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Border Patrol agent gunned down in southern AZ
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 12/15/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Helen Slater aka Kara Zor-El / Linda Lee "Supergirl" aka Sandy Kessler in "Ruthless People" aka Bonnie Rayburn in "City Slickers" (age 47)


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 12/15/2010 1:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Is that Slater a real person or a Barbie doll?
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/15/2010 8:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Not a "Barbie" doll, not enough boobs.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 12/15/2010 13:19 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Pirates attack Italian ship in Oman Gulf
That'll give the crewmen some stories to tell their grandkids when they sitting by the fire. Not that their grandkids are gonna believe them...
[Emirates 24/7]Pirates attacked an Italian fat merchantman with a crew of 23 in the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday but have so far failed to gain control, Italy's coastguard said.

"Right now, the ship is performing evasive manoeuvres to escape from the pirates who have failed to take control," Ansa news agency quoted the coastguard command as saying.

The captain of the 225-metre-long "Michele Bottiglieri" grain carrier, an Italian, sent a SOS via satellite to the operation center of Italy's coastguard command.

The coastguard immediately alerted naval forces operating in the area, including an Italian navy ship, for a possible rescue, officials said.

Three of the crew of the Michele Bottiglieri, which is registered in Torre del Greco near Naples, are Italian while the others are Filipinos.
Posted by: Fred || 12/15/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Pirates

#1  Can I guess they don't have any Roccos or Guidos on board then?
Posted by: gorb || 12/15/2010 0:29 Comments || Top||

#2  alerted naval forces operating in the area, including an Italian navy ship, for a possible rescue

'Rescue' as in 'blow the pirates out of the water' or 'rescue' as in 'fish the Italian crewmen out of the water?'
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/15/2010 5:58 Comments || Top||

#3  You've got a 750-foot long ship, weighing several hundred thousand tons. Start doing some very wild maneuvers, turning first toward and then away from the pirate launch, altering speed from full ahead to full astern. Sooner or later you're going to hit that da$$$$ skiff the pirates are in, and it's going to dump its crew into shark-infested waters. Most of the pirates will probably NOT be able to swim, and certainly will be in danger of being sucked into the freighter's screws. Pretty soon, it's going to be too expensive in lives and equipment lost for the pirates to continue, or they'll start picking easier targets, like fishing boats. Even there, a gaff hook works equally well on a 150-pound Somali as it does on a 300-pound tuna. The only reason the pirates are succeeding is that the crews of these ships don't have enough gumption to fight back. When they do, the pirates beat feet.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 12/15/2010 14:04 Comments || Top||

#4  You've got a 750-foot long ship, weighing several hundred thousand tons. Start doing some very wild maneuvers, turning first toward and then away from the pirate launch, altering speed from full ahead to full astern

Do you have any idea how long it takes to stop a vessel of that size? Or to go from forward to reverse? Especially with a propulsion plant and a hull that's not designed for quick moves?

We're talking 'fat merchantman', not a cruiser. A ship designed to haul grain. As in "a full load of grain". It'd be like trying to do a slalom course in a dump truck loaded with sand.

The maneuvering makes sense, if only to keep the pirates from boarding.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/15/2010 22:04 Comments || Top||

#5  Dump an F-150 on them from a Q ship.
Then call in an ARCLIGHT...
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/15/2010 22:12 Comments || Top||

#6  Three rounds in the O Club on tu3031. Everyone is welcome! (It's ok, he chose of his own free will to celebrate Christmas early with us all.)
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/15/2010 23:47 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Houthis Kill Eight Citizens in Sa'ada Province
Emma Goldmann is smiling in her grave. No matter how high you falute your theoretical concepts, this is what anarchy looks like.
[Yemen Post] At least eight people were killed in Al-Mlahedh district when Houthi followers attacked a house in Al-Maqsher tribe in Sa'ada province killing the whole family.

Tribal sources said that Houthi followers also attacked Ktaf district, arresting at least one of its citizen.

Private sources told Yemen Post that an exchange of gunfire between Houthi followers and rustics from Al-Malhedh district took place, killing several Houthis and injuring others. Houthi information bureau did not confirm the information.

The Interior Ministry said that festivities between the two sides stopped, but each side returned to its position, with increasing tension between them.

