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Abu Ayyub al-Masri reported rubbed out
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Afghanistan
NATO: 75 Taliban Killed In Afghanistan
NATO-led troops killed 75 suspected insurgents on the first day of an offensive against Taliban militants in a valley in southern Afghanistan, a British military officer said Tuesday.
Killing them in bunches, excellent
The militants died Monday, when British, Danish and Afghan troops fought their way up the Sangin Valley in Helmand province, Maj. Dominic Biddick, who commanded a company of British troops in the operation, told The Associated Press. Biddick said the troops detained several more suspected militants and discovered an arms cache during "a full day of fighting." One British soldier was wounded, he said, without providing any details of his condition.

"The operation went better than most people had anticipated," Biddick told an AP reporter traveling with his unit. "At one point, there were six companies in clashes at the same time." His tally of 75 insurgents killed could not be independently verified.

The Sangin Valley mission is part of Operation Achilles, NATO's largest-ever maneuver against the Taliban, which began in March. The operation is focused on reclaiming Helmand province, Afghanistan's most volatile, from insurgents so that the government of President Hamid Karzai can expand its reach.

On Monday, the U.S. military reported that 136 suspected militants were killed in three days of fighting in western Herat province — the deadliest clashes in Afghanistan since January.
Posted by: Steve || 05/01/2007 10:43 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Soon to be reported, I am sure: These were all innocent civilians, women and children even. And baby ducks.
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/01/2007 11:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Glenmore...you forgot the bunnies and little puppies!!
Posted by: anymouse || 05/01/2007 12:39 Comments || Top||

#3  His (Maj. Dominic Biddick, who commanded a company of British troops in the operation) tally of 75 insurgents killed could not be independently verified

nice that they rarely put that caveat in reporting terrorist's claims
Posted by: Frank G || 05/01/2007 12:45 Comments || Top||

#4  "On Monday, the U.S. military reported that 136 suspected militants were killed in three days of fighting in western Herat province."

That's 136 Islamic serial killers which will no longer be able to inflict death on chaos on the Afghani public, nor our troops.
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 05/01/2007 12:56 Comments || Top||

#5  Frank, that was my exact reaction. The press shows it colors again...
Posted by: remoteman || 05/01/2007 12:58 Comments || Top||

#6  Update: I concur, 75 dead, very completely dead.
Posted by: independent verifier 6104 || 05/01/2007 14:48 Comments || Top||

#7  Allahu akbar!

I was thinking it was just a rehash of one of the battles previously reported over the last few days. I like rereading stores of how a bunch of bad guys get whacked as much as the next guy, but I can't tell you how my heart overfloweth with joy with each new report of another swarm of these a$$holes reaching their ultimate potential in life by becoming so much fertilizer. It looks like the bad guys are getting mowed down like so much grass. Whatever is going on, I LIKE IT!
Posted by: gorb || 05/01/2007 17:33 Comments || Top||

#8  Gorb,
Don't get too happy - 110 more Afghans were born today than were during Taliban rule. Will we be fighting them in 15 years?
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/01/2007 19:42 Comments || Top||

#9  Igor, we need to tweak the parameters of the birth-death model.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/01/2007 19:44 Comments || Top||

#10 
Allan's thinning the herd
Posted by: macofromoc || 05/01/2007 20:45 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Clan festivities kill 10 in southern Somalia
(SomaliNet) Heavy clan based fighting has erupted in Modhowe and Kudhaa islands of lower Juba region in southern Somalia on Monday killing at least 10 people and wounding more than 36 others. Reports say the fighting, which began yesterday, raged between Majerten and Ogaden clans of same Darod tribe.

The latest fighting followed the 23 April clashes between Marehan and Majerten clans of Darod tribe in Kismayu in which the Marehan militia took over control of the city. Negotiations are underway to solve the conflict.

There are no ongoing efforts to ease the tension between the rival clans so far as the rift deepened. The latest clashes in Somali’s southern islands came as peace efforts continue in Kismayu to bring the recent clashed clans to the negotiation table to sort out their difference. The interior minister of Somalia Mohamud Mohamed Guled ‘Gamo-dhere’ is now in Kismayu city for talks with the rival clans to end the violence.
Posted by: Fred || 05/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Restrictions on Sale of Bomb-Making Chemicals Declared
Saudi Arabia yesterday issued new regulations curbing the sale of industrial and agricultural chemicals that can be used to make explosives. The move comes days after the arrest of 172 terror suspects planning to carry out attacks on oil facilities, military bases and public figures.

