KABUL - Afghan special forces called off a plan to rescue 23 Korean hostages soon after they were kidnapped by Taleban insurgents five weeks ago because the South Korean government intervened, the defence minister said on Saturday.
From day one, especially from the second day of the Korean hostage crisis, the national army was in position to initiate military action. We wanted to use our first commando battalion, an elite unit, Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak told a news conference.
The Taleban split the hostages into small groups early on, officials say, making any rescue bid much more difficult. The kidnappers have repeatedly warned that any military operation would put the hostages lives at risk.
A hostage rescue operation is a very complicated operation, said Wardak. To make it successful, it needs very elaborate intelligence, inside information. But what happened was the international community asked us not take military action and that was the repeated request of the South Korean government.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/26/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
That situation they needed to act quickly and decisively or not at all. I guess the SKORs either didnt have confidence, or balls, or likely both.
(SomaliNet) A Danish cargo ship and its crew that were hijacked by Somali pirates in June have been released after 83 days in captivity after a ransom was paid, the Danish Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. Danish TV2 News reported security firm Protocols said it had paid ransom of $1.5-million for the release of the ship and crew.
Bad idea to pay ransom, and they ought to know why.
The MV Danica White was carrying building materials from Dubai to Kenya when it was seized off Somalia in the world's most dangerous waterway.
"We have talked to the crew and they are feeling okay at this point," the Foreign Ministry's head of citizen services Lars Thuesen told a news conference. "It's been a terrible experience for the hostages, being held for more than 80 days not knowing what was going on."
The Foreign Ministry said the crew - a captain, a navigator, a first mate and two less experienced sailors - were in good health considering the circumstances but that they had been threatened by the armed pirates. Andrew Mwangura, director of the Mombasa-based East African Seafarers Assistance Programme, also told Reuters by telephone local residents had told him all the crew members were fine. There had been fears the captives were running out of food and fresh water after the vessel's generator broke.
After being freed, the Danica White headed for Djibouti about three days away, escorted by the French corvette Blaison. The crew will fly from there to be reunited with their families.
Why didn't the French intervene before the ransom was paid?
Just days after the Danica was captured, a US Navy warship destroyed three small pirate boats being towed behind it, but was forced to abandon the chase after it entered Somali waters.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/26/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
a US Navy warship destroyed three small pirate boats being towed behind it, but was forced to abandon the chase after it entered Somali waters.
!
What? I missed that.
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
08/26/2007 7:17 Comments ||
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#2
Whatever happened to Danes who used to collect Danegeld?
Sudan lashed out at UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday for recently criticizing the Sudanese military for not withdrawing all its troops from the country's south as required by a 2005 peace deal. The agreement ended the 21-year civil war between the mostly Muslim north and mainly Christian south and stipulated that the Sudanese military would relocate its soldiers by July 9, a deadline Ban said in a report Thursday it had not met.
Sudan's military called Ban's criticism unwarranted because he did not focus on the other party to the peace deal, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, which Khartoum said was even further from compliance. "The armed forces strongly rejects the statement by the United Nations Secretary General regarding the unjustified condemnation that ... fails to deal with the parties on equal footing," Sudanese army spokesman Brigadier Mohamed Osman al-Agbash said in a written statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2007 00:00 ||
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The family of a Kenyan Muslim who campaigned against the international transfer of prisoners with alleged terror links said Saturday that he has disappeared.
Farah Mohammed Abdulahi, 26, was last seen on August 19 leaving a mosque in Nairobi's Eastlands district, being led into a car by three men in civilian clothing, said his father Mohammed Abdulahi. "We have tried calling him (Farah) on his cell phone. It rings and nobody speaks. ... We have gone to all police stations, but we cannot trace him," Mohammed said.
Earlier this year, an Associated Press investigation into the transfer of prisoners over international borders - known as "rendition" - forced U.S. officials to acknowledge a secret program of transferring terrorism suspects arrested in Kenya to Ethiopian prisons. Farah Abdulahi became a vocal critic after his 19-year-old brother Abdi was arrested and imprisoned in Ethiopia in January.
Those released from jail say they were interrogated by U.S. security agents on terror related issues. The CIA began an aggressive program in 2002 to interrogate suspected terrorists at an unknown number of secret locations from Southeast Asia to Europe. Prisoners were often arrested in one country and imprisoned in another, where a cooperative intelligence service would hold them incommunicado. U.S. government officials contacted by the AP acknowledged questioning prisoners in Ethiopia, but they said American agents were following the law and were fully justified in their actions because they were investigating past attacks and current threats of terrorism.
