#11
Send Putin the dvd of "Ice Station Zebra". Rock Hudson and Jim Brown "own" the North Pole. They got there waaaay before the Ruskies. Heh.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
08/02/2007 10:28 Comments ||
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#12
Ho! Ho! Ho!
Posted by: Santa Claus ||
08/02/2007 10:31 Comments ||
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#13
Are they going to get this one back or leave it littering the sea floor like the rest of their subs?
Posted by: Mike N. ||
08/02/2007 10:38 Comments ||
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#14
"This isn't the 15th century. You can't go around the world and just plant flags and say 'We're claiming this territory'," said Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay.
A little mockery and derision is exactly what Putin needs.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian explorers dived deep below the North Pole in a submersible on Thursday and planted their national flag on the seabed to stake a symbolic claim to the energy riches of the Arctic.
A mechanical arm dropped a specially made, rust-proof titanium flag painted with the Russian tricolour onto the Arctic seabed at a depth of 4,261 metres.
#24
mrp, "based", what you mean by "based"...?
Russkiye don't make claims based on anything. They simply make claims. At least commies had some sort of casus postuli (cause of claim) underpinned by Marxist ideology which may have fooled about 3-4 people.
#25
2x4, based on what I've seen, Ivan first makes the claim, and then follows up with stew of lies mixed with a soupcon of fact(s). I'm sure that, somewhere in the Kremlin, there's a musty claim to California sitting in a file drawer, awaiting its day of glory.
A gun battle with militants in eastern Afghanistan left a NATO soldier dead Wednesday, while a clash in the south killed 10 suspected Taliban militants, officials said. The clash in eastern Afghanistan also left another soldier wounded, the alliance said in a statement. NATO did not identify the exact location of the clash, or the nationality of the casualties.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/02/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
(AKI) - by Syed Saleem Shahzad - Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani, a cleric who first rose to fame fighting Soviet occupation forces in the 1980s, is the mastermind behind recent kidnappings in Afghanistan, well-placed sources have told Adnkronos International (AKI). The 50-year-old Jalaluddin Haqqani, is considered the Taliban's second-in-command after the Islamists' traditional spiritual leader Mullah Omar. While hailing from the Afghan province of Paktia and Khost, Jalaluddin has long been based in North Waziristan were he has also run a seminary.
The sources also confirmed reports that the leader of Pakistan's opposition religious six-party alliance, the MMA, has been mediating with the Taliban to secure the release of remaining 21 South Korean hostages kidnapped by the Islamist militants. In fact, MMA leader, Maulana Fazlur Rehman has been in direct contact with Jalaluddin Haqqani's son Sirajuddin Haqqani who is based in Dandai Darpa Khail in Pakistan's North Waziristan province which borders with Afghanistan, the sources told AKI.
They also identified another intermediary negotiating for the Korean hostages' release as Mullah Abdus Salam Rocketi, a Taliban turncoat who now sits in the National Assembly in Kabul. Through Abudus Salam Rocketi - his third name a moniker referring to his prowess at launching rockets against the Soviets - Jalaluddin Haqqani's representatives demanded an undisclosed amount of money as ransom for the Koreans' release, the sources said.
Jalaluddin Haqqani's territorial control stretches across much of south eastern Afghanistan, including Paktia, Khost, Kunar, Gardez, and Ghanzi, where the bodies of two Korean hostages killed by the Taliban were found.
Before he was killed by Afghan and NATO forces in May, Mullah Dadullah had been the Taliban commander most involved in kidnapping - including the abduction of an Italian journalist who was reportedly released for a 20 million dollar ransom and the freeing from prison of several captured Taliban. With the kidnapping of the 23 Koreans, Jalaluddin Haqqani seems to have taken over a role left vacant by Dadullah's demise.
This article starring:
JALALUDIN HAQQANI
Taliban
MAULANA FAZLUR REHMAN
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
MULLAH ABDUS SALAM ROCKETI
Taliban
MULLAH DADULLAH
Taliban
SIRAJUDIN HAQQANI
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
08/02/2007 00:00 ||
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President General Pervez Musharraf and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai will inaugurate the Pak-Afghan Jirga Commissions meeting on August 8 in Kabul, Daily Times learnt here on Wednesday. Seven hundred members of the commission from both the countries will participate in this first ever meeting. The meeting will deliberate on the ways and means to end terrorism in Afghanistan and tribal areas of Pakistan.
Sources said that the three-day meeting, which would continue till August 10, would also discuss border security and improvement in bilateral relations. Promotion of people-to-people contacts would also come under discussion. Sources said that after inauguration of the meeting the commission members would be divided into different committees, who would forward their recommendations to the main jirga where the decisions would be taken. The commission members would also constitute a permanent commission, which would monitor the status of the implementation of the decisions taken in the meeting, said the sources.
According to the sources, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, was also invited to participate in the jirga meeting being held in Kabul, but he declined the invitation due to his engagements here.
This article starring:
Dr Ghazi Ghulab Jamal
Governor Balochistan Owais Ahmad Khan Ghani
Governor NWFP Lt-Gen (r) Ali Muhammad Jan Orakzai
Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao
Khalid Aziz
Maulana Fazlur Rehman
Pir Syed Said Ahmad Gilani, Afghan jirga commissions chairman
Sahibzada Imtiaz
Yar Muhammad Rind
Posted by: Fred ||
08/02/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
According to the sources, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, was also invited to participate in the jirga meeting being held in Kabul, but he declined the invitation due to his engagements here.
When you think about it, they're acting just like the Republicans and Democrats here. So maybe there is reason for hope since they're using the same tired and true tactics of stonewalling that Pelosi and Reid have been using.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
08/02/2007 14:13 Comments ||
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Afghanistans Taliban have threatened to kill more of the 21 South Korean hostages after a Wednesday deadline expired. The extremist group repeated that it was ready to kill more members of the aid mission seized here two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, military choppers dropped leaflets in the province, including the Qarabagh district where the South Koreans were captured, asking residents to leave ahead of a planned operation but officials denied this would be a bid to free the captives. The operation was a routine exercise due in the coming weeks, the defence ministry said. Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said earlier there had been no progress in the negotiations. One of the main negotiators, parliamentarian Mahmood Gailani, said tribal elders fronting the talks had asked for 48 more hours.
A top US official, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill, and Egypts largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, meanwhile joined international calls for the release of the Christians.
The bodies of four Afghan judges from Paktika were also found on Wednesday. We killed them because they worked for the government, Ahmadi said.
In other incidents, a gun battle with militants in the east left a NATO soldier injured while a clash in the south killed 10 suspected Taliban militants, officials said. Four rebels were also shot dead in Ghazni province and a soldier from the 35,000-strong NATO-led force here to assist the Afghan government was killed in fighting in the northeast, security officials said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/02/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
A top US official, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill, and Egypts largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, meanwhile joined international calls for the release of the Christians.