The decision that bans the sale of various nitrate compounds in the solid form for three years was taken by the weekly Cabinet meeting, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. Farmers are allowed to use only liquid chemicals as fertilizers. “The Cabinet banned the use of ammonium, calcium, potassium and magnesium nitrates as well as their byproducts in solid/granule/powder forms for three years for agricultural purposes,” the Saudi Press Agency said, quoting a Cabinet decision.
Posted by: Fred || 05/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Chemicals don't kill people, Wahabbist terrorism does.
Posted by: Zenster || 05/01/2007 0:52 Comments || Top||

#2  May as well add sodium hypochlorite to the list.
Posted by: doc || 05/01/2007 8:43 Comments || Top||

#3  chickens <=> roost
Posted by: Frank G || 05/01/2007 8:49 Comments || Top||

#4  Organic farming!! by law!!
Posted by: Angaitch Cruling1154 || 05/01/2007 9:59 Comments || Top||

#5  May as well add sodium hypochlorite to the list.

that is exactly what i was thinking... :)

actually, i think their gene pool needs a little bleach.
Posted by: Abu do you love || 05/01/2007 10:50 Comments || Top||

#6  DHMO needs to be added also.
Posted by: USN. Ret. || 05/01/2007 12:48 Comments || Top||

#7  Radicalism is grand, but when they screw with the oil....
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 05/01/2007 20:21 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Stratfor: Station Bombings and a New Militant Group
Three bombs exploded at train stations in Bangladesh's capital of Dhaka, its main port of Chittagong and the northeastern city of Sylhet on May 1. The previously unknown group Jadid (meaning "new") al Qaeda Bangladesh claimed responsibility for the attacks, which injured one rickshaw puller. While the bombings were small in scale, they shared many features with larger, more destructive attacks carried out elsewhere by militant groups operating in India as well as jihadist groups. Given the incompetence of Bangladesh's security forces, the South Asian country's political instability and the relatively free reign enjoyed by militant groups operating there, it is unlikely much can be done to prevent future attacks by Jadid al Qaeda Bangladesh.

Jadid al Qaeda Bangladesh claimed responsibility for the bombings in leaflets and inscribed metal plates left at the Dhaka and Sylhet stations. According to Bangladeshi officials, the messages said "Stop associating with nonbelievers. Stop working for NGOs by May 10. Or prepare for death." Written in Bengali, but signed in English, the messages demanded that "If Hazrat (Prophet) Mohammed is not declared the superman of the world by May 10, all nongovernmental organizations will be blown up."

The warning against associating with nonbelievers was a reference to the Ahmadiyah sect, a heterodox Islamic offshoot considered heretical by mainstream Muslim groups. Sunni extremists have targeted this group in the past. Many conservative Islamic groups in Bangladesh oppose nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in part because they are funded by Western donors and employ women workers, while some NGOs involved in AIDS work have been targeted in the because they are associated with "un-Islamic" issues and behavior.

Mass transit has been a favorite target of militant groups because of the soft nature of the target and the guarantee of a high casualty count. This was evident in al Qaeda's March 2004 attack on commuter trains in Madrid, the July 2005 bombings in London, and the bombings of commuter trains and stations in Mumbai, India, one year later. Militants in South Asia have been paying particular attention to trains since the Mumbai attacks, with hoaxes and threats called in to railway stations as well as actual attacks on trains.

The spread of these tactics in Bangladesh also comes at a time of increasing Islamization of militant groups operating in northeast India. Although Jadid al Qaeda Bangladesh appears to follow the tactical doctrine of al Qaeda and Kashmiri Islamist militant groups operating in India, its attack was much smaller is scope and fell far short of the effectiveness of the more established groups.

The attack occurred at approximately 7 a.m. local time, when large numbers of commuters could be expected to generate a high casualty count. Given that May 1 is a public holiday in Bangladesh, traffic was higher than usual, with the stations packed with people traveling to visit family during the two-day holiday. This attack's timing is consistent with the tactics of jihadists, who often time their attacks to maximize death and destruction.

The Dhaka bomb was planted near the station ticket counter, the Sylhet station bomb was placed under a seat in the waiting room and the bomb in Chittagong exploded on a sidewalk outside the station as a rickshaw puller tried to open the small cotton bag it was hidden in.

If Jadid al Qaeda Bangladesh is in fact a new group, its first attack proves the group possesses at least one competent bomb maker. This was established by the near-simultaneous detonation of multiple bombs separated by great distances. Whether other improvised explosive devices (IEDs) set to go off at the same time elsewhere ultimately failed to detonate remains unknown -- but if this attack only targeted the three stations, the bombmaker earned a 100 percent success rate.