His father said before his disappearance, Farah was campaigning for his brother Abdi's release. Abdi was arrested on the Kenya-Somali border earlier this year after the collapse of the Somali Islamic Courts Union in an Ethiopian-led offensive. According to flight manifests, Abdi was deported to Somalia and then Ethiopia along with 17 other Kenyan Muslims.
Abdi's father said Fatuma Ahmed Chande, a Tanzanian Muslim, said she met Abdi in Ethiopian jail. "She told me that she was released after Tanzania intervened. Ugandans and other prisoners were also set free when their governments intervened," said Abdi's father.
Kenyan police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said police were investigating Farah's disappearance and Criminal Investigation Department officer Isaiah Osugo denied they were involved.
Posted by: ryuge ||
08/26/2007 01:44 ||
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#1
The moonbats are gonna have a field day with this story.
A concert in the spirit of Live 8 is being planned in order to raise awareness and funds for the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan.
Editor of the Muslim magazine Fareena Alam told a press conference last week that the response from the British Muslim community had been an "embarassment". She had come back from the region as part of a delegation that had gone out to see the devastation caused by civil war and famine. She said: "It is very shameful that we can get very, very hot and bothered about other issues."
"There is a lot of information about Darfur. There is no doubt this is Muslim-on-Muslim violence. In Iraq, the enemy is externalised." She added: "In this situation where are the values that we talk about, that killing one life is about killing humanity? This has to be high profile. It is a huge embarrassment to us."
The concert is being planned for 21st October at Wembley Arena in London. The organisers say it will celebrate Eid at the end of Ramadan and hope it will be a sell-out.
"We are going for our own equivalent of Live 8. It will be people trying to raise funds and raise the profile. We should hopefully see a sell-out and it will be a milestone," said Mr Malik from Islamic Relief.
Saifuddin Ahmed of Muslim Aid said it was "quite shameful" that Muslim nations had donated less than western countries. He added: "I feel that the Muslim community must match the level of response that our government has done."
#3
Check you at the gate for an AK-47, you don't have one, you don't get in?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/26/2007 10:24 Comments ||
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#4
Eight hours of fiery sermons with all the men up front and all the wimmen behind a screen in the back of the parking lot sounds like a rockin good time.
A Japanese newspaper on Saturday said North Korea insisted in disarmament talks this month that it would only declare and disable three nuclear facilities - none of them with atomic weapons. Under a landmark February deal, the secretive communist state agreed to abandon its nuclear weapons programmes in exchange for aid and diplomatic concessions, and it has already shut down its main Yongbyon nuclear facility. But in the next stage of the six-nation disarmament deal, the North has committed to declaring and disabling all its nuclear facilities. In a story datelined from China, where talks on the so-called declare and disable stage were held earlier this month, the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper said North Korea had announced it would only list three sites. All three are at the Yongbyon facility, the paper said, citing sources close to the negotiations. It said the North Korean delegation did not refer to other facilities that the five other nations suspect exist.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
didn't want to be a burden on the courts? Uh huh
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/26/2007 19:33 Comments ||
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#3
I wonder how Castro's demise will affect the funds available for the likes of Kerry and all of the others. I can only wish that Castro's bro might allow some of those Cuban records to be avail someday, so we can all see how the Dem party really operates.
When Rep. Jan Schakowsky made her first trip to Iraq this month, the outspoken antiwar liberal resolved to keep her opinions to herself. "I would listen and learn," she decided.
At times that proved a challenge, as when Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih told her congressional delegation, "There's not going to be political reconciliation by this September; there's not going to be political reconciliation by next September." Schakowsky gulped -- wasn't that the whole idea of President Bush's troop increase, to buy time for that political progress?
But the real test came over a lunch with Gen. David H. Petraeus, who used charts and a laser pointer to show how security conditions were gradually improving -- evidence, he argued, that the troop increase is doing some good.
Still, the U.S. commander cautioned, it could take another decade before real stability is at hand. Schakowsky gasped.
"I come from an environment where people talk nine to 10 months," she said, referring to the time frame for withdrawal that many Democrats are advocating. "And there he was, talking nine to 10 years."
"I come from an environment where people talk nine to 10 months," she said, referring to the time frame for withdrawal that many Democrats are advocating. "And there he was, talking nine to 10 years."
