Just in case anybody forgot why the little prick is down there.
A retired U.S. soldier who was ambushed by armed fighters holed up in the mud compound where Omar Khadr was captured said on Tuesday the Canadian deserves to be at Guantanamo Bay. Sergeant Layne Morris said he had not seen the dramatic interrogation video released by Mr. Khadr's lawyers, in which the young detainee cries for help, but he brushed off the footage as a public relations exercise.
Sgt. Morris said the defence lawyers' strategy seemed to be to win sympathy for their client, and that he found it "troublesome" the public had to be constantly reminded of what Mr. Khadr is alleged to have done six years ago. "My lasting image of Omar is of him crouched in the rubble waiting for U.S. troops to get close enough so he could take one of them out, and he did that successfully and that is the underlying reason why we're all here in the first place," Sgt. Morris said. "Omar is not a kid that was just snatched up off the street somewhere and has been wrongly charged and judged unfairly. I think he is precisely where he needs to be. He's earned that stay."
Sgt. Morris was serving with a Special Forces unit in eastern Afghanistan when his patrol came under fire on July 27, 2002. Pro-Taliban fighters shot dead two Afghan Militia Force troops and then opened fire on the Americans. When the gun battle ended 4Å“ hours later, Sergeant Christopher Speer was dead and Sgt. Morris had shrapnel wounds that would cost him his eye. The Americans shot Mr. Khadr, then 15, as they entered the compound and brought him to Bagram air base. He is now being held at the controversial U.S. military camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
He has been charged with throwing the hand grenade that killed Sgt. Speer, although evidence has since surfaced suggesting that another fighter may have been responsible. Really? What evidence is that? His lawyer's say so?
Sgt. Morris says Mr. Khadr must have thrown the grenade because he was the only one left alive in the compound.
On Tuesday, Mr. Khadr's lawyers released seven hours of video footage that showed him being questioned by officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Canadian Security Intelligence Service. The lawyers said it was "beyond comprehension" that the Prime Minister had not yet returned Mr. Khadr to Canada. Research his family tree. It's very interesting.
"I haven't had a chance to look at it," Sgt. Morris, who lives in Utah, said of the video, "but I guess my thoughts are that if I'm ever in trouble, that's a bunch of defence attorneys that I'd like. They don't seem to be doing a whole lot of lawyering work. It's mostly PR work. And so it's kind of troublesome that the other side of the story has to be continually told in the media just to counter what the lawyers are trying to do in public."
Sgt. Morris and the widow of Sgt. Speer, Tabitha Speer, won a $100-million lawsuit against Mr. Khadr's father, Ahmed Khadr, a suspected al-Qaeda financier killed by Pakistani troops in 2003. Their lawyer, Don Winder, said on Tuesday he had been in touch with the Canadian government about collecting from the family. That's a lotta Canadian welfare checks.
Mama Khadr is at it again – demanding her and her family’s “rights” as “Canadians.” The quotation marks in the above paragraph are used advisedly. The fact that we allow this woman and her odious family to continue to masquerade as citizens of this country is living demonstration of just how gutless we truly are. That we haven’t yet run this Jihadist welfare queen and the rest of his disgusting family the hell out of this country tells me (and should tell you) pretty much everything one needs to know about why the Islamist advance against the West has yet to be checked or even effectively countered in most of the West.
For those who are late to the party, IÂ’ll briefly review the history of the Khadr family. Papa Khadr was a senior member of al-Qaeda who took his family to Afghanistan where they hung out with Osama Bin Laden. During the 1990Â’s, he was arrested for his part in a terrorist attack in Afghanistan, but he was kindly sprung from jail through the intervention of Jean Chretien.
Mommy and Daddy al-Qaeda raised their children to be good little martyrs. The eldest daughter’s wedding was attended by Bin Laden – and she’s reportedly under investigation by the RCMP. Two of the sons – Abdul and Omar – ended in Guantanamo Bay after being captured while fighting on behalf of the terrorists. Abdul flipped and managed to get out of Gitmo by working for the CIA. Omar, who killed an American in combat, is about to be tried for murder. Another son is in jail in Canada, awaiting extradition to the United States.
Eventually, Daddy Khadr was killed while fighting alongside al-Qaeda forces. In the same battle Abdulkareem, the youngest son, was seriously wounded. It was at this point – with her son in need of extensive (and expensive!) medical care that Mommy Khadr discovered her secret affection for Tim Horton’s and the National Hockey League and began to first demand her and her children’s “rights” as “Canadians.”
So, to summarize: the elder Khadr came to Canada in the mid-1970’s and then returned to the Islamic world in the early 1980’s – thereafter returning to Canada only sporadically (most notably for a year of free health treatment when he was wounded by a land mine). Since then he – and his progeny – have devoted themselves to waging war against the West. But, somehow, we are supposed to simply accept that these people – citizens of convenience who have waged war against our nation and civilization – are legitimate “Canadians” and to grin and bear it while they, being natural parasites with no respect for our nation, suck tax dollars out of our system to pay for the surely expensive medical treatment for someone wounded while standing alongside our enemies.
Not only this – after all, this outrage has been allowed to pass practically unnoticed – but now we are supposed to have sympathy for (as the media and the left obviously does) an al-Qaeda solider who, while fighting as an unlawful combatant, treacherously wounded one Allied solider and killed another. Indeed, we are not only supposed to have sympathy – we are actually supposed to devote time and resources (read: my and your money) into freeing him from a fate which is far less than what he has earned.
Afghanistan's secret service, the Riyast-e-Amniyat-i-Milli, provided precision intelligence on the jihadist cell which executed last week's bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul, highly placed government sources have told The Hindu.
RAM notified its Indian counterparts that an attack on the embassy in Kabul was imminent as early as June 23. Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence Directorate, it said, had instructed Afghanistan-based jihadists to execute an attack on the Indian mission. Based on the available intelligence, RAM said that it expected the terrorist cell to execute a fidayeen (suicide squad) attack, which would use explosives to breach defences at the front gate of the Indian embassy.