The group also seems reluctant to cause mass casualties. Despite exploding at crowded stations, the IEDs failed to kill anyone, while the rickshaw puller, who had one of the devices explode in his face, only suffered slight injuries. This is consistent with some -- but by no means all -- earlier bombings in Bangladesh.

Previous small bombings in Bangladesh notably included the 2005 bombing campaign by the outlawed Islamist group Jamaat al Mujahideen. In August of that year the group detonated more than 200 small devices across the country, killing three people and injuring more than 100. In November of the same year it attacked courthouses in Dhaka, killing at least 13 and wounding approximately 40.

Bangladesh's security forces are ill-equipped to deal with militant groups. Thus, Jadid al Qaeda Bangladesh might succeed in carrying out more, possibly bigger bombings if their May 10 deadline is not met. While mass arrests could disrupt the group's cells, Bangladeshi security forces' ineptitude combined with the country's unstable political situation make it unlikely much can be done to stop the country's many militant groups.
Posted by: Steve || 05/01/2007 14:32 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  $tratfor find$ a new niche.
The penaltie$ of being wrong in thi$ venue are minor.
Posted by: Shipman || 05/01/2007 17:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Penalties are minor: only until the RAB gets on the scent.
Posted by: USN, ret. || 05/01/2007 20:27 Comments || Top||

#3  "$tratfor - We're $erious About $ecurity"
Posted by: Pappy || 05/01/2007 20:47 Comments || Top||


JMB Member Remanded
Another Dhaka court yesterday placed a Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) member on a seven-day remand in connection with bomb blasts at a CPB rally at Paltan in the capital on January 20, 2001. Metropolitan Magistrate Mir Ali Reza passed the remand order when CID Inspector Anwar Hossain produced JMB member Abdullah Al Tanzim before the court with an eight-day remand prayer.

This article starring:
ABDULLAH AL TANZIMJamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
CID Inspector Anwar Hossain
Metropolitan Magistrate Mir Ali Reza
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
Posted by: Fred || 05/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Mufti Hannan placed on 5-day remand
Mufti Abdul Hannan, operations commander of banned Islamist outfit Harkatul Jihad (Huji), was placed on a five-day remand yesterday in connection with a case filed for bomb explosions at Ramna Batamul in 2001. Another Huji leader Abdur Rouf was also remanded for five days in the same case.

Metropolitan Magistrate Shamsul Alam passed the order when CID Inspector Abu Hena Mohammad Yusuf, who is also the investigation officer (IO), produced them before the court under a tight security. Earlier, Hannan was remanded in the case and he made a confessional statement on November 19 last year. Ten people died and several others were injured on April 14, 2001 when bombs went off at Ramna Batamul during the Bengali New year's celebration.

On June 14, 2001, Maulana Akbar Hussain, one of the arrestees, made a confessional statement to a metropolitan magistrate disclosing involvements of Mufti Hannan and others with the blasts.
This article starring:
ABDUR RUFHarkatul Jihad
CID Inspector Abu Hena Mohammad Yusuf
MAULANA AKBAR HUSEINHarkatul Jihad
Metropolitan Magistrate Shamsul Alam
MUFTI ABDUL HANNANHarkatul Jihad
Harkatul Jihad
Posted by: Fred || 05/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He should be grateful he's not a commie.
Posted by: Jackal || 05/01/2007 21:45 Comments || Top||


Britain
Supergrass told court of training at Pakistan terror camp
Mohammed Junaid Babar, the al-Qaida supergrass (informer), gave a wealth of detail about a camp in Pakistan where fertiliser bomb cell members and the 7/7 bomber Mohammad Sidique Khan had weapons training. Babar has immunity from prosecution in Britain after pleading guilty to terrorism offences in a New York federal court. Two of the charges relate to the fertiliser bomb plot - he confessed to obtaining ammonium nitrate and aluminium powder for use in bomb-making.

Babar, whose family moved to the US from Pakistan when he was two, was radicalised after the first Gulf war. He came under the influence of militant preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed in the 1990s.

After September 11, he believed it was his duty to aid the Taliban, even though his mother worked in a bank at the World Trade Centre and narrowly escaped. He was introduced to Waheed Mahmood as a contact who could get fighters into Afghanistan. In 2002, Babar travelled to Britain to raise money for jihad and met fertiliser bomb plotters including Omar Khyam and Anthony Garcia.