Seated at the Venus (Chicago restaraunt), her white notebook in front of her, Schakowsky recounted some of the day's more vivid images. The irony of having to wear body armor to a meeting of Sunni and Shiite leaders to discuss their progress in working together. The creepy feeling when she examined the improvised explosive devices used to devastating effect against U.S. soldiers, from crude models activated by cellphones to sophisticated Iranian designs that Schakowsky described as "sleek copper bowls." The blasts of a simulated raid by Iraqi soldiers on a terrorism suspect's house. And the stifling heat that felt "like a hair dryer on the back of your neck."
But it wasn't just Republicans who came away impressed after visiting Iraq. Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.) announced that he will no longer support a timetable for withdrawal, warning of a "potentially catastrophic effect" on the region.
Schakowsky acknowledged that the military's presentation may have been effective. "If you took the briefings at their face value, without context, without bringing anything to it -- clearly they were trying to present that positive spin, and that's what [other lawmakers] took away from it."
In other words, she didn't learn anything. More at link.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/26/2007 07:42 ||
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#1
Given the anti-war lefts unreasoned hatred of Bush and their foot stomping temper tantrums of late, I don't think there is anything you could say to get her off your back. Even as we hoist the flag of victory she won't care, because she is anti-war.
I have grave doubts that there is any achievement we could make in Iraq that would convince the Democrats and their MSM cronies to stop undermining the war effort; they've simply got far too much invested in their defeatist narrative at this point, to give it up at any price.
We have a simple choice: we can either win this war, or we can let these bastards continue to erode America's will to survive. One or the other. But not both.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
08/26/2007 11:46 Comments ||
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#5
"I would listen and learn," she decided.
Why else would you go there Congressperson? To lecture?
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/26/2007 13:27 Comments ||
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#6
you have to have a mind first if it's ever going to change. She'll be spared that risk. Content with her reality, every fact and evidence disproving it is discarded as "spin"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/26/2007 13:42 Comments ||
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#7
Edwards does have a point - There are two Americas - One reads Michael Yon and Ralph Peters, supports the troops and the mission and see the potential for a humiliating defeat for Al Qaeda from which they might never recover. The other reads the MSM and follows the Daily Kossacks, says they support the troops but don't support their mission and see the potential for a humiliating defeat for America from which we may never recover. Which America would you want to live in?
#8
Moonbat fantasy meets professional reality.
And we wonder why she walkes away confused? Silly folks she even said, "I come from an environment where people talk nine to 10 months," She openly admits she lives in a beltway reality, not any reality remotely based in fact or understanding. What I got from her visit is - she missed her air conditioning, was put out by wearing something other than a beltway bagsuit, and did not like the briefing because it showed a measured and realistic approach to a very complex event. I wish just one person from inside the beltway would actually sit and listen to what Gen Petraeus has to say. They might find out he has a solid understanding of what is happening and what it takes to fix that large complex country.
I feel better now.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/26/2007 13:57 Comments ||
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#9
you have to have a mind first if it's ever going to change lol!
#10
There are some people, especially in Washington, DC, and among the "elite" in the "news" media, that need to be taken BACK to Iraq and left there. Preferably in the southwestern desert, without water, in their birthday suits, with nothing but a spoon.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/26/2007 18:28 Comments ||
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#11
"Don't bother me with the facts, I've already made up my mind!"
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/26/2007 19:59 Comments ||
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#12
Damn, #10 OP - What'd the Iraqis do to deserve that?
Haven't they suffered enough?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/26/2007 21:45 Comments ||
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#13
Mooses, LOL you might have one of the best collection of pics..
But Mooses, In the interest of fairness Youse might be being unfair to #3!
He's a real sincere kind of person and you know as well as I do that Left-Tard Jan Schakowsky ain't got even one sincere bone in her entire body.
The government's terrorist screening database flagged Americans and foreigners as suspected terrorists almost 20,000 times last year. But only a small fraction of those questioned were arrested or denied entry into the United States, raising concerns among critics about privacy and the list's effectiveness.
Or perhaps the list is supposed to be a screening tool; it flags people who are then reviewed more carefully. Oh wait, this is WaPo ...
A range of state, local and federal agencies as well as U.S. embassies overseas rely on the database to pinpoint terrorism suspects, who can be identified at borders or even during routine traffic stops. The database consolidates a dozen government watch lists, as well as a growing amount of information from various sources, including airline passenger data. The government said it was planning to expand the data-sharing to private-sector groups with a "substantial bearing on homeland security," though officials would not be more specific.
Few specifics are known about how the system operates, how many people are detained or turned back from borders, or the criteria used to identify suspects. The government will not discuss cases, nor will it confirm whether an individual's name is on its list.
Which makes sense to everyone except the writers of this piece ...
