* SAS trooper Sean McCarthy, 25, killed
* Two other Australians injured in attack
* Readers mourn loss of decorated soldier
THE Australian soldier killed in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan was a "top bloke" who had been looking forward to returning for his second combat tour of the country, close friends say.
SAS Signaller Sean McCarthy, a 25-year-old rugby-mad soldier from the Gold Coast, was killed when a bomb exploded near his vehicle, the Defence department has said.
Two other Australian special forces soldiers were injured, along with a soldier from another country.
(AKI) - A prominent European MP said on Tuesday the situation in Afghanistan was out of control and security efforts could not continue at the current half-hearted rate.
German MP Elmar Brok was commenting soon after the European Parliament called for the European Union to play a much greater political role in conflict-wracked Afghanistan.
The lawmakers overwhelmingly endorsed a report urging far greater coordination among institutions involved in reconstructing the war-torn country. 'Until we can establish a secure environment, the population will remain indifferent and it will be very difficult to stabilise the country and help it to develop,' Brok said.
He said the security situation was alarming. 'Today there are possible attacks that were unthinkable a year ago, like the one during the military parade with President Hamid Karzai or the last one in front of the Indian embassy.' Forty people died and another 141 were injured on Monday in a devastating attack on the Indian embassy in the Afghan capital, Kabul (photo). The Taliban denied responsibility for the attack.
Brok is also worried about the spread of opium and the 'great flow of money' that the Taliban receives from abroad. 'A great deal of money is arriving from al-Qaeda but there are also likely to be other sources,' he said.
The German MP did not point to Pakistan. 'I do not believe that it is involved in directly supporting the Taliban, rather I believe that it cannot control the border region with Afghanistan, and foreign troops cannot either. That's not surprising given the particularly mountainous region.'
This article starring:
German MP Elmar Brok
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
cannot control the border region with Afghanistan What's with the "cannot"? They haven't tried.
#2
German MP Elmar Brok was commenting...
Well, it would help if German troops would engage the enemy. Q: How many EU states are actually involved in combat? A: Not enough.
(AKI) - Spain is to spend 22 million euros in the next two years for the creation of an Afghan battalion to fight the Taliban. The Ministry of Defence announced on Tuesday the batallion would consist of 600 soldiers and would be based in Badghis province in northwest Afghanistan.
That's a little .. um .. far away from the Talibunnies, isn't it?
In a statement said it said funding would also be provided for housing, uniforms, vehicles and weaponry in the area of Qal-I-Naw in the province. The troops are expected to provide a permanent base for the Afghan army in the province and will be based with the Spanish provincial reconstruction team.
The ministry said through this programme Spain intends to leave the fight against the Taliban to Afghans. Under a mandate issued by the Spanish Parliament, Spanish forces are not authorised to take part in the fight against the Taliban insurgency in the south and east of Afghanistan.
Spain is currently the tenth largest contingent in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force or ISAF, with 778 soldiers, according to the Defence Ministry website.
ISAF currently has 53,000 troops from 40 countries in Afghanistan, NATO's largest ground operation outside Europe.
Spain was one of the main supporters of the invasion of Iraq in 2003 by US forces. It ran away withdrew its troops following the 11 March 2004 bombings at several Madrid railway stations that killed 191 people. The Madrid bombings were perpetrated by a loose group of Al-Qaeda-inspired Muslim militants, allegedly in response to the presence of Spanish troops in Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2008 00:00 ||
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Afghanistan blamed a foreign intelligence agency Tuesday for the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, making a veiled but clear reference to its eastern neighbor, Pakistan. The accusation came as the commander of the NATO military mission in Afghanistan, U.S. Army Gen. David D. McKiernan, said increased Afghan violence is due in part to a porous border that allows insurgents to resupply in Pakistan and cross freely into Afghanistan.
President Hamid Karzai's spokesman said Afghan officials have evidence showing foreigners were behind Monday's suicide bombing at the embassy that killed 41 people, the deadliest attack in the capital since 2001. He did not provide any specifics.
Samoans? Lutherans? Esquimaux?
Humayun Hamidzada did not mention Pakistan's intelligence agency by name but told reporters it was 'pretty obvious' who was behind the attack. Afghanistan previously blamed Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, for a recent assassination attempt on Karzai. 'The sophistication of this attack, and the kind of material that was used in it and the specific targeting, everything has the hallmark of a particular intelligence agency that has conducted similar terrorist acts inside Afghanistan in the past. We have sufficient evidence to say that,' Hamidzada said. 'The project was designed outside Afghanistan. It was exported to Afghanistan,' he added.
Pakistan's prime minister denied its intelligence service was responsible. Speaking in Malaysia on Tuesday, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said his country has no interest in destabilizing Afghanistan when both countries are fighting terrorist groups. 'We want stability in the region. We ourselves are a victim of terrorism and extremism,' Gilani said on the sidelines of a summit of eight developing Islamic nations.
This article starring:
Gen. David D. McKiernan
Humayun Hamidzada
Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2008 00:00 ||
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(Xinhua) -- The Islamist Al-shabaab movement Tuesday denied being behind the killing of the Somalia chief of United Nations development agency this week and accused Ethiopian forces in Somalia of carrying it out.
Osman Ali Ahmed, chief of Somalia office for United Nations Development Program, was shot dead Sunday by unknown gunmen as he left evening prayers from a mosque near his home in south Mogadishu.
'All the Mujahedeen (fighters) are not behind his (Osman Ali's) killing and it is not becoming of them to kill important persons who help the Somali people on whose behalf we are fighting but the enemy of Allah (Ethiopia) are behind his killing,' Muqtar Robow Abu Mansuur, spokesman for Al-shabaab Islamist movement told reports in a telephone press conference.
"Wudn't us."
Ahmed was the latest of string of killings and kidnapping of senior social and business leaders or local and international aid workers in the Somalia. Islamist insurgents groups often deny carrying out those killings.
Somali government officials or the Ethiopian military commanders in Somalia have yet to comment on the latest insurgent allegations.
Somali government and Ethiopian troops accused the movement of threatening the national security of Ethiopia and of challenging the authority of the internationally recognized interim Somali government which was then based in the southern Somali town of Baidoa, 250 km southwest of Mogadishu.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Seattle papers report the contract will be rebid and winner decided by an office at the Sec Def level; took it out of the hands of the USAF. That has to leave a big ol biatchslap of a mark!
#2
John Young, Gate's undersecretary for Aquisition, Technology & Logistics, has also pulled a lot of aquisition activity from USAF & NRO up to his office, under Joshua Hartman.
#3
...Looks like Boeing gets the contract, then. Would be nice if somebody at DOD was taking them aside right now and telling them, "These are the changes you WILL make", but it ain't likely.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/09/2008 15:58 Comments ||
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A federal judge overseeing Guantanamo Bay lawsuits ordered the Justice Department to put other cases aside and make it clear throughout the Bush administration that, after nearly seven years of detention, the detainees must have their day in court.
'The time has come to move these forward,' Judge Thomas F. Hogan said Tuesday during the first hearing over whether the detainees are being held lawfully. 'Set aside every other case that's pending in the division and address this case first.'
#2
We can only hope for a fair trial and a quick hangin'. I have it on pretty good authority that anyone being held at Camp Delta should be summarily executed because they are particularly hateful. The thing the Jihadis hate the most in this world is what is trying the hardest to get them cut loose. FU Judge Hogan.
#3
OK. I'll play the role of the military judge.
"Major, bring in the next prisoner."
"Sergeant, do you have evidence that this man is an illegal combatant?"
Sgt: "Yes, sir. Here it is"
"I see. Guilty. Execute him"
Sgt: bang
Repeat.
All in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
07/09/2008 14:22 Comments ||
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About 2,000 Islamist women gathered at the radical Red Mosque in the Pakistani capital on Wednesday and vowed to raise their children for holy war, days after a suicide bomber killed 18 people after a similar rally.
Chanting slogans of "jihad is our way", burqa-clad women, some with babies, listened to fiery speeches from the daughter of the mosque's jailed cleric on the eve of the anniversary of a commando raid on the complex in which more than 100 people died. "Our mujahideen (fighters) laid down their lives for the enforcement of the Islamic system in Pakistan. We are left behind to carry forward their mission," the daughter of cleric Abdul Aziz told the tightly guarded rally in the mosque compound.
Several thousand men attended a similar rally on Sunday to mark the anniversary of the July 10 commando raid that ended a week-long siege that began when gunmen from the mosque clashed with police. Shortly after the Sunday rally ended, a suicide bomber attacked police who had been guarding the gathering killing 18 people, all but three of them policemen.
The attack highlighted the danger posed by militants in nuclear-armed Pakistan, where a new coalition government has been preoccupied with what to do with the unpopular President Pervez Musharraf, a staunch U.S. ally who has been isolated since his allies were defeated in a February election. The blast in the centre of the capital also compounded gloom on Pakistan's financial markets, where stocks have been sliding because of economic worries and the rupee has set new lows.
But there was no trouble on Wednesday as the cleric's daughter, who did not identify herself, told the crowd to steel their families for holy war. "We should prepare our children and men for jihad," she said. The crowd responded with shrill chants of "we are ready" and "al jihad".
Aziz was caught during the siege last year trying to slip through a cordon dressed in a woman's burqa. His brother, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who was also a mosque cleric, was killed. Ghazi's widow, identified as Umm-e-Hassam, said President Pervez Musharraf should be punished for ordering the crackdown: "This man is the enemy ... I want this man to be severely punished before I die," she told the rally.
#2
Seems like a vow to raise your kids to be suicide bombers ought to be grounds for intervention by the Child Protection Service. In fact, I'd make it a capital offense.
Posted by: Menhaden S ||
07/09/2008 7:50 Comments ||
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#3
Well, it takes nine months of preproduction before they're off the assembly line, then a couple years to work out the operating bugs. So, it's not like its an immediate issue.
Just shut down NGOs in the area that provides assistance for bunnies and baby ducks programs that front the operation. Let them do without Western medicine, vaccines, and aid during processing.
#9
C'mon, ladies! Hows about you step up to the plate and show the kiddos how it's done.
Or is it healthier marching around in the street makin lotsa jihadi noise?
FOREIGN diplomats based in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, were reportedly preparing plans yesterday for an emergency evacuation as alarm grows over a resurgence of suicide bomb attacks by militants linked to al-Qa'ida and the Taliban.
In the wake of Sunday night's devastating bomb blast in the heart of the capital, two of the country's leading newspapers said diplomats - already operating under heavy guard in a fortified diplomatic enclave - were discussing plans for emergency evacuations, should the need arise. For most countries represented in Islamabad, including Australia, the city is already a 'non-family' diplomatic post.
A red alert was in force in Islamabad and other leading Pakistani cities last night, with strategic buildings and government offices under increased guard.
Reports said plans for the emergency evacuation of diplomats were drawn up when 'Western embassies noticed unusual night-time activities of militants, some of whom had left messages against the foreigners and the Pakistani security forces in graffiti chalked on walls warning of (imminent) attacks'.
Several foreign missions have significantly reduced staff, while others have abandoned their embassies and moved into heavily fortified hotels. Confirming the heightened security measures, one diplomat said: 'We have been advised to avoid going to market places, public parks, restaurants and other places.'
Security officials blame Sunday night's bombing on the dominant Pakistan Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud.
Optimism that the March election would usher in a new democratic spring of peace and reconciliation for Pakistan has been replaced by despondency, with many believing the situation is worse now than previously.
Since all parties in Pakiwakiland believe pretty much the same things, and the only real argument is who gets to be in charge ...
Al-Qa'ida and the Taliban are effectively in control of large swaths of territory in the North West Frontier Province, with the Pakistan army forced to take action to try to break the steady encirclement by militants of the provincial capital, Peshawar.
#1
Islamabad is heavily militarized. The fact that Taliban has the capacity to threaten it, is a testament to the suicidal effects of indulgence of the frontier terrorists. Mushy chose to deal with those devils; now he finds that the devil breaks deals. Americans should be promoting civil war between Punjabis and Pashtos.
#6
A couple more suicide bombings aimed at Indians targets and I wouldn't want to be near ground zero either. Diplomats don't like living in glowing green glass houses. The Dips probably grasp the Indians have far less patience than the Americans.
#9
Optimism that the March election would usher in a new democratic spring of peace and reconciliation for Pakistan has been replaced by despondency, with many believing the situation is worse now than previously.
Awwwwww geez. And we all thought this time would be different...
#11
Ambassador: [over the phone] I can hear the sound of explosions from the north east. The sky is very bright. All lit up.
[phone melts and high pitched whining sound starts] - Failsafe, 1964
#12
The last time Pakistan got India really mad, that would be in 1972, this is how it ended:
The military dictator of the moment, that would be Gen. Yahya Khan, was sitting in a hole just dug behind the commander in chief`s house at army headquarters in Rawalpindi with a couple of sandbags over his head to protect him against Indian bombs. He had only one companion, Sultan Khan, his foreign secretary, and he asked his chief diplomat when he thought the Americans, led by his friend Richard Nixon, would come to save them.
Nixon loved Yahya Khan, a gruff, Scotch-drinking man who liked to tap a cavalryman`s crop agaist his leg, and had helped the American president make the contacts that led to his historic trip to China to meet with Mao Tse-tung. But, of course, the Americans never came. Neither did the Chinese, who were pledging undying loyalty to Pakistan. They meant verbal and diplomatic loyalty, but Khan misunderstood.
In fact, Khan misunderstood most everything, including what happened just before he climbed into his earthy new bomb shelter. He had been meeting with the U.S. ambassador, who was trying to tell him he was on his own, when the ambassador was literally pulled away by his military attache. That would be the famous pilot and Air Force general Charles (Chuck) Yeager. ``We`ve got to get out of here right now,`` said Yeager.
Why? Yeager explained that for some fool reason Khan had ordered a few of his planes to attack airfields in India. Probably Khan thought a few explosions would persuade Nixon to send in the Marines. Now, said Yeager, the Indians are going to send in bombers and the Pakistanis were going to send up their entire air force to dogfight. When the Pakistanis landed to refuel, the Indian bombers would turn for home, but a second Indian wave would arrive and destroy Pakistan`s air force while it was all on the ground with empty gas tanks.
And that`s what happened. Pakistan, which is to India as Canada is to the United States, lost half its country in a couple of weeks. What is now Bangladesh used to be East Pakistan, but the Indians invaded, capturing hundreds of thousands of Pakistani troops sent from Rawalpindi, in West Pakistan, to reverse the result of elections in which East Pakistani separatists had predictably won every seat in the national Parliament, giving them political control over both wings of divided Pakistan.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/09/2008 16:01 Comments ||
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#13
One might expect more from the sixth largest county in the world.
Posted by: Charles ||
07/09/2008 20:31 Comments ||
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#15
Thanks, John.
I vaguely remember this stuff. (In 1972 I was dealing with the Baader-Meinhof gang and their BS, so was a little preoccupied, but do remember the jist.)
Go, India! :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/09/2008 21:04 Comments ||
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#16
From Orbat.com
Incidentally, Pakistan has three separate major intelligence agencies: the ISI, Army intelligence, and the civilian police Intelligence Bureau. Each has their own agenda. Doubtless they cooperate when ordered. But they are independent and do their own thing. We noted yesterday that according to a dispatch filed by Mandeep Singh Bajwa, this attack was the work of Army intelligence.
the attack being on the Indian Embassy in Afghanistan.
Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Sherry Rehman is currently a prime target for terrorists and the Interior Ministry has advised her to restrict her public movements in light of the threat to her life. According to a Dawn News report, official sources have said that the Interior Ministry has informed the Information Ministry that she is on the hit list of a would-be suicide bomber. A senior Information Ministry official also confirmed the report on condition of anonymity, saying that Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik had himself conveyed knowledge of the threat to Sherry Rehman to ensure her safety. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has placed all four provinces under a state of "high alert" following a suicide bombing in Islamabad over the weekend after a rally marking the first anniversary of the government's raid on the Lal Masjid, and a series of seven blasts in Karachi on Monday.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#3
Lipstick! Eyeshadow! Eyebrow liner! Ear rings! Salon cut hair! Bare neck! No veil! These things displease allah. I bet she refuses genital mutiliation, and doesn't want to be some Abdullah's 4th sperm receptacle.
LI chief Mangal Bagh on Tuesday refused to provide monetary and other guarantees to ensure writ of the state in Khyber Agency. 'I can give you my word, but I cannot give men as guarantors,' he told a tribal jirga that met him in Tirah Valley. 'In tribal society, words matter. I will honour my word,' Bagh told the negotiators. Jirga leader Amal Gul Afridi said that he was 'satisfied' with the talks. 'A promise is stronger than a guarantee (in tribal system),' he told Daily Times upon returning to Peshawar.
This article starring:
Amal Gul Afridi
MANGAL BAGH
Lashkar-e-Islami
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Lashkar-e-Islami
'As usual, Pakistan's political leaders are standing next to this powder keg with a fuse in one hand and a fire extinguisher in the other,' according to a report on the creeping Talibanisation of the NWFP.
The report by Walter Mayr published by the online magazine, Salon, in arrangement with the German weekly Der Spiegel, says political Islamabad does not give the impression that Pakistan is facing one of the deepest crises in its history. Asif Ali Zardari, Nawaz Sharif and President Pervez Musharraf seem more interested in settling old scores. For a country under attack from the Taliban, it seems a dangerous lack of focus. The power vacuum has been an invitation to the fundamentalists, and they are responding by advancing ever further into the border regions. They have moved down from the mountains and towards Peshawar, bringing pious messages and undisguised threats.
The writer finds it ironic that Islam is being 'reinvented' in Peshawar of all places, a city which 2,000 years ago was the centre of the Buddhist civilisation of Gandhara. 'But in addition to the irony is the danger. A tendency in the city towards submissiveness could win out in the end. As one politician from the Pakistan People's Party put it: 'I'm afraid that when the time comes, the inhabitants will simply go out and welcome the Taliban.' Things haven't gone that far yet, though. Daily life continues as though nothing has happened,' writes Mayr.
The correspondent found pörnographic films being sold under the counter in Bara, while violent jihadist video and DVD material was being hawked openly, including films showing the Taliban beheading 'traitors' restrained in straitjackets, and a teenage boy being prepared by black hooded men for a suicide bombing mission that will take him straight to paradise. The final scene in the film shows the face of the young martyr suspended together with clouds in the sky, with a white dove taking to the wing. A message flashes across the screen: 'This is an example for you to follow'
This article starring:
Asif Ali Zardari
Nawaz Sharif
Walter Mayr
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2008 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
sinks into chaos ??? Pakistan has been there for quite some time. The flavor of the chaos just seems to change from one month to the next. If one of Pak's major cities is destroyed by a Pak nuke, I wouldn't be surprised one bit.
#3
Good. Get all the perps in one place, and glass that place. We don't need to destroy all of Pakistan, just enough to make sure the stupidity virus rampant there doesn't spread.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/09/2008 18:27 Comments ||
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The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Tuesday submitted an adjournment motion in the National Assembly (NA) Secretariat seeking a debate in parliament on recent terrorism in Islamabad and Karachi. PML-N members Raja Muhammad Asad Khan and Nighat Parveen Mir moved the adjournment motion. More than 20 people died in a suicide attack on Saturday in the federal capital, followed by seven bomb attacks in Karachi in which at least 50 people were injured.
This is a tactic. While you're debating it interminably you're not doing anything about it. PML-N is on the other side.
This article starring:
Nighat Parveen Mir
Raja Muhammad Asad Khan
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
BAGHDAD - Hundreds of women in black abayas crowd outdoor food markets, snapping up groceries and fresh vegetables. Stores are open again. Children play soccer on dirt fields until dusk — or later, when there's electricity.
This is Sadr City, where black-clad militiamen of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army once enforced discipline across the sprawling slum of 3 million people — half of Baghdad's population. The Iraqi army won control of the district in May after weeks of battles that damaged scores of houses and emptied the streets.
"Security is better without the Mahdi Army," said a 42-year-old resident who wanted to be identified only by his nickname, Abu Israa. "We don't want them back."
Most residents do not seem to miss the Mahdi Army, and the U.S. and Iraqi governments hope that sentiment sticks. So Sadr City is witnessing a flurry of public works projects — part of an effort to build confidence in the government and make it more difficult for the extremists to return.
The U.S. military has tried the same strategy before in Sadr City after cease-fires but with limited results. This time U.S. officials are more confident that they can do a better job of managing the effort and maintaining the flow of money. They also believe that support for the militia has dropped sharply because residents are tired of bloodshed.
The Iraqis apparently hope to avoid the disappointment that's growing in the southern city of Basra, where many residents blame the government for failing to deliver on its promises to improve basic services, provide jobs and distribute enough food after winning control from Shiite militias last spring.
Taking no chances in Sadr City, hundreds of city workers have spread out across the district to spruce it up. They are resurfacing roads and sidewalks, repairing the sewer system and collecting garbage.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has pledged $100 million to upgrade the quality of life. The U.S. military is also providing some reconstruction and economic aid to help rebuild parts of Sadr City — with about $4 million already being spent and more on the way.
"The Iraqi government is rebuilding Iraq, one area at a time," says a large billboard on one of Sadr City's main roads — part of a U.S.-backed propaganda effort.
To make sure everything goes smoothly, Iraqi troops man scores of checkpoints and are even directing traffic. They have set up small outposts deep inside the district, complete with blast walls and sandbags.
U.S. troops continue to stay in the area's outlying neighborhoods, but residents report nightly forays by American forces and their Iraqi allies to arrest Mahdi Army commanders — moves the government once roundly condemned and the Mahdi Army pledged never to allow.
On Monday, the top U.S. military officer visited Sadr City, where he met with U.S. troops at a coalition observation post and strolled through a market.
"We saw extraordinary progress there," said Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "A few months ago no one could go into Sadr City. I was able to walk openly down a street that until recently was extremely unsafe, and I'm encouraged by that."
With a canny mix of persuasion and intimidation, Mahdi Army fighters and clerics loyal to al-Sadr had governed the enclave since 2003 like a mini-state. They set up Islamic courts, punished offenders and operated hospitals and gas stations.
Rogue militiamen also ran extortion rackets and black-market rings in food and gas, and formed kidnap-for-ransom gangs.
Residents tolerated the abuses because the militiamen protected them from Sunni militants during sectarian strife in Baghdad in 2006 and 2007. But when violence abated, so did the Mahdi Army's welcome.
The setback for the Mahdi Army in Sadr City, its largest stronghold, has presented the once-feared militia its biggest challenge since al-Sadr created it in 2003. The uncertainty over the militia's future is deepened by al-Sadr's voluntary exile in Iran, where he has lived for more than a year.
Behind the scenes, al-Sadr is quietly reorganizing the militia into a smaller force to fight again, according to a senior militia commander. The commander, who fled Iraq in May at the end of seven weeks of fighting in Sadr City between the militia and U.S.-backed Iraqi troops, spoke by telephone from Iran's holy city of Qom.
The commander said al-Sadr and a small clique of trusted aides are working to organize groups of militiamen into small fighter cells that can operate in secrecy and in isolation of each other. Speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, he said about 20 commanders have been picked to lead the new cells.
The new structure will mirror that of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite guerrilla group backed by Iran whose popularity soared in the Arab world after it fought Israel to a standstill in the summer 2006 war.
"The last round of fighting was a lesson to everyone and it is the reason behind the restructuring," said the commander.
The recent fighting in Sadr City ended with a truce that allowed the government to take control of the vast district and obliged al-Sadr to take his soldiers off the streets.
It is unclear if the smaller, more mobile force foreseen by the commander would have trouble controlling Sadr City the way the full Mahdi Army did. But it would likely give al-Sadr better control over the proposed fighter cells. His aim likely is to bolster his standing as Iraq's top anti-American figure.
Publicly, the Mahdi Army has melted away.
Gone are the small groups of militiamen hanging out on major roads or racing through dusty streets in pickup trucks. They have even stopped guarding al-Sadr's office and manning checkpoints to search worshippers headed to outdoor Friday prayers.
Many commanders have gone into hiding or fled.
"Anyone with a beard and a black shirt now risks arrest," said Hussein al-Mohammedawi, a 36-year-old, midlevel commander who first joined the Mahdi Army in 2004.
"I often spend the night away from home to avoid arrest," he said.
But others say this is just a waiting period.
"We are still here even if you don't see us," said Mahdi al-Freiji, one militiaman. "There is a time for everything. You just have to wait and see."
The U.S. has to be held responsible for not sending enough troops to prevent this looting.
Authorities in Baghdad have seized five luxury cars they believe belong to Saddam's notorious son, Uday. How is he going to pick up those 72 Babes in paradise without his rides?
Uday and his younger brother, Qusay, were both killed in a gun battle with U.S. forces in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in 2003, a few months after the invasion of Iraq.
#1
damn how kreepy watching UDAY smirk at the Soccer players as he put medals around their necks...
He's happy because he'll get to beat the hell out of them later..
By Captain Timothy Hsia
Today's water woes in the DRV are not due solely to the ongoing war or the Iraqi government's lack of ability to address essential services. The Diyala River and Hamrin Lake are the two main sources of water in the region. However, the water level in both these bodies of waters is directly impacted by Iran. The Hamrin Lake used to store up to two billion cubic meters of water. If one were to reference the lake in any map of Iraq it stands out as one of Iraq's largest lakes. However, today its existence is in serious jeopardy and instead of crossing a bridge to get across the lake, one can simply drive thru what once was a lake.
Mufawaq Howar, a Water Resource Department expert states that "Hamrin Lake contains only 20 percent of its capacity." There is a great chance that this body of water will simply disappear in the coming summer months. Iranians have diverted water to the lake to fill their own dams for energy purposes. The Diyala River suffers a similar fate as water from the river is also being diverted by the Iranians for hydroelectric power and irrigation for their own agricultural industry.
In Iraq a thin line exists between what in the West constitutes two separate crises, the energy and food crises.
#2
The Tigris and the Eurphrates, plus those streams that feed into them can be utilized more effectively. Reservoirs and irrigation canals help the American West get through droughts. Center pivots create "crop circles" of green growth even in the high desert regions of northeastern Colorado. Water wells can be drilled just as readily as oil wells, too. I believe even the ancient Babylonians irrigated, utilizing the regions water resources, making the Mesopotamian region the Cradle of Life. Screw Iran.
(VOI) - Iraq's Central Criminal Court on Tuesday decided to postpone its session on the trial regarding the execution of 40 merchants in 1992 to July 16 after hearing the plaintiffs' statements and the presentation of a corroborating documentary.
The court began proceedings during Tuesday's session, headed by Raouf Abdel Rahmam Rasheed, by presenting a documentary showing the cutting of a merchant's hand who testified as an eyewitness. The merchant told the court 'security forces (in 1992) cut his right hand and mistreated him before he fled to the Netherlands as a political refugee via Amman.'
Speaking behind a screen with a voice-distorting device to conceal his identity, the first eyewitness recalled 'how events took place four months before the execution of merchants in 1992,' adding 'his relative told him while he was in Amman that his father , an uncle, and a cousin were among the slain.'
The court session concluded with Ali Hassan al-Majid, former president Saddam Hussein's step brother and his staunch henchman, who spoke about undergoing hard circumstances in the detention center. 'He has been severed from his family since his arrest in 2003,' he noted, adding 'he was allowed for contacting once this year for only ten minutes.' .
One of the defendants, Sabawi Ibrahim, Saddam's second step-brother, denied any role, saying the agency that conducted the arrests was not affiliated with the public security forces, which he headed at the time.'
The session witnessed a strained debate between Judge Raouf Rasheed and a defendant Sabawi before dismissing the latter from the courtroom.
Tariq Aziz, the diplomat who served as the public face of Saddam Hussein's government, appeared in court on Tuesday accused of being part of a 'systematic campaign' to kill over 40 Iraqi merchants. The deaths came in a sweep conducted by the government in 1992 against merchants on charges of destroying Iraq's economy crushed by the imposed UN sanctions.
The case is the fourth one to be run by the Criminal Court and the first for Tariq Aziz, Saddam' s best lieutenant who was promoted to deputy prime minister in the 1990's. The court is presided over by Judge Raoud Rasheed, who handed down the the death verdict to Saddam Hussein.
This article starring:
ALI HASAN AL MAJID
Iraqi Baath Party
Raouf Abdel Rahmam Rasheed
SABAWI IBRAHIM
Iraqi Baath Party
TARIQ AZIZ
Iraqi Baath Party
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2008 00:00 ||
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from Defense News. Note the comment that the NYT report on the June air exercise was way off in reporting the actual size and makeup of the force that participated.
#1
"Will I put something very special, very valuable and very rare on UAVs? I'm not ready. We're not there yet," said Maj. Gen. Ido Nehushtan, the new IAF commander.
Curious statement. It counds like he's referring to nukes.
(Xinhua) -- A Hamas delegation from the Palestinian territory of Gaza Strip arrived in Egypt on Tuesday for talks with Egyptian mediators on the reopening of the Rafah crossing and a prisoner swap deal with Israel.
The Hamas team entered Egypt earlier in the day via the Rafah crossing at the Egypt-Gaza border, the Egyptian state MENA news agency said. The eight-member delegation comprises Hamas' former Interior Minister Said Siam and Hamas official Jamal Abu Hashem in addition to Hamas leader Mahmuod Zahar.
The Hamas team from Gaza is reportedly to join up with a delegation of the movement from Syria that is expected to arrive later in the day for talks with Egyptian mediators.
Before leaving for Cairo, Zahar said 'The delegation will discuss the calm issue according to the deal which stipulated a lull and a full lifting of the siege and opening the crossing points into Gaza.'
The delegation will also discuss the issue of Israeli captive soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held by Palestinian militants for two years. Hamas demands to swap him for a number of Palestinian prisoners.
This article starring:
ABU HASHEM
Hamas
Gilad Shalit
MAHMUOD ZAHAR
Hamas
SAID SIAM
Hamas
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2008 00:00 ||
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Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak says Israel will not tolerate violations of a two-year-old cease-fire by the Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas.
This comes just a day after Israel and Hezbollah signed an agreement to exchange prisoners. Barak made the charge in a phone call to the French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, according to a statement late Tuesday from Barak's office. Israel Army Radio reports that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is summoning his Security Cabinet Wednesday to discuss Hezbollah violations.
The statement quoted Barak as saying, ' Israel cannot accept the continuing and increasing erosion' of the truce. It lists arms supplies from Syria and demands that the U.N. force take action to stop it.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
That's what he says but in point of fact he has been tolerating it. Turn off the water and power and I will believe him.
#3
water and power? Hezb is Lebanon, not Gaza....But doing so to Hamas in Gaza is alright with me. I'm OK with shutting off the water and power to Hezb South Leb as well, but the consequences are more risky
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/09/2008 19:57 Comments ||
Top||
The United States said Tuesday that a Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand was 'very worrisome' but did not anticipate any role in helping to resolve the turmoil. More than 3,300 people have been killed since separatist unrest broke out in January 2004, and militants' tactics have turned increasingly gruesome, with a U.S. rights group reporting that beheadings, live burnings and torture have become a common feature.
'The insurgency in southern Thailand is very worrisome, I know it is very worrisome to the Thai authorities,' Scot Marciel, the U.S. envoy to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), told a forum of the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
He said the new government of Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was formulating a strategy to contain the insurgency. 'It's gotten better but it hasn't got dramatically better. So it remains, I think, a very serious problem -- one I know the Thai government takes very seriously,' Marciel said.
Marciel said the problem could not be resolved purely by military means, noting that the previous government used security and law enforcement to contain the crisis combined with efforts to win the 'hearts and minds' of the people. But the United States was not likely to get involved.
'We do not anticipate a U.S. role. I don't think that would be productive, I don't think the Thais think it would be productive,' he said. 'If there is something useful we could do and are asked, we would certainly consider. At this point, we are just watching it.'
'Insurgent groups continue to unleash brutality on civilians to demonstrate their power and weaken the credibility of Thai authorities,' Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement on Tuesday.
On July 4, insurgents beheaded Khan Sangthong, a 55-year-old Buddhist, in nearby Yala province. He was shot, burned and had nails hammered through his hands before being decapitated. His severed head was placed on a bridge yards from his body.
Human Rights Watch said more than 20 Buddhist Thais have been beheaded by insurgents across the southern border provinces in the last four years.
Paying ransom to radical Islamic groups such as the Abu Sayyaf, which survives largely due to funds from kidnappings and other acts of banditry, should be declared a crime to cut off a key terrorist lifeline, a police official said Tuesday. The government should also proscribe the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf and similar groups as terrorist organizations under the country's anti-terrorism law to make any financial support to them a criminal act, police Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Mendoza said.
Kidnappings for ransom and extortion, along with funds from foreign terrorist allies have allowed the Abu Sayyaf to survive and finance deadly bomb attacks and other atrocities for years. Between 1992 and last year, Abu Sayyaf collected an estimated US$31 million (1.4 billion pesos) from ransom payments and an unspecified amount from extortion, said Mendoza, a prominent officer who has made extensive studies on al-Qaida-linked militants in the Philippines. 'Ransom payment must be criminalized and penalized to deter similar actions in the future,' Mendoza told a Manila conference on countering terror financing. He said negotiations should be the main mode of seeking the release of hostages.
The Philippines passed an anti-terrorism law only last year that enables the government to create a blacklist of terrorist organizations. The government opposes ransom payment in kidnapping cases but no specific law exists criminalizing it.
Abu Sayyaf militants have also raised funds by collecting small amounts of cash from rural communities and Filipino Muslim workers in the Middle East, misrepresenting the money as 'zakat' -- obligatory contributions given by Muslims for the poor and the propagation of Islam, according to Mendoza, who is based in Manila.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad again took aim at the West on Tuesday, blaming the US and Europe for "artificially" raising oil prices and dismissing as "a funny joke" fears that his country could come under attack.
But, on a visit to Malaysia, told a news conference Tuesday that the US and Israel were "focusing on propaganda and psychological warfare."
"Before, it would be considered as a serious issue," he said, speaking through an interpreter.
But Iranians are so used to the threats that they now treat it as a "very funny show. ... These type of wars are considered as a funny joke."
He added, "I assure you that there won't be any war in the future."
The latest developments were in line with the mix of conciliatory and bellicose statements by Iranian officials in recent weeks about the possibility of a clash with the US and Israel, which has been held partly responsible for driving up world oil prices and bringing down the dollar's value.
Continuing his rail against the West, Ahmadinejad blamed the US and Europe for record-high oil prices. He said the global production of oil is much more than consumption, suggesting that politics rather than economics were behind today's record-high prices of more than $140 a barrel.
Ahmadinejad said the high oil prices are the result of a weak dollar and a deliberate decision by the United States and some European countries to profit from high fuel taxes. In some European countries, 70 percent of the fuel cost goes to governments as tax, he said.
"So it is very clear and obvious that the market does not have a role in raising prices. There are some others that are determining the oil price for the benefit of the few, very rich people of the world," said Ahmadinejad, whose country is the second biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
In his typical combative fashion, the Iranian leader criticized arch foe, the United States, in every answer. He blamed Washington for the world economic crisis and maintaining a nuclear weapons stockpile while opposing Teheran's nuclear program.
Teheran insists its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes, such as energy production. But Washington believes it is for making nuclear weapons.
Ahmadinejad also questioned the United States' permanent membership in the UN Security Council, its role in Iraq, and held it responsible for illegal drug production in Afghanistan.
NORFOLK, Va. - In an unprecedented move, the Navy recently tested the communications network supporting its Aegis ballistic missile defense system across the Middle East. The test comes as top military commanders are expressing a hardened stance against Iran's intransigence.
The upgraded Aegis systems aboard Navy destroyers and cruisers can track ballistic missiles and intercept them with ship-launched SM-3 missiles.
Tensions have flared recently over Iran's intent to attain nuclear arms and its persistent threats to destroy Israel, which has indicated it could defend itself with a pre-emptive strike.
The intensified sparring -- with the consequences of an additional Middle East war in mind -- has prompted U.S. military commanders to speak up.
On July 2, Vice Adm. Kevin Cosgriff, the 5th Fleet commander based in Bahrain, told a conference of naval leaders in the Persian Gulf that maritime security in the area remains an "essential condition" to global stability.
While not speaking specifically about the BMD exercise, he said naval operations in the area reflect the high stakes involved.
"Conducting these operations in and around the Arabian Gulf sends a signal of security within the region that is commensurate with the area's global importance," he said.
The BMD exercise, which took place from June 28 through July 2, involved the destroyer Benfold operating in the Persian Gulf and the destroyer Russell operating in the eastern Mediterranean.
Again, 2008-2012 = LOW PROFILE PREFERRED FOR NUCLEARIZING IRAN. Risk will mainly be any Iranian failure to keep Iran-Controlled/suppor Militant-Terr Groups in line and NOT doing anything stupid to justify a US andor Israeli attack agz Iran + its Nucfacs.
IOW, ITS UP TO ISRAEL TO DECIDE vv INTEL IFF IRAN CAN BE TRUSTED AS FOR "NUCLEAR ENERGY" ONLY, OR IN ALTERN IFF CURRENT AND FUTURE MISSLE DEFENSE TECHS WARRANTS NOT PREEMPTIVELY ATTACKING IRAN AT ALL.
As a reminder, NET > NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION espec ala THIRD WORLD-DEV NATIONS = Besides BMD-GMD,also strongly induces the latter Nations to adopt PREEMPTIVE MILPOL + WARFIGHTING STRATEGIES AND METHODISMS.
#2
Let's not underestimate field missile potential. Israel and the US deployments in the UAE and Iraq are vulnerable. Fortunately the Ayatollahs have burnt all proportionate retaliation bridges. Anything goes. Then again, I supported predictions of a crippling US attack on Iran, last Winter. That rings hollow.
#3
I think the likelyest scenario is Iraqi retaliation for infiltrating weapons etc. or Iranian action against one of the Gulf states, triggering a US response.
#4
our operations in the area are vunerable....alot depends on accuracy, suprise and can iran sustain a bombardment? i would say no...with the surviving forces (and this would be the majority) the iraian guards,navy and airforce (if you can call it one) will take a pounding...a much more target rich environment than iraq..bloodier on us but we've needed to do this for 30 years and sadly we are just about out of time...to reduce the cost to us we should premptively use nukes..screw what the world thinks they can give a rats ass about us...and then leave the place alone..let'em rebuild with the shithole UN
Posted by: dan ||
07/09/2008 22:14 Comments ||
Top||
Iran warned on Tuesday it would 'set fire' to Israel and US forces in response to any attack over its nuclear drive, as the world's leading industrial powers told Tehran to freeze uranium enrichment.
Leaders of the Group of Eight nations at a summit in Japan urged Iran to fully comply with UN Security Council resolutions 'in particular to suspend all enrichment-related activities.'
They also urged Tehran to respond positively to a new package by six major powers aimed at bringing an end to the five-year-old nuclear standoff which has led to a string of sanctions against Iran.
The United States and its top regional ally Israel have never ruled out military action against Iran over its nuclear drive, which the West fears could be aimed at building an atomic bomb.
There has been concern a strike could be imminent after it emerged Israel had carried out manoeuvres in Greece that were effectively practice runs for a potential strike against Iranian nuclear facilities. 'The first US shot on Iran would set the United States' vital interests in the world on fire,' said Ali Shirazi, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative to the naval forces of the elite Revolutionary Guards. 'Tel Aviv and the US fleet in the Persian Gulf would be the targets that would be set on fire in Iran's crushing response,' he said, according to the Fars news agency.
Washington shrugged off the threat. 'Comments like that are not out of the norm and not unusual,' State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said, adding: 'We continue to stress our desire to resolve this issue diplomatically... continue with the process.'
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
God says you are wrong, Iran, The world says you are wrong Iran. Sound judgment is paramount to the rule of an important country such as Iran. Check your sober history.
#3
Let me get this straight - the US Fleet in the Persian Gulf would be "set on fire"? With what? A coupla' hundred speedboats and another few hundred missiles?
Pssst! I got a clue for you mullahs - ships move. Your ballistic missiles can't hit a moving target. If you try to use those Chinese Silkworms you have in your stockpile or those Russian supercavitating torpedoes you might get in a few licks before the launch teams are wiped off the face of the earth along with everthing else inland for 500 miles along your entire coastline.
Look, you want to play with the big kids? Act like one. The big kids say you're acting like a spoiled brat looking for a fight. The biggest kid on the block can and will squash you like a bug if you don't prove you can act civilized (not that I think you can - your idea of civilization stems from the 7th Century AD when all you knew was you and everyone else was a serf or slave).
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) - A prominent European MP said on Tuesday the situation in Afghanistan was out of control and security efforts could not continue at the current half-hearted rate.
About 2,000 Islamist women gathered at the radical Red Mosque in the Pakistani capital on Wednesday and vowed to raise their children for holy war, days after a suicide bomber killed 18 people after a similar rally.
Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Sherry Rehman is currently a prime target for terrorists and the Interior Ministry has advised her to restrict her public movements in light of the threat to her life. According to a Dawn News report, official sources have said that the Interior Ministry has informed the Information Ministry that she is on the hit list of a would-be suicide bomber. A senior Information Ministry official also confirmed the report on condition of anonymity, saying that Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik had himself conveyed knowledge of the threat to Sherry Rehman to ensure her safety. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has placed all four provinces under a state of "high alert" following a suicide bombing in Islamabad over the weekend after a rally marking the first anniversary of the government's raid on the Lal Masjid, and a series of seven blasts in Karachi on Monday.
LI chief 
The U.S. military has tried the same strategy before in Sadr City after cease-fires but with limited results. This time U.S. officials are more confident that they can do a better job of managing the effort and maintaining the flow of money. They also believe that support for the militia has dropped sharply because residents are tired of bloodshed.
(VOI) - Iraq's Central Criminal Court on Tuesday decided to postpone its session on the trial regarding the execution of 40 merchants in 1992 to July 16 after hearing the plaintiffs' statements and the presentation of a corroborating documentary.
(Xinhua) -- A Hamas delegation from the Palestinian territory of Gaza Strip arrived in Egypt on Tuesday for talks with Egyptian mediators on the reopening of the Rafah crossing and a prisoner swap deal with Israel. 
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak says Israel will not tolerate violations of a two-year-old cease-fire by the Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas.
The United States said Tuesday that a Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand was 'very worrisome' but did not anticipate any role in helping to resolve the turmoil. More than 3,300 people have been killed since separatist unrest broke out in January 2004, and militants' tactics have turned increasingly gruesome, with a U.S. rights group reporting that beheadings, live burnings and torture have become a common feature.
Paying ransom to radical Islamic groups such as the Abu Sayyaf, which survives largely due to funds from kidnappings and other acts of banditry, should be declared a crime to cut off a key terrorist lifeline, a police official said Tuesday. The government should also proscribe the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf and similar groups as terrorist organizations under the country's anti-terrorism law to make any financial support to them a criminal act, police Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Mendoza said.