Strange bed-fellows. The Muslim Brotherhood must have a new PR guy who doesn't understand that a muzzie never asks for christian or especially a joooo to be released...unless...they want them for their own beheading practice.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
08/02/2007 14:16 Comments ||
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Al-Qaeda in the Mahgreb's purported second in command, Abdel Qader Bin Masud - known as Musab Abu Dawd - has surrendered to Algerian authorities. According to Algerian media reports on Wednesday, the former leader of the Algerian Salafite Group for Preaching Combat (ASGPC) in the southern Sahara, is until now the most important al-Qaeda representative in the hands of authorities. He is apparently taking advantage of the charter for national reconciliation that offers clemency for terrorists that renounce armed conflict.
After he surrendered, Masud reportedly provided police with details of the internal operations of al-Qaeda which has been wracked by internal conflict over the decision to transform the Salafite group into a local cell of Osama Bin Laden's network.
The greatest conflict occurred between the leader of the group Abu Masab Abdel Wudud and the emir of ASGPC in the region, Mukhtar Belmokhtar. Some observers believed he would have been the number one candidate to lead the group after the death of Nabil Sahrawi in 2004. Belmokhtar, who allegedly maintained contact with al-Qaeda's international network, had different ideas on how to advance Jihadi operations in Algeria.
According to the revelations of Abu Dawd, the group's leader Abu Musab Abdel Wudud decided independently to shift the group closer to al-Qaeda, counting on the support of the three other leaders and violating the group's statutes that called for a direct vote.
Belmokhtar, who helped found al-Qaeda cells in Mauritania, Nigeria and Mali, is in fear of his life. Among Algerian terrorists, Belmokhtar was deemed the most appropriate person to succeed Sahrawi with a Jihadi background more respected than the actual leader. Abdel Wudud has also been accused of using money from the terrorist organisation for personal ends. Speculation is rife in Algeria that Belmokhtar and other members of al-Qaeda may also abandon armed struggle.
This article starring:
ABDEL QADER BIN MASUD
al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
ABU MASAB ABDEL WUDUD
al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
MUKHTAR BELMOKHTAR
al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
MUSAB ABU DAWD
al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
NABIL SAHRAWI
al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
Salafite Group for Preaching Combat
Posted by: Fred ||
08/02/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
A story worth toasting
A badly burned man detained after the Glasgow Airport attack on Saturday 30 June has died in hospital. A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police said that the man, seriously injured during the incident, died in Glasgow Royal Infirmary on Thursday evening. Kafeel Ahmed was one of two men held at the airport after a Jeep struck the terminal and burst into flames. The circumstances surrounding the death have been reported to the procurator fiscal.
The 27-year-old, from Bangalore, India, had suffered burns to 90% of his body when he was arrested. He was transferred to the specialist burns unit at Glasgow Royal Infirmary from the Royal Alexandra Hospital, in Paisley. He was being kept under armed guard and had been described by health officials as being in a critical condition. Contrary to earlier reports, Mr Ahmed was not a medic but an engineer with a PhD in design and technology.
#10
"Bulletin"...CBS is still referring to him as the "alleged suspect" in the attack on the airport.
I kid you not.
Alleged?? This MF'er is FILMED getting kicked in the balls while he is trying to get into the trunk of his car to set off the bombs!! While he is freaking ON FIRE!!
But to CBS he is only "alleged" to have been involved!!
#14
I'm truly saddened that his suffering couldn't be extended any longer.
(Of course I realize he was probably sedated most of the time and may not have been aware he'd survived half as long as he did--so it's just as well the medical professionals are freed up to help others who actually warrant their assistance.)
Posted by: Dar ||
08/02/2007 23:08 Comments ||
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#15
Poor dude.
I don't think God will be pleased with this burnt offering.
That is why He sent His Son Jesus to be the perfect offering for all time.
The dude just didn't get It.
There will be no duds in heaven.
Thirty alleged leaders of a banned Islamic group went on trial on Wednesday in a court in central Kazakhstan, authorities said. The accused were arrested over the last several months and are charged with inciting religious discord and membership in a banned organisation, the Karaganda regional branch of the National Security Committee said in a statement.
The men are believed to be leaders and activists with the group Hizb-ut-Tahrir, and are suspected of trying to recruit new members, authorities said. The trial will be closed to the public and is expected to last up to three months, court officials said.
Hizb-ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation) aims to create a worldwide Islamic state but claims to disavow violence. The group spread through the predominantly Muslim states of Soviet Central Asia after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. Hizb-ut-Tahrir has been banned in Central Asia and Russia.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/02/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hizb-ut-Tahrir
Pakistan police today foiled a suicide attack in eastern Punjab province by killing an assailant, who tried to sneak into a parade in which 900 police recruits were to participate. A police official was killed while another injured when the two sides exchanged fire.
The would-be suicide bomber scaled the wall of the training centre in the city of Sargodha and enter the training facility where recruiters were assembling for the morning parade. Security men at the scene stopped the man, who in turn fired at the police, killing an assistant sub-inspector and injuring another. The elite police force returned the fire, killing the attacker on the scene. The would-be bomber was wearing an explosive-laden jacket.
District Police Officer Sheikh Muhammad Omar said the parade was the main target of the bomber. Some 900 police recruits were supposed to take part in the parade. He said when policemen tried to stop the attacker, he tried to run towards the parade area.
In another incident, five policemen were injured in a blast near the traffic police headquarters in the city of Gujranwala, some 60 kms from Lahore.
Attacks on police training centers have increased in parts of Pakistan in recent days especially after the army stormed the Lal Masjid in Islamabad last month, which left more than 100 people dead. Police and army officials have been advised not to travel in private vehicles or wear uniforms to avoid suicide attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/02/2007 08:55 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
Security forces on Wednesday raided a militant hide-out and fought a fierce gunbattle in Bannu to try to free seven soldiers taken prisoner a day earlier, officials said. One captive soldier was killed, three rescued, and the militants escaped with the remaining three, AP reports.
The seven soldiers were seized by suspected militants on Tuesday in NWFP as they rode in two vehicles. Dozens of troops launched an attack on a house in Bannu town before dawn on Wednesday, and rescued three of the captive soldiers after a fierce shootout, said Mohammed Khan, a local police official. One of the captive soldiers died in the shootout, and the kidnappers managed to flee with the others, he said. Efforts are under way to trace and rescue the remaining three soldiers, Khan said.
Separately a paramilitary soldier was wounded in fresh overnight clashes at the Banda checkpoint in North Waziristan, where 18 militants were killed on Tuesday in intense fighting, officials told AFP. Helicopter gunships hovered in the sky early Wednesday amid ongoing fighting, residents said.
Militants also fired five rockets at a military post on the border, while another rocket aimed at an army camp in Miranshah missed its target and exploded near a hospital, they said. There were no casualties.
Staff Report adds: The bodies of the 18 militants killed on Tuesday were handed over to their families, local authorities said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/02/2007 00:00 ||
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A tribal army blew up with mines the house of a local accused of trying to aid an assassination attempt on Taliban leader Mullah Nazir Ahmed in South Waziristan by a young suicide-bomber from Bajaur, tribal sources said on Wednesday. Local Taliban militants foiled a plot to assassinate Mullah Nazir in a suicide attack last month, and arrested a young tribesman from Bajaur, who disclosed that he was sent to kill the Taliban leader. A tribal army razed the house of Farid Zalikhel to the ground by planting mines around it, after a joint Ahmedzai-Wazir-Taliban jirga took the decision, the sources told Daily Times by phone from Wana, regional headquarters of South Waziristan.