Slightly more than half of the 20,000 encounters last year were logged by Customs and Border Protection officers, who turned back or handed over to authorities 550 people, most of them foreigners, Customs officials said. FBI and other officials said that they could not provide data on the number of people arrested or denied entry for the other half of the database hits. FBI officials indicated that the number of arrests was small.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/26/2007 00:00 ||
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Lal Masjid has restored its media wing and sent emails on Saturday to newspapers and news agencies with the announcement Lal Masjid website is back now.
Dusk on 10 July, witnessed the fall of a gallant warrior (referring to the late Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi). Perhaps the bravest this land has seen. His revolutionary pride refused to bow down before a system, which is based on tyranny and oppression. He might be dead but he lives through the cause his blood sanctified, was the message sent to media organisations. To our nation, which, is enslaved for the past three hundred years, he gave the will to resist the ruling class and the imperial powers with the slogan Shariat Ya Shahadat, it said. We are back with a bang. Allah-u-akbar, the message said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"We are back with a bang. Allah-u-akbar"
Says it all, don't it?
Last week, I participated in a three day meeting here that included six of the most senior Iraqi Sunni and Shia religious leaders. At the meeting, held at a Marriott hotel in a Cairo suburb, they formally agreed to "end terrorist violence, and to disband militia activity in order to build a civilized country and work within the framework of law."
This gathering was a truly historic event, given the authority of the participants -- including Sheikh Ahmed al Kubaisi, acknowledged by all Iraqis as the senior Sunni religious authority (the weekly audience for his Friday sermons, broadcast from Dubai, number 20 million), and Ayatollah Sayyid Ammar Abu Ragheef, chief of staff for Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani, the acknowledged leader of the Shia community in Iraq and beyond. One has only to consider the power of these specific religious leaders, and the instruments at their disposal for getting results, to grasp the gathering's enormous potential importance.
Going well beyond traditional rhetoric in their closing statement late last week, they stated their intention to work for the early issuance of a joint Sunni-Shia fatwa to the Iraqi people. A fatwa such as this will carry the force of law for all followers. Think about that. After more than four years of brutal warfare and untold suffering, the leading religious authorities in Iraq have joined hands and said "Enough," and have committed to use their authority to bring peace to their country.
How does this relate to the Iraqi government and coalition forces? Can these clerics achieve anything concrete? If so how soon? And will it be enforceable?
Simply stated, these men -- all self-interested stewards of their separate Sunni and Shia constituencies -- have seen that their government's failure to act could lead Iraq into an irretrievable situation. They feel a moral imperative to fill the power vacuum. As for whether their actions will be taken seriously and be enforceable, the affirmative answer lies in the acknowledged role of the mosque, and of the grand ayatollahs and imams of the seniority represented here in Arab societies.
As additional evidence that Iraq's most senior religious leaders see the potential for catastrophe in prolonged violence unabated by government action, Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani has reached out to the most senior Sunni Imams and asked that they meet with him as soon as possible in Najaf, Iraq, to focus on peacemaking. Such an invitation by the most senior Shia for a meeting with the most senior Sunni is unprecedented in Iraq's history.
It was also noteworthy that these leaders included Sheikh Abdul Lateef Humayeem, the former personal iman to Saddam Hussein. Welcoming Mr. Humayeem to this very elite circle -- a religious board of directors in Iraq -- is a clear signal to former Baath civil servants and military officers that they will be welcome in the new Iraq.
Here in the West we tend to discount the role of religion in resolving disputes. Indeed our diplomatic tradition eschews involving religion -- or even mentioning it -- in diplomatic discourse. Clearly, however, its role is central in underpinning the sectarian violence in Iraq. U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, understands that, as well as the powerful role that religious leaders could play if they chose to do so. He has been a strong supporter -- as has the U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus -- of the painstaking process that preceded this meeting in Cairo. Nothing like this has ever occurred in Iraq's history -- and yet it is happening.
Going forward, the key leaders have agreed to a calendar of concrete actions starting with the unprecedented meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani in Najaf within two weeks. If that meeting goes well, it could lend momentum to the early development of the planned joint Sunni-Shia fatwa. Such a fatwa would stand as a historic milestone with profound meaning and effect on the Iraqi people.
To be fair, it was clear that one of the factors which motivated these very senior leaders to come together was their common goal of getting the U.S. out of Iraq -- obviously a goal we share, assuming we can achieve an acceptable degree of security before leaving. Just as important, however, was their alarm over growing Iranian influence in southern Iraq and the common sentiment among them that they do not want to be dominated by Iran.
