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Attack on luxury Afghan hotel kills guard, militant: ISAF
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-Obits-
Perez Receives NCAA Award of Valor
United States Military Academy graduate 2nd Lt. Emily Perez (`05), who made the ultimate sacrifice when she was killed in action Sept. 12, 2006, was honored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association when she posthumously received the Award of Valor during the NCAA Annual Convention.

Perez was much more than a standout on the track and field team at Army. She was a Brigade Command Sergeant Major, the second highest rank in her senior class, was active in the school’s gospel choir, helped her fellow students as a tutor, set track records and was the driving force behind a dance squad for football and basketball games.

During the Honors Celebration portion of the Convention Sunday afternoon, the family of Perez was presented with the Award of Valor. The NCAA Award of Valor may be presented to a coach or administrator currently associated with intercollegiate athletics, or to a current or former varsity letter-winner at an NCAA institution who, when confronted with a situation involving personal danger, averted or minimized potential disaster by courageous action or noteworthy bravery. For a member of the armed forces confronted with a duty-connected situation to be eligible for the Award of Valor, the action must be clearly above and beyond the call of duty and so recognized by the appropriate military command.

Perez, who branched Medical Services Corps, was killed during Operation Iraqi Freedom when a makeshift bomb exploded near her Humvee during combat operations as she led her platoon in a convoy. She was serving with the 204th Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas, and was laid to rest at West Point Cemetery.

"People often say only good things about someone after they've died, but none of this is hyperbole," Morten Ender, her faculty advisor in the Sociology Program at West Point told Time magazine. "Emily was amazing."

Perez had her sights on attending the U.S. Military Academy, according to Army track and field coach Jerry Quiller.

“She called us and might have been our easiest recruit,” said Quiller. “She was coming to West Point and wanted to meet the coaches and see about competing for the team. We looked up some of her records and talked to her coaches and were quite impressed.”

Perez was named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll her first year, the first of many academic honors. She was also won the 200-meter dash at the Post Penn Relays in her first season running collegiate track. She finished fourth at the Patriot League Championships in the 60-meter dash as a junior.

“She was a ‘gung-ho’ leader who was very excited about the opportunity to serve her country,” Quiller said. “She worked her way up the ladder through the Cadet Change of Command and loved it. When she was chosen as Brigade Command Sergeant Major, we worried she might not be so interested in track. She looked at it as another challenge and something else to challenge herself with and was very successful in both roles.”

Quiller knew he had a strong team Perez’s senior year but he needed another athlete to compete in the triple jump. It was no surprise to Quiller that Perez volunteered for the new event and succeeded. Despite her limited experience in the event, she finished second at the league championships with a leap of 38-feet, Œ inches. She also ran on the winning 4x100 relay team, earned a bronze in the 100-meter dash and was sixth in the 200 meters.

A one-hour broadcast of the Honors Celebration is scheduled to air February 2 at noon on ESPN.




Posted by: lotp || 01/14/2008 14:41 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  A young woman to make this country proud. May her memory bring comfort to those who knew her.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/14/2008 17:44 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Attack on luxury Afghan hotel kills guard, militant: ISAF
At least three gunmen launched a brazen attack on the main luxury hotel in Kabul, leaving a hotel guard and one of the rebels dead, the NATO force in Afghanistan said Monday. The hardline Taliban movement said its men, including a suicide bomber, carried out the attack on the Kabul Serena, a five-star hotel frequented by foreigners.

Norwegian media reporting from Kabul said Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere was in the hotel at the time of the attack but was safe and sheltering in the basement. "Three people attacked the hotel. They were apparently on foot," said a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, Captain Mario Renna. "One has been killed by guards of the hotel but two others managed to get inside and they managed to kill one guard and wound two others, one of them seriously."

He did not say what had caused the blast or who may have carried out the attack. He also had no details on the fate of the other two attackers.
"I can say no more!"
A loud explosion was heard across the city and a Kabul Serena employee said there had been a bomb blast in the parking lot. However, Afghan officials could not immediately give details.

A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahed, said the insurgent group was responsible. "Four members of the Taliban, one of them wearing a suicide vest and all armed with Kalashnikovs, entered the Serena hotel and opened fire on foreigners," Mujahed told AFP. "One of them boomed exploded himself," he said.

The Afghan interior ministry confirmed there had been an explosion. "We don't know what it was at this stage," spokesman Zemarai Bashary told AFP.

Hotel management contacted by AFP would not immediately comment.

The main road running outside the five-star establishment, which is opposite the presidential palace, was sealed off and police and international military vehicles arrived at the scene, an AFP reporter said. Two ambulances were allowed through the hotel gate but pushy nosy reporters were kept away.