Taliban sources said Farids fate would be decided by a panel of clerics on Thursday. The clerics can order a public execution or imprison him, or even let him go, the sources added. The alleged co-plotter was also fined Rs 1 million. Farid, according to the sources, helped the alleged suicide bomber, who spent nights in his house before the attempted bombing. The alleged suicide bomber, the sources said, told Taliban interrogators that he was sent by Uzbek militant Saiful Asad to kill Mullah Nazir. Separately, the panel of clerics pardoned pro-Uzbek militant commander Iftikhar along with 15 accomplices, since he was not found involved in murders or any other crime.
This article starring:
FARID ZALIKHEL
al-Qaeda
MULLAH NAZIR AHMED
Taliban
SAIFUL ASAD
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Posted by: Fred ||
08/02/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
Ten people, including a colonel, were killed in a clash between troops and militants trying to get into Indian-held Kashmir from the Pakistani side, the Indian army said on Wednesday. The army has foiled a major infiltration attempt by militants from across the Line of Control (LoC), army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Anil Kumar Mathur said. We have shot dead eight militants in (northern) Uri sector in an operation that started on Tuesday and is ongoing, Mathur said, asserting that it was the biggest attempt by rebels to sneak into Indian-held Kashmir this year.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/02/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hizbul Mujaheddin
Local Taliban militants on Wednesday began Islamic education for children at a madrassa they seized adjacent to the shrine of famous Pashtoon freedom fighter Haji Turangzai in the Mohmand tribal region.
A local armed group calling itself Taliban seized the shrine and adjacent mosque and madrassa on July 29 and named it after Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa in Islamabad. Qari Muhammad Daud has been appointed to teach the children Islamic education and from today he began his work, Taliban spokesman Usman Gurbaz told Daily Times. The spokesman said there was a warm response from parents as some 60 children were present on the inaugural day. We hope the strength will increase slowly and gradually.
A Saafi tribe jirga held talks on Tuesday with Taliban leader Umar Khalid and asked the militants to end their siege of the mosque and shrine, but the jirgas demand was rejected. Gurbaz said around 300 students could be given free accommodation and food at the madrassa. He said that a tribal jirga would be invited to urge tribal parents to send their children for Islamic education at the madrassa.
Meanwhile, the political administration said the Taliban had decreased the number of armed men and removed heavy weapons from the mosque and madrassa following their talks with the Saafi tribe jirga on Tuesday. The Taliban will vacate the two places gradually, a official said. However, he could not say if the Taliban would give the mosque its old name back. The emergence of the Taliban in Mohmand has invited media attention, but local authorities banned journalist visiting the Lakharo. Sources said the authorities returned a Geo TV team from Islamabad at the Naki check-post on Wednesday. Journalists were also denied access to the site on Tuesday.
This article starring:
OMAR KHALID
Taliban
Pashtoon freedom fighter Haji Turangzai
QARI MUHAMAD DAUD
Taliban
USMAN GURBAZ
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
08/02/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
let the brain-washing begin!
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/02/2007 7:11 Comments ||
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Via The Corner --TNR issues a new statement and reports on Army "short-circuiting" of their investigation.
A Statement on Scott Thomas Beauchamp
by the Editors
Only at TNR Online | Post date 08.02.07
Scott Thomas Beauchamp is a U.S. Army private serving in Iraq. He came to THE NEW REPUBLIC's attention through Elspeth Reeve, a TNR reporter-researcher, whom he later married. Over the course of the war, we have tried to provide our readers with a sense of Iraq as it is seen by the troops. Usually, these stories have been written by journalists who have traveled to Iraq and interviewed soldiers there, but last January Beauchamp sent us a first-person vignette that seemed a powerful contribution to the genre. It told the story of a young Iraqi boy who befriended American troops and subsequently had his tongue cut out by insurgents. Conservatives and liberals alike praised this essay.
We granted Beauchamp a pseudonym so that he could write honestly and candidly about his emotions and experiences, even as he continued to serve in the armed forces and participate in combat operations. Over the next six months, he published two other short personal accounts in our pages. Beauchamp's latest, a Diarist headlined "Shock Troops," was about the morally and emotionally distorting effects of war. The piece was a startling confession of shame about some disturbing conduct, both his own and that of his fellow soldiers.
All of Beauchamp's essays were fact-checked before publication. We checked the plausibility of details with experts, contacted a corroborating witness, and pressed the author for further details. But publishing a first-person essay from a war zone requires a measure of faith in the writer. Given what we knew of Beauchamp, personally and professionally, we credited his report. After questions were raised about the veracity of his essay, TNR extensively re-reported Beauchamp's account.
In this process, TNR contacted dozens of people. Editors and staffers spoke numerous times with Beauchamp. We also spoke with current and former soldiers, forensic experts, and other journalists who have covered the war extensively. And we sought assistance from Army Public Affairs officers. Most important, we spoke with five other members of Beauchamp's company, and all corroborated Beauchamp's anecdotes, which they witnessed or, in the case of one solider, heard about contemporaneously. (All of the soldiers we interviewed who had first-hand knowledge of the episodes requested anonymity.)
Beauchamp's essay consisted of three discrete anecdotes. In the first, Beauchamp recounted how he and a fellow soldier mocked a disfigured woman seated near them in a dining hall. Three soldiers with whom TNR has spoken have said they repeatedly saw the same facially disfigured woman. One was the soldier specifically mentioned in the Diarist. He told us: "We were really poking fun at her; it was just me and Scott, the day that I made that comment. We were pretty loud. She was sitting at the table behind me. We were at the end of the table. I believe that there were a few people a few feet to the right."
The recollections of these three soldiers differ from Beauchamp's on one significant detail (the only fact in the piece that we have determined to be inaccurate): They say the conversation occurred at Camp Buehring, in Kuwait, prior to the unit's arrival in Iraq. When presented with this important discrepancy, Beauchamp acknowledged his error. We sincerely regret this mistake.
In the second anecdote, soldiers in Beauchamp's unit discovered what they believed were children's bones. Publicly, the military has sought to refute this claim on the grounds that no such discovery was officially reported. But one military official told TNR that bones were commonly found in the area around Beauchamp's combat outpost. (This is consistent with the report of a children's cemetery near Beauchamp's combat outpost reported on The Weekly Standard website.)
More important, two witnesses have corroborated Beauchamp's account. One wrote in an e-mail: "I can wholeheartedly verify the finding of the bones; U.S. troops (in my unit) discovered human remains in the manner described in 'Shock Troopers.' [sic] ... [We] did not report it; there was no need to. The bodies weren't freshly killed and thus the crime hadn't been committed while we were in control of the sector of operations." On the phone, this soldier later told us that he had witnessed another soldier wearing the skull fragment just as Beauchamp recounted: "It fit like a yarmulke," he said. A forensic anthropologist confirmed to us that it is possible for tufts of hair to be attached to a long-buried fragment of a human skull, as described in the piece.