This process of nurturing reconciliation by bringing Iraq's religious leaders together -- gradually in small groups leading to a conference this past June involving over 70 leaders, and devolving now here in Cairo to the six most senior clerics in all Iraq -- has been led by Canon Andrew White, an Anglican priest who has established his contacts and credibility with Iraqi leaders during more than nine years of service in Baghdad. Mr. White is a commanding presence and a man who deserves our prayers and support. The process he has organized and set in motion could mark a turning point in the wretched history of Iraq.
Mr. McFarlane was a national security advisor for President Ronald Reagan.
Bwahahahahaha!!! That's right up there with "Arab Unity", "Muslim Solidarity", "Islamic Pacifism", "Shair'a Benevolence", "Honor Killing" and "Tribal Honor". Need I go on? ... I COULD, FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS, AT LEAST ...
BAGHDAD, Aug 25 (Reuters) - An indefinite vehicle curfew was imposed on Baghdad from 6:00 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Saturday to maintain security for an upcoming Shi'ite religious event, an Iraqi military spokesman said. Brigadier-General Qassim al-Moussawi said in a statement carried on Iraqi television that the curfew was put in place to protect citizens ahead of a pilgrimage to mark the birth of Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi, which falls early next week.
Tens of thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims are expected to converge on the southern holy Shi'ite city of Kerbala to mark the birth of the imam, a ninth century messiah-like figure whom Shi'ites believe will return to save mankind. Such events are major targets for al Qaeda and other Sunni Arab militant groups. Pilgrims walking from Baghdad and other cities to Kerbala are often vulnerable to attack.
The last major Shi'ite religious ceremony was held in Baghdad's Kadhimiya neighbourhood earlier this month. A massive show of force by Iraqi security forces and three days of curfew in the capital ensured few casualties.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/26/2007 00:00 ||
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US President George W Bush signaled on Saturday his unwillingness to consider early US troop reductions in Iraq, saying new offensive operations there were just in their early stages. The statement, made in his weekly radio address, followed a fervent plea by John Warner, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, who publicly asked the president to initiate by September 15 at least a symbolic drawdown of US military forces from Iraq.
Warner, a former secretary of the Navy and a widely respected authority on military affairs, suggested Thursday the president bring home up to 5,000 US troops as the first step in a withdrawal of armed forces in order to send a sharp and clear message to the Iraqi government that the US commitment was not open-ended.
Bush has not formally responded to the appeal. But in his address, he expressed satisfaction with offensive operations launched in the wake of a nearly 30,000-troop surge he announced at the beginning of the year - and said they were just beginning. We are still in the early stages of our new operations, the president said. But the success of the past couple of months have shown that conditions on the ground can change - and they are changing. He argued that every month since January, US forces have killed or captured on average more than 1,500 Al Qaeda fighters and other insurgents in Iraq.
Young Iraqi men are signing up for the army, Bush went on to say, police are patrolling the streets, and neighbourhood watch groups are being formed in Iraqi cities.
Bush said Iraqis were now volunteering important information about insurgents and other extremists hiding in their midst more frequently, which had led to a marked reduction in sectarian murders. We cannot expect the new strategy we are carrying out to bring success overnight, the president concluded. But by standing with the Iraqi people as they build their democracy, we will deliver a devastating blow to Al Qaeda, we will help provide new hope for millions of people throughout the Middle East, we will gain a friend and ally in the war on terror, and we will make the American people safer.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I am very offended.
Posted by: Sen Harry Reid (D-efeatist) ||
08/26/2007 0:10 Comments ||
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#2
In Kashmir, where terrorist leaders were discredited by defeat, locals turned against them. There is some evidence that that is occuring in Iraq. Other evidence is that self-described "leftist blogger" Juan Cole (a speaker of Arabic and Farsi), is desperate to find evidence of jihadi success. He is resorting to reporting directly from al-Qaeda in Iraq's website. What a despicable academic fraud. "Angry Arab" (Asad Abu-Khalil) is worse; I screamed at him during a radio call in, last year.
#3
Remember when AQ types applauded the Dems majority win and urged them to follow through on their promises for surrender (withdrawal)? Instead Bush et al went on the offensive (surge) in Iraq, which seems to be working out well, and the Dems were largely ignored. So now the Dems have been shown to be only talk and bluster (kind of arab-like maybe) not just to AQ but the Iraqi people, and they have gotten a taste of how America works (sort of) - . The people of Iraq might just be taking heart and siezing this once in a lifetime moment to free themselves (neighborhood watches, tribal realignments, Iraqi govt reshuffles). I have some hope; not going to put a wad of money on it, but I have hope.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
08/26/2007 7:36 Comments ||
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#4
Warner, respected authority? By whom? On what?