Babar told the Old Bailey that in Pakistan in 2003 he met Khyam, Mahmood, Garcia and Salahuddin Amin. They attended a terrorism training camp and made a fertiliser bomb, blasting a U-shaped hole in the ground. Babar claimed he conspired in two attempts to kill President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan and would be facing the death penalty if he had not collaborated with the FBI.

Defence barristers claimed he was a double agent. Babar's wife and child are in the US, and will have a new life under assumed identities when he is released.
Posted by: Steve || 05/01/2007 10:46 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Most if not all of these terrorist are trained by the ISI!!!!
Posted by: Paul || 05/01/2007 10:56 Comments || Top||


Down Under
anti-terrorism operations underway in Australia, 2 arrested
TWO men have been arrested in Melbourne on terrorism charges, police say.

It is reported one man has been charged and the other is still being questioned by the Australian Federal Police. Both are expected to appear in Melbourne Magistrates court this afternoon. It is believed that the two men were from Sri Lanka and Melbourne's Herald Sun has reported they are to be accused of financing the Tamil Tigers separatist group.

The investigation follows Australian Federal Police raids in 2005 in which documents and computers were seized at several Melbourne properties but it is unknown if today's arrests are linked to those earlier warrants, the paper's website has reported. An AFP spokeswoman said more details about the operation will be revealed after 1pm (AEST) today.

The men were arrested in a joint operation between Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police in Melbourne this morning, a Victoria police spokesperson said. "Victoria Police took part in a number of raids across Melbourne in relation to anti-terrorism operations and the operation is continuing," the spokesperson said.
Posted by: Thrusing Ebbains8680 || 05/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Danged Amish spreading trouble everywhere.
Posted by: Excalibur || 05/01/2007 8:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Tamil Tigers.
Posted by: ed || 05/01/2007 19:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Remember the Tamil Tiger financiers caught in the US not so long ago? I'd assumed it was a local endeavor, but apparently not. The hunt for supporters of jihadi terror seems to be catching all sorts of nasty fish in that net -- isn't it wonderful!
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/01/2007 21:53 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Bush vetoes troop withdrawal bill
Posted by: ed || 05/01/2007 18:59 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That's a shocker.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 05/01/2007 19:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Thats why we elected him.
Posted by: Crererong Bonaparte1378 || 05/01/2007 19:10 Comments || Top||

#3  It will only matter if he follows up with a serious speech and beats the hell out of the democrats for it. Just like in a military campaign, right now they are due for some serious "shock and awe".

Hopefully, it would be like Reagan's "Light a candle and put it in the window for Poland" speech, that had most of the granny ladies in the country raiding Hallmark stores in tears. Except this time, they should be carrying torches and pitchforks and calling for Pelosi and Reid to be burnt at the stake as witches.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/01/2007 19:24 Comments || Top||

#4  Go ahead Harry. Try to "ram" the bill down Bush's throat. I think you will never get the 2/3 required to override the veto and your constituents will "ram" their veto down your throat come some November.
Either that or a returning vet will ram something else down your throat.
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/01/2007 19:45 Comments || Top||

#5  George W. must feel like taking a hot shower after interacting with Reid or Pelosi.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/01/2007 19:47 Comments || Top||

#6  Lacking the votes to override the president, Democrats have already signaled they intend to approve a replacement bill stripped of the troop withdrawal timetable.

And veto the next one, until they take the 'pork' out of it.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/01/2007 20:49 Comments || Top||

#7  Democrats accused Bush of ignoring Americans' desire to stop the war. For a party that relies on polls to form policy why are they ignoring the voice of the people on this issue? As posted here the other day, poll after poll shows the American people are against withholding funds for the Iraq war. Also, a Public Opinion Strategy (POS) poll finds 57% of voters support staying in Iraq until the job is finished and the Iraqi government can maintain control and provide security for its people. And 59% of voters say pulling out of Iraq immediately would do more to harm America’s reputation in the world than staying until order is restored. Quit lying harry and start listening to all the people.
Posted by: GK || 05/01/2007 21:00 Comments || Top||

#8  The Dems are now going to take five days to have an override the veto vote. (Burn 5 more days, and lets see how Hagel the Dip votes on that one.) Then it's about 15 more days to garbage another anti-troops bill and then take a Memorial Day break to 'honor the troops'. This is insanity.
Posted by: Ho Chi Anguter4576 || 05/01/2007 22:15 Comments || Top||

#9  Times like this I wish W could give a decent speech. He's done it once or twice, but the usual fare is pretty mean.
Posted by: Herman Glainter6703 || 05/01/2007 22:31 Comments || Top||

#10  Dems are pandering to the Nutroots crowd prior to the primaries. Once that's over they'll do a quick fake to the right.
Posted by: DMFD || 05/01/2007 23:54 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
How Pakistan settled an al-Qaeda score (maybe...)
This is an Asia-Times article so get your salt shakers ready. That said there is lots of juicy conspiracy theory here involving Pakiwakiland, Talibunnies and AQ.