Houthi followers also blocked off the main road in Al-Malhedh district, capturing residents there, Interior Ministry added.
Posted by: Fred || 12/15/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Police Officer Escapes assassination attempt in Abyan Province
Yemen looks an awful lot like Somalia...
[Yemen Post] The vice manager of the political security in Abyan General Ahmed Madred, escaped on Monday an apparent assassination attempt after a bomb went kaboom! near his car in Abyan province.

Close sources told Yemen Post that the bomb was planted near his home, no causalities were reported.

Sources said that Madred was on the Al-Qaeda's wanted list.

On the other hand, a police officer was killed in Ahower district in Abyan province by rustics who belong to Al Sanad tribe.

General Ahmed Al-Kabda, who works in the political security in Abyan province had tribal Dire Revenge™ problems with Al Sanad tribe.
Posted by: Fred || 12/15/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Yemen Deports Four Cameroonians, One Dies at Jail
Yemen is an argument to toss back into the face of people who claim dictatorships are more efficient than democracies. I'll bet the trains run late, if they have trains...
[Yemen Post] Yemen has deported four Cameroonian people who have been nabbed by the Political Security System since March 1995 without trial or convictions, HOOd said on Monday.
1995? Lotta paperwork, I guess...
However,
The infamous However...
the body of the four's leader billionaire Donisan remains in Yemen after he died at the system in unclear circumstances six months after his arrest, it said, pointing out that no investigation into his death was opened.
A billionaire, ya say?
A source at the organization confirmed the four including a lawyer were deported to their country last week and that they were accompanied by Red Thingy officials. The billionaire died during treatment, the source said.
I don't think billionaire means what I think it means...
In 2005, the organization sent a letter to former Interior Minister Rashad Al-Alimi who said the foreigners had been jugged on sabotage charges. Al-Alimi, according to the organization, also said the four would face court, but that never happened.

HOOD knew about the case after the Cameroonians filed a secret complaint about their detention. Meanwhile,
...back at the ranch...
it urged Attorney General to investigate the Cameroonian's death and the arbitrary detention of the five.
I have no idea what I just read...
Posted by: Fred || 12/15/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Mayhem in Nuevo Leon: 3 die, 2 wounded
Google Translate
Five individuals were killed and several were wounded including two police officers in three separate shootings in towns in and near Monterrey, Nuevo Leon Wednesday night, according to Mexican news accounts.

Two police officers were shot and wounded in an attack in Allende, Nuevo Leon by armed suspects. Victor and Erica Ledesma Ruiz were heading back into town aboard their official vehicle when they were attacked. Both siblings are expected to survive the shooting.

Between the municipality limits of Apodaca and Guadalupe in the Valle Soleado colony in Monterrey, three unidentified individuals were shot to death and two more were wounded aboard their Dodge Stratus.

It is not yet determined whether the victims were gang affiliated or civilians.

Two unidentified individuals were shot to death and two others were wounded in a shooting in the Santa Anita colony south of Monterrey.

The victims were confirmed to be gang affiliated.
Posted by: badanov || 12/15/2010 23:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Michoacan: Calderon Under Death threat
Mexican president Felipe Calderon was threatened with death in an anonymous posting in a narco blog Sunday night, according to Mexican press source.

The death threat is said to be a response to last week's Policia Federal operation which killed La Familia leader Nazario Moreno Gonzälez, alias El Chayo in Apatzingan, Michoacan.

The threat appeared in the popular narco blog El Blog del Narco Sunday night warning reader to stay away from shopping and hospitals.

Michoacan is Calderon's home state. His sister, Maria Luisa, is seeking state office under the Partido Accion Nacional banner in 2011.

The message in part reads: ""Beware Felipe Calderón, pray to thy holy because we bring the blessing of our God. Nazario our God, may God rest his soul. his will not stop until you die..."

Several armed groups associated with La Familia are named in the message as well including Pumas, Los Bravos, Los Leones, La Resistance, The 5-5, The Elites, The LF, Los CHAYITO, The Machito, Las Fieras, Los X, Los de la A.

"Do not panic, try not to go out for federal pork, no disrespect to them, and to avoid further bullet losses. Do not go to hospitals, do not go shopping, watch TV and stay at home please." the message adds.

The message declaims their threats as narco-terrorism related, rather as a guerrilla war.