The Georgetown elites and their Northern VA kindred he's trying to suck up to? No, they'll vote for the donk in the general regardless of whether the Respected Authority runs.
The Republican base in the rest of the state? I'm thinking they'll see through this RINO before the next primary.
But he'll gain a lot more respect from his WaPo friends when he decides it's time to turn over his seat to a younger generation. Look how respected Reagan became when he died.
ABERDEEN, Maryland (Reuters) - New armored vehicles that give extra protection to U.S. troops in Iraq are becoming symbolic targets for insurgents, the top military officer in charge of acquiring the vehicles said on Friday.
The Pentagon says the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, which have V-shaped hulls to disperse the impact of bomb blasts, will save the lives of many U.S. troops and is rushing them to Iraq.
But Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan suggested the hype surrounding the vehicles was putting them at greater risk, pushing insurgents to see them as a challenge to be defeated. "As we field these things, because of what all you are doing and how much you are touting the fact that they protect our troops ... these are becoming symbolic targets," he told reporters at an MRAP demonstration organized by the U.S. military. "That in and of itself is not a good thing," he said.
The boxy, truck-like MRAPs, which come in various sizes and were originally developed in South Africa, give much greater protection than the Humvee vehicles used by many U.S. troops in Iraq against bombs planted on or beside roads. The Pentagon says 6,415 MRAPs have been ordered and more than 225 have been fielded.
Brogan did not give examples of incidents in which he believed an MRAP had been targeted because of its status. He said he was reluctant to give many details of the program for fear that they could be useful to insurgents.
"Imagine if I'm a football coach and I've developed a play that's going to score every time I run it," he said. "I sure don't want to hand it on in writing to the opposing defense," Brogan said at the U.S. Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground test site in Maryland.
'Damn!', said the disappointed reporters from the NYT.
The Pentagon said on Wednesday U.S. troops in Iraq would receive at least 1,000 fewer MRAPs this year than previously announced due to shipping constraints. It said defense contractors were expected to produce 3,900 MRAPs this year but only 1,500 would make it to the war zone &0151; down from a previous shipment target of 2,500 to 3,000.
Brogan said the military and its contractors were working as hard as possible to get MRAPs to Iraq. "We're going to get them there as quickly as we can," said Brogan, the head of Marine Corps Systems Command, which is in charge of procuring the vehicles for the military.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has made MRAPs the Pentagon's top procurement priority. In June, he said scores of Americans would die for every month of delay in getting MRAPs into the field.
The U.S. death toll in Iraq since the 2003 invasion has reached 3,725. Of those, 1,593 troops were killed by an improvised explosive device, or IED, according to Web site icasualties.org, which tracks coalition deaths in Iraq.
It's pretty amazing, just hope they can make enough of them. One of the soldiers that testified about the need for them, ended up dying in an explosion on the ground cause he was in a Humvee.
Posted by: NOLA ||
08/26/2007 3:41 Comments ||
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(NOLA, it took me a while to figure out how to make links work here -- something about the quotation marks -- and even so I always preview posts with embedded links, and click on them to ensure I did it right, before submitting. Oh, and I'm glad you found us!)
#3
These things do provide better protection against the current threat than HMMWVs. However, they have a number of drawbacks (e.g. taller and heavier, less visibility, less flexible, more fuel use thus more resupply convoys). Further, remember that the bad guys don't care about blowing up vehicles, they just want to score some kills. If these new trucks are successful in protecting soldiers aboard, then the other side will change tactics to find a way to get the soldiers out of them. We can already see evidence of that happening now. We may very well end up in a situation where we spent billions of dollars on these vehicles, yet are suffering higher losses.
Hamas militiamen tried to arrest a prominent Palestinian journalist late Saturday, but left the scene at the urging of Hamas political leaders after a group of reporters blocked the force from entering the man's home. The attempted arrest of Agence France Press reporter Sakher Abu El Oun came a day after Hamas beat a group of journalists covering a demonstration protesting the Islamic militant group's rule in the Gaza Strip. Abu El Oun, who heads the Gaza journalists' union, harshly criticized the Hamas crackdown.
About 15 Hamas security men arrived at his home late Saturday, saying they had orders to arrest him. Abu El Oun called some colleagues, who rushed to the scene and formed a human chain around the home. Within minutes, officials from the office of deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a top Hamas official in Gaza, arrived to end the standoff. The officials persuaded the militiamen to leave, calling the incident a "misunderstanding."