RAM's head of diplomatic security, the sources said, spent three nights camped at the Embassy, working with his Indian counterparts to make sure effective counter-measures were put in place.
As a result of the RAM warning, a new machine-gun post was set up above a shopping complex next to the Embassy to engage terrorists who managed to breach the gates. Police patrols around the perimeter were beefed up. Hesco barriers -- sandbag-like blocks made up of collapsible wire mesh and heavy duty fabric liner which are widely used in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation military bases -- were fitted to make perimeter walls blast-resistant.
India's Research and Analysis Wing corroborated the Afghan warning three days after RAM's report. Based on communications intelligence and informants' reports, RAW said the attack would most likely be carried out using a Toyota suburban utility vehicle.
Less than a week before the bombing, United States military intelligence personnel monitoring terrorist communications in Afghanistan obtained new information on the attack. Plans to execute a fidayeen strike, they learned, had been dropped. Instead, a car-bomb was being prepared. Government sources said this last warning was accurate down to the last detail, even asserting that the vehicle would have Kabul licence plates.
Investigators now believe an estimated 100 kg of military-grade plastic explosive was welded into the underside of the SUV, bearing licence plate number KBL 11827 SH -- enough to gouge a 2.5 metre diameter, 1 metre crater on the concrete-asphalt road and fling the vehicle's engine block, number 2L3240928, almost a 100 metres away.
Had Hesco barriers not been installed around the Embassy, Indian security experts, who spoke to The Hindu,said the blast would have claimed the lives of at least two dozen personnel who were then working inside the building.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Three cheers for honest spooks!
Here's hoping that India might return the favor and send a brigade or two to help the Afghans with their problem, at the same time getting in some high quality training--a bargain at the price.
#3
Given the level of cooperation, it almost goes without saying that India's Intell Service has a number of operatives working with the Afghan government.
I guess you would say that they have a common enemy...the ISS. The Paks are playing a dangerous game. India is galloping ahead as a technology giant and has a far more robust economy. India has the resources and the animosity to conduct military operations in the trans Afghan border region.
The fact that those idiots in Al Qaeda are trying to set up shop in India makes Indian involvement in Afghanistan all the more plausible and probable.
It seems that when a nation that gets in bed with Bin Laden and his cronies, the social order and effectiveness of the central government crumbles.
I predict that Pakistan will disintegrate into a series of tribal fiefdoms ruled by warlords much like Somolia if they do not get a grip on it and do something to preserve their sovereignty.
Posted by: James Carville ||
07/17/2008 10:36 Comments ||
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Sudan's president, accused of masterminding genocide in Darfur, might escape war crimes charges if he brings to justice two men suspected of mass killings, Western envoys said on Wednesday.
The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, asked the ICC on Monday to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on suspicion of crimes against humanity.
Moreno-Ocampo accused Bashir of a campaign of genocide that killed 35,000 people outright, at least another 100,000 through a "slow death" and forced 2.5 million to flee their homes in Sudan's western Darfur region.
Sudan, China and South Africa have expressed concern that a formal indictment of Bashir could damage the stalled peace process aimed at ending the 5-year-old conflict in Darfur.
"The search for justice should not jeopardize the other priorities in Sudan," South Africa's U.N. Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo told reporters ahead of a Security Council meeting.
U.N. peacekeeping officials and national diplomats say privately they fear an arrest warrant against Bashir could provoke a wave of violence against the joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force (UNAMID) or even prompt Khartoum to order all international peacekeepers in Sudan out of the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm sure Bashir has a bus of his own to throw people under. Prolly a whole fleet of them.
Colombia misused the symbol of the Red Cross in this month's military rescue of politician Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other rebel-held hostages, it said on Wednesday, admitting a possible violation of the rules of war. "We regret that this occurred," President Alvaro Uribe said in a speech following reports that the Red Cross emblem was displayed on a jersey or T-shirt worn by a Colombian intelligence officer who took part in the rescue mission.
Falsely portraying military personnel as Red Cross members is against the Geneva Conventions as it could put humanitarian workers at risk when they are in war zones.
Uribe has drawn widespread praise for the July 2 rescue of French-Colombian citizen Betancourt, three U.S. defense contractors and 11 other kidnap victims held for years by Marxist guerrillas.
Rebel leaders were duped into handing over their most prized hostages in the operation, which highlighted the success of Uribe's U.S.-backed offensive against the guerrillas. But the use of the Red Cross symbol takes some of the shine off the mission. "Parties to the conflict must respect the Red Cross emblem at all times and under all circumstances," said Yves Heller, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Colombia. "We will continue working in the field in Colombia."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Deception is part of the game. Let's ask the former hostages if they give a crap. And since when did FARC or any other "insurgent group" give a fat rat's ass about the "rules of war." This one needs the BS meter. Rooters is really stretching to find the cloud hiding behind all that shiny silvery lining.
The real story here is that the ICRCT's collusion with the rebels has been exposed, since the rebels thought they were just helping with a "transfer." So the ICRCT and their MSM friends are madly throwing mud in the water...
#2
Hundreds of humanitarian workers who risk their lives to help people in countries like this have now been put even further in jeopardy because of the government of COlombia's actions. ICRC and other agencies work in these areas unarmed and rely on negotiation and neutrality to get through these areas alive. I'm sure the hostages who were rescued wouldn't want millions of people worldwide who depend on humanitarian worker's help to starve and die of disease.
#4
Woozle,
What should be most bothersome is that FARC believed the Red Cross would help them with an internal hostage transfer - why would they believe such a story unless there was some 'history' with the Red Cross abetting their criminal endeavors in the past? Does the Red Cross routinely help terrorists conduct their business? Perhaps so, in return for the terrorists allowing the Red Cross to provide medical and humanitarian help to hostages? While that would be understandable (if true), it would still be unacceptable to me.
Posted by: Menhaden S ||
07/17/2008 8:43 Comments ||
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#5
At least people are fine with the Che t-shirts...
#6
Is this the ICRC which loans ambulances to Hamas and Hezbollah so they can move their arms and ammunition around without being fired upon? That neutral ICRC?
The fact that the terrorists simply handed over their hostages to someone who they thought was a member of the Red Cross Thingy would bring their neutrality into question.
How often has the ICRC facilitated the movement of hostages in the past?
#8
Woozle: The ICRC may have outlived its usefulness as a neutral organization. Its red cross logo makes it a target in Muslim countries, replaced by the far less responsible Red Crescent sister organization, and its leaders have been co-opted by internationalists.
And the internationalist agenda is inimical to the founding principles of the ICRC.
#9
Hundreds of humanitarian workers who risk their lives to help people in countries like this have now been put even further in jeopardy because of the government of COlombia's actions. ICRC and other agencies work in these areas unarmed and rely on negotiation and neutrality to get through these areas alive. I'm sure the hostages who were rescued wouldn't want millions of people worldwide who depend on humanitarian worker's help to starve and die of disease.
Ah yes, I guess the Burmese government is gonna start shooting aid workers now because they'll think they're really the Columbian government.
#10
The international community does nothing to stop the use of humanitarian vehicles & uniformed personnel in the Palestinian areas for weapons transport & armed personnel transport.
The bar was reset long ago. Columbia was not the first.
#11
What sort of links with terrorists do the people who are bitching about this, have? None? Oh, do I see your nose getting longer. This is circumstancial evidence that Red Cross people may have aided and abetted FARC in the past. If they have, then why should we trust Red Cross workers.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
07/17/2008 10:20 Comments ||
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#12
But the use of the Red Cross symbol takes some of the shine off the mission.
Really? Geez, I guess if FARC didn't just take it for granted that the Red Cross was there to help them out, maybe it wouldn't have worked?
Look for the Red Cross to let this one disappear off the radar screen right quick...
#13
Ponder this: Did the RED CROSS misuse the RED CROSS emblem when they "inspected" Thereisenstadt Concentration Camp in '44 and gave it a clean bill of health?
#14
Ask John McCain if the ICRC mis-used their symbol when they found he and his buddies were well fed, well taken care of and being treated humanely while residents of the Hanoi Hilton.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/17/2008 16:29 Comments ||
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#15
The ICRC and the UN are two international organizations that should be disbanded immediately, as whatever small amount of good they do is vastly overshadowed by the help they give the forces of evil.
#16
Red cross symbol misused? Give me a break. I guess I'll go do something more important than reading tripe. I'm going to add to my beer bottle collection. After that I will count them all again. After that I'll trim my toenails. All the while I will be thankful the Columbians pulled off a great rescue mission. I am glad our three guys are back. The liberal media who are trying to make something out of nothing can go screw themselves. Media whore$ communists ba$tards.
Canada said on Wednesday it would not press for the return of a young Canadian inmate held at Guantanamo Bay despite the release of video footage that showed him weeping and calling for his mother.
The film prompted mounting calls from politicians and commentators for Ottawa to intercede with Washington on behalf of 21-year-old Omar Khadr, who is charged with killing a U.S. medic in Afghanistan in July 2002 at the age of 15.
Secret video of his interrogation by Canadian agents over four days in February 2003 shows him moaning in despair and crying out for his mother.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper says Khadr faces serious charges and should go on trial. "Our position has not changed and it's not going to. We're not going to blow in the wind on something as fundamental as this," Harper's chief spokesman Kory Teneycke told Reuters.
Extracts from the secret video show Khadr -- then 16 -- being grilled by officials from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service spy agency. The film was released by Khadr's lawyers, who are pushing Ottawa to intervene with Washington on his behalf. "Making a change at the 11th hour because his legal team is pursuing an aggressive media strategy is not in the interests of due process ... We're about doing what the right thing is," said Teneycke.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Khadr hid behind a wall, and tossed a grenade after US troops believed the area was secure. The murder victim was a Field Medic; while front line, they are not first entry units. Khadr had every opportunity to surrender; if he had done so, then he would be free, like his older brother who was himself once a jihadi (cum Defense Intelligence operative in Europe and elsewhere).
I have no doubt that the terrorist feels sorry for himself. Tough. He should have been hanged in 2001.
#2
The little bastard should have been shot in the field as an illegal combatant. All in accordance with the Geneva Convention.
I wonder if the medic had a chance to cry out for his mother?
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
07/17/2008 2:28 Comments ||
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#3
Glad to see the Canucks doing the right thing here.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/17/2008 6:29 Comments ||
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#4
He should have been interrogated then hung from a street lamp as a warning.
#5
Killing medics is bad form, bad form indeed.
Enjoy your stay you little cockroach.
Some day I hope they give you a trial and lengthy prison sentence, then deport your ass to Canada to be tried and sentenced again.
#6
Just got done reading Andy McCarthy's "Willful Blindness" about the Blind Sheikh and the 1993 WTC bombing as well as all the other ongoing "jihad" back then. Khadr is only using a ruse out of the AQ and Jihadi playbook that was captured on Salem's little tape recorder (he was the Egyptian mole they were using). They know more about our constitutional protections and US jurisprudence, than even Obama, who is supposedly a constitutional law instructor but doesn't even understand habeas corpus. In fact, they will do and say anything that makes them the victim and us the bad guys.... just like any good lawyer would do:)
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/17/2008 16:42 Comments ||
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Democratic and Republican congressional aides say there is turmoil within the the House Homeland Security Committee's majority staff and that oversight work is being eclipsed by a focus on promoting contracting opportunities for small and minority-owned businesses.
Sources who spoke only if they could remain anonymous said they are particularly concerned that the committee's new staff director, I. Lanier Avant, does not have the qualifications to lead the committee and faces a conflict of interest because he continues to serve as chief of staff in the congressional office of House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.
They expressed concern that Avant must balance his duties on Thompson's personal staff, which includes attention to politics and fundraising, and managing the heavy responsibilities of running the committee, which he began doing last month.
Avant does not have a security clearance. Sources said that raises questions about his ability to make decisions on issues involving classified information.
Speaking candidly with CongressDaily, Avant said he does "the bulk of [Thompson's] political work." But the 30-year-old aide said he knows the line between his jobs.
Wonderful. Just fricking wonderful. The Dems put a 30 yr old neophyte in charge of a key homeland security committee's work.
It is not a violation of House rules for one aide to serve as chief of staff and committee staff director for a lawmaker. The majority staff director of the House Small Business Committee, for example, heads Small Business Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez's personal office.
But sources said the arrangement with Avant has made Thompson's agenda of reaching out and helping small, minority-owned and disadvantaged businesses secure homeland security contracts the overriding focus of the committee staff. Not enough attention has been paid to broader national security matters, the sources said.
Thompson created an electronic newsletter, Business Opportunities at DHS, which includes an e-mail address -- DHSBizOps@mail.house.gov -- that small and disadvantaged businesses can use to tell the committee if they feel they are being treated unfairly by the department. "Their Web site is selling themselves as people who give out contracts at DHS," one source said. "This is all misusing resources as far as I'm concerned."
The Democratic staff has been holding a series of nonpublic morning meetings in the committee's office with top executives from several companies. The staff also has organized public technology fairs and held its first so-called diversity roundtable last month.
I've worked in small/disadvantaged businesses. They have their place, which nearly all the time is NOT at the center of cutting edge technology.
RTWT if your blood pressure's pretty good beforehand.
#1
I think that much of Homeland Security is going to dissolve with the departure of President Bush, in that for all practical purposes it is redundant, ineffectual and annoying. Its very name has always grated, and its job performance, as such, was not good.
What little it has to show in success is due to the integration of preexisting agencies merged with it. Most likely it will become just an administrative headquarters, an extra tier bureaucracy over the other bureaucracies.
Or, as these things are sometimes called, "a dead raccoon under the porch."
Once you establish a another bureaucracy or agency in DC, you play hell getting rid of it. Look at the Dept. of Education. Reagan even ran for President on getting rid of it as one of his first acts. Same with HUD and HHS. They only get stronger. The chairman of the oversight committee and the appropriations committee that Homeland Security comes under will never give up that power. And don't be surprised that I. Lanier Avant gets a security clearance even if his brother is an AQ associate or his girlfriend is Hizbollah.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/17/2008 16:48 Comments ||
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Bush administration initiatives to defend the nation against a smuggled nuclear bomb or a biological outbreak or attack remain poorly coordinated, costing billions of tax dollars while basic goals and policies remain incomplete, according to new reports by congressional investigators
#1
See the adjacent article about the leadership of the House Homeland Security Committee for a possible explanation for poor policy guidance from our Congress.
Tension gripped a small town in Pakistan, after rumours that a Hindu child had burnt a copy of the Muslim holy book, the Koran. The incident took place in a remote mountainous area between Hyderabad and Karachi. Following the incident, people reportedly gathered in the town of Thano Ahmed Khan to pressure police to take action against the child.
Later it was revealed that the child, who works in a grocery store, had mistakenly given a buyer some goods wrapped in a page from a textbook which had a Koranic verse on it.
According to reports, the child was taken to a guesthouse, stripped and beaten up. Another report, denied by police, said that the boy was paraded naked in the area. The boy's father, Maharaj Jaman Das, who holds an important religious position in the community, offered an unconditional apology to the protesters and said his son did not know what was written on the paper.
Police tried to verify the incident but no one in Thano Ahmed Khan could produce the paper which contained the Koranic verse.
And never will, either ...
Police in Thano Bula Khan told the Pakistani daily, Dawn, that no charges had been laid as no one had given any evidence that an act of blasphemy had occurred.
#1
Saudi authorities routinely confiscate Korans from pilgrims that they find objectionable (added artwork, publisher etc). They are dumped into bins at the airports in Mecca and Medina. Prseumably they are burnt.
The Saudis also destroy historic mosques to make way for parking garages. They destroyed the graves of Mohammed's family and companions.
There is not a peep about this from the folk who are quick to allege blasphemy at Guantanamo Bay
Posted by: john frum ||
07/17/2008 11:44 Comments ||
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#2
My koran soaks up oil under the car in the garage. They'd be pissed.
#4
john frum: The Wahabbis strongly believe that no historical artifacts or icons should be preserved at all, especially relating to Mohammed. They oppose art in any form, generally, and especially decor in mosques.
When they take over a mosque, the first thing they do is destroy any art or decor, then paint the bare walls white.
#6
When they take over a mosque, the first thing they do is destroy any art or decor, then paint the bare walls white.
How ironic that they are the first to lament the "tragedy of Andalusia"
Posted by: john frum ||
07/17/2008 14:09 Comments ||
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#7
When they take over a mosque, the first thing they do is destroy any art or decor, then paint the bare walls white.
They also do that in kosovo, with relative success, and did that in bosnia too. Apparently the locals don't/didn't like this at all, this goes against their own traditions, but, well, the wahabis have lots of money, and make inroads with the youths.
Anyway, the wahabi are iconoclasts, cf. the buddhas destruction, or the vandalizing of kabul museum... and I think the arabs in general (because they hail from a mostly nomadic, desert culture, after having supressed their urbane & more sophisticated culture through islam????) don't care at all about preserving the past, just think of the ennemity between the turks and the saudis about the arabian peninsula turkish-era monuments which were destroyed by the saudis, not just for religious purpose, sometimes just to make way for a new mall... and that whole pre-islamic "age of ignorance" makes destroying the past of islamized/conquered civilizations/cultures mandatory.
Islam is a giant eraser of civilizations, to be replaced by arab imperialism (arab language, arab names, arab customs, arab prophet worship, arab imitation,...).
#9
When Bosnia became independent, the Saudis paid over $30,000,000 to demolish Ottoman era mosques; they rebuilt Wahabi approved structures in their place.
#10
Great. We have a precedence set by the Guardians of Islam, the Saudis, for destroying mosques. Now, what is keeping us from expediting the obvious total destruction of all mosques?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/17/2008 16:51 Comments ||
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#11
Kafirs aren't allowed.
An abandoned mosque at Ayodya in India was destroyed in 1992. That incident still provokes rioting.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/17/2008 17:19 Comments ||
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The killing of 11 Pakistani paramilitary soldiers in American airstrikes last month might have been prevented if the precise location of a border checkpoint had been in an American database used to prevent accidental attacks on friendly forces, the New York Times has quoted American and Pakistani officials as saying. Had the grid co-ordinates of the post on the border with Afghanistan been in the database, red flags would have immediately gone up when allied troops called in airstrikes during a border clash with insurgents, American officials briefed on an investigation into the strikes told the newspaper on Tuesday. Separately, APP quoted the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) spokesman on Wednesday as terming the report factually incorrect. The spokesman said, "The grid co-ordinates of all the posts on the Pakistani side of the border had been shared with the coalition forces at least thrice since 2003."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
This is all assuming it was a "mistake" or "accident" which it may have been or may not have been. But what is rich is that the ineffectual, totally corrupt Pakistani Army is so precise that its maps are inviolate and always up to date.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/17/2008 16:54 Comments ||
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#2
if they tell us where the Pak troops are located, all others become fair game, and teh ISI can't abide that. Nice jab at the Paks because they either tell us where their troops are and STFU when we hit cross-border attackers, or admit they own/run the Taliban, then we can hit any and everybody
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/17/2008 19:43 Comments ||
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#3
Woah, bummer dudes. We prolly forget to put new batteries in the database. Our bad. We thought y'all were a bunch of flea-ridden Talibunnies. Oops!
A peace jirga from Hangu failed to convince the provincial government to end the ongoing military operation against suspected militants in the district, sources said on Wednesday. The jirga, led by MNA Haider Ali Shah, met Awami National Party (ANP) NWFP President Afrasiab Khattak, but failed to get the provincial government's approval to end the military operation.
This article starring:
Hangu
Afrasiab Khattak,
MNA Haider Ali Shah
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
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Prime Minister (PM) Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday strongly condemned Afghan President Hamid Karzai's statement that Pakistan is involved in a series of terrorist attacks inside Afghanistan.
Gilani said this in a statement before the start of a cabinet meeting in Lahore, according to a press release issued by the PM's media cell. "Pakistan has time and again declared on all forums that a stable Afghanistan is in the interest of Pakistan and the entire region. Pakistan has provided all-out support for the establishment of a stable government in Afghanistan," he said.
Hampering: "Afghan leaders should not give statements that could hamper the development process in the region," the press release quoted Gilani as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
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Senior Minister and provincial president of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) Rahim Dad Khan asked militants on Wednesday to lay down weapons and surrender as problems could not be solved through use of guns. "Come to the negotiating table as problems could be solved only through dialogues," said the senior minister while talking to the media at hunger-strike camp staged by the All Contract Lecturers Association (ACLA) NWFP in front of the Peshawar Press Club to press the government for acceptance of their demands.
Regarding the Hangu operation, the PPPP senior minister, who holds the portfolio of planning and development in the provincial cabinet, said there was no military operation in Hangu, adding it was a reaction to what the militants did there.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I bet that went over big - with western reporters, that is.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
07/17/2008 10:09 Comments ||
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Rana Shaikh and her team were shooting two hours outside Karachi for the ARY Digital production 'Kaisa yeh Junoon' that she wrote and directed. They had 200 fair-skinned extras against a rugged tribal background in which Baitullah Mehsud's recent advances are being discussed by a group of fighters.
They finished shooting and turned to leave when the extras surrounded them in the car. They banged at her window. 'Give us the tape!' they shouted. "You have been abusing Mehsud!" Rana tried explaining to them that they were repeating what had already been reported.
It is precisely this frightening encounter that 'Kaisa yeh Junoon' seeks to tackle. "[I am] hoping people realise that taking up guns will not solve the problem but will lead to more suffering and heartbreak," said Rana.
Rana asks the question on everyone's lips. "Will this country be fit to live in?" She feels that Pakistani society has completely failed to bring up its children with the sensibilities that should have come post-Partition. A US ambassador once told her a long time ago that he never saw any joy on the faces in the streets in Pakistan. "We never thought we needed a strategy for identity, something that India understood so well by banning foreign items after 1947," said Rana. "It makes a difference to be surrounded by all things Indian. And they built their academies, their movie halls. You could hear Bismillah Khan in a Delhi park for free. But here and now, [our youngsters] can't decide what Pakistani is; we have been swamped by other cultures, particular Indian movie culture."
It was not just in Karachi that the crew encountered manifestations of the very topic of the film. Despite acquiring all the proper paperwork and authorisation, they ran into trouble at the Regent's Park mosque as well. They were shooting a nikkah sequence with one of the mosque's own clerics one day. All the girls were covered properly and Kirron Kher was present. A crowd of angry men burst in and hurled abuse at the crew, saying it was haram to film and a Hindu like Kirron Kher should not be inside such a holy place.
Thus, the making of the teleseries was a challenge. "It was at times depressing," Rana admitted. "I kept saying to my young associates what a dark story it was. And ever since [we started work on it], I have been noticing more and more of [extremism] around us. I am alarmed at the ferocity of people who think they are good Muslims."
Rana's alarm prompted her to begin the project in the first place. Its outline emerged after her 'Umrao Jaan Ada'. Shooting began in March 2007 after 2.5 years of preparation for the four locations, including Cambridge. The project picks up from the Afghan Jihad 25 years ago and links up to present day. "The West has to understand that it needs to respect and support Muslims as well and this should not be too hard for seasoned democracies and open societies such as the UK and US," she said. "They firmly believe in 'live and let live'. The problem of fundamentalism, which can be traced along one trajectory back to the Afghan Jihad, 25 years ago, means that we are arguing from a position of weakness at this point."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
"The West has to understand that it needs to respect and support Muslims as well"
Herein lies the basic problem with the mooks, they want demand respect and support, but refuse to reciprocate that courtesy. They could all succumb to typhus for what I care.
#3
A lot of leftists think Islamic terrorism began with the jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan.
Its true that the Soviet takeover there figuratively lit a match to the tinder of Islamic radicalism in Pakistan. However, what the leftists refuse to acknowledge is the many, many episodes of jihadic terror and the tens (maybe hundreds) of millions of deaths caused by the past 1400 years of jihad.
#4
"we have been swamped by other cultures, particular Indian movie culture"
Pakistan the melting pot, NOT. They have been swamped by one culture -- their own Islamic culture.
#5
You just have to go back to the when Pakistan was made a State to fine out about Muslim violence. Look what happened to the Hindus living there at the time.
Former Pakistan ambassador to Afghanistan Tariq Azizuddin was taken to South Waziristan after a detour of over 100 kilometres into Afghan territory, sources said on Wednesday.
"The ambassador reached South Waziristan through Afghanistan as clashes in the Orakzai tribal region changed the travel plans of his abductors," sources close to Azizuddin's family told Daily Times.
The former envoy was kidnapped from the Khyber Agency on February 11 and was released over three months later on May 17 after the government paid out a "huge ransom", the sources claimed. However, the federal government has said that it rescued the ambassador during a "commando operation" and paid no money.
"He (the ambassador) was treated well, but the initial hours of his abduction were terrible because his abductors took him into Afghanistan to escape the clashes in Orakzai," the sources added. "At the time, Azizuddin was not aware that he was being driven through Afghanistan but was informed of it later."
While the former ambassador spoke briefly to the media at his Islamabad residence hours after his release, he has yet to give a detailed interview about what really happened to him.
Baitullah's role: Baitullah Mehsud, whose base lies in South Waziristan, has denied that he had any direct involvement in Azizuddin's kidnapping but admits "another group" was involved. However, Zulfiqar Mehsud, deputy to Baitullah, told Daily Times on May 23 that his group had "kidnapped the ambassador".
"We did not know whom we had kidnapped in the initial hours. However, when we heard through the media that our prisoner was Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan, we were overjoyed," Zulfiqar said.
According to the sources, Baitullah would meet Azizuddin "once a week" and was always "very apologetic". "Baitullah Mehsud told Azizuddin that he was kidnapped without his (Baitullah's) permission and that people like Azizuddin should not be kidnapped," they said.
The sources say that Azizuddin was treated very well during his captivity. "He (the diplomat) was allowed to walk and used to talk to his family on the phone quite frequently," they added. They also said that Azizuddin was still confused over who had really kidnapped him: "He is not sure how true it is that his 'own people' (countrymen) were behind his kidnapping."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
The Taliban Tanzeem-e-Karwan, a wing of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) headed by Haji Naimatullah, has established Qazi courts at Salarzai tehsil in the Bajaur Agency and started disposing of cases under Shariah law. Spokesman Muhammad Yasir told reporters from an undisclosed location that the Taliban had setup two Qazi courts in Salarzai and were resolving cases that had been pending in courts for months and years within a week.
He said that Tanzeem chief Haji Naimatullah established the courts on the appeals of locals seeking timely solutions to their problems. Yasir said that the Qazi courts were being run by five religious scholars and were announcing verdicts in accordance with Shariah. He said tribesmen were submitting their cases in great numbers since the courts had begun operations.
Area residents told Daily Times that the establishment of the Qazi courts was a good step for the provision of easy justice. They said the establishment of the courts allowed them to gain justice without resorting to influential contacts. They also said that they were satisfied with the method by which the courts were deciding their cases in accordance with Shariah.
This article starring:
Salarzai tehsil in the Bajaur Agency
HAJI NAIMATULLAH
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
MUHAMAD YASIR
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
Spc. Grover Gebhart has spent nine months at a small post on a Sunni-Shiite fault line in western Baghdad. But the 21-year-old soldier on his first tour in Iraq feels he's missing the real war -- in Afghanistan, where his brother is fighting the Taliban.
With violence in Iraq at its lowest level in four years and the war in Afghanistan at a peak, the soldiers serving at patrol station Maverick say Gebhart's view is increasingly common, especially among younger soldiers looking to prove themselves in battle.
"I've heard it a lot since I got here," said 2nd Lt. Karl Kuechenmeister, a 2007 West Point graduate who arrived in Iraq about a week ago.
Soldiers who have experienced combat stress note that it is usually young soldiers on their first tour who most want to get on the battlefield. They say it is hard to communicate the horrors of war to those who haven't actually experienced it.
"These kids are just being young," said Sgt. Christopher Janis, who is only 23 but is on his third tour in Iraq. "They say they want to get into battle until they do, and then they won't want it anymore."
That soldiers are looking elsewhere for a battle is a testament to how much Iraq has changed from a year ago, when violence was at its height. Now it's the lowest in four years, thanks to the U.S. troop surge, the turn by former Sunni insurgents against al-Qaida in Iraq because they finally felt comfortable ratting out the bad guys because the increased US troop presence ensured their security, and Iraqi government crackdowns on Shiite militias because they knew the surge guaranteed that the US would have enough troops to be able to back them up no matter what.
At least 29 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq last month, and there were 19 deaths in May -- the lowest monthly toll for American troops since the war began in March 2003. By comparison, in Afghanistan, 28 Americans died in June and 17 in May, but there are four times as many U.S. troops in Iraq.
American military deaths in Iraq are also down sharply this month, in a trend that could take center stage during Sen. Barack Obama's planned visit to Baghdad and the debate over whether America's main battle is shifting back to Afghanistan. At least eight soldier deaths had been reported for July by the military as of Wednesday -- four in combat, two not connected to fighting and the recovery of remains of two soldiers missing since last year.
The daily average of 0.50 deaths so far is significantly below any month in the war. The lowest for a full month was 0.61 deaths in May, and the next lowest was 0.71 in February 2004.
The relative calm is apparent in Baghdad's Ghazaliyah neighborhood, patrolled by troops stationed at Maverick from the 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division. Instead of facing gunfire and roadside bombs, the soldiers' armored Humvees are chased by waving children as they weave through streets crowded with pedestrians out to shop or just to stroll.
Some of Maverick's troops saw combat a few months ago when they helped the Iraqi army take over the Ghazaliyah office of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in a battle complete with gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades. But their days in Ghazaliyah have mostly been filled with routine patrols. The soldiers' job is to serve as a critical presence that helps keep violence down in the mixed Sunni and Shiite neighborhood. "Ninety-five percent of the time it is perfectly quiet in Ghazaliyah now," said 1st Lt. Shane Smith, who leads one of the three platoons at Maverick.
Quiet can mean boredom, as Gebhart and a colleague turn in another four-hour shift in one of Maverick's guard towers, looking over a landscape of two-story concrete buildings and green fields dotted with a few cows and goats.
To while away the time, the young soldier from Omaha, Neb., talks of his brother, who is fighting the Taliban in the mountains outside Kandahar city in southern Afghanistan. "He spends 20 days at a time camped out in the mountains, and the Taliban come engage them in serious firefights," said Gebhart. "At least it sounds exciting."
That excitement comes with a price, the officers here point out.Militants in Afghanistan killed nine American soldiers Sunday, the worst attack on U.S. forces in the country in three years. More U.S. and NATO troops have been killed in Afghanistan than in Iraq over each of the last two months.
The soldiers at Maverick have faced tragedy during their tour, losing one comrade to a sniper in April and another to a roadside bomb in June. But those deaths have only heightened the frustration of younger soldiers who joined the Army with the classic notion of fighting an enemy.
"These kids who joined the Army since the Iraq war started in 2003 are more fearless than when I joined during the Cold War," said 1st Sgt. John Greis, the senior enlisted soldier at Maverick. "They knew they were going to war."
But with violence down in Iraq, they have little opportunity to prove themselves as warriors to fellow soldiers, some of whom are only a few years older but have already battled al-Qaida in places like Fallujah and Mosul on previous Iraq tours. Saying they want to go where the combat is -- in Afghanistan -- is one way for young soldiers to prove their toughness, colleagues say.
Some may get their wish. There is broad consensus in Washington that some U.S. forces can now leave Iraq and that more are needed in Afghanistan. Both of the main presidential candidates -- Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain -- called this week for more troops to be sent to Afghanistan to battle the Taliban and al-Qaida fighters operating along the border with Pakistan.
After recently returning from Afghanistan, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said more troops are needed for the Afghan conflict. On Wednesday, he said he expected to be able to recommend American troop reductions in Iraq later this year if security continues to improve.
Not all soldiers in Iraq are pining for service in Afghanistan. Greis, a 21-year veteran, isn't eager to seek out battle. "There is nothing cool about seeing your buddy on the ground during his last dying seconds of life," he said. He rolled up his sleeve and pointed to a Latin phrase tattooed on his right shoulder: "Dulce Bellum Inexpertis" -- "War is sweet for the inexperienced." Oh, did I forget to mention that this was an AP article?
#1
Funny how they are finally getting it that the surge worked.
And that last line, War is sweet for the inexperienced. is very true, but wth a twist the AP reporter woudl never get.
After being in one, you dont want to see a war again, yet when it happens you want to get into the mix because you get the feeling in your bones that your country, and your buddies, need you. Especially if the cause is just and vital, as this is. Even if you are too old to do it anymore.
#3
sweet or bitter, you can spend hours on moral and emotional discourses on war.
The bottom line, though, is that Iraq is quiet and Afghan is where the combat is. Whether youre a youth thinking war is sweet who WANTS to go to Afghan, or a grizzled sergeant whos WANTS to stay in Iraq, the takeaway for the homefront is the same, and thats huge.
#4
It is amazing how much mustard is still in the troops after years of low-level action in inhospitable climes.
A great, untold tale is of the crash of military morale after the withdrawl from Vietnam. A decade of blood, sweat and tears that resulted in cleaning the clock of their enemy, not just to be thrown away in an act of cruel treachery, but millions of innocent lives thrown to the wolves to be destroyed.
And even when completely cut off from supplies and support, the ARVN fought on for two years against an enemy now given unlimited support by their Russian backers, before finally being defeated. The 300 Spartans had nothing on the ARVN.
And the US military has never forgotten or forgiven that betrayal by the Democrats.
But now that our ally Iraq can stand on its own, even if betrayed, their sights turn to Afghanistan, which while a more difficult strategic objective to pacify and uplift, is entering their realm of support.
If McCain is elected, and hopefully without too many Democrats in congress, not only will the villains in Afghanistan and Pakistan be smitten, but the US military will do everything in its power to create an Afghan army so strong that their nation shall keep its sovereignty against their foreign and domestic enemies.
And if that succeeds as well, it will be like gall and wormwood to the Democrats, who will have failed again to increase the cruel tyranny in the world.
#8
Well said, 'moose. If we ever have a military coup in this country, there are going to be LOTS of Dems looking at a foot-in-the-ass-across-the-border expulsion from the U.S. That prospect doesn't bother me; I'm sure they'll like Mex better than the USA they've spent their lives ruining.
#9
After being in one, you dont want to see a war again, yet when it happens you want to get into the mix because you get the feeling in your bones that your country, and your buddies, need you. Especially if the cause is just and vital, as this is. Even if you are too old to do it anymore.
Amen, OS. Truer words were never spoken. Once a warrior, always a warrior.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/17/2008 17:58 Comments ||
Top||
AMMAN (AFP) - A teenage Palestinian gunman raked a bus with gunfire in Amman, injuring six people, before turning the gun on himself as police tried to subdue him, officials said on Thursday.
The wounded -- four Lebanese members of an orchestra, a Palestinian woman and the Jordanian bus driver -- were not seriously hurt in Wednesday's late night attack, said government spokesman and Information Minister Nasser Jawdeh.
Jawdeh said the alleged attacker tried to commit suicide, and that he was seriously wounded while police spokesman Mohamad Khatib said he was "clinically dead" after shooting himself in the head.
Witnesses said tourists were arriving to attend an evening of music at the Roman amphitheatre in Amman when an individual began shooting at the bus at around 11:00 pm (2000 GMT).
A security official told AFP that the gunman was an 18-year-old Palestinian from the Bakaa refugee camp, north of Amman, and had no criminal record other than two minor cases of theft. The official named the youth as Thaer Abdul Kader al-Wheidi and said he had no known political ties.
I am Mulay Ahmed Muhamed Raisuli the Magnificent, Thaer Abdul Kader al-Wheidi sherif of the Riffian Berbers. I am the true defender of the faithful and the blood of the prophet runs in me and I am but a servant of his will.
A French diplomat visited the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Wednesday but said France was sticking to international terms for any dialogue with the Islamist group.
Alain Remy, the French consul-general in Jerusalem, said in Gaza that France will not talk to Hamas unless it recognises Israel, renounces violence and accepts existing Israeli-Palestinian interim peace accords.
"This is a very simple position and we will stick to it," Remy said, echoing the policy of the Quartet of Middle East mediators -- the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.
Remy was one of the most senior European representatives to visit the Gaza Strip since Hamas Islamists seized the territory a year ago. Remy attended a reception at the French Cultural Center in Gaza as part of Bastille Day celebrations.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said despite Remy's comments "there were official contacts between Hamas and France". He said Remy's remarks were "for media consumption" only.
Hamas opposes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's peace talks with Israel. Remy said an international force for the Gaza Strip remained an option in a peace settlement but stopped short of saying France would send soldiers into the territory.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
The Prime Minister's Office Counter-Terrorism Bureau issued on Tuesday a heightened terror alert to Israelis traveling to Sinai, saying they had specific intelligence regarding militant groups' intent to abduct Israelis in Egyptian peninsula. "Terrorists groups, who have been preparing to abduct Israelis in Sinai, are ready to carry out their plans with immediate effect," the alert said. "For some time the safety of Israelis visiting or residing in Sinai has been subjected to a substantial threat."
The bureau recommended that all Israelis refrain from entering Sinai, and suggested that Israelis currently in Sinai depart immediately.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
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In Gaza, meanwhile, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday hailed Kuntar as "a great hero" and said Israel's decision to release him and four Hezbollah fighters had undermined Israel's policy of not freeing "prisoners with blood on their hands."
Haniyeh also branded the exchange of prisoners as "a victory" for Hezbollah and armed resistance against Israel. "The Israelis should pay the price for the release of Gilad Shalit," Haniya said in a statement in central Gaza, referring to the Israel Defense Forces soldier kidnapped by Gaza militants in June, 2006 cross-border raid. "It is hard to see thousands of prisoners still held in Israeli jails," He added.
People celebrated in the streets of the Hamas-controlled coastal territory, and handed out sweets in support of Hezbollah. "Today is a great victory for the resistance movements and to Hezbollah, said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri. "It shows that the only successful way to free the prisoners is by kidnapping soldiers."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday hailed Kuntar as "a great hero"
Ismail, you really need to raise your standards for heroes as your current standards are lower than whale $hit.
Two men claiming to head a group responsible for the southern insurgency said on national TV on Thursday they had agreed to an immediate halt in attacks. "We have agreed to a cease-fire," a spokesman for the unnamed group said in a statement aired on TV Channel 5 on Thursday noon. "Our group will now support peace in southern Thailand."
The group claimed that the cease-fire began last Monday in order to restore peace in the region. The group also called on underground movement to stop all kinds of their operations. Several killings and bombings have been reported since Monday, including two bombs near the Yala municipal headquarters on Wednesday. The statement was made in Yawi, and was translated into Thai.
Earlier, former army chief Gen Chattha Thanajaro said he had met with a group called Ruam Pak Tai Khong Prathet Thai, or Thailand's United Southern Underground group, and agreed to end violence. "They must prove their intention to cease their activities for the sake of sustainable peace in the south," he said in the broadcast. " Everything is not 100 per cent certain," he said.
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
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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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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.
Sudan's president, accused of masterminding genocide in Darfur, might escape war crimes charges if he brings to justice two men suspected of mass killings, Western envoys said on Wednesday.
Canada said on Wednesday it would not press for the return of a young Canadian inmate held at Guantanamo Bay despite the release of video footage that showed him weeping and calling for his mother.
Democratic and Republican congressional aides say there is turmoil within the the House Homeland Security Committee's majority staff and that oversight work is being eclipsed by a focus on promoting contracting opportunities for small and minority-owned businesses.
The 
In Gaza, meanwhile, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday hailed Kuntar as "a great hero" and said Israel's decision to release him and four Hezbollah fighters had undermined Israel's policy of not freeing "prisoners with blood on their hands." 
Two men claiming to head a group responsible for the southern insurgency said on national TV on Thursday they had agreed to an immediate halt in attacks. "We have agreed to a cease-fire," a spokesman for the unnamed group said in a statement aired on TV Channel 5 on Thursday noon. "Our group will now support peace in southern Thailand." 