The Blog del Narco is a website frequented by various participants from both sides in the Mexican Drug War.
Posted by: badanov || 12/15/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
ETA suspect Arturo Cubillas fails to appear in Spanish National Court
A few terrorists are nothing in the overall scope of relations so there won't be any discernible impact, despite the fact that Venezuela's now a rogue state.
[El Universal] Alleged ETA members Arturo Cubillas and José Angel Urtiaga, who live in Venezuela and Cuba, respectively, failed to appear on Tuesday in the Spanish National Court in Madrid, where they were subpoenaed to testify as suspects in the case where their alleged links between the Basque gang ETA and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have been investigated.

Despite their absence, Judge Eloy Velasco, of the Spanish National Court, did not order any action against them, because there are search and arrest warrants against them since late February, when they were indicted.

Cubillas, 46, and residing in Venezuela since 1989, is an official at the National Lands Institute (INTI), an agency attached to the Venezuelan Ministry of Agriculture. In early October, two suspected ETA cut-throats said in the Spanish National Court that they were trained by Cubillas in weapons use in Venezuela in 2008, DPA reported.
Posted by: Fred || 12/15/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Y'know, they can cut out the middlemen and give those frigates they're planning to sell to Yugo straight to the ETA instead.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 12/15/2010 9:31 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Border Patrol agent gunned down in southern AZ
Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, 40,was shot and killed on Tuesday night near Rio Rico, Arizona after encountering a group of suspects, federal authorities said Wednesday. It happened at around 11 PM near Peck Canyon, 10 miles north of the border. Four suspects are being held and another is being pursued.
Posted by: ryuge || 12/15/2010 11:25 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Demanding the IMMEDIATE resignation of Holder and the IMPEACHMENT of Obama and every Democratic Leader supporting these illegals.
Posted by: Creasing Munster7785 || 12/15/2010 11:57 Comments || Top||

#2  That also goes for Janet Napolitano.
Posted by: Creasing Munster7785 || 12/15/2010 12:02 Comments || Top||

#3  And Obama, Biden, Pelosi and Reid.
Posted by: gorb || 12/15/2010 12:24 Comments || Top||

#4  Maybe Arizona's reps & senators could introduce a bill moving Congress and the White House to the southern Arizona border.

Seeing as to how it's so safe and all down there....

(NOT sarc.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 12/15/2010 12:31 Comments || Top||

#5  Four suspects are in custody.

WHY !
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/15/2010 12:52 Comments || Top||

#6  I wouldn't expect this story to get a whole lot of traction in the MSM, certainly not enough for the kind of general outcry that would lead to anybody's resignation or impeachment. Let's see how much time the likes of Katie Couric and Diane Sawyer give it tonight. I'm afraid they'll be much too busy with Bernie Madoff and the Holiday Shopping.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 12/15/2010 13:07 Comments || Top||

#7  Safe bet DOJ is looking for ways to punish the dead man's family for conspiracy to make the poor little illegals look bad...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/15/2010 14:30 Comments || Top||

#8  #7 Safe bet DOJ is looking for ways to punish the dead man's family for conspiracy to make the poor little illegals look bad...

That wouldn't surprise me considering the treatment our CBP guys get when they actually get a chance to shoot back. Consider the circumstances surrounding the two CPB Agents who's sentences were commuted by GW Bush prior to his leaving office.
I think this is just he beginning of this kind of problem.
Posted by: Keenster || 12/15/2010 15:04 Comments || Top||

#9  Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who had planned earlier this week to visit the border on Friday, apparently is moving her trip up a day because of the shooting.

Yeah, she's gotta get busy with the denial and double speak...no time to waste...

Bipartisan political reaction to Terry's killing came swiftly from Capitol Hill.

Did they need a committee and a press conference to emphasize the bipartisanship of their bipartisan reaction?
How about actually doing something meaningful about the problem!?


Posted by: Keenster || 12/15/2010 15:15 Comments || Top||

#10  Bipartisan, as in they are all complicit.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 12/15/2010 15:29 Comments || Top||

#11  The govt is willing to tie the hands of the Border Patrol, and then appear to wring their hands when this predictable thing happens. Dereliction of duty on all these so called leaders.

They have a good man's blood on their hands.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/15/2010 16:02 Comments || Top||

#12  It is now being reported that this was a gun battle between several border patrol agents and the group of illegals 10 miles inland. Therefore the illegals were well armed.
Posted by: Sheba Jineger2469 || 12/15/2010 16:07 Comments || Top||

#13  Rio Rico, a dangerous area; full of smugglers and bandits.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/15/2010 18:04 Comments || Top||

#14  The response here may well determine whether or not this crap spills over our side of the border or not.
Posted by: gorb || 12/15/2010 22:54 Comments || Top||


Dutch Woman, 17 other FARC members indicted on terrorism, weapons charges
The story doesn't actually say whether the birds are in hand. I suspect they're not.
(KUNA) -- A Dutch woman and 17 other members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) designated foreign terrorist organization were indicted by a federal grand jury here today on seven counts of terrorism and weapons charges arising out of their participation in the hostage-taking of three American citizens in the Republic of Colombia, the Justice Department announced here Tuesday.