"Everything has been settled and freedom of speech and journalism is respected," said Taher Nunu, a spokesman for Haniyeh. AFP did not immediately comment.
Earlier Saturday, about 40 Palestinian journalists in the West Bank held a demonstration to protest Hamas' latest crackdown on the media. Participants called for freedom of the press and urged Hamas to stop violence in Gaza.
Hamas senior official Mahmoud Zahar was severely injured in Gaza, according to unverified Palestinian reports quoted by Channel Two Saturday evening. Reportedly, Zahar was injured already two weeks ago, but in Israel there was strong uncertainty regarding the veracity of the report.
Pray for sepsis.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2007 00:00 ||
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IDF troops arrested a Palestinian at the Beit Iba checkpoint near Nablus, after a search in her belonging revealed a knife with a 13-centimeter blade. Shortly afterwards a Palestinian man arrived at the checkpoint, bearing a knife with a seven-centimeter blade. The knives were confiscated and the two were taken by security forces for questioning.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2007 00:00 ||
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Hamas leader abroad, Khaled Mashaal, told CNN Saturday that captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit was alive and in good condition. Mashaal told CNN that Hamas was in negotiations with Israel, through Egyptian mediators, regarding a prisoner swap.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Good. Release him immediately. Israel released 240 war criminals.
After killing off its Mickey Mouse-lookalike, Hamas has turned to another Disneyesque charactertelevising a cartoon with a "Lion King" wannabe to portray the Islamic group's victory in the Gaza Strip over the Fatah movement.
The cartoon depicts Fatah members as sneaky rats, brandishing guns and being showered with U.S. dollars, while Hamas is portrayed as a confident, calm lion that resembles Simba in the 1994 Walt Disney Co. movie "The Lion King." The five-minute video, titled "A message to the criminal gangs in the occupied West Bank," is the second production of the Hamas-run Al Aqsa TV enlisting a famous Disney character.
In May, Hamas TV used a Mickey Mouse knockoff to preach Islamic domination to children. After an uproar among Israelis and Palestinians, that character was killed off and his weekly show replaced.
Hazem Sharawi, an executive with Hamas TV, said the cartoon of the lion vanquishing the rats was broadcast Thursday but quickly pulled off the air for revisions. He said it was "flashed" for one day to counter what he called anti-Hamas propaganda coming from Fatah in the West Bank.
Is it wrong for me to confess I like the red-on-red here?
The cartoon also was posted on the Web site of the Middle East Media Research Institute, a Washington-based group that monitors the Arabic media.
The piece shows rats trampling over Gaza, burning houses, stepping over homes, uprooting trees, firing at mosques and desecrating the Quran, Islam's holy book. Their leader is clearly a portrayal of Fatah's former Gaza strongman, Mohammed Dahlan, who has fled Gaza. Wearing a tie and smoking a cigar, the chief rat grabs a microphone and tells the crowd: "Move back and let Hamas shoot me." Dahlan made that comment during the showdown with Hamas, and his voice is dubbed into the scene.
Throughout the video, the lion silently watches the rats, preparing his claws and shaking his mane. When he pounces, the rats flee in terror as he knocks them about with his claws. Injured and limping rats then say: "Off to the West Bank."
After Hamas' victory in Gaza two months ago, ineffectual Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a Fatah member, formed a new government in the West Bank, where many top Fatah officials in Gaza have taken refuge. "Viewers from all over loved it. They called in to praise it," Sharawi said of the cartoon.
He said the final version will be toned down before it is broadcast again, with the Dahlan scene among those to be cut. But he said there were no plans to erase the Lion King references, including a final scene showing the victorious lion standing on a hill overlooking Gaza with his mane flying in the wind. "Disney stole a lion from the forest. We stole another lion," Sharawi said chuckling.
Hezbollah is to move its central headquarters in the Shi'ite Dahiya quarter of south Beirut to a secret location elsewhere in Lebanon, London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported Friday. All of the organization's offices, including its "security compound" are to be relocated.
During the Second Lebanon War last summer the Israel Air Force bombed the Dahiya neighborhood flat in an attempt to destroy the Hezbollah command center. Asharq Al-Awsat said Hezbollah plans on turning the area occupied currently by their headquarters into a public park. The whole Dahiya quarter has of late been undergoing extensive renovation, however, Hezbollah has imposed a blackout on news of the exact work being done there.