The Serena, opened in November 2005, is the main venue for top-level functions of the government, foreign embassies and businesses in the capital. It is heavily barricaded and reinforced because of the security threats, with a Taliban-led insurgency at its peak.
"Quagmire!"
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 01/14/2008 11:50 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  KABUL, Afghanistan - Militants with suicide vests, grenades and AK-47 rifles attacked a luxury hotel on Monday, killing at least six people in the most brazen attack yet on Western civilians in Kabul, witnesses and a Taliban spokesman said. AP
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 01/14/2008 14:43 Comments || Top||

#2  what is a 5 star hotel in afghanistan? rooms come with toilet
Posted by: sinse || 01/14/2008 15:23 Comments || Top||

#3  No, Chamber pot and attendant.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/14/2008 16:20 Comments || Top||

#4  The more expensive the room, the prettier the attendant, in the most expensive, it's a very pretty female attendant.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/14/2008 16:23 Comments || Top||


Talib commander killed in clash in S. Wazoo
Saifur Rahman Mansour, the Taliban commander at the first battle of Tora Bora in 2002, was killed in the Taliban-controlled tribal agency
The Pakistani military has killed a senior Afghan Taliban commander during a clash in the tribal agency of South Wazoo. Saifur Rahman Mansour, the Taliban commander at the first battle of Tora Bora in 2002, was killed in the Taliban-controlled tribal agency, Iranian Press TV reported.

"Mansour was a big time Taliban commander in 2001-2002 and led the battle at Tora Bora," said Matt Dupee, a contributor to The Long War Journal and Afgha.com. "He was allegedly paid not to interfere with the voting process in 2004 (his base is in the east, Paktia (Zurmat district)) and ceased his activities in 2005. The Taliban subsequently removed him from the Rahbari Shura following rumors of his split. In 2006 he restarted his militant activities and became a part of the Peshawar Shura (really based out of Waziristan) once again and launched an offensive in the eastern areas alongside the Haqqani network. His main skill was commanding men on the battlefield and his in-depth knowledge of military tactics and guerilla warfare."

Mansour's father was governor of Paktia province before being murdered by a rival warlord. He commanded Taliban troops against the Northern Alliance during the Taliban rule of Afghanistan. He "was wounded three times in three wars — against the Soviets in the 1980s, in the fighting among warlords of the early 1990s, and on behalf of the Taliban — and has a maimed hand as a result," the Los Angeles Times reported in 2002.

It is unclear when Mansour was killed. There were a series of battles in South Waziristan over the past week. A Pakistani security source told Daily Times the military killed over 50 Taliban fighters during a major assault on the Ladha Fort in South Waziristan during Wednesday and Thursday. Upwards of 300 Taliban fighters are believed to have attacked the base. The Pakistani military did not confirm the casualties, but said the Taliban suffered "heavy casualties in the encounter."
Posted by: Seafarious || 01/14/2008 02:47 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  I hope these numbers aren't made up kinda like the Sri Lankan and LTTE forces seem too do
Posted by: sinse || 01/14/2008 10:15 Comments || Top||


Taleban kill 10 policemen in Afghan attack
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Taleban guerrillas killed 10 policemen on Sunday in a raid in southern Afghanistan, provincial officials said. The pre-dawn attack on the police post took place in a village in Maiwand district of Kandahar province, a stronghold of Taleban insurgents.

Hours after the attack, a policeman was killed in a suicide raid aimed at a police officer in neighbouring Helmand province, a provincial official said. The officer survived the attack, but eight other people, including policemen and civilians, were wounded, witnesses said.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/14/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
Fresh fighting erupts in Somaliland-Puntland disputed region
Certainly wouldn't do to have any stale fighting.
(SomaliNet) Fighting has renewed in the disputed region of Sool in northern Somalia between troops loyal to the rival authorities of Somaliland and Puntland on Sunday.

The clashes happened in Dhamasa village, 80km north of Laasanood city, the provincial capital of Sool when the Puntland forces attacked positions of the Somaliland troops, sources say. There is no immediate casualty resulted from the latest gun battle.
As usual when Muslims shoot at each other.
The authorities in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland accused the break away republic of Somaliland of starting the fighting. The Puntland officials said its government would not tolerate the offensive from the Somaliland troops. "We have killed several soldiers and captured number battle-wagons from Somaliland in the Laasanood fighting," the adviser of the information minister of Puntland Bile Qabowsade said.

While, the Somaliland authorities in Laasanood said their forces killed and wounded several soldiers and also captured war vehicles in the fighting.

But no independent reports confirming the claims of both rival sides.
There never is.
On October, 2006, forces loyal to Somaliland authority took control of Laasaanood city from the Puntland troops.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/14/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Bomb blast kills three children in southern Somalia
MOGADISHU - A bomb blast killed three children in southern Somalia and wounded four others on Sunday, witnesses and doctors said. Locals said the children had been playing with the device, which they found in the Yunbis village, 65 km (40 miles) south of the capital Mogadishu.

Dr. Nur Abdi Abdule, the head of the hospital, said a third child later died on the operating table. ‘The condition of two of the others is very serious,’ he said.