The Department said in a statement that the indictment charges Tanja Anamary Nijmeijer, 32, who moved to Colombia and joined the FARC in 2002 and the other 17 defendants "with one count of conspiracy to commit hostage taking, three substantive counts of hostage taking, one count of using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence and two counts of conspiracy to provide material support to gunnies and a designated foreign terrorist organization." The three former hostages, identified as Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell and Thomas Howes, were held in the Colombian jungle by members of the FARC for more than five years, until their rescue by Colombian military forces in July 2008.

"Today's indictment demonstrates our firm resolve to bring to justice every last FARC commander who played any part in this brutal act of terrorism," US Attorney for the District of Columbia Ronald Machen said.

For his part, John Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, of the FBIs Miami Division said that the FARC "has authorized the use of violence and attacks against American citizens to forward their mission of terrorism." "Today's indictment represents the continuing commitment of the FBI to fully investigate and to bring to justice gunnies throughout the world who harm citizens of the United States," he stressed.

Todays charging document represents the fifth indictment issued in the District of Columbia against various FARC members involved in the kidnappings, the Justice Department indicated.
Posted by: Fred || 12/15/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies


India-Pakistan
Drone kills white al-Qaeda pair in Pakistan mountains
A pair of white British Muslim converts who joined al-Qaeda have been killed in a drone attack in a mountainous region of Pakistan, according to reports. The men, one of whom was apparently called Steve, died five days ago when a Hellfire missile was fired from a remote controlled American drone in the town of Datta Khel. If confirmed, they would be the first white British converts to have been killed in the area. The militants, who were aged 48 and 25 and using the pseudonyms Abu Bakr and Mansoor Ahmed, were in a vehicle with two other fighters.

They had entered the country last year and travelled to the town in North Waziristan in the lawless tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, to join al-Qaeda, the report on Channel Four News said.

In September another British militant called Abdul Jabber, who was of Asian descent, died in a drone attack in the same area.

There have been at least 25 such strikes in Pakistan since September, killing around 50 people. The tactic has been stepped up as the United States attempts to tackle fighters who gather openly in Pakistani villages and compounds.

However the strategy is not officially acknowledged by the CIA and last night Western intelligence sources were unable to confirm the reports.
Posted by: tipper || 12/15/2010 16:14 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They joined up after hearing about the Thursday Night activities.
Posted by: Penguin || 12/15/2010 16:28 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm gonna bet that:

1) they were the worst sort of dilettantes.

2) Only tolerated because they brought money.

3) Not having a very good time when they died.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/15/2010 16:36 Comments || Top||

#3  Is this the same drone attack that zapped Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso (on the FBI's most wanted terrorist list)? Also known to have met with 911 hijackers and to have been involved in the bombing of the Cole.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/15/2010 17:35 Comments || Top||

#4  Buh-bye.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 12/15/2010 19:05 Comments || Top||

#5  Wot, no Nigel?
Posted by: Grunter || 12/15/2010 19:23 Comments || Top||


Baluchistan: Islamists slaughtering teachers
In spite of its mineral riches, Baluchistan is Pakistan's poorest province. Islamic extremists and local nationalists are opposed to Punjabis in their midst. They increasingly attack teachers who dare teach mixed schools. The rise in Islamic schools is directly correlated with the rise in murders, at least 22 in less than 30 months
AoS note: put posts into the proper category, not 'tech & moderator notes'. Thx.
Posted by: tipper || 12/15/2010 07:13 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So Islamist schoolteachers don't like competition and kill them off? Sort of like drug gangs fighting over their turf?
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/15/2010 8:08 Comments || Top||

#2  No more like giving the entire populace the "Mushroom" treatment.
(Keep them in the dark and feed them Bullhit)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 12/15/2010 13:26 Comments || Top||

#3  So... give the moorons a big "F"
Posted by: Water Modem || 12/15/2010 13:57 Comments || Top||