Internal squabbling between the Taliban and al-Qaeda and exploited by Pakistan forced many al-Qaeda leaders to move from the tribal areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan to Iraq in search of new headquarters from which to operate.

Senior al-Qaeda member Abdul Hadi al-Iraqi, 46, was one of these men - and he paid dearly for the move after being fingered by Pakistan. On Friday, the Pentagon announced that Hadi had been arrested late last year and handed over to the US CentralIntelligence Agency. Describing Hadi as "one of al-Qaeda's highest-ranking and experienced senior operatives", the Pentagon said he had been sent to the US Defense Department-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The Pentagon did not say exactly where and when Hadi was arrested, but it is believed to have been in Iraq. Asia Times Online contacts confirm that he was exposed by Pakistani intelligence after it received news of Hadi's movements from Taliban sources close to the Pakistani establishment. Hadi, as a hardcore takfiri, [1] was seen as an enemy of Pakistan.

Although the date of Hadi's departure from the Waziristan tribal areas is not known, it was about the time that several powerful Taliban field commanders, including Jalaluddin Haqqani, Mullah Dadullah and the Taliban leader himself, Don't miss this: Mullah Omar, affirmed their support for the Pakistani establishment as a "Muslim state with a Muslim army". They stressed that instead of investing energy to destabilize Pakistan, the focus should be on the jihad in Afghanistan against foreign troops.

The one-legged Taliban commander of southwestern Afghanistan, Mullah Dadullah, had been sent to Waziristan with a letter from Mullah Omar early last year and he played a pivotal role in stopping the internecine strife between the Pakistani Taliban/al-Qaeda and the Pakistani armed forces. In the months after this, Mullah Dadullah and the Pakistani establishment agreed to a deal to support the Taliban in Afghanistan (see Pakistan makes a deal with the Taliban, Asia Times Online, March 1).

This re-emergence of a soft corner in the Taliban's leadership for the Pakistani establishment was the beginning of the end of al-Qaeda's effective operations in Pakistan, and al-Qaeda leaders felt that it was time to move from Waziristan.

Al-Qaeda adherents were not prepared to serve as foot soldiers under the command of the Taliban. They saw themselves as warriors with a much broader strategy aimed at bringing down US military might.

Why Pakistan was after Hadi
Pakistan's alliance in the US-led "war on terror" turned a whole generation of Arab fighters into foes. More than 700 Arab fighters were arrested by the Pakistani government after September 11, 2001, and handed over to US custody.

This prompted a segment of al-Qaeda to take revenge against the administration of President General Pervez Musharraf. A special cell was established in Waziristan, Jundullah (entirely different from the Iranian Jundullah), to carry out attacks, which it did on several occasions, against Musharraf. This placed Jundullah and takfiris like Hadi clearly in the Pakistani establishment's crosshairs.

In 2003, al-Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri spoke for the first time against the Pakistani establishment, calling Musharraf a "traitor" and urging Pakistanis to stand up against his rule. (For more on Hadi and his role in a conspiracy to attack Musharraf, see Pakistan and the al-Qaeda curse, ATol, October 1, 2003, and Al-Qaeda cell caught in US squeeze, June 15, 2004.)

Pakistan isolates al-Qaeda
By late 2003, the Pakistani military operation against al-Qaeda in South Waziristan had left the group somewhat battered, with its training camps destroyed, but at the same time this created lot of anger against the Pakistani forces. This helped al-Qaeda spread its takfiri and anti-establishment ideology among local tribes and led to the formation of the Pakistan Taliban, which by last year had formed the Islamic State of North Waziristan and the Islamic state of South Waziristan.

In this context, Mullah Dadullah's arrival in South Waziristan as Mullah Omar's envoy early last year was aimed at building bridges between the Pakistani establishment and these renegade Pakistani Taliban who were becoming imbibed with takfiri ideology and who were bloodthirsty for the Pakistani armed forces. Suicide attacks were rampant on troops in the tribal areas, as well as in Pakistani cities.

another troubling paragraph:
Dadullah's role paved the way for the Pakistani Taliban to sit with the Pakistani establishment to negotiate a ceasefire, and Pakistani Taliban commanders such as Haji Omar and Haji Nazir talked to Islamabad. Soon, a peace deal was agreed for the two Waziristans, but on the sole condition that all militants who were at loggerheads with the Pakistani establishment would take a back seat, leaving the lead to political faces

Pakistan's priorities were crystal-clear: it did not want anti-establishment elements thriving under the garb of takfiri ideology, although it had no problem with the Taliban regrouping and carrying out actions in Afghanistan.
really? no problem?