In a separate incident late on Saturday, officials said unidentified gunmen had killed a prominent Islamic religious leader and a night watchman working for the Somali Red Crescent in the southcentral town of Baidoa, where parliament sits. ‘They were leaving a mosque when they were shot dead by three men armed with pistols,’ said lawmaker Ibrahim Isaq Yarow.
They have lawmakers in Somalia? Who knew?
Posted by: Steve White || 01/14/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Courts


Europe
Turks arrest 46 illegal immigrants
Turkish security forces arrested 46 immigrants who entered the country illegally to use the Turkish lands as transit point to reach Greece, news reports said Saturday. Hurriyet newspaper, in its website, quoted security sources as saying the illegal immigrants were arrested near the town of Apsala in Edirena near the Turkish-Greek borders.

It said the arrestees carried Afghan, Iraqi, Palestinian and Somali nationalities.
Posted by: Seafarious || 01/14/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  wow... arested 46 of them. that is more than the US is willig to do. i bet they dont get the catch and release with a promise to show up for thier deportation hearing treatment either
Posted by: Abu do you love || 01/14/2008 23:40 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Impressive Roundup of WoT News via Freep
Posted by: Anonymoose || 01/14/2008 20:16 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
J&K: 2 Pakistanis among 3 terrorists killed
In the first major encounter of 2008, three terrorists, including two Pakistanis, were killed in a joint operation by the security forces in south Kashmir early Monday morning, a police spokesman said.

Troops of the 9 Rashtriya Rifles (RR), 162 Territorial Army (TA) and Special Operation Group of Jammu and Kashmir Police launched a joint operation at Manzgam village following a tip-off.

The spokesman said at 0830 hours, an encounter ensued after terrorists fired at the search party.

During the three-hour encounter, three terrorists were killed, he said.
Posted by: john frum || 01/14/2008 16:18 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So the Territorial Army is backing up the RR and the SOG.. should provide a large reserve of manpower for COIN ops
Posted by: john frum || 01/14/2008 17:21 Comments || Top||


At least 11 killed in bomb blast in Pakistan's Karachi
At least 11 people were killed and scores injured in a bomb blast in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi on Monday night, hospital sources and eyewitness said.

They said that the bomb was planted on a motorcycle and was apparently triggered by a timing device or remote control.

The area in which explosion took place is dominated by migrant workers for other Pakistani cities and coincided with the arrival of President Pervez Musharraf into the port city on a two-day visit.

Sources said that seven bodies had been brought to the Jinnah Hospital while four bodies had reached the Social Security Hospital near the site of the blast.

The blast occurred on the fourth day of the Islamic month of Moharram which is sacred for Shiite Muslims who constitute 10-15 percent of Pakistan's population of 160 million people.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 01/14/2008 13:27 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Shades of T. Boone Pickens.(Slim Pickens)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/14/2008 16:19 Comments || Top||


Bomb explodes near venue of Nepal election campaign launch
A bomb exploded Monday near a venue where Nepal's seven major political parties launched a joint campaign for a constituent assembly election, injuring two people.
Senior Superintendent of Police Bhisma Prasain told Kyodo News that the explosion occurred in Bhotahity, some 100 meters from the open air theater where the mass meeting was held.

The explosion occurred minutes after political leaders had left the venue after delivering their speeches, Prasain said.

"Thousands of people were leaving the venue at the time of the explosion. Two were injured," he said. The extent of their injuries is yet to be ascertained. No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the blast.

Earlier in the day, tens of thousands of members of the seven parties, including the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), marched jointly from dozens of locations in Kathmandu and later converged at the theater for a mass meeting.

Addressing the meeting, Maoist chairman Prachanda said the joint campaign is a strong answer to all those who doubt that the key election will really be held.

"This joint meeting is a vow to build a new Nepal, a federal democratic republican Nepal," Prachanda said.

Leaders of all the seven political parties addressed the meeting.

Election to the assembly is a key part of Nepal's peace process with the former Maoist rebels, who ended their 10-year insurgency in November 2006. The insurgency cost the country over 13,000 lives.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 01/14/2008 07:10 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Pakistani troops killed in clash
At least seven Pakistani soldiers have been killed in a clash with pro-Taleban militants in a tribal area near the Afghan border, the military says. Twenty-three tribal militants were also killed in the fighting in Mohmand agency, the army said.

Fighting broke out after militants ambushed the troops, it said.
Sounds like the home team didn't fare well in their first match with the furriners visitors.
Attacks by pro-Taleban militants in Pakistan's north-west have soared in the past year, but Mohmand agency has seen relatively little of the violence.

"The militants attacked a security forces convoy and the forces responded with the help of local people, killing 23 of the attackers," military spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad told the AFP news agency.

Reports said the army convoy was travelling to Mohmand's main town of Ghalanai when it came under attack. Residents said the security forces responded with artillery fire and helicopter gunships were called in, Rooters news agency reports.
Gunships and artillery are nice as long as you know how to use them. And where to point them. Doesn't sound like that happened, unless the Talibunnies dragged their bleeding buddies off the game field.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 01/14/2008 07:06 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Troops arrest 4 most-wanted militants
Security forces said on Sunday that they had arrested four most-wanted militant commanders at Sindh Pura checkpost in Matta tehsil of Swat district, Dawn News reported. Also on Sunday, security forces pounded militant hideouts in the Totanoo Bandai and Manja areas, but no casualties were reported. Late on Saturday, unidentified militants had blown up a union council office in the Totanoo Bandai area of Swat’s Kabal tehsil, Totanoo Bandai union council Nazim Saifullah told Daily Times. The Swat administration relaxed the curfew from 6am to 6pm. Residents of Kalam protested against the closure of the Mingora-Kalam road for the past 10 days.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2008 06:10 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: TNSM


Two Uzbeks killed in attack on pro-govt elder
Two Uzbek militants were killed on Sunday when a group of them attacked the house of a pro-government tribal elder in South Waziristan, officials said. The pre-dawn clash erupted when dozens of miscreants launched an attack on the house of Khan Khannan in South Waziristan district, local administration official Ayaz Mandokhel told AFP.