Terrorists kill two troops in Mohmand
It's not the single attack that accomplishes their goals, but the unrelenting attacks, day in and day out.
[Pak Daily Times] Heavily armed hard boyz attacked a paramilitary checkpoint in the Tribal Areas on the Afghan border, killing two soldiers and wounding six others, officials said on Tuesday. The Frontier Corps (FC) said its troops were targeted in Mohmand district where a double suicide kaboom killed 43 people last week. "More than 20 hard boyz armed with automatic weapons attacked an FC checkpost in Shatai village of Mohmand Agency late Monday night, killing two soldiers and wounding six others," a local official Shakirullah said. FC front man Major Fazalur Rehman confirmed the attack and said the damage was still being assessed. He said Ataullah and Ghani Shah were killed while Naik Jahanzeb, Naib Subedar Muhammad Rasool, Gulaab Khan, Daud Khan, Wali Muhammad and Shamsul Haq Afridi sustained injuries.
Posted by: Fred || 12/15/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Terrorists destroy three schools, house of volunteer
It's not just girls' schools, it's all schools, because education outside a madrassah is un-Islamic.
But education in a madrassah makes the graduate unemployable, except as jihadi cannon fodder. Jihadi leaders -- sorry, successful jihadi leaders bring some sort of secular, technical education to the table that prepares them to be trained as bomb makers or management. Madrassah boys are qualified to wear bomb vests and wave AK-47s.
[Pak Daily Times] Terrorists blew up three primary schools in Saafi tehsil and Bazar Zaka Khel with explosives, official sources said on Tuesday. The buildings of Government Boys' Primary School, Shah Zarin, and Government Girls' Primary School, Malak Dostan, were razed to the ground with bombs late on Monday. Government Boys' Primary School Amlook Killi, Bazar Zakha Khel, was blown-up on Tuesdsay evening. The school was located in the far flung and inaccessible area of Bazar Zakha Khel in tehsil Landikotal. The Bazar Zakha Khel area is a stronghold of different terrorist outfits, sources said. So far no terrorist group has grabbed credit for blowing up the schools. The total number of schools destroyed by the Islamic fascisti has reached 73. The house of a Saafi tehsil peace committee's volunteer, Ali Akbar, was also blown-up with explosives, sources added.
Posted by: Fred || 12/15/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Six injured in grenade attack in IHK
The terrorist ideal is that every time somebody opens his mouth to give a speech there's a grenade tossed.
[Pak Daily Times] Suspected rebels hurled a grenade at a paramilitary vehicle on Tuesday in the Indian-held Kashmire (IHK), injuring two troops and four civilians and sending bystanders fleeing in panic, police said.

The attackers lobbed the grenade at the vehicle in Pulwama town, south of Srinagar, when IHK Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was addressing a group of coppers nearby.

The grenade injured three civilian men and a woman and two paramilitary personnel, Police Superintendent Abdul Razak said.

"People ran for safety when they heard the blast," local resident Ayaz Ahmad Bhat said.

Security forces searched the area, looking for the terrorists. So far, five people have been killed and 46 injured in grenade attacks this year, including the latest attack, down from 18 deaths and 99 people injured in 2009.

But popular pro-independence protests since June have left more than 110 protesters and bystanders, many of them teenagers and young boys, dead.
Posted by: Fred || 12/15/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Taliban kill 3 custodians of shrine in Peshawar
Salafists and Deobandis don't have shrines. Brelvis do. Keep that in mind next time you're blaming all Muslims for the actions of the 15 percent.
[Pak Daily Times] Taliban stormed a shrine in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar and killed three of its custodians, police said on Tuesday.

Police said five beturbanned goons attacked the shrine of Ghazi Baba at Badabher on the outskirts of Peshawar and opened fire on four custodians. Three of them keeled over dead while the fourth sustained injuries.

Police said a search operation had been launched to apprehend the attackers and added that the motive behind the incident was unclear.

Local residents said the custodians of the shrine had received threats from faceless myrmidons.

In a separate incident, three people, including a woman, were maimed when a police vehicle was targeted with a remote-controlled improvised bomb in Nagman area of Peshawar in the morning, police said.

The bomb was planted near a gas pipeline and went off as the van passed by it.Taliban stormed a shrine in Peshawar and killed three of its custodians, police said on Tuesday.

Police said five beturbanned goons attacked the shrine of Ghazi Baba at Badabher on the outskirts of Peshawar and opened fire on four custodians. Three of them keeled over dead while the fourth sustained injuries.