The last section of the Diarist described soldiers using Bradley Fighting Vehicles to kill dogs. On this topic, one soldier, who witnessed the incident described by Beauchamp, wrote in an e-mail: "How you do this (I've seen it done more than once) is, when you approach the dog in question, suddenly lurch the Bradley on the opposite side of the road the dog is on. The rear-end of the vehicle will then swing TOWARD the animal, scaring it into running out into the road. If it works, the dog is running into the center of the road as the driver swings his yoke back around the other way, and the dog becomes a chalk outline." TNR contacted the manufacturer of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle System, where a spokesman confirmed that the vehicle is as maneuverable as Beauchamp described. Instructors who train soldiers to drive Bradleys told us the same thing. And a veteran war correspondent described the tendency of stray Iraqi dogs to flock toward noisy military convoys.
Although we place great weight on the corroborations we have received, we wished to know more. But, late last week, the Army began its own investigation, short-circuiting our efforts. Beauchamp had his cell-phone and computer taken away and is currently unable to speak to even his family. His fellow soldiers no longer feel comfortable communicating with reporters. If further substantive information comes to light, TNR will, of course, share it with you.
#2
Right...and that's going to matter when they haul him in for court martial as well. I get the feeling that these other soldiers won't be testifying on the Scott's behalf.
#4
Here's a fun fact; if Scott had completed college and then came into the army, he would come in as an E-4 (Specialist). If he had over 60 credits he would come in as an E-3 (Private First Class). Now he is just plain old private. Seems like he got some UCMJ loving and got demoted before he deployed.
Posted by: Army Life ||
08/02/2007 17:25 Comments ||
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#5
"We were really poking fun at her; it was just me and Scott." So PV2 beauchamp (Super Liberal) and buddy were in fact the ones making fun of a disfigured woman and that would make him the "Shock Troops". Oh I bet his NCOs are going to love him after they read that (I know I would).
#8
Let the Whitewash Begin, wuddnt us, he fibbed, we checked, but somehow this little fib got through (Etc, Etc)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/02/2007 17:54 Comments ||
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#9
The way he described driving a Bradley was totally bogus. The guy is a Piker. A lying sonufabitch.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/02/2007 18:58 Comments ||
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#10
Figgured as much. Looks like they are going to try for the Military Coverup(tm). The fall back if that dosen't work is some variation of "fake but accurate". They are never going to admit any culpability, for they are the Pure and Just. They are never wrong in their minds.
Posted by: N Guard ||
08/02/2007 19:01 Comments ||
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#11
If crimes indeed were committed by him, it should be pointed out that Pvt Beauchamp was a liberal who supported left wing causes before he entered the military.
Crimes were also asserted as having been committed by himself by John Kerry.
So it should raise the question: are liberals more prone to commit war crimes than conservatives?
This is not as ridiculous as it sounds, in that the vast majority of serial killers and multiple killers who "go postal", with a few exceptions, are not, in fact, conservatives as portrayed by the media, but are liberals and supporters of left wing causes.
#12
Not that it's likely, but if this matter progresses to formal charges against Beauchamp et al., does the UCMJ allow a military court to subpoena the editors of TNR?
So it should raise the question: are liberals more prone to commit war crimes than conservatives?
Nah. Just more likely to brag about it and try to blame everyone else afterwards.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
08/02/2007 20:34 Comments ||
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#14
I have never before made a comment about this "human interset story", but I will step in now to address a point that I have never before seen anyone address.
Under what sort of scenario would a grossly disfigured woman in uniform, with half her face and scalp 'missing', still be on active duty in a combat theater?
For the disfiguring wounds described, I am assuming that the injured woman would have initilly been medevacced to an out-of-theater hospital or burn center - most likly stateside. After healing, such an individual would presumably be medically retired.
Under what sort of circumstances would such a grossly deformed burn victim be redeployed BACK into an operational theater?
Whether military, or State, or CIA, or private contractor - even upon volunteering - I have difficulty imagining an 'employer' sending such an individual back into theater.
This was the very first thought that came to me when I first read the "Shock Troops" article - and that thought still remains with me.
Someone with a bad scar - OK. Someone with some scalp hair shaved off where medial attenion was given to their cranium - OK. Someone with "half her face and one side of her scalp sort of melted off" - 'give me a break. I visualize Jim Carrey as "Fire Marshall Bill" - smoldering - and then try to imagine a hideously burned soldier - male or female - being deployed to a forward combat base - even as a volunteer.
'Can't happen - didn't happen. At least not in the manner described.
#15
Under what sort of scenario would a grossly disfigured woman in uniform, with half her face and scalp 'missing', still be on active duty in a combat theater?
IIRC, TNR/Beauchamp referred to the scarred woman as a 'contractor' - the only non-military character in the Scott T. Beauchamp chronicles.
#16
I'm sorry, but most of the soldiers I know would listen to about 2 seconds of somebody laughing at a burn victim, then go over and slap him in his goddamned head.
#17
So it should raise the question: are liberals more prone to commit war crimes than conservatives?
'moose is onto something here. I've often thought that liberals are so worried about appearance (not substance), that when truly confronted with real-life stuff/evil, they will take it and take it, until they lash out like a cornered cat. A sort of passive-agressive type mentality writ large.
For example, look at Obama's recent statements. If'n he had been in office 3-4 years and facing Hillary in a few months and (God forbid) something happened in the homeland, would he really invade Pakistan (we know he wouldn't). BUT, if pushed into a corner, by both the media and the public, would he go out and do something stupid like nuking Islamabad (OK, maybe not such a bad thing /sarcasm)? They are all so worried about appearance that one has to wonder (if pushed hard enough) whether they'd do something completely stupid if they were in Bush's shoes. Bush is so calm, cool and collected (and self-assured/confident) that he doesn't react based upon emotion, whereas libs generally do. That can be an even worse situation, in my mind, if we're ever hit again and the public is calling for blood.
Posted by: BA ||
08/02/2007 21:32 Comments ||
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The Mosul leader of al Qaeda in Iraq was shot to death by Iraqi soldiers during a combat operation in the northern Iraqi city Wednesday, a U.S. military statement said.
Iraqi soldiers spotted al Qaeda's emir of Mosul -- known as Safi -- riding in a pickup truck in northeastern Mosul and began chasing his vehicle, the military said in a statement released Thursday. After pulling over, Safi and two bodyguards emerged from the truck and whipped out rods opened fire on the soldiers, but they were blown away shot dead, the military said.
"The death of Safi will further disrupt senior AQI leadership in Mosul, which has been unstable since May, due to the combined efforts of Coalition Forces and ISF (Iraqi security forces) offensive operations," said U.S. Army Col. Stephen Twitty, commander of 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. But now, onto the CNN gloom and doom...
Meanwhile, a suicide bombing targeting a police station in Iraq's volatile Diyala province on Thursday has killed five people and wounded seven others, the Interior Ministry told CNN. Police and civilians were among the victims in the incident, which took place in the town of Hibhib.