According to the newspaper report, the relocation will be completed by "the first day of 2009," some two and a half years after the Second Lebanon War. The offices where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah receives visitors will also be moved. Nasrallah himself will relocate to a place only known to those responsible for his personal security.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
to a place only known to those responsible for his personal security.
#2
Hezbollah now has enough enemies among the Lebanese that their security needs to be quite a bit tighter than it was pre=2006.
They probably also need to have more steel reinforced concrete, deeper excavation, etc. for the HQ. I've thought for some time that this will make their air supply more vulnerable since there will be more pipe length and a greater need for mechanism forcing of air flow. We'll see about this.
#3
Given that they've had Iranian funding and already have their own dedicated telecomms system in progress, separate from the public one, I wouldn't automatically laugh off their new HQ too lightly. Chances are it's already up and running and any new movement is a smokescreen.
Or, it could be they're tottering on their legs due to the push against Fatah al Islam and the presence of arms and a handful of ... trainers ... from the US working with the Lebanese forces.
#5
We don't get Bloom anymore, are Lola and Opus still married? What's the word on Steve Dallas? Has Binkley gotten over the closet? Are the Twangers still Rocking?
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
08/26/2007 9:53 Comments ||
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#6
in print in the san diego uniontrib. "Fatima Struggle"....heh
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/26/2007 10:31 Comments ||
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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.
KABUL - Afghan special forces called off a plan to rescue 23 Korean hostages soon after they were kidnapped by Taleban insurgents five weeks ago because the South Korean government intervened, the defence minister said on Saturday.
(SomaliNet) A Danish cargo ship and its crew that were hijacked by Somali pirates in June have been released after 83 days in captivity after a ransom was paid, the Danish Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. Danish TV2 News reported security firm Protocols said it had paid ransom of $1.5-million for the release of the ship and crew. 
A Japanese newspaper on Saturday said North Korea insisted in disarmament talks this month that it would only declare and disable three nuclear facilities - none of them with atomic weapons. Under a landmark February deal, the secretive communist state agreed to abandon its nuclear weapons programmes in exchange for aid and diplomatic concessions, and it has already shut down its main Yongbyon nuclear facility. But in the next stage of the six-nation disarmament deal, the North has committed to declaring and disabling all its nuclear facilities. In a story datelined from China, where talks on the so-called declare and disable stage were held earlier this month, the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper said North Korea had announced it would only list three sites. All three are at the Yongbyon facility, the paper said, citing sources close to the negotiations. It said the North Korean delegation did not refer to other facilities that the five other nations suspect exist.
Lal Masjid has restored its media wing and sent emails on Saturday to newspapers and news agencies with the announcement Lal Masjid website is back now. 
BAGHDAD, Aug 25 (Reuters) - An indefinite vehicle curfew was imposed on Baghdad from 6:00 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Saturday to maintain security for an upcoming Shi'ite religious event, an Iraqi military spokesman said. Brigadier-General Qassim al-Moussawi said in a statement carried on Iraqi television that the curfew was put in place to protect citizens ahead of a pilgrimage to mark the birth of Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi, which falls early next week.
US President George W Bush signaled on Saturday his unwillingness to consider early US troop reductions in Iraq, saying new offensive operations there were just in their early stages. The statement, made in his weekly radio address, followed a fervent plea by John Warner, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, who publicly asked the president to initiate by September 15 at least a symbolic drawdown of US military forces from Iraq.
ABERDEEN, Maryland (Reuters) - New armored vehicles that give extra protection to U.S. troops in Iraq are becoming symbolic targets for insurgents, the top military officer in charge of acquiring the vehicles said on Friday. 
The boxy, truck-like MRAPs, which come in various sizes and were originally developed in South Africa, give much greater protection than the Humvee vehicles used by many U.S. troops in Iraq against bombs planted on or beside roads. The Pentagon says 6,415 MRAPs have been ordered and more than 225 have been fielded.
Hamas senior official Mahmoud Zahar was severely injured in Gaza, according to unverified Palestinian reports quoted by Channel Two Saturday evening. Reportedly, Zahar was injured already two weeks ago, but in Israel there was strong uncertainty regarding the veracity of the report. 
After killing off its Mickey Mouse-lookalike, Hamas has turned to another Disneyesque charactertelevising a cartoon with a "Lion King" wannabe to portray the Islamic group's victory in the Gaza Strip over the Fatah movement.
Hezbollah is to move its central headquarters in the Shi'ite Dahiya quarter of south Beirut to a secret location elsewhere in Lebanon, London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported Friday. All of the organization's offices, including its "security compound" are to be relocated.