Police said a search operation had been launched to apprehend the attackers and added that the motive behind the incident was unclear.

Local residents said the custodians of the shrine had received threats from faceless myrmidons.

In a separate incident, three people, including a woman, were maimed when a police vehicle was targeted with a remote-controlled improvised bomb in Nagman area of Peshawar in the morning, police said.

The bomb was planted near a gas pipeline and went off as the van passed by it.
Posted by: Fred || 12/15/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


US drone strike kills four militants in Pakistan
I'm actually kinda curious as to why we don't dronezap bad boyz in Afghanistan. It would seem to make sense to kill them in their staging areas as well as in their home bases.
[Emirates 24/7] A US dronezap in Pakistain's northwestern tribal belt on Tuesday killed four cut-thoats, destroying their vehicle, local security officials said.

The strike took place in Spalga village, 15 kilometres (nine miles) south of Miranshah, the main town of the North Wazoo tribal district, near the Afghan border.

"It was a US dronezap, which targeted a cut-thoat's vehicle, killing four rebels," a senior local security official told AFP.

Another security official confirmed the strike and said the drone fired two missiles.

He said the nationalities of those killed in the strike were not immediately known.

Washington has dramatically escalated its drone campaign against snuffies in areas near the Afghan border over the past two months, and argues they are highly effective in the war against al-Qaeda and its Islamist allies.

More than 260 people have been killed in 51 strikes since September 3, heightening tensions with Islamabad over reported US criticism of Pakistain's failure so far to launch a ground offensive in North Wazoo.

The United States does not as a rule confirm dronezaps, but its military and the Central Intelligence Agency operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy the aircraft in the region.

The US strikes are deeply unpopular among the Pak public, who see military action on Pak soil as a breach of national illusory sovereignty and say some attacks have killed innocent civilians.

Washington says the strikes have killed a number of high-value targets, including the former Pak Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud.

The US considers Pakistain's tribal belt an Al-Qaeda headquarters and the most dangerous place on Earth, and has reportedly criticised Pakistain's failure so far to launch a major ground offensive in the tribal region of North Wazoo.
Posted by: Fred || 12/15/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan

#1  Good question, Fred. Maybe our tactics in Pakistan are limited to just drones and covert forces while in A'stan we can send in the Marines for a more complete solution? Or maybe Pakistan's government allows dronezaps but Karzai's doesn't?
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/15/2010 8:15 Comments || Top||

#2  The last I read, we were limited by production of drone missiles, secondarily by production of drones, and thirdly by drone pilots. Under the circumstances, reminding the bad boyz via drone missiles that they have no safe haven in Pakistan, while our guys on the ground and in the air tear them to pieces whenever they gather in Afghanistan, seems an acceptable going-with-the-weapons-we've-got strategy.

As I recall, we and the Afghans have Special Forces wandering at will in the Pakistan border provinces, which suggests it's not only drone missiles that are killing bad boyz on that side.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/15/2010 15:31 Comments || Top||

#3  My question is, why haven't we drone-zapped Karzai yet? He's given us plenty of reason to. The next time he spouts off about "killing civilians" or "joining the Taliban" or "limiting the rules of engagement", he should have an encounter with a Predator. Getting rid of him and his relatives would go a long way toward ending the graft and corruption in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 12/15/2010 17:32 Comments || Top||

#4  The last I read, we were limited by production of drone missiles, secondarily by production of drones, and thirdly by drone pilots.

Don't we have a recession going on now? Seems to me we ought to be able to find a bunch of folks willing to do this. Or maybe if Americans won't fill these jobs, at least we could find some illegals.
Posted by: gorb || 12/15/2010 22:59 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas celebrates 23rd anniversary with rally
GAZA CITY - Huge crowds of flag-waving Hamas supporters clogged the streets of Gaza City Tuesday and cars and buildings were adorned with the militant movement’s trademark green as tens of thousands turned out to mark the 23rd anniversary of the group’s founding.

The turnout appeared to be at least on par with previous years for an event billed by Gaza’s rulers as a referendum on their popularity. Hamas claimed it was a record crowd.
They're good at turning the rubes out ...
At the mass rally, Hamas leaders lauded the group’s history of fighting Israel and dismissed claims, including by some pollsters, that it has been losing ground since seizing Gaza by force more than three years ago.