Leaders such as Haji Omar, Baitullah Mehsud, Sadiq Noor - all close to al-Qaeda - and other prominent commanders were put in the background and Haji Nazir became the most powerful Taliban commander in South Waziristan. Nazir, who was little known only a year ago, was the one who ordered the recent massacre of takfiri and anti-Pakistani establishment Uzbeks in South Waziristan.

These developments, including the infiltration by the Pakistani establishment of the rank and file of the Taliban, rattled al-Qaeda, which realized that its ideology was no longer acceptable in Waziristan and Afghanistan, and that the only way it could stay in Afghanistan was if it agreed to fight under Taliban commanders.

This was intolerable for operators such as Hadi, and dozens of them began the move to Iraq from Waziristan and Afghanistan. And Islamabad swooped on the chance when its intelligence learned of Hadi's movements and passed on the information to the US, thereby closing a powerful chapter of al-Qaeda's operations.

Posted by: 3dc || 05/01/2007 10:52 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This shows how close the Taliban is to the establishment!!!!

Could be handy if true that Al Qaeda are dispersed but i doubt Bin Laden and his no 2 are in Iraq!
Posted by: Paul || 05/01/2007 11:57 Comments || Top||

#2  good catch 3dc. The constant amongst the whole lot of Pashtoon Tribals is the constant change of allegiances.
Posted by: RD || 05/01/2007 12:24 Comments || Top||

#3  However, I'd like to point out that Perv got all kinds of shiat for making his deal with the Wazoo in the first place. However, in the long run what he and the US gets out of the deal is a return to the old status quo, but without the foreign al-Qaeda, which is a clear win for us.

And there is no guarantee that once the al-Qaeda are gone, Perv isn't going to eventually squash the Taliban in the Wazoos, as well--to split them apart from the tribals.

It is a frigging chess game. And I suspect that the US is quietly advising Perv on what pieces to move next.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/01/2007 12:54 Comments || Top||

#4  It is a frigging chess game. And I suspect that the US is quietly advising Perv on what pieces to move next.

Ain't gonna do us shit if Perv's ISI keeps telegraphing our moves to the enemy.
Posted by: Zenster || 05/01/2007 18:07 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Al Qaeda in Iraq Chief Killed UPDATE
...
Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, head of the regional anti-Al Qaeda group Anbar Salvation Council, claims fighters loyal to his group engaged in a two-hour battle with Al Qaeda members and that al-Masri was among them.
...
Risha said that seven terrorists, including al-Masri and three other foreigners, were killed in the battle that took place between Tarmiyah and Samarra north of Baghdad. He said al-Masri's body was turned over to American forces who had arrived on the scene following the fighting. Unackowledged by the US so far. However, I believe this guy much more than the Interior Ministry folks.
...
More at link, but it was previously published here.
Posted by: Brett || 05/01/2007 17:16 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


ISI Denies Reports of Abu Hamza's Death
On May 1, 2007, Islamist websites posted a communiqué by the ISI, which was founded by Al-Qaeda in Iraq, denying reports that its commander Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir has been killed.
This is the "Islamic State of Iraq", not the Pak intel agency.
The communiqué, issued by the "ISI Information Ministry," states that these reports stem from the Iraqi government's wish to cover up its defeat at the hands of the jihad fighters.
Now, pay attention and carefully read the text
The following are excerpts from the message:

It seems that the Shi'ite Al-Maliki government must [now] resort to spreading lies in the media... in order to cover up its failure to stop the blows of the jihad fighters... This government has announced that the apparatuses of apostates and collaborators have wounded the jihad fighter Sheikh Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir and killed his aide [in a location] north of Baghdad... [But the fact is that] Sheikh Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir is still wandering [free] in the Islamic State of Iraq, and fighting the enemies of Allah under the banner of Commander of the Believers Abu Omar Al-Baghdadi and [as a soldier in] the army of the Islamic State...

"These false reports by the [Iraqi] government – which have been denied even by its American masters – reflect its bankruptcy and frustration...