Bodies: Khannan’s men who were guarding the house, retaliated and killed two Uzbek militants, he said, adding that “their bodies were still lying in the area”. Other militants fled after the clash, he said.

Khannan is a pro-government elder in Shakai where gunmen earlier this week shot dead six members of a tribal peace committee. The tribesmen blame the killings on leading Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud, who has also been accused by the government of masterminding the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto last month.

Also in South Waziristan, security officials said on Saturday that troops had killed more than 50 Taliban militants on Wednesday after fighting off an attack on a military fort.
This article starring:
Baitullah MehsudTaliban
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2008 06:10 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Militants attack NW camp, soldier injured
Militants fired missiles at the Mana army camp in North Waziristan on Sunday, leaving a security forces personnel injured, sources said. They added the militants attacked the camp around 3:30pm, which is located in the Shawaal area, about 75 kilometers in west of agency headquarters Miranshah. Security forces returned the fire and the crossfire was continuing with no casualties till the last reports came in. Militants had earlier attacked the same camp at 3:00am and fired three missiles. However, there was no loss of life. The Mana army camp came under attack again at 12:00 midday when an army convoy was going from the camp to Gurbuz camp, causing injuries to Riaz Khan, a security forces jawan.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2008 06:10 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Entry of 8 clerics banned in capital
The Islamabad Capital Territory Administration has banned the entry of eight clerics in the capital during Muharramul Harram. The entry of four clerics of Tehreek Ahlesunnat Jamaat sect and four clerics of Tehreek Nafaz Fiqa Jafria, including Moulana Sher Haidri, has been banned to avoid any untoward situation.
Posted by: Fred || 01/14/2008 06:10 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Iraq
U.S. troops kill 60 in Iraq Qaeda offensive
By Ross Colvin
BAGHDAD (Rooters) - The U.S. military said on Monday it had killed 60 militants during a week-long, U.S.-led offensive in northern Iraq against al Qaeda, a resilient foe that has resisted previous attempts to drive it from the region.

The U.S. military, which has declared al Qaeda the single greatest threat to Iraq's security and blamed it for an upsurge in suicide bombings, launched the offensive on January 8, focusing on four northern provinces and Baghdad's southern suburbs.

In Baghdad, gunmen killed appeals court judge Amir Jawdat al-Naeib as he drove to work on Monday. Naeib's driver was also killed. Militants have frequently targeted judges, academics, other professionals and their families.

The new offensive is seen as part of the U.S. strategy of reducing violence to give Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government time to cement the security gains with political progress towards national reconciliation.

But progress has been slow and many Iraqis complain that while security has improved, the government is still failing to provide basic services such as water and electricity.

The military said in a statement that U.S. and Iraqi forces had killed 60 militants, detained 193 and found 79 weapons caches containing thousands of rounds of ammunition, explosives and home-made bombs during the offensive in northern Iraq.

Troops had found one cache in an underground bunker complex with several rooms during operations in Diyala, a volatile, religiously mixed province north of Baghdad.

But the fighting has not been one-sided. Police said seven policemen were killed when the house they were searching blew up in the town of Buhriz just south of Baquba, Diyalas' capital.

Six U.S. soldiers were killed in Diyala last week when a house booby-trapped with explosives collapsed on top of them. It was the single greatest loss of life by U.S. troops so far during the operation.

A similar offensive targeting al Qaeda in Diyala last summer failed to drive out the Sunni Islamist group because many militants escaped before the well-flagged operation.

A series of U.S. and Iraqi operations against al Qaeda in the second half of 2007 largely drove the group from the capital and western Anbar province, and they are now regrouping in the north, U.S. officials say.
Followed by bad news about power cuts. Quagmire!
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 01/14/2008 11:48 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq

#1  THIS ARTICLE FEATURING:

"60 militants"
"resilient foe"
"resistance"
"upsurge in suicide bombings"
"gunmen/militants targeting judges"
"militants targeting academics"
militants targeting professionals"
"militants targeting families of prosfessionals"
"gov't still failing to provide elctricity"
"gov't still failing to provide water"
"fighting not one-sided: 7 good cops killed"
"similar fighting by US failed last year, too"
"six US servicemen killed last week, too"
"larget loss of life to US since ops began"
"AQI now regrouping"

sigh...
Posted by: Mark Z || 01/14/2008 12:35 Comments || Top||

#2  What do you expect, Mark? It IS Rooters, after all - almost as bad as the NY Slimes.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/14/2008 13:51 Comments || Top||

#3  bravo Mark Z. Too bad all articles could not have such an index.
Posted by: Whomong Guelph4611 || 01/14/2008 13:58 Comments || Top||

#4  Yes, very nice index.