“Hamas has not failed, Hamas has not collapsed,” Prime Minster Ismail Haniyeh told the crowd. “Hamas did not fail to bring together government and resistance.”
They did fail at doing anything constructive, but then the Paleos don't care about that, which is why you don't see them doing anything constructive in Gaza.
Hamas has often been torn between its roots as a militant group seeking to destroy Israel and a local government responsible for providing services to 1.5 million Gazans.
Oh, they're not torn. Everything goes into whatever can go boom. Services are for later when they can sucker the UN into providing more funds for the off-shore accounts.
While sticking to its militant rhetoric, the Hamas has largely observed an informal truce since a bruising Israeli offensive two years ago, forgoing attacks that could spur Israel to strike back or tighten its blockade. Any Israel response could make life harder for Gazans.
"Please don't kill us!"
Some 30 percent of residents are unemployed and many more rely on food aid.

Hamas official Osama Muzini called the rally a referendum on Hamas’ popularity.

“All people who came to the streets came to say yes to Hamas and to its model of government and resistance,” he said.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/15/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Some 30 percent of residents are unemployed and many more rely on food aid.

Putting them on a par with certain parts of the U.S., but wew don't get any UN aid!
Posted by: Bobby || 12/15/2010 6:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Gun sex? Where's the gun sex?
Posted by: Raj || 12/15/2010 8:31 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran Threat to Kill American Generals Is Real, Experts Say
EXCLUSIVE: A leader of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard is promising that American generals will be targeted and killed in revenge for last week's attacks on two of his country's leading nuclear scientists -- a threat Middle East experts say must be taken seriously.

In a speech published in Farsi at an Iranian website linked to the Revolutionary Guard, Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naghdi was quoted as saying that “the filthy Americans and the Zionists should not think that with killing our scientists, they can divert our nation from its path of Jihad and scare us.”

He continued with a specific threat: “We will mark the hanging sites of the American and Zionist generals and we will identify which hanging was in retaliation for the blood of our great martyr Shahriari.”
Posted by: DarthVader || 12/15/2010 15:28 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  In the midst of all this excitement, you've got to ask yourself one question,

"Do I feel lucky?"

"Well, do you, punk?"
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/15/2010 15:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Well, given the current state of play in Wasshington, it would be interesting to see what the weak kneed political and diplomatic class would and would not allow the Pentagon to do about it if the killing of an American general could be definitively traced back to the iranian government.

I'm guessing, no, they (pols and diplos) wouldn't allow much in the way of a strong military response.

And no, I despise the thought of such a scenario occurring, so don't say I'm "rooting" for such a thing.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/15/2010 16:05 Comments || Top||

#3  They should ask Pentagon staffs to nominate candidates.
Posted by: Penguin || 12/15/2010 16:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Hope they don't find out it was the work of General Motors.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/15/2010 16:54 Comments || Top||

#5  #3: I nominate Mullen; he needs to visit early and often. Give him a feeling for the love.

I know. Very uncharitable of me. Heartfelt though.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 12/15/2010 17:27 Comments || Top||

#6  "President" O'Bumble SHOULD tell Iran that if they kill an American general, we nuke a major Iranian city. Start with Bushehr (nuclear reactor) or Abadan (Iran's only oil refinery), then hit Qom and Bandar Abbas. Let them know that any new attack on the United States or its people will be VERY expensive to them. If we don't, then every American can figuratively be considered to have a bulls-eye painted on their back, wherever they are. That includes in the United States. Of course, O'Bumble doesn't have that much intelligence, so it'll never happen.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 12/15/2010 18:01 Comments || Top||

#7  They had better pick the squishiest REMF General they can find, because if they pick the wrong one, the General might get the first blood that's been on the family heirloom knuckle duster trench knife since WWI.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 12/15/2010 18:09 Comments || Top||

#8  "heirloom knuckle duster trench knife"

Every family should have a least one, 'moose. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 12/15/2010 19:06 Comments || Top||

#9  Military families can be different. Like when the groom removes the bride's garter, and her gun falls out of her thigh holster, cutting the cake with a cavalry saber, etc.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 12/15/2010 20:56 Comments || Top||

#10  Either way, I sure wouldn't want to get into melee with Petraeus. I think he would still be able to whip most anyone.
Posted by: DarthVader || 12/15/2010 23:09 Comments || Top||


Suicide bombers kill at least 38 in southeast Iran
Two suicide bombers blew themselves up near a mosque in southeastern Iran on Wednesday, killing at least 38 people at a Shiite mourning ceremony, state media reported.