"Know that the army of the Islamic State is not [based on] one man but on many men – some who have already departed from this world and others who are still awaiting [death]...
"
Now, quick, what's wrong with this message? I'll wait.
.
.
.
The Iraqi government said they heard Abu Hamza was killed, not wounded and his aide killed. This is a repost of ISI's response from the last time we heard Abu was wounded and captured earlier this year. Interesting, yes?
Posted by: Steve || 05/01/2007 14:38 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Large delays in a command loop are the kiss of death...
Posted by: mojo || 05/01/2007 15:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Good catch Steve!
Posted by: Chenter Unimp7361 || 05/01/2007 15:23 Comments || Top||


Was al Masri betrayed by his own people?
Richard Miniter, Pajamas Media

American military investigators are racing north from Baghdad to Nihabi, a small village near Taji, to look for the body of Abu Ayuub al Masri, the fearsome leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, a senior American intelligence official told Pajamas Media.

Al Masri had just been reported dead hours earlier, following a firefight with a band of Sunni irregulars. Those irregulars are a story of their own, as will be revealed below. . . .

If he is dead, who killed him? Here media reporting appears confused, . . . . Most likely, our sources tell us, al Masri was felled by former insurgents who have come over to the American side. “Those would be the Albu Issa, which have been subjected to an incredibly brutal campaign by AQI that has included the use of chlorine bombs in Amariyah,” one official said. The Albu Issa tribe is allied with the Coalition are part of Sheikh Abdul Sattar’s Anbar Salvation Front, which unites 26 out of the 31 Anbar province tribes against al Qaeda.

“The US is working with a number of former insurgent groups including 1920 Revolution Brigade to fight AQI in Anbar,” the source adds. “Bill Roggio has reported in the past that many of the Anbar Salvation Front members are former 1920 Revolution Brigade or Islamic Army of Iraq fighters who have now joined the Coalition to fight AQI as part of Sheikh Abdul Sattar’s amnesty program.”

Nicely done.
Posted by: Mike || 05/01/2007 13:53 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You just know that when AQI is gone these guys are gonna turn on the coalition. Unless they have some internal score to settle, of course . . . .
Posted by: gorb || 05/01/2007 17:36 Comments || Top||

#2  By the time they turned on us, we'd know who they were, where they live, and a great many of their connections, all revealed while they were still allies, gorb. That's not likely to be an effective move for them, I shouldn't think.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/01/2007 21:57 Comments || Top||

#3  That's not likely to be an effective move for them, I shouldn't think.

Such trivialities have never deterred them before.
Posted by: Zenster || 05/01/2007 22:56 Comments || Top||

#4  I know, Zenster. And then our guys get to play with them, and we get to read such lovely headlines.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/01/2007 23:04 Comments || Top||

#5  I trust we are in violent agreement, as is often the case.
Posted by: Zenster || 05/01/2007 23:15 Comments || Top||


Iraq probes reports of al-Masri's death
BAGHDAD - Iraqi officials have received reports that the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq was killed by Sunni tribesmen, but the chief government spokesman said Tuesday the information has not been confirmed. The statement by spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh followed a welter of reports from other Iraqi officials that Abu Ayyub al-Masri had been killed. Iraqi officials have released similar reports in the past, only to acknowledge later they were inaccurate. U.S. officials said they could not confirm the reported death.

Al-Dabbagh told Al-Arabiya that word of al-Masri's purported death was based on "intelligence information," adding that "DNA tests should be done and we have to bring someone to identify the body." But he refused to say unequivocally whether Iraqi security forces have the body, citing security restrictions. Accounts were vague about when and where al-Masri supposedly died. "We will make an official announcement when we confirm that this person is Abu Ayyub al-Masri," he said. "The Iraqi government will work to identify him."

U.S. spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said the U.S. command was looking into the reports. "Obviously I hope it's true," Garver said, pointing out that previous Iraqi claims had proven false. "We want to be very careful before we confirm or deny anything like that."

Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh told The Associated Press that al-Masri was believed to have been killed Monday in the Taji area north of Baghdad. "Preliminary reports said he was killed yesterday in Taji area in a battle involving a couple of insurgent groups, possibly some tribal people who have problems with al-Qaida. These reports have to be confirmed."

Tribesmen in the western Anbar province have been fighting al-Qaida for weeks and claim to have killed dozens of them. Al-Masri, an Egyptian militant also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, took over leadership of the terror network and was endorsed by Osama bin Laden after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed last June in a U.S. airstrike in Diyala province.
This article starring:
ABU AIYUB AL MASRIal-Qaeda in Iraq
ABU HAMZA AL MUHAJERal-Qaeda in Iraq
Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh
spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh
U.S. spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/01/2007 08:05 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Come on 7!!!!, err... I mean 12!!!! Hey, don't be surprised, I am shiite. I hate that sunni infidel :).
Posted by: The Twelfth Imam || 05/01/2007 8:28 Comments || Top||

#2  "DNA tests should be done and we have to bring someone to identify the body."