'Scuse me whilst I go wring my hands.
Posted by: Seafarious || 01/14/2008 14:20 Comments || Top||

#5  We don't seem to be taking as many prisoners these days. It would make me worry about getting involved in platoon size formations or larger, if I were a terr. Must be a feature of the Surge.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 01/14/2008 15:05 Comments || Top||

#6  Yes, I'm liking the trend towards less detaining and more killing.
Posted by: Parabellum || 01/14/2008 18:16 Comments || Top||


Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in secret Iraq talks with US?
Very possibly.
THE HEAD of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps slipped into the green zone of Baghdad last month to press Tehran’s hardline position over the terms of the current talks with American officials, it was claimed last week.

Iraqi government sources say that Major-General Mohammed Ali Jafari, 50, travelled secretly from Tehran. Jafari appears to have passed through checkpoints on his way into the fortified enclave that contains the American embassy and Iraqi ministries, even though he is on Washington’s “most wanted” list.

Last year Washington declared the guard a “foreign terrorist organisation” and imposed sanctions on it.

One of the accusations that led to the designation was the charge that the Quds Force, a branch of the guard, was supplying rockets, mortars and roadside bombs known as explosively formed projectiles (EFPs) to Shi’ite militias in Iraq.

In recent days there has been a sharp increase in the use of such bombs against American troops, and last weekend five Iranian speedboats were said to have harassed three American Navy ships, radioing a threat to blow them up.

On his tour of the Middle East yesterday President George W Bush put Tehran on notice over its support for the insurgency in Iraq. “Iran’s role in fomenting violence has been exposed,” he said in Kuwait.

Iran and the United States have held three rounds of talks over security in Iraq. They have made little progress so far but are considered a breakthrough because they are the first face-to-face encounters since 1980.

At the insistence of the Americans, the talks between Ryan Crocker, the American ambassador to Iraq, and Hassan Kazemi Qomi, his Iranian counterpart, have been kept to the issue of security in Iraq. But Tehran wants them broadened to include the release of Iranian diplomats being held in Baghdad by the Americans. It is understood Jafari was sent to Baghdad to ensure that this happened.
Posted by: Seafarious || 01/14/2008 02:51 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: IRGC

#1  Is it just me, or have Bush's administration has, de facto, adopted Baker-Hamilton?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/14/2008 8:05 Comments || Top||

#2  The Bush administration has been taken over by the permanent Washington bureaucracy of the CIA and PDoS. The only way to change this is to elect a real Republican. Thank goodness he does not have a sitting Vice President to dominate the trunk nominating process.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 01/14/2008 11:22 Comments || Top||

#3  "The only way to change this is to elect a real Republican."

Just what "real" Republican do suggest should be elected?
Posted by: High Brow || 01/14/2008 14:39 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm looking for a reason not to like Thompson. I'd expect him to surge in South Carolina.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 01/14/2008 14:47 Comments || Top||

#5  If the surge worked so well in Iraq, think what it could do in South Carolina.
Posted by: Skunky Glins5285 || 01/14/2008 15:18 Comments || Top||

#6  I see two reasonable possibilities (1) The story is a lie meant to sew confusion in Iran (2) the story is true and the administration hopes to work with some members of the Revolutionary guard to change the regime in Iran.

All other options, well i don't want to think about them.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/14/2008 17:19 Comments || Top||

#7  Throw in prisoner exchange. We probably are holding some of their 'brothers'. Important enough that they want to talk. Unfortunately, their snatch squads have found out that because of prior treatment of prisoners, our guys not going to be taken alive. Makes exchange really difficult and the conversations really short.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/14/2008 17:32 Comments || Top||

#8  Compare wid DEBKA > IRANIAN REVOL GUARDS' HARASSMENT OF US SHIPS IN STRAITS OF HORMUZ CARRIED FIVE TOUGH MESSAGES MEANT FOR BUSH.
"The Finger/Bird" to "We control the Straits" to "Anti-Iran Gulf Nations Watch your Six-Arse".
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/14/2008 23:01 Comments || Top||

#9  Give the Iranians the Col. Higgins treatment.
Posted by: ed || 01/14/2008 23:06 Comments || Top||

#10  Yes, COL Higgins. I suspect few remember his fate.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/14/2008 23:08 Comments || Top||


General - NY Times full of it
Hertling: Report that Iraqi forces can’t be trusted is ‘logic leap’

ARLINGTON, Va. — Standard operational security concerns, not a lack of trust, prompted U.S. military planners to keep recent offensive operations secret from many Iraqi troops ahead of the operations, said the commander of U.S. troops in northern Iraq.