On Tuesday, six U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq, bringing the total death toll for July to 79, the lowest figure since November. However, the figure is nearly twice as high as the July 2006 troop death toll -- 43 fatalities -- a sign of the persistent violence in the long conflict.
Two Task Force Marne soldiers were killed and 10 were wounded in an indirect fire attack Tuesday, the military said on Thursday. Three U.S. soldiers were killed and six wounded when a bomb exploded near their combat patrol in eastern Baghdad, the military said on Wednesday. The bomb was the type known as an explosively formed penetrator, which the military said is a more powerful and sophisticated version of a roadside bomb.
This article starring:
Safi
Posted by: tu3031 ||
08/02/2007 10:09 ||
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#1
For a moment I thought they had killed Raffi. Thank goodness.
Posted by: Captain Lewis ||
08/02/2007 10:26 Comments ||
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#5
"43 fatalities -- a sign of the persistent violence in the long conflict."
OK, let's take out our editor's red pen for a second - just on this one phrase.
Uh, no, a given casualty figure, all by itself, is not a sign of ANYTHING in particular. Such figures fluctuate for any number of reasons. In this case, the most obvious change from July '06 is that the Coalition is on the offensive - which, DUH, almost always leads to more casualties.
And how is this conflict "long"? By what standard? Compared to major combat ops in '03? Compared to the Malayan insurgency campaign? Compared to the Eritrean war for independence? This usage is either misleading or purely subjective and a bit mysterious, by definition.
As a friend and fellow recovered journalist started to say back when things got really bad in the 90s, "does anybody edit this stuff?"
Short answer: not really.
And behold how much distortion, or tendentious insinuation, or outright error, can be embedded in just a few words or phrases. As I always tell normal folks who ask about war coverage, it's not so much the outright inaccuracies that matter, it's the critical but subtle framework and tone that are usually perverse, and 100% slanted against the US, our war efforts, etc.
I recall way back, in the mists of time, when I was a reporter in DC, and the stock phrase in all major print media about El Salvador was "the civil war that started in 1979." I had several occasions to confront MSM types and point out that the civil war was much, much longer in duration and more complicated than that sentence implied - and received in response blank stares, of course. It's only gotten worse.
#6
What is an 'emir'? Contexts indicate some sort of Islamic leadership position, but I have no idea how far up the chain it is. Judging by the way we've been killing/catching them, they must be about as common as Corporals, or political Ward heelers.
#7
And behold how much distortion, or tendentious insinuation, or outright error, can be embedded in just a few words or phrases. As I always tell normal folks who ask about war coverage, it's not so much the outright inaccuracies that matter, it's the critical but subtle framework and tone that are usually perverse, and 100% slanted against the US, our war efforts, etc.
#8
#5. The title "emir" usually means a prince, chieftain, or governor, but it also can mean commander or leader. As the article says, Safi was al Qaeda's leader in Mosul. Don't know if the title applies at squad or precinct level.:)
#9
However, the figure is nearly twice as high as the July 2006 troop death toll -- 43 fatalities -- a sign of the persistent violence in the long conflict.
They just couldn't let it go, could they? Comparing last July's "body count" to this year's is an apples n' oranges thingy. First, like has already been pointed out, we're now on the offensive, which by design, brings more "risk" and thus, more casualties. Second, we did this with 30k more troops in theater (read: more "targets" for AQiI to hit). Third, if you subtract out the very last day of the month, you get down to 73 KIA (those bombs could've just as easily gone off on Wed., and thus been "counted" in August). Finally, this year's July is almost whole-heartedly driven by cleaning up the heart of the beast in Baghdad proper. We've mopped up (virtually) Anbar province, and us (and the IA and IPolice) are kicking arse and taking names. I actually see the decrease in deaths as a good thing, and a sign that maybe these are just the last (desparate) throes of an enemy that's facing certain doom. The violence is always the worst right before the enemy surrenders, correct?
Posted by: BA ||
08/02/2007 13:48 Comments ||
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#10
why does CNN not want too give out enemy body counts but sure as hell don't mind giving out US death notices on a regular basis, May be they should change their name too al jizz
Verlaine: With all due respect they really do edit but to fit an agenda. Whatever their motivation - leftwing views, increasing readership via the yellow-pen or plain stupidity - they edit to fit the cause. The cause for the MSM, in which CNN is the cable major, its man -bites -dog or being as negative as you can get but still "support the troops".
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
08/02/2007 14:43 Comments ||
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#12
MSM edits it to look bad for the republicans and Bush and look good for the dhimocrats.
#13
Curiously, in other news, Iraqi deaths are reaching all time highs while our own troop casualties are quite low. What this tells me is that the surge is working and forcing the terrorists to revert to their usual modus operendi of killing innocent people who don't fight back. I can only hope the Iraqis will learn their lesson soon and begin sandbagging the terrorists whenever they show up.
#14
It strikes me that as more and more 'emirs' get removed from the board and presumably replaced from below, that the ability to 'vet the replacements, and their replacements (& so on) is getting severely degraded. One does hope we are willing and able to take advantage of such opportunities to infiltrate their organization. (And if not, then at least leading them to think we are doing so!)
#15
It strikes me that as more and more 'emirs' get removed from the board and presumably replaced from below, that the ability to 'vet the replacements, and their replacements (& so on) is getting severely degraded.
Absolutely spot on, Glenmore. This is an aspect of high context cultures we've yet to even begin exploiting capitalizing upon. Due to how these corrupt and graft driven cultures are so reliant upon individual contact networks and the opacity of secretive cabals, the ongoing ability to successfully 'vet future operatives is significantly downgraded.
While there is a modicum of satisfaction that even our current kid-glove ROE attrits numerous of these players and thereby disrupts the terrorist command food chain; Imagine how severely we could compromise their operations if we began a campaign of targeted assassinations against the top tiers of Islam's clerical aristocracy and terrorism's elite. A truly concerted effort could topple the whole Islamist house of cards within months, if not mere weeks.
Iraqi Army and Coalition Forces, working with tips from local citizens, discovered the site of a mass grave near the village of al-Muhbabiyah, located in Diyala province, July 31.
Iraqi citizens reported to the CF and ISF that on 28 July, terrorists linked to al-Qaida in Iraq murdered 17 Iraqi citizens, including women, children and elderly people. The ISF and CF assisted family members in recovering 14 of the bodies, all believed to be Sunni. Three other bodies were taken to a hospital for relatives to identify and claim. This is a disgraceful act of hate and an attempt to intimidate the community, said Col. Jon Lehr, commander, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. Increasingly, terrorists are realizing they have no where to turn to. The people of Diyala province will no longer trust them so they resort to murdering innocent people.
IA leadership, along with CF, continue working with local residents as they claim the remains of their family members and neighbors. Iraqi and Coalition Forces are determined to keep the city and surrounding areas of Diyala province safe, said Lehr. We will assist the people so they continue to have faith in their Iraqi Security Forces and the Iraqi government.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/02/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Funny, I missed the screaming headlines and 24-hour coverage of this mass grave/atrocity. What? You mean it wasn't even mentioned? Oh.