I'd settle for his head on a stick...
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/01/2007 9:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Use a very pointy stick for that probe please. Nice and sharp.
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/01/2007 9:17 Comments || Top||

#4  The "aka's" are puzzling. Was this guy also known as al-Baghdadi?
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/01/2007 9:17 Comments || Top||

#5  It's a carpetbagger thing. Much like Hilary Rodham goes by al-Newyorki.
Posted by: ed || 05/01/2007 9:45 Comments || Top||

#6  Don't get too excited, people. This war is still lost.
Posted by: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. || 05/01/2007 10:16 Comments || Top||

#7  Either way, more splodydopes whacked.
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/01/2007 10:24 Comments || Top||

#8  ...you know, when we killed ADM Yamamoto (who at least had some kind of honor), it was hailed among those in the know as a landmark - we had taken out the best they could send out, and anyone who succeeded him was going to be inferior and it would reflect in their efforts. And, as it turned out, that was indeed the case.
This is, what - the THIRD time we've whacked the Abdul the Bul-Bul Emir for Iraq - and all we ever hear is, "It's not going to make much difference..."

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 05/01/2007 10:25 Comments || Top||

#9  #4 - Reidy al-Vegas
Posted by: 3dc || 05/01/2007 10:45 Comments || Top||

#10  Kind of a tangent, Mike, but after reading Shattered Sword, Yamamoto's strategic value to Japan certainly seems a question mark. He rammed the Midway operation through the senior command by threatening to resign, then burdened it with a bizarre design that probably contributed to the depth of the catastrophe for his forces.
Posted by: Verlaine || 05/01/2007 11:09 Comments || Top||

#11  No fair. Stop the surge. Too successful.
Posted by: danking_70 || 05/01/2007 11:11 Comments || Top||

#12  48-hour rule, I'm sure.

But, I love the smell of red-on-red in the morning.
Posted by: xbalanke || 05/01/2007 12:04 Comments || Top||

#13  Much like Hilary Rodham goes by al-Newyorki.

I read something the other day that the honourable senator is dropping her maiden name during the campaign. It confuses the punters, I s'pose.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/01/2007 12:34 Comments || Top||

#14  hey! Ima the real hidden one! and it's cold as a well diggers a** down here!

/$5 will gitya $2 ifya keep on gamblin.
Posted by: The Twelfth Imami || 05/01/2007 12:34 Comments || Top||

#15  Verlaine: Great book, isn't it? Probably the best nonfiction work I've ever read.
Posted by: Mike || 05/01/2007 13:10 Comments || Top||

#16  anyone who succeeded him was going to be inferior and it would reflect in their efforts. And, as it turned out, that was indeed the case.

It will always be the case, too. This is Islam's glass jaw. High context cultures are ruled by those who marshall and restrict access to essential resources or knowledge. Regardless of whether or not we've nailed this maggot, top-down elimination of al Qaeda's power structure is the only way to go.

A one-bullet-at-a-time war-fighting strategy is NOT going to work against terrorism. Not unless each of those bullets are fired from a sniper's gun into the heads of Islam's top clerics and terrorist planners. Cannon fodder is a dime a dozen in the MME (Muslim Middle East) shitholes.

If you need proof, just consider how much progress would be made in Iraq if Iran's ruling elite were taken out. The flow of shaped charges, mortars and other weapons would probably dry up overnight. Sadr's militias would become fair game while Hamas and Hezbollah would see their sugar daddy vanish overnight.

Finally, this is why the top al-Qaeda leaders keep getting capped in Iraq. Just like with the Palestinians, where a "senior operative" is all of 25 years-old, the knowledgability and depth of consecutive replacements in Iraq becomes ever more shallow as we weed our way through these turds.

Incidentally, for those of you with your salt shakers out, AOL is reporting this as a hit.
Posted by: Zenster || 05/01/2007 15:37 Comments || Top||


Al-Masri killed
The leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was killed on Tuesday in an internal fight between insurgents, the Interior Ministry spokesman said, but the U.S. military said it could not confirm the report.
Another source in the ministry said Masri had been killed in what he described as "probably score-settling within al Qaeda itself".
Spokesman Brigadier-General Abdul Kareem Khalaf told Reuters: "We have definite intelligence reports that al