This month, U.S. and Iraqi forces launched Operation Phantom Phoenix against insurgents south of Baghdad and in northern Iraq. The New York Times reported Wednesday that the offensive was kept secret from most of the Iraqi units taking part for as long as possible to prevent insurgents from leaving the region ahead of time.
That's called 'operational security'. I'm sure you don't know what that means.
The story says the move suggests that U.S. military planners “cannot fully trust the allies who are supposed to pick up more of the fighting as American troops scale back their presence this year.”

On Friday, Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling said the reporter who wrote the story took a “logic leap.”

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” said Hertling, head of Multi-National Division-North. Hertling noted the operation was kept secret from both U.S. and Iraqi troops to prevent the operation from becoming public, either through the media or from troops talking to their families.
Again, operational security. Interesting concept if you're conducting a sweep as opposed to say, a tribal lashkar.
“We are trying to keep it as close-hold as possible to trap as many of the enemy as possible in the area where we wanted to trap them,” he said.

He also said Iraqi army commanders were involved with the planning of the operation. “I trust my Iraqi counterparts with my life because I go out with them on daily basis and, my subordinates feel the same way,” Hertling said.

New York Times foreign news editor Susan Chira said the paper stood by its story.
Of course they did, there's no penalty for them doing anything else, no matter how wrong they are.
“We did not attribute that statement to General Hertling, only saying that one could deduce from these maneuvers that there was distrust of some of the allies — not a blanket distrust of every Iraqi army counterpart or of Iraqi senior leadership,” Chira said in a Friday e-mail.
Not that you made that clear in the article. Certainly not.
But Hertling disagreed. “That’s not a deduction, its an implication, and it’s not true,” he said.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 01/14/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  Too bad we can't get the Chicago Tribune, LA Times, Boston Globe, and Washington Post to pick up Hertling's story.

But I guess that's a logic leap, too...
Posted by: Bobby || 01/14/2008 6:08 Comments || Top||

#2  I don't think it's the Iraqis we dont trust.
Lets see, who else would go blabbing this sort of thing all over the place????
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 01/14/2008 6:57 Comments || Top||

#3 
Posted by: doc || 01/14/2008 9:06 Comments || Top||

#4  I wonder how the NYT stock is doing?
Posted by: Whomong Guelph4611 || 01/14/2008 12:46 Comments || Top||

#5  gosh, doesn't look like it is doing well. NYT Stock Link
Posted by: Whomong Guelph4611 || 01/14/2008 12:51 Comments || Top||

#6  BBBBEAUTIFULLL Chart Whomong Guelph4611..

Doc the Pic and Heading speaks Volumns of Truffs! ttTruthss! Trut ...Thanks!
Posted by: RD || 01/14/2008 13:33 Comments || Top||

#7  Isn't that chart upside down?
Posted by: Matt || 01/14/2008 16:09 Comments || Top||

#8  Almost there, Pinchy. A few more points and you'll have to start making noises about "converting to Islam"...
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/14/2008 16:17 Comments || Top||

#9  Hertling thinking about a political career after the military?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 01/14/2008 17:17 Comments || Top||

#10  You'll know that the day has come at the NYT when you see the advertisers sue over or just receive big hunking discounts for fraudulent circulation numbers of 'real' readers. Their 'numbers' are about as solid as the number of good loan holders of subprime mortgages.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/14/2008 17:28 Comments || Top||

#11  Maybe the Saudis will buy up the NYT. Buy low sell....whatever.....
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 01/14/2008 23:42 Comments || Top||


Hands-On General Is Next No. 2 in Iraq
Most U.S. Army generals wear pistols on the battlefield. Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, a decorated paratrooper who next month takes over as the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, packs an M4 rifle.

A physically imposing but modest man who is little known outside Army circles, Austin's hands-on style reflects a connection with front-line troops and a breadth of combat leadership that senior officers say make him ideal for his new job: running the day-to-day operations of the Iraq war.

Whereas the top U.S. commander, Gen. David H. Petraeus, must serve as much as a diplomat and public face of the war as a military leader, Austin must master the gritty details of Iraq's battlefield geometry -- constantly prioritizing the use of dozens of U.S. and Iraqi combat units as well as aircraft, unmanned drones and other military forces to carry out the U.S. strategy.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 01/14/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_J._Austin
Posted by: gorb || 01/14/2008 6:57 Comments || Top||

#2  What's next for Ray Odierno?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/14/2008 9:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Thanks in large part to Wm T. Sherman, the US produces a large number of very dangerous generals. And yet, most of them never get the chance to prove themselves in battle.

And irony of ironies, even the greatest of them, if they do get the chance to prove themselves and do prove themselves, must still pass on the role to a subordinate in a terribly short time.

Someone once remarked that a general is like a gymnast, except the career of the general is far shorter, and their chance for greatness less.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 01/14/2008 10:16 Comments || Top||

#4  is this the same man that gave the very stirring commencement speech at Ft. Benning (sp) a couple years ago?
Posted by: sinse || 01/14/2008 10:23 Comments || Top||

#5  and if it's not could someone direct me too the video of that speech.
Posted by: sinse || 01/14/2008 10:25 Comments || Top||

#6  Thanks in large part to Wm T. Sherman,

Why do you say that?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 01/14/2008 10:37 Comments || Top||

#7  Wouldn't it be great if people like this were household names, instead of the Parisites and Lindsay Lohlifes?
Posted by: charger || 01/14/2008 10:48 Comments || Top||

#8  Thanks in large part to Wm T. Sherman,
Why do you say that?