Imagine for a second this was the work of an IA unit, or an IP unit (sadly, such a thing is not of course inconceivable in this sort of war). Imagine the hysteria - the whole chorus of idiots, from "human rights" groups, to the UN Sec Gen, to Ted Kennedy, to the MSM editorial boards, would be spitting outrage and wallowing in moral indignation, and on the fringes probably trying to find some connection to Rumsfeld or Rove.
But since it's just the barbaric, nihilistic, insane enemy we're fighting in Iraq and elsewhere that committed the crimes ..... crickets chirping, tumbleweeds rolling down the streets. Nuthin'.
Coalition Forces detained 27 suspected terrorists and killed three terrorists during operations targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq key leadership and foreign terrorist facilitators in central and northern Iraq Tuesday and Wednesday.
During operations Tuesday in Baghdad and Tarmiyah, Coalition Forces detained three suspected terrorists. The targeted individual in the Baghdad raid, a suspected key operative in the deadly Baghdad improvised explosive device and vehicle-borne IED network, was successfully apprehended by ground forces during a precision raid. A close associate of the al-Qaeda in Iraq Baghdad emir and another al-Qaeda in Iraq operative were detained in Tarmiyah.
South of Tikrit during operations Wednesday morning, Coalition Forces detained six alleged terrorists while targeting an al-Qaeda in Iraq key leader responsible for coordinating attacks on Coalition and Iraqi forces and using kidnappings, extortion and manipulation of the fuel market to fund his terrorist operations. One female Iraqi civilian was also injured during the operation when Coalition Forces breeched the door of a targeted building. She was treated on scene by military medical personnel and transported to a military medical facility for further treatment. Al-Qaeda in Iraq has a total disregard for the sanctity of human life and they continually place innocent Iraqis in harms way in the midst of their terrorist activities, said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, MNF-I spokesperson.
During early morning raids east of Balad, Coalition Forces detained 11 suspected terrorists for their association with a high level foreign terrorist facilitator with links to the foreign terrorist networks in North Africa, Europe and the Arabian Peninsula. During the raid, three armed men were observed maneuvering towards ground forces. Responding to the immediate threat, ground forces engaged the armed terrorists, killing one. The remaining two terrorists moved into a tactical fighting position, which resulted in ground forces using appropriate escalation of force, calling in close air support to engage the armed terrorists in their fighting position. Ground forces assess that both terrorists were killed from the close air support strafing.
In the northern city of Mosul, Coalition Forces detained three suspected terrorists, one of whom is assessed to be a key leader in the Mosul al-Qaeda in Iraq network. The targeted individual is suspected of leading a sniper cell and a network emplacing IEDs that have resulted in the deaths of multiple civilians, as well as participating in an attack on the Iraqi National Guard building in western Mosul.
During operations to the west and north of Tarmiyah, three suspected terrorists were detained for their association with an al-Qaeda in Iraq emir near Tarmiyah. In pervious Coalition Forces operations targeting associates of the same al-Qaeda in Iraq emir, ground forces were fired on by a terrorist dressed in womens clothing who was attempting to elude Coalition Forces.
In southern Tarmiyah, Coalition Forces detained one suspected terrorist for his association with al-Qaeda in Iraq senior leadership of the Northern Belts who use the area south of Tarmiyah as an attempted safe haven from Coalition Forces. There are no safe havens for al-Qaeda in Iraq, said Garver. Coalition Forces continually seek out and expose the terrorists in every nook and cranny where they seek to hide.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/02/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
It appears from following "surge" events that Petraeus and his intelligensia want more and more humint versus outright deaths. That puts big pressure on the MPs and their training of Iraq Corrections Police. But in the long run it may lead to the chickeshit big shots, their money trail and the ordanance caches. We need to take out the Quartermaster and the Planner. Get their laptops and then give all that to Air Force targeting - even if it is in Iran, Syria or Pakland.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
08/02/2007 14:49 Comments ||
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Iraqi Security Forces, with U.S. Special Forces as advisors, detained two suspected al-Qaeda terrorists while conducting an intelligence driven operation in the Doura neighborhood of Baghdad, July 29. The two targeted individuals were detained without incident. Iraqi Security Forces also seized one AK-47, two loaded magazines and more than $3500 U.S. dollars.
After completing the raid, Iraqi and U.S. Forces received enemy fire from several buildings across the street. After positively identifying four armed insurgents, U.S. Special Forces called in precision aerial fires that resulted in four insurgents killed. An immediate battle assessment confirmed the four insurgents were killed and no Iraqi civilians present. No Iraqi or Coalition Forces were injured during this operation.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/02/2007 00:00 ||
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[3 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
#1
It seems to me that SF might find use for a specialized drone aircraft in a situation like this.
One of the great concerns in lower-level situations like this is collateral damage, which can render a typical aircraft's weaponry ineffective. Too much of a good thing.
So why not have a limited number of small drones available that could do one thing very well?
Sniping.
That is, the drone has what amounts to a .308 rifle on board with a 30 or 40 rounds of ammo. It also has a good camera and target association software.
When the ground control identifies an individual involved in hostile activity through the drone's camera, it "marks" him with software that then tracks him and takes the shot, even taking into account that he is moving, with an accuracy better than what the ground controller could do.
That is, the software could take into account many of the variables so that it could even shoot a running man.
Multi-National Division-Baghdad troops found the bodies of three women murdered by terrorists believed to be associated with Al Qaeda in the Southern part of the capital July 29. Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division received information from local nationals stating that gunmen came to a house in Doura where the women were staying, executing three of four people there before fleeing the scene. An elderly woman was spared from the killings.
This is Al Qaeda at its absolute worst, said Col. Ricky D. Gibbs, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division commander. This is one more series of brutal murders that completely contradict the terrorists assertions that they are here to protect the Iraqi people.
The women were allegedly related to several individuals who were detained earlier on suspected anti-coalition activities, but no other leads were available.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/02/2007 00:00 ||
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[1 views]
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#3
Gladys,
If this story hit the MSM it would be as a combination with the story above it ("U.S. Special Forces called in precision aerial fires that resulted in four insurgents killed."), and would be written thus:
'Soldiers discover three women murdered and one terrified by US aerial fires in Doura.'
After receiving information of known al-Qaida members in the Sherween area, a village near Muqdadiyah, Iraq, Iraqi citizens assisted Iraqi Police in the detention of three key al-Qaida leaders, July 29. This is a very significant event for Diyala because it is clear that not only are the security forces targeting al-Qaida, but the people are tired of the hatred and destruction al-Qaida and other terrorist groups have to offer, said Col. David Sutherland, commander of 3-1 Cav. and commander of Coalition Forces in Diyala province.
Suspecting an attack on a near-by village, Diyala tribal members informed the Dali Abbas Iraqi police, and together, set up a tactical checkpoint along the known route. It is also vital because it shows the people are gaining more and more confidence in the Iraqi security forces the true protectors of this nation, Sutherland added. Al-Qaida truly has no place to hide as the people, not just the security forces, are now determined to work for a safer, more secure Iraq.
As suspected, the leaders were traveling toward Dali Abbas, and when searched, the IP discovered two AK-47s, a laptop computer and documents detailing past and future al-Qaida operations. Following the detention of the al-Qaida leaders, the IP transferred the detainees to the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division. Despite threats by al-Qaida, the al-Qaida leaders were successfully detained and transported to an IA detention facility for further questioning, demonstrating the steadfastness of the Iraqi Police.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/02/2007 00:00 ||
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[3 views]
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#1
Despite threats by al-Qaida
Has to be an interesting story there.
Car bomb blasts around Baghdad on Wednesday killed at least 70 people, as Iraqs national unity coalition collapsed under the weight of sectarian tensions.
New government figures also revealed civilian deaths in the country rose by on e-third last month. Three large bombs tore through crowded districts of the capital, leaving at least 70 people dead. In the largest blast, a truck bomb detonated near a filling station in the west of the city, setting fire to a huge fuel tank, killing at least 50 people and wounding at least 60 more, Iraqi security officials said.
Earlier a car bomb ripped through a busy shopping district, killing at least 16 Iraqis and wounding 14, according to Brigadier General Qassim Atta, an Iraqi army spokesman for Baghdad. There was no word on who might have planted the bomb.
A third car bomb in the southern neighbourhood of Dura killed three more people and wounded another five, according to security officials. Two off-duty Iraqi policemen were shot dead when gunmen ambushed their car in the Al-Saydiya neighbourhood in southwest Baghdad, a security official said.
As the explosions tore apart the city, ministers from the Concord Front, Iraqs largest Sunni bloc, resigned from the ruling coalition. The Front announces its withdrawal from the government of Nuri Al-Maliki and the deputy prime minister and the ministers will submit their resignation today, said Rafie Al-Issawi, minister of state for foreign affairs.
Issawi made the announcement at a press conference inside Baghdads Green Zone as Sunni Vice President Tareq Al-Hashemi and other senior members of the bloc stood behind him.
Hashemi will remain vice president and the blocs 44 parliamentarians will return to the National Assembly in September after its summer recess, when they will swell the already growing ranks of the opposition. Our central and historic goal is reform. We will reconsider the withdrawal tomorrow if they review our demands, Hashemi said.
The decision comes at a time when Malikis government is under intense pressure to make use of the space afforded by a five-month-old surge of US troops to hammer out political agreements between the rival factions.
Meanwhile, at least 1,652 civilians were killed in Iraq in July, 33 percent more than in the previous month, according to figures compiled by the Iraqi health, defence and interior ministries and made available to AFP.
Also, the US military said four more troops were killed on Tuesday. Separately, Britain confirmed that a bomb in the southern city of Basra had killed another of its soldiers on Tuesday. US forces also killed three suspects and captured 27 others in raids across Iraq Tuesday and Wednesday, the military said. The operations targeted Al Qaeda in Iraq leaders in central and northern parts of the country, the military said in a statement.
American ground forces backed by helicopter gunships killed three suspects and detained 11 east of Balad, the military said. Three more were captured in Mosul, along with four others in the Tarmiyah area, it added.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/02/2007 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
08/02/2007 14:53 Comments ||
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#3
Does Maliki still have enough people for a quorum? Al-Sadr's people have pulled out, now the Sunnis are pulling out, and the Kurds are talking about pulling out. I think Maliki and his Shi'ite buddies have reached a "tipping point" where something has to be done. I think new elections are now essential if the Iraqi government is to have any degree of legitimacy.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/02/2007 16:07 Comments ||
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#4
Quite a coincidence, this happening just after the Sunni's walked, huh?
#5
Al-Sadr's people have pulled out, now the Sunnis are pulling out, and the Kurds are talking about pulling out. I think Maliki and his Shi'ite buddies have reached a "tipping point"
The problem is Islam. The problem has always been Islam.
#6
You know, that really sucks that the #s are going up. But the trend I've noticed the last few months, is that yeah, more are getting killed, but it's by fewer incidents. We're seeing fewer and fewer (but larger) bombings.
While the death sucks, that is actually a good thing to me. I'd imagine it's getting harder and harder to "hide" the bomb-making factories, and in fact, the larger the incident, the more likely it is to piss of da locals. Could this be the last, "big bang" type death-throes of a dying "insurgency"? We've pretty much mopped up Anbar and are now choking the life outta Baghdad proper, this could be a good thing (remember, the violence is always the worst right at the end of a war).
Posted by: BA ||
08/02/2007 21:16 Comments ||
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The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and police have arrested Popular Resistance Committees member Nahad Akra, officials announced Wednesday. During his interrogation, Akra admitted to being involved in a 2002 attack against an IDF tank near Gaza in February 2002 that left three soldiers dead, as well as involvement in other terror attacks.
Meanwhile, clashes between IDF troops and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip continued Wednesday, with three Palestinians killed by IDF fire. According to Palestinian medical officials, soldiers killed two men near the security fence. In a text message sent to reporters, Hamas said its men were clashing with IDF troops in northern Gaza. However, it was not immediately clear whether the two dead men were Hamas gunmen. Later, another armed Palestinian man approached soldiers, who opened fire, killing him.
On Wednesday night, four Kassam rockets fired from Gaza landed in open areas in Sderot. No one was wounded and no damaged was reported.
Earlier Wednesday, shots were fired at troops and Israeli civilians working near the Gaza security fence. No wounded were reported. In the West Bank, Palestinians threw a bomb at soldiers operating in a village west of Jenin. None of the soldiers were wounded and no damage was caused. Overnight Tuesday, IDF troops came under fire during operations in Ramallah. No one was wounded in the attack, and the soldiers returned fire.
This article starring:
NAHAD AKRA
Popular Resistance Committees
Popular Resistance Committees
Posted by: Fred ||
08/02/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
The Committees must change their acronym. 1.2 billion Chinese using PRC certainly trumps a few Paleos. At a min. there is a copyright infringement case sitting there.
Hamas opened fire on an Islamic Jihad stronghold in the Gaza Strip late Wednesday, setting off a firefight in which one person was killed, security officials said. The clash resulted from an incident the night before, when Islamic Jihad gunmen fired in the air in celebration during a wedding, both sides said. Hamas has banned firing weapons in public.
On Wednesday, Hamas fired a rocket at a house in Gaza City and traded fire with Islamic Jihad operatives inside, wounding 10 people, hospital officials said. One gunmen later died of his wounds, Hamas said. Gunfire could be heard for several hours.
Islamic Jihad leader Khader Habib said the raid was unnecessary. "I solved the situation at the wedding yesterday," he said.
Hamas said in a statement that the Islamic Jihad operatives were ordered to hand over their weapons but failed to do so, and "we implemented the law."
The incident is an indication of growing animosity between the two extremist Islamic groups, now that their common enemy, has been vanquished. Hamas has pledged to keep the streets of Gaza safe, a contrast to the gang warfare and widespread crime that was prevalent while Fatah was in control, and appears to be sending a signal to other armed groups that they must buckle under to Hamas rule.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/02/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
Two separate bombings left one police officer dead and wounded six others Thursday morning. The police were on duty, escorting teachers to school and monks during their morning alms rounds in Pattani.
The bomb, buried underground was detonated while the police detail was on a road in Yaring district. Pol. Sub-Lt. Pakorn Intharasakun died instantly and five others were wounded and rushed to hospital.
In another incident in Pattani's provincial seat, a bomb was activated when two Buddhist monks and armed soldiers escorting them for the morning alms. One soldier sustained minor injury while the monks were unharmed. The same monks and soldiers were the target of a bomb blast in May on the same route. One soldier was wounded in the earlier incident.
#3
Maybe some imams could follow their example, Glenmore.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
08/02/2007 8:11 Comments ||
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#4
Are the soldiers escorting the monks and teachers placing them at risk? Would the teachers/monks follow their commitment to their cause without the escort? Like a Marine for the US cause. Married to the military, till death do we part. What other things could free them of their oppressor. Love life ,live.
Rebels staged an ambush and set off bombs across southern Thailand in violence Wednesday that left 11 people dead, including two soldiers and five suspected Muslim terrorists insurgents, police said.
Five suspected Muslim terrorists insurgents were shot dead in a gunbattle with Thai soldiers in a violence-wracked region of Yala Province, said police Lt. Sompien Eksomya. Attackers opened fire on a unit of soldiers on a search operation in the Bannang Sata district where Muslim terror insurgency has been particularly active, he said. No soldiers were hurt in the hour-long firefight.
The fighting occurred after soldiers surrounded a neighborhood in the district in a house-to-house search for suspected terrorists insurgents involved in a bombing that killed seven soldiers in June, Sompien said. "They were acting on a tip-off that these terrorists insurgents have been hiding in the village," said Sompien.
In separate violence in Yala, terrorists insurgents shot at troops guarding a railway line, killing two soldiers, said provincial police chief Col. Narasak Chiengsuk.
Also Wednesday, at least three assailants sprayed dozens of bullets into a house in Narathiwat province, killing two men, said police Lt. Vorapong Klomsakun. In the same province, one person was killed and six injured when a bomb exploded near a market, police said. Police said it was one of six bombs that exploded in several areas of Narathiwat Wednesday morning.
Later Wednesday, a bomb went off at a police booth in Songkhla province, killing one policeman and wounding nine others.
Posted by: ryuge ||
08/02/2007 00:27 ||
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Lebanese troops battled al-Qaida-inspired Islamic militants barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon on Wednesday, killing at least four militants, the state-run National News Agency reported. A Lebanese soldier was also killed in Wednesday's fighting with Fatah Islam militants entrenched in the Nahr el-Bared camp on the outskirts of the northern port city of Tripoli, a senior military official said. Another soldier had died on Tuesday, the official said. Their deaths raised to 124 the number of troops killed since fighting erupted May 20.
"The fighting will continue until this (Fatah Islam) phenomenon is eliminated," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
A lull in the fighting was shattered around noon Wednesday when the army began pounding remaining Fatah Islam positions inside the camp, NNA reported. Since the start of fighting over two months ago, the army has repeatedly blasted Fatah Islam hideouts with artillery and tank fire. The NNA said the army has made more progress in attempts to crush the militants holed up in a small area of Nahr el-Bared's so-called "old camp" - densely populated neighborhoods where most of the remaining fighters are thought to be barricaded in underground shelters and bunkers. The four militants killed Wednesday had attacked a military unit, the NNA said. Last week, Lebanese troops stormed a hideout of Fatah Islam fighters in the camp, killing eight, according to the NNA.
Also Wednesday, two army helicopters flew low over the devastated camp, apparently searching for militant hideouts but made no bombing runs. Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman vowed to continue the battle against Fatah Islam, saying it was a fight against terrorism and "a battle of dignity and national sovereignty." In a speech commemorating Wednesday's Army Day, Suleiman called the military deaths in the Nahr el-Bared were "great sacrifices" for the country's unity and peace.
Meanwhile, President Emile Lahoud assured wounded soldiers that the army would win the battle against the "Fatah Islam gang." "The military martyrs have protected Lebanon's unity, sovereignty and independence," Lahoud, a former army commander, said during a tour of Beirut hospitals treating the wounded soldiers. "Victory will be on the army's side because it is a victory for Lebanon."
The army has refused to halt its military offensive before the militants fully surrender, but the gunmen have vowed to fight to the death. A major ceremony in Beirut to mark Army Day, held every Aug. 1, was canceled because of the ongoing Nahr el-Bared fighting. An undetermined number of militants - at least 60 - and more than 20 civilians have died in the fighting, according to Lebanese and UN relief officials. Defense Minister Elias Murr has said that about 40 militants, including some with suspected al-Qaida links, have been arrested since the clashes began.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/02/2007 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.
(AKI) - by Syed Saleem Shahzad - Maulana 
President General Pervez Musharraf and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai will inaugurate the Pak-Afghan Jirga Commissions meeting on August 8 in Kabul, Daily Times learnt here on Wednesday. Seven hundred members of the commission from both the countries will participate in this first ever meeting. The meeting will deliberate on the ways and means to end terrorism in Afghanistan and tribal areas of Pakistan.
Afghanistans Taliban have threatened to kill more of the 21 South Korean hostages after a Wednesday deadline expired. The extremist group repeated that it was ready to kill more members of the aid mission seized here two weeks ago. 
Al-Qaeda in the Mahgreb's purported second in command, 
Thirty alleged leaders of a banned Islamic group went on trial on Wednesday in a court in central Kazakhstan, authorities said. The accused were arrested over the last several months and are charged with inciting religious discord and membership in a banned organisation, the Karaganda regional branch of the National Security Committee said in a statement. 
Security forces on Wednesday raided a militant hide-out and fought a fierce gunbattle in Bannu to try to free seven soldiers taken prisoner a day earlier, officials said. One captive soldier was killed, three rescued, and the militants escaped with the remaining three, AP reports.
A tribal army blew up with mines the house of a local accused of trying to aid an assassination attempt on Taliban leader 
Local Taliban militants on Wednesday began Islamic education for children at a madrassa they seized adjacent to the shrine of famous 
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The Mosul leader of al Qaeda in Iraq was shot to death by Iraqi soldiers during a combat operation in the northern Iraqi city Wednesday, a U.S. military statement said. 
Car bomb blasts around Baghdad on Wednesday killed at least 70 people, as Iraqs national unity coalition collapsed under the weight of sectarian tensions.
As the explosions tore apart the city, ministers from the Concord Front, Iraqs largest Sunni bloc, resigned from the ruling coalition. The Front announces its withdrawal from the government of Nuri Al-Maliki and the deputy prime minister and the ministers will submit their resignation today, said Rafie Al-Issawi, minister of state for foreign affairs.
Hamas opened fire on an Islamic Jihad stronghold in the Gaza Strip late Wednesday, setting off a firefight in which one person was killed, security officials said. The clash resulted from an incident the night before, when Islamic Jihad gunmen fired in the air in celebration during a wedding, both sides said. Hamas has banned firing weapons in public. 