The attack took place outside the Imam Hussein Mosque in the port city of Chahbahar, near the border with Pakistan, the official IRNA news agency said.

The bombers targeted a group of worshippers at a mourning ceremony a day before Ashoura, which commemorates the seventh century death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein, one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints.

Southeastern Iran is home to an armed Sunni militant group, Jundallah, or Soldiers of God, which has waged sporadic attacks to fight alleged discrimination against the area's Sunni minority in overwhelmingly Shiite Iran.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the use of multiple suicide attackers to target Shiite worshippers is a tactic the group has employed in the past.

One of the attackers detonated a bomb outside the mosque and the other struck from inside a crowd of worshippers, state TV reported.

Security forces shot one of them, but the bomber was still able to detonate the explosives, the report said, quoting deputy Interior Minister Ali Abdollahi. A third attacker was arrested, state TV said.

Forensic official Fariborz Ayati put the number of dead at 38 and said they included women and children, IRNA reported.

Mahmoud Mozaffar, a senior Iranian Red Crescent Society official, said emergency services had been put on alert over the past few days because of anonymous threats, according to another news agency, ISNA.

The deputy interior minister blamed Sunni militants, an apparent reference to Jundallah.

"Evidence and the kind of equipment used suggest that the terrorists were affiliated with extremist ... groups backed by the U.S. and intelligence services of some regional states," Abdollahi was quoted as saying by state TV.

Iranian officials claim Jundallah, which has operated from bases in Pakistan, receives support from Western powers, including the United States. Washington denies any links to the group, and in November the State Department added Jundallah to a U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/12/15/suicide-attacks-kills-dozens-southeast-iran/#ixzz18BDJ0Iic
Posted by: tipper || 12/15/2010 06:49 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  per the AP article on the subject, the speaker of the Parliament Ali Larijani said, "Such actions can be done only by the Zionist regime and the U.S."

That's probably what Abdollahi meant to imply when he said "... intelligence services of some regional states".
Posted by: Lord Garth || 12/15/2010 15:20 Comments || Top||


Man Wanted in Lt Col, Adjutant Murder Found Dead in Majdal Anjar
Somebody disposes of a disposable assassin. The only person surprised was probably him, and him not for long.
[An Nahar] A man wanted on charges of murdering Lt. Col. Abdo Jasser and Adjutant Ziad al-Mais in October was found dead in the Bekaa town of Majdal Anjar on Tuesday.

Mahmoud Mohammed Ajjaj, 30, was found dead with several gunshot wounds in a location near the sugar factory in Majdal Anjar.

Investigations got underway to identify the circumstances as the army and the Internal Security Forces encircled the area.
Jasser and Mais were killed on October 21 when their vehicle came under gunfire during a raid aimed at finding an army deserter in Bekaa.

The eastern Bekaa Valley has historically been known as a safe haven for runaways and gained particular notoriety during the 1975-1990 civil war as a fertile hashish-growing region run by tribes.

In April, three soldiers were killed in an ambush on a patrol in the Bekaa when a prominent clan sought Dire Revenge™ for the killing of one of their members, a drug baron who refused to stop at an army checkpoint.
Posted by: Fred || 12/15/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:



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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2010-12-15
  Border Patrol agent gunned down in southern AZ
Tue 2010-12-14
  Another man arrested for plotting bomb attack on DC Metro
Mon 2010-12-13
  Six police among 13 killed in Iraq suicide attacks
Sun 2010-12-12
  Yemen jails 12 Qaeda members
Sat 2010-12-11
  Car Explodes in Stockholm, Gas Cannisters & Second Blast Involved
Fri 2010-12-10
  India's ambassador gets pat-down at US airport
Thu 2010-12-09
  Pakistan suicide attack kills 17: police
Wed 2010-12-08
  Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claims suicide kaboom on Balochistan chief minister
Tue 2010-12-07
  50 dead, 120 maimed in Mohmand double kaboom
Mon 2010-12-06
  Pirates hijack Bangladeshi ship in the Arabian sea
Sun 2010-12-05
  150 killed in Nigeria's oil delta
Sat 2010-12-04
  Officers killed in deadly Nairobi attacks
Fri 2010-12-03
  Nigeria charges 65 in oil region kidnappings
Thu 2010-12-02
  Senior Afghan Officials Release Top Taliban Fighters for Bucks
Wed 2010-12-01
  Iraq arrests 50 suspected militants


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