I second the question. Shouldn't we be thanking West Point, not a general who had a bad habit of playing with matches in my home city?
Posted by: Free Radical || 01/14/2008 11:47 Comments || Top||

#9  Thanks in large part to Wm T. Sherman,
Why do you say that?


My own explanation: Because without Sherman taking Atlanta a copperhead woukld have been elected and the United States would be no longer.
Posted by: JFM || 01/14/2008 12:11 Comments || Top||

#10  W.T. Sherman founded the Command School, now known as the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. Modeled in some ways after the German General Staff school, it is one of the primary intellectual assets of the United States for maintaining and improving the quality of its military commanders.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 01/14/2008 12:13 Comments || Top||

#11  Thanks. I'd forgotten that. With his founding of LSU, Uncle Billy turned out to be quite the educator. Sort of Milton and Dwight Eisenhower all rolled into one with out the politician.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 01/14/2008 12:24 Comments || Top||

#12  Sinse, go to the FT Benning homepage and scroll down for the videos on the first page and the speach you are looking for is there.

I don't know LTG Austin, but if Bill Weber says he is good I'll follow him down range anytime.
Posted by: TopMac || 01/14/2008 12:37 Comments || Top||

#13  Big Pic of Austin (couple of MB)
Posted by: KBK || 01/14/2008 14:46 Comments || Top||

#14  Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, a decorated paratrooper who next month takes over as the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, packs an M4 rifle.

Smart man, they've learned to target anyone wearing only a pistol as an Officer.
Look like a grunt, shoots easier and better than a pistol anyway. (Pistols are for backup)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/14/2008 16:14 Comments || Top||

#15  W.T. Sherman founded the Command School, now known as the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. Modeled in some ways after the German General Staff school, it is one of the primary intellectual assets of the United States for maintaining and improving the quality of its military commanders.

Thanks Anonymoose. Consider me educated.
Posted by: Free Radical || 01/14/2008 20:13 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Huge blast heard in Gaza
Radio stations in Gaza reported on Sunday night that Israeli military aircraft fired a missile towards a group of bunny hutches kitten condos flower bulb pushcarts citizens west of the city.
Helizap!
The radio stations said that the shelling targeted a jeep vehicle that was standing in the vicinity of the house of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya killing scores of citizens on board and destroying the vehicle.
Car swarm!
Ambulances carrying ammunition rushed to the scene and citizens were urged by the radio to exercise caution in fear of other possible raids.

The radio stations said that one person was killed in the raid and four others were wounded. They were guarding the house of Haniya.
Posted by: Seafarious || 01/14/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  And our winners are...

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Three Palestinian militants, including the local head of an armed group, were killed in an Israeli air strike on a refugee camp of Gaza City late Sunday, medics and security sources said.

They said an air-to-ground missile struck their car in Shati camp, killing Nidal al-Amudi, a head of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which is loosely linked to the Fatah group of moderate Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. Maher al-Mabhuh, belonging to another group, was also killed along with a third militant who died of his injuries.

An Israeli military spokesman confirmed the raid, without specifying what type of aircraft was used, and said it targeted militants involved in rocket or other attacks on Israel.
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/14/2008 0:35 Comments || Top||

#2  a score is 20
scores would be 40 or more in increments of 20
you can't fit 20 people alive in one of their little cars.
then it turns out 1 killed and 4 wounded.
Sounds like some pals missed math class from pre-kindergarten on.
Posted by: 3dc || 01/14/2008 2:43 Comments || Top||

#3  Remedial Islamic Math. To please Allan of course.
Posted by: Icerigger || 01/14/2008 7:45 Comments || Top||

#4  Maybe they count both the shahids and their lice?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/14/2008 8:06 Comments || Top||

#5  Radio stations in Gaza reported on Sunday night that Israeli military aircraft fired a missile towards a group of citizens west of the city.

lol! If this is the best propaganda they can write then they should start a comedy program instead of reporting.

They didn't fire towards a group of citizens, they fired toward a jeep and in a precision hit removed them from our presence with but barley a dent.

But then when you are such an unworthy opponent, you have to go with the best you got and the pity card is the best they've got.
Posted by: Whomong Guelph4611 || 01/14/2008 12:59 Comments || Top||

#6  barley a dent - oops.

hehheh - Seems the Mr. Barley Corn song is somehow appropriate for my spelling error.
Posted by: Whomong Guelph4611 || 01/14/2008 13:01 Comments || Top||

#7  Maybe they count both the shahids and their lice?

Doubtful, there would be hundreds, if not thousands, not scores.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 01/14/2008 13:02 Comments || Top||

#8 

John Barley Corn Must Die

For your listening pleasure.
Posted by: Whomong Guelph4611 || 01/14/2008 13:06 Comments || Top||

#9  John Barley Corn Must Die

sorry, wrong link.
Posted by: Whomong Guelph4611 || 01/14/2008 13:07 Comments || Top||

#10  Thanks for that link, Whomong. Makes me thirsty.
Posted by: Abu Uluque6305 || 01/14/2008 15:42 Comments || Top||

#11  Great song, WG4611. Also great pub, up in Duxford, England, right near the HUGE aviation museum. 5 hangers.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 01/14/2008 21:38 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Eight soldiers killed in ambush in southern Thailand
Thailand records its 37th beheading in four years

Southern terrorists militants ambushed a teachers' protection team in Narathiwat province on Monday morning, killing eight soldiers in a fierce firefight and beheading one. The squad was surprised by an unknown number of terrorists insurgents in Chanae district of Narathiwat, spokesman Col Akara Thiprote said.

The army gave few details in its first announcement. Spokesmen said there was an intense, 30-minute exchange of gunfire with militants, who were positioned to cause the maximum casualties in the ambush.

The ambush of the teachers' protection squad resulted in the highest military casualties in a single attack this year - and was one of the worst ever. It was the 37th recorded beheading by southern terrorists militants since the resurgence of the separatist movement four years ago. "This is a big loss for the army," Col Akara said. "It is one of our worst days. We will do our utmost to hunt down the killers."

The terrorists fighters who ambushed the patrol were likely to be living locally in the tight-knit Muslim communities in the area, making it tricky for security forces to identify them, he added. "We really need some good intelligence to guide us," the spokesman said. "These people will bury their guns and turn into ordinary villagers before we reach them. It is not easy."

The patrol had been returning to base after escorting teachers to a government school. Teachers have been frequently targeted because the terrorists separatists consider them to be agents of a central government dominated by the country's Buddhist majority.

Elsewhere on Monday, in Sungai Kolok district, suspected insurgents torched GSM mobile phone signal facilities at several locations, disrupting mobile phone services. Fresh produce bound for Malaysia had to be left at the border because food exporters could not contact their customers. In Pattani province, two mobile phone towers and three public telephone booths were burned.

At the same time, police in the area said they believed six suspected militants who escaped from a jail cell over the weekend used small fishing boats in their getaway. The six are believed to be members of Runda Kumpalan Kecil, one of several separatist groups operating in the mostly Muslim southernmost provinces of Thailand. Narathiwat's police chief, Major General Pongsak Nakvichit, said he hoped they would be recaptured soon but said there would be a thorough investigation as to how the six escaped, reported the TNA.
Posted by: ryuge || 01/14/2008 06:15 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency

#1  The wages of appeasement.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/14/2008 8:02 Comments || Top||


Good Morning
Posted by: || 01/14/2008 06:20 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That hairstyle is so....butch!
Posted by: Gleart Prince of the Huns4687 || 01/14/2008 9:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Hey Ann,Your hair is crooked, Here let me fix it for you.(Drool, drool)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/14/2008 15:59 Comments || Top||

#3  I can't believe they named a tank after her.......
Posted by: Omaitle McCoy7988 || 01/14/2008 17:27 Comments || Top||

#4  never heard of the 'Anne' tank......
Posted by: USN,Ret. || 01/14/2008 17:53 Comments || Top||

#5  Maybe her nickname was Ronson.
Posted by: SteveS || 01/14/2008 23:13 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
57[untagged]
9Global Jihad
8Govt of Iran
7Taliban
6Govt of Pakistan
4Iraqi Insurgency
2Govt of Sudan
2Hamas
1al-Qaeda in Yemen
1al-Qaeda in Iraq
1al-Qaeda in Britain
1TNSM
1al-Qaeda
1IRGC
1Islamic Courts
1Palestinian Authority
1Takfir wal-Hijra
1al-Aqsa Martyrs
1Thai Insurgency
1Ansar al-Islam

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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2008-01-14
  Attack on luxury Afghan hotel kills guard, militant: ISAF
Sun 2008-01-13
  Bissau extradites al Qaeda suspects to Mauritania
Sat 2008-01-12
  Militant threat on Eiffel Tower intercepted
Fri 2008-01-11
  Lahore suicide kaboom kills at least 20, injures 80
Thu 2008-01-10
  40,000 pounds of US bombs hit 38 Qaeda 'safe havens'
Wed 2008-01-09
  Mullah Fazlullah deadullah?
Tue 2008-01-08
  Chadian planes bomb rebels in Sudan
Mon 2008-01-07
  Arab FMs urge immediate Leb presidential election
Sun 2008-01-06
  Morocco jails 50 Islamists for terror plots
Sat 2008-01-05
  Fatah al-Islam sez they're infesting Ein el-Hellhole
Fri 2008-01-04
  Coalition forces kill AQI big turban in Baghdad
Thu 2008-01-03
  Baquba Awakening Council leader killed by cross-dressing suicide squeegeeman
Wed 2008-01-02
  Army intervenes to end fist fights between Hezbollah, Hariri party
Tue 2008-01-01
  Iraq December death toll lowest in 22 months
Mon 2007-12-31
  Little Pugsley appointed PPP chairman, Gomez regent


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