that the mob action against the perp is a good sign, all right.

The people need to rise up and do their part to take out this terrorist pestilence. We cannot be expected to do it all for them.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/30/2006 14:12 Comments || Top||

#4  Well AP with the Arab/allenist mindset that is what lots of them do expect, someone else to do it for them.

Ripping this turd (if he was the perp) into chunks is a good sign.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 12/30/2006 14:16 Comments || Top||

#5  Heads UP. Iraqis are not going to take much more of this. I think you are about to see a sea change. Saddam is not the only one who will do a perp walk amongst the Iraqis. More later.
Posted by: newc || 12/30/2006 20:20 Comments || Top||

#6  Speculation: Kufa is Tater's "spiritual" home-base, and parked car-bombs are often non-AQ operations (no suicide driver) - therefore, seems like an Iraqi Sunni hit on Sadr. Not just a random market in a random town.

I'm skeptical that Iraqis will rise up and do what MNF-I and the Iraqi govt. have almost literally refused to do - secure the country. Too many players, no coordination or trust or reason for trust.

Meanwhile, I read that the two Al-Quds Iranian officers were released. I know - there must be a lot about this situation I don't know. But I'm tempted to say f**k it, I've had it - we nab two IRGC big-shots, red-handed dirty with info about EFP operations in Iraq, and we don't have them for the duration? There was even a quote from an unidentified "US official" touting the impact of the temporary detention, saying Iran would now realize there was a price to pay for their meddling. I'm NOT kidding.

It's gotten to the point that I really do wonder about the sense and ability of almost all the senior leadership. I've been puzzled and aghast at what the civilian leadership and MNF-I/CENTCOM leadership have accepted as tolerable for some time. This is the last straw. WTF is going on?
Posted by: Verlaine || 12/30/2006 21:01 Comments || Top||

#7  Oh, shit. I look to Verlaine, OS and .com for the answers. This started out to be such a good day...I wonder if the liquor stores are still open.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 12/30/2006 21:14 Comments || Top||

#8  Either they were very low level idiots not worth the effort or they were released with a message to garcia.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 12/30/2006 21:18 Comments || Top||


3 Marines Killed in Battle in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Three more Marines were killed in battle in Iraq, the military said Friday, making December the year's deadliest month for U.S. troops with the toll reaching 106. The Marines, all assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5, died Thursday of wounds from fighting in western Anbar province, the U.S. military said.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/30/2006 00:07 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  RIP. If there was Iranian complicity, I hope 3 State Dept staffers die this weekend
Posted by: Frank G || 12/30/2006 10:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Weirdly enough, Muslim terrorists have no problem killing GI's on Muslim holy days like Eid. But the critics seem to think that the Iraqi government should have avoided executing Saddam on Eid.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 12/30/2006 11:45 Comments || Top||

#3  God bless them and their families.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 12/30/2006 18:29 Comments || Top||

#4  Actually the critics don't want the Iraqi government killing their enemies on ANY day, period. Eid is just another Muslim holy day to them.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 12/30/2006 22:16 Comments || Top||


Saddam Hussein's obituary in the Guardian
Nobody, nobody writes an obit like the Brits. This one is completely unsympathetic and exacting in recalling the thuggery, genocide and murderous zeal of the 'Butcher of Tikrit'. A must-read even as it takes the obligatory whacks at the U.S. (as any Guardian piece must).
Posted by: Steve White || 12/30/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well, da-yum, Steve. You mean al-Guardian isn't kissing his ass as usual?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 12/30/2006 0:42 Comments || Top||

#2  ...as any Guardian piece must...

Not just them, either. Here's the Times:

But a new American President, George W Bush, determined to find a scapegoat for the Muslim terrorist attacks on the US in September 2001, was in no mood to abide by the niceties of international law.

Don't know what else it said. I stopped reading there.

(Via Hot Air.)
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 12/30/2006 0:44 Comments || Top||

#3  #2 Angie - the Times (both NYC and UK) can go f*ck themselves.

Just on general principles alone....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 12/30/2006 1:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Barbara, they are already doing it. Have you ever seen a 5 year stock price chart of NYT? Check it out for a good laugh.
Posted by: Ol Dirty American || 12/30/2006 2:40 Comments || Top||

#5  ODA: Have you ever seen a 5 year stock price chart of NYT? Check it out for a good laugh.

Looks a lot like the stock chart of Dow Jones and Co. Fact is that free news on the internet is causing newspapers a lot of headaches. The moment news agencies stop selling their product over the internet to Yahoo and so on, the newspapers will regain all of their old circulation. Since that will never happen, it looks like newspapers will need to resign themselves to a permanently low plateau of circulation. But this has more to do with pressure from free news outlets than ideology.

Note that it was Conrad Black's conservative media empire (Hollinger) that collapsed, not the New York Times, Gannett or Knight Ridder. Note that most of Rupert Murdoch's media empire is stridently left-wing, like the Sydney Morning Herald and the Times of London. The one consistently conservative paper, the New York Post, also consistently loses money.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 12/30/2006 9:26 Comments || Top||

#6  Thanks for raining on my parade, Zhang Fei!

I, for one, will continue to believe the NYT is going down because it's evil. No more cold water, please!
Posted by: Bobby || 12/30/2006 9:54 Comments || Top||

#7  “But a new American President, George W Bush, determined to find a scapegoat for the Muslim terrorist attacks on the US in September 2001, was in no mood to abide by the niceties of international law”.

Oh, the same international laws that allowed Saddam to flout UN resolutions for 14 years and make billions during the Oil for Food program? The international community was united against Iraq, (except Russia, those wonderful assassins/nuclear proliferators and the French, that wonderful lot who only need America when their cowardly backs are against the wall). Ask the people in Darfur and Rwanda how they like the niceties of international law.



As long as we have the NYT, Tokyo Rose stands in the unemployment line.
Posted by: HammerHead || 12/30/2006 10:17 Comments || Top||

#8  Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
Posted by: Anonymoose || 12/30/2006 11:22 Comments || Top||

#9  Zhang: I realize the reason why the NYT has gone down. I don't really care why. I just care about the fact they are doomed :). I am results driven :). BTW, they have lost more circulation than the NY post (which I think has somewhat gained circulation or stayed stable) - so there :).
Posted by: Ol Dirty American || 12/30/2006 12:47 Comments || Top||

#10  Everyone can feel free to be happy about the NYT's impending demise again :).
Posted by: Ol Dirty American || 12/30/2006 12:48 Comments || Top||

#11  I hope the NYTs fall results in a stockholder takeover. Right now, the Sulzbergers, who run the thing with "special" stock, are actually trying to drive the price down so they can buy back the paper and privatize it.

This would utterly screw their shareholders in the process, so some of the larger ones are revolting, and trying to overthrow the Sulzberger dynasty.

Either way, we can hope that it will be a long and nasty fight, with the newspaper reduced to running truss ads on page 5.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 12/30/2006 13:57 Comments || Top||

#12  Actually the reason the NYT is still alive is because the holding company has been madly buying small newspapers in flyover country. The add revenue in these small newspapers is profitable and keeps the "Flagship" newspaper afloat.

Al
Posted by: frozen Al || 12/30/2006 15:23 Comments || Top||


Sammy dangles II
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Some Arab media, including Saudi-owned Al Arabiya and the U.S.-financed Al Hurra, reported about an hour before daylight on Saturday (about 10 p.m. EST Friday) that Saddam had been executed. State-run Iraqiya television cited reports of Saddam’s hanging, but like the other television stations did not provide sources.

There was no confirmation from the Iraqi government.

A US judge on Friday refused to stop Saddam’s execution, rejecting a last-minute court challenge. US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said US courts do not have jurisdiction to interfere in another country’s judicial process. The ruling can be appealed, but it was issued within an hour of the time Iraqi officials said they expected the execution to be carried out.

Saddam and others were convicted of murder in the killings of 148 Shia Muslims from an Iraqi town where assassins tried to kill Saddam in 1982. Also to be hanged were Saddam’s half-brother Barzan Ibrahim and Awad Hamed Al Bandar, the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court, the adviser said.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/30/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Excellent graphic!
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 12/30/2006 2:18 Comments || Top||

#2  May the Lord have mercy on his soul.
Posted by: Korora || 12/30/2006 12:08 Comments || Top||

#3  May the Lord have mercy on his soul.

No, may the Lord pass judgment upon him for his crimes against his people, and for his arrogance. May God exile him to where he belongs - in Hell for all eternity.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 12/30/2006 15:07 Comments || Top||

#4  Which concentric circle of hell shall I show the new guest too?
Posted by: Hells Bellman || 12/30/2006 15:31 Comments || Top||

#5  All of 'em. One at a time, real slow-like. He's got forever an' ever.
Posted by: Seafarious || 12/30/2006 16:08 Comments || Top||

#6  #2 Korora - The Lord (or somebody) had mercy on Sadd-ass, since he died quickly of hanging instead slowly and painfully from chemical weapons, as he so richly deserved.

As for his soul - that murdering bastard had no soul. Now he can burn in Hell forever with others of his ilk.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 12/30/2006 18:05 Comments || Top||

#7  Seafarious.

I'd leave the First Circle of Hell out. That's for the noble pagans; they still keep their dignity. Their punishment is simply the loss of hope.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 12/30/2006 20:43 Comments || Top||


Sammy dangles
Reported from al-Arabiyah, via Fox News at 22:12.

From Beebs:
Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been executed by hanging at an unspecified location, reports say. Iraqi TV said the execution took place just before 0600 local time (0300GMT). It was witnessed by a doctor, lawyer and officials. It was also filmed. US troops and Iraqi security forces are on high alert for any violent backlash.
Posted by: Fred || 12/30/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Welcome Sammy
Posted by: Satan || 12/30/2006 0:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Sic semper tyrannis.
Posted by: Scott R || 12/30/2006 0:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Burn in HELL, ya' worthless bastard.

No doubt you've met your 72 Virginians by now....

I've been trying for the last few hours to balance my checkbook and pay bills, but kept getting interrupted by checking for further comments on Rantburg.

1 bottle of champagne (good stuff, not the cheap rotgut most people buy), cheese 'n crackers, sesame toast w/butter, and lots of bacon later, I've finally finished. (paying bills, not celebrating ;-p)

Will check out other post-midnight posts, then goodnight, y'all. See ya' on the flip side. It's a GREAT day for humanity. Leftists - not being human or humane - can go to Hell. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 12/30/2006 0:37 Comments || Top||

#4  Comments seem kinda light Barbara. I think you might as well go to bed and see what appears in the morning. :-)
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 12/30/2006 0:57 Comments || Top||

#5  It's the Mother Of All Hangings™!
Posted by: Free Radical || 12/30/2006 0:59 Comments || Top||

#6  #4 Scooter - I'm just hoping I'm not embarrassed by my comments in the morning when I'm sober.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 12/30/2006 1:01 Comments || Top||

#7  Haaaalelujah
Halelujah
Halee lujah
Terrific news for all, hello Rantburgers I've missed you a lot, have been without connection. Am at internet cafe now but miss you greatly
Posted by: anon1 || 12/30/2006 1:21 Comments || Top||

#8  Wonder if it was a rush for New Year so we can really party tonight, 2007 will not see that scum on the face of the earth!!
Posted by: anon1 || 12/30/2006 1:23 Comments || Top||

#9  Welcome back anon1! And yes, what a better year 2007 will be without Sammy's shadow darkening it.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/30/2006 1:29 Comments || Top||

#10  Sammy's Rosebud moment will be fun to watch over and over again. When can we download it?
Posted by: Destro_in_Indiana || 12/30/2006 1:59 Comments || Top||

#11  Save yourselves the blood pressure elevation - don't read Al-Beeb's 'have your say'. To say the fellow travellers are wailing and gnashing is an understatement - sheesh!...
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 12/30/2006 2:21 Comments || Top||

#12  As Coroner, I must aver I thoroughly examined her him. And she's he's not only merely dead, She's he's really, most sincerely dead. - the Coroner
Let the joyous news be spread — The Wicked Old Witch Dictator at last is dead!
With apologies to Frank Baum.
Posted by: GK || 12/30/2006 2:27 Comments || Top||

#13  Drat, and double drat! - I was just in the middle of a search for that GK! - good one!
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 12/30/2006 2:31 Comments || Top||

#14  From CNN:

Rubaie, who witnessed the execution, said the former leader was "strangely submissive" to the process. "He was a broken man," he said. "He was afraid. You could see fear in his face." Rubaie said that Hussein carried with him a copy of the Quran and asked that it be given to "a certain person." Rubaie did not identify that person.

On Al-Arabiya television, Rubaie said the execution took place at the 5th Division intelligence office in Qadhimiya. He said Hussein refused to wear a black hood over his head before execution and told him "don't be afraid."

"It was an Iraqi operation from A to Z," he said. "The Americans were not present during the hour of the execution. They weren't even in the building."

"Saddam's body is in front me," said an official in the prime minister's office when CNN telephoned. "It's over." He said that celebrations broke out after Hussein was dead, and that there was "dancing around the body."
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 12/30/2006 3:26 Comments || Top||

#15  Car-bomb already went off and Fallujah courthouse burned to ground. Although I wasn't aware Fallujah HAD a courthouse...

Oh well. I wonder if the sarcastic "Muqtada" was him thinking that Sadr wouldn't be alive much longer?
Posted by: Charles || 12/30/2006 4:03 Comments || Top||

#16 
Ali says he followed Saddam up the gallows steps, escorted by two guards. He stood over the hole and filmed from close quarters as Saddam dropped through—from "me to you," he said, crouching down to show how he shot the scene. The distance, he said, was "about one meter," he said. "He died absolutely, he died instantly." Ali said Saddam's body twitched, "shaking, very shaking," but "no blood," he said, and "no spit." (Ali said he was not authorized to disclose the location, and did not give other details of the room.)
Posted by: Fred || 12/30/2006 5:41 Comments || Top||

#17  Muqtada was his childhood camel.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/30/2006 7:06 Comments || Top||

#18  "He was a broken man," he said. "He was afraid. You could see fear in his face."

Tyrants are bullies, and bullies are cowards at heart. He died as he lived.
Posted by: Mike || 12/30/2006 8:13 Comments || Top||

#19  Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
Posted by: Anonymoose || 12/30/2006 10:43 Comments || Top||

#20  Shouldn't that be the Terran Empire insignia from the Mirror Universe?
Posted by: Korora || 12/30/2006 11:29 Comments || Top||

#21 
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 12/30/2006 13:37 Comments || Top||

#22  May Saddam Hussein's "72 virgins" all be half-starved dire wolves.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 12/30/2006 15:08 Comments || Top||

#23  Couple of thoughts (beyond the obvious grim satisfaction):

1) From the LATimes account:

The charged silence that settled over the execution chamber was broken by an exchange between Hussein and four guards, who were apparently followers of Muqtada Sadr, the militant Shiite cleric whose father was killed by Hussein.

"Muqtada Sadr!" they cried out.


That part disturbs me - not for any concern over Saddam but as an indication of how deep the Shia rot goes in the Iraqi government and society.

2) I'm wondering if CNN will be "too sensitive" to play any videos of the actual hanging when they become available.
Posted by: xbalanke || 12/30/2006 15:40 Comments || Top||


TV: Saddam to be executed at dawn Saturday
A top Iraqi official said Friday Saddam Hussein will be executed between 5:30 a.m. to 6 a.m. on Saturday, an Iraqi television reported. The television Freedom Iraq quoted an Iraqi official as saying that the former president would be hanged at dawn Saturday between 5:30 a.m.(0230GMT) to 6 a.m. (0300 GMT). Earlier, Al-Jazeera English TV channel reported that Saddam would be executed before 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) Saturday. A top Iraqi government official was quoted by the TV channel as saying that Saddam would be executed before 6 a.m. Saturday, local time (0300 GMT). The time was agreed upon during an emergency cabinet meeting between U.S. and Iraqi officials, according to the official, who said on condition of anonymity.
Posted by: Fred || 12/30/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Bomb attacks kill 17, wound 60 in Baghdad
(Xinhua) -- A total of 17 people were killed and up to 60 others wounded in three bomb blasts in Baghdad on Thursday, an Interior Ministry source said. The death toll rose to ten killed and 25 people wounded when a homemade bomb detonated under a vehicle parking near a fuel station close to al-Shaab Stadium in eastern Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Earlier, the source said that four people were killed and 13 others injured. The fuel station was set ablaze, leaving several cars queuing at the station caught on fire, the source added.

In another incident earlier, the death toll rose to seven and up to 35 others wounded when two roadside bombs went off in a quick succession at Bab al-Sharji, a populous outdoor market in downtown Baghdad, the source said.

Earlier, the source said that six people were killed and 25 others wounded by the double blast.
Posted by: Fred || 12/30/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
PM: No prisoners freed without Shalit
Palestinians fired a total of nine Kassam rockets at Israel on Friday. One missile landed near Sderot, while another five hit the western Negev. No one was wounded and no damage was reported. Two rockets landed inside Palestinian Authority territories. IDF troops reported that they did not identify the launching sites. Later Friday evening, a ninth rocket landed near a western Negev kibbutz. No one was wounded in the attack, although some buildings sustained damage.

The rocket fire came as Israel decided not to release Palestinian security prisoners for the Muslim holiday of Id al-Adha until kidnapped IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit was freed. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas last week that he would consider such a move as a goodwill gesture, but the prime minister has not yet held a meeting on the subject, and the Muslim holiday begins on Saturday.

Palestinian officials, including Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat, expressed their displeasure with the Israeli government's decision not to release prisoners before the holiday. "It's unfortunate," Erekat said of the decision, adding that it would hurt Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's standing.

A senior official in the Prime Minister's Office responded to the Palestinians' complaints, saying "instead of expressing regret, if these officials would abide by the cease-fire, maybe they would get prisoners."

On Thursday night, Israel denied reports by Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh that a prisoner swap was imminent, citing problems that have arisen in the negotiations for Shalit as the reason for the government's failure to reach a decision on the Palestinian prisoners. However, security forces were easing travel restrictions for Israeli Arabs and Palestinians in honor of the holiday. Israeli Arabs were going to be allowed to visit family in the West Bank, and around 4,000 Palestinians were to be permitted to visit family in Israel. In addition, Israeli Arabs were being allowed to visit immediate family in the Gaza Strip.

The eased restrictions were going to be in force from Friday morning until Monday. Soldiers manning checkpoints were instructed to act with extra sensitivity during the Muslim holiday period. Earlier in the week, Olmert mentioned Abbas's request in the Knesset, where Vice Premier Shimon Peres, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz and Defense Minister Amir Peretz expressed their support for the goodwill gesture; however, a follow-up discussion never materialized.

Peres told Israel Radio Friday that he believed there was still room to make such a gesture toward the Palestinians. However, Absorption Minister Ze'ev Boim said that a premature prisoner release would be unwise, as it was unlikely to be interpreted properly by the Palestinians. "I think that a gesture that in normal times is accepted at holiday time must not happen today because it would be misinterpreted," Boim told Israel Radio.
Posted by: Fred || 12/30/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What - did Olmert borrow some balls from a Texas cheerleading squad?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 12/30/2006 0:45 Comments || Top||

#2  In Texas, cheerleading is a blood sport. You may recall the whole cheerleader mom saga that that lead to 15 years in the slammer and a couple of made-for-tv movies.

As for Olmert, it doesn't matter where he got 'em. His people need a leader with a pair.
Posted by: SteveS || 12/30/2006 0:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Good thing he didn't try to borrow mine, or the entire middle east would be radioactive craters this morning. My sympathy meter for the "palestinians" measures 6.3x10-73.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 12/30/2006 15:22 Comments || Top||


Ninth Kassam rocket of the day falls in w. Negev
A Kassam rocket launched from the northern Gaza Strip just before midnight slammed into a field near a community in the western Negev, security officials said. The crude missile caused damage to property, but residents of the community escaped injury, Army Radio radio. Nine rockets have been fired into Israel since Friday morning.
Posted by: Fred || 12/30/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Shouldn't the official MSM headline read "Fragile Peace Accord Holding"?
Posted by: DMFD || 12/30/2006 13:34 Comments || Top||


He's dead, Jim.
Saudi cleric labels Shias 'infidels'Saddam executedBomb attacks kill 17, wound 60 in BaghdadSouth Korea calls North 'grave threat'Islamists vow no surrender to Somali govt and EthiopiaNinth Kassam rocket of the day falls in w. Negev'Treacherous enemy' sowing discord among Muslims: KhameneiStop that! *giggle*
Posted by: Fred || 12/30/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You've been saving that pic for a special occasion, haven't you Fred? Nice. :-)
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 12/30/2006 0:01 Comments || Top||

#2  A couple days early, but HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Posted by: Jackal || 12/30/2006 0:04 Comments || Top||

#3  He's ding dong dangled dead.

That picture says high production value all over it.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 12/30/2006 0:05 Comments || Top||

#4  Well hung
Posted by: Captain America || 12/30/2006 0:09 Comments || Top||

#5  Busby Berkley?
Posted by: Frank G || 12/30/2006 0:19 Comments || Top||

#6  #5 Frank - who else? ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 12/30/2006 0:41 Comments || Top||

#7  and once again, the law firm of Dewey,Cheatham and Clark(Ramsey) loses yet another high profile client to juries laegely unsympathetic to the twisted logic of the left.

If Ramsey Clark shows up at your reception desk, its like getting a visit from the angel of death.
Posted by: frank martin || 12/30/2006 0:41 Comments || Top||

#8  Wow. That looks expensive Fred. Time to head to the tip jar and top off your scotch and cigar fund as well as help you keep up production values. I'm in a celebratory mood.
Posted by: Classical_Liberal || 12/30/2006 0:47 Comments || Top||

#9  #8 CL - I'm going to do that tomorrow (here and elsewhere) when I'm sober and know what I'm doing.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 12/30/2006 0:59 Comments || Top||

#10  2007 Saddam free, brought to you by President Bush and proudly supported by ... me!
Posted by: anon1 || 12/30/2006 1:27 Comments || Top||

#11  All in all, a good three days in the WoT:

Sat 2006-12-30
Saddam hanged
Fri 2006-12-29
Daffy Janjalani presumed dead
Thu 2006-12-28
Islamic Courts Hang It Up
Wed 2006-12-27
Posted by: Seafarious || 12/30/2006 2:14 Comments || Top||

#12  CNN: Two witness statements
Posted by: RD || 12/30/2006 2:46 Comments || Top||

#13  haaretz: Iraqi-Americans cheer reports of Saddam Hussein's execution more at link
Buried in Yemen
Ahead of the execution of Saddam Hussein, his daughter had asked that his body be buried in Yemen, a source close to the family said.

His daughter Raghd, who is exiled in Jordan, "is asking that his body be buried in Yemen temporarily until Iraq is liberated and it can be reburied in Iraq," a source close to the family said by telephone.
Posted by: RD || 12/30/2006 3:16 Comments || Top||

#14  full account: Hussein executed

BAGHDAD — A defiant Saddam Hussein was hanged at dawn today in a secret concrete death chamber here as the Muslim call to prayer echoed over the capital.

Hussein and 14 Iraqi government representatives were flown by helicopter to the site, according to Iraqi High Tribunal Judge Munir Haddad. Guards escorted Hussein into the room, where he denounced the West and Iran.

Hussein then climbed the high ladder to the gallows.

As his executioners placed a noose around his neck, Hussein blanched but betrayed no emotion, Haddad said.

Hussein refused to wear a hood.

The charged silence that settled over the execution chamber was broken by an exchange between Hussein and four guards, who were apparently followers of Muqtada Sadr, the militant Shiite cleric whose father was killed by Hussein.

"Muqtada Sadr!" they cried out.

Hussein scoffed in reply.

His last word was a sarcastic "Muqtada," Haddad said. "And then he was hanged."


No cleric was provided. But as Hussein's life ebbed away, Haddad said, some of those present uttered a Muslim prayer often used by Shiite congregations to express gratitude: "May Allah bless Muhammad and his descendants."

The deposed Iraqi president had been convicted of crimes against humanity Nov. 5 for the killings of 148 men and boys from the town of Dujayl after a 1982 assassination attempt — a comparative handful among the tens of thousands of Iraqi deaths for which he was responsible during his nearly four-decade rule.

His execution officially ends a bloody chapter in this nation's history but is not expected to quell the sectarian civil war and violent insurgency that have racked the country since his overthrow by an American-led invasion in 2003.

As news of the execution spread, some Iraqis here celebrated with the customary gunfire into the air, and television channels As news of the execution spread, some Iraqis here celebrated with the customary gunfire into the air, and television channels broadcast Hussein retrospectives complete with film of his many victims. more

Posted by: RD || 12/30/2006 3:52 Comments || Top||

#15  brutal dictator’s humble final moments.

Ali Al Massedy was 3 feet away from Saddam Hussein when he died. "I saw fear, he was afraid," Ali told NEWSWEEK minutes after returning from the execution. Wearing a rumpled green suit and holding a Sony HDTV video camera in his right hand, "He was saying things about injustice, about resistance, about how these guys are terrorists," he says. On the way to the gallows, according to Ali, "Saddam said, ‘Iraq without me is nothing.’"

He followed Saddam up the gallows steps, escorted by two guards. He stood over the hole and filmed from close quarters as Saddam dropped through—from "me to you," he said, crouching down to show how he shot the scene. The distance, he said, was "about one meter,"
Posted by: RD || 12/30/2006 4:18 Comments || Top||

#16 
Posted by: RD || 12/30/2006 4:20 Comments || Top||

#17  Video of Saddam just before the drop
Posted by: RD || 12/30/2006 4:28 Comments || Top||

#18  just in case the other link goes haywire

http://www.sendspace.com/file/06j90u
Posted by: RD || 12/30/2006 4:37 Comments || Top||

#19  Graphic (from Drudge):

Posted by: Fred || 12/30/2006 5:29 Comments || Top||

#20  Nice Fred. I was trying to post that frame myself, but Microsoft (spit!) seems to have a new "feature" that prevents one from even copying a screenshot from a .wmv file....
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 12/30/2006 5:41 Comments || Top||

#21  a few dollars frames more
Posted by: RD || 12/30/2006 6:01 Comments || Top||

#22  Leave it to AP to screw up their headline. I thought Saddam was condemned for crimes against humanity. War crimes are something different.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 12/30/2006 7:04 Comments || Top||

#23  Reuters writes about Arab seething combined with Arab confusion over the matter.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 12/30/2006 7:10 Comments || Top||

#24  Ali Al Massedy was 3 feet away from Saddam Hussein when he died. "I saw fear, he was afraid,"

"Then I smelled poopy pants."
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 12/30/2006 8:29 Comments || Top||

#25  It was prolly one of those missing doubles. Heh.

/Arab congenital conspiracy gene
Posted by: .com || 12/30/2006 8:55 Comments || Top||

#26  AP finds a useful idjut:

U.S. troops cheered as news of Saddam's execution appeared on television at the mess hall at Forward Operating Base Loyalty in eastern Baghdad. But some soldiers expressed doubt that Saddam's death would be a significant turning point for Iraq.

"First it was weapons of mass destruction. Then when there were none, it was that we had to find Saddam. We did that, but then it was that we had to put him on trial," said Spc. Thomas Sheck, 25, who is on his second tour in Iraq. "So now, what will be the next story they tell us to keep us over here?"
Posted by: KBK || 12/30/2006 9:40 Comments || Top||

#27  What a week, It's all good!!!!
Posted by: 49 Pan || 12/30/2006 10:11 Comments || Top||

#28  San Diego Union headline (of a NYT story):
SADDAM HANGED - Chaos has now eclipsed brutality of his regime


*SPIT*
Posted by: Frank G || 12/30/2006 10:13 Comments || Top||

#29  KBK, Just watched Good Morning We Hate America and their 'experts' (aka correspondents) were hard pressed to contain their tears over his demise.

And of course they repeated the same 'so what will be the next story to keep us in Iraq' quote and then smeared that over all US Forces by added a 'american forces are further frustrated...'

I wonder how many hours AP spent finding that quote they wanted.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/30/2006 10:23 Comments || Top||

#30  They probably made it up CF. They are very good at that.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 12/30/2006 10:26 Comments || Top||

#31  Now that you mention it, our network news people did seem a little somber about Saddam's demise.
Posted by: badanov || 12/30/2006 10:33 Comments || Top||

#32  Last night, Katie Couric seemed as if she was going to mess up her makeup right there on screen.

She was wearing SAD face.
Posted by: Chuck Darwin || 12/30/2006 10:51 Comments || Top||

#33  On Drudge now:
Posted by: .com || 12/30/2006 11:50 Comments || Top||

#34  Dung hung.
Posted by: Hyper || 12/30/2006 12:01 Comments || Top||

#35  An object lesson for second rate dictators everywhere...
Posted by: Teh Comandant || 12/30/2006 15:31 Comments || Top||

#36  Iraqi TV: Post Drop Video low quality, lookin for higher one.
Posted by: RD || 12/30/2006 18:14 Comments || Top||

#37  Thx, RD. You've been Johnny on the spot, bro.
Posted by: .com || 12/30/2006 19:02 Comments || Top||

#38  Here it is: THE DROP

cell phone
Posted by: RD || 12/30/2006 19:53 Comments || Top||

#39  lol - he's looks surprised in a way, that they actually did it :-)
Posted by: Frank G || 12/30/2006 20:01 Comments || Top||

#40  Got it - Thx. Arabs.
Posted by: .com || 12/30/2006 20:03 Comments || Top||

#41  Better Audio: Saddam speaks bit
Posted by: RD || 12/30/2006 20:09 Comments || Top||

#42  bet that left a mark
Posted by: RD || 12/30/2006 21:10 Comments || Top||

#43  Looks like they did a good job. Too bad.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 12/30/2006 21:21 Comments || Top||

#44  Is moqtada Arabic for "rosebud?"
Posted by: Jackal || 12/30/2006 21:46 Comments || Top||

#45  I think it's Arabic for "Doritos" ? :)
Posted by: Dunno || 12/30/2006 23:10 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2006-12-30
  Saddam hanged
Fri 2006-12-29
  Daffy Janjalani presumed dead
Thu 2006-12-28
  Islamic Courts Hang It Up
Wed 2006-12-27
  Up to 1,000 Somalis dead in Ethiopia offensive
Tue 2006-12-26
  Islamic fighters quitting Somalia front
Mon 2006-12-25
  Ethiopia launches offensive against Somalia's Islamic movement
Sun 2006-12-24
  UN Security Council approves Iran sanctions
Sat 2006-12-23
  Somali provisional govt, Islamic courts do battle
Fri 2006-12-22
  War is on in Somalia!
Thu 2006-12-21
  Turkmenbashi croaks; World one megalomaniac lighter
Wed 2006-12-20
  Yet another Hamas-Fatah ceasefire
Tue 2006-12-19
  James Ujaama nabbed in Belize
Mon 2006-12-18
  Palestinian Clashes Kill 2; Presidential Compound Hit
Sun 2006-12-17
  Abbas Calls for Early Palestinian Vote
Sat 2006-12-16
  Street clashes spread in Gaza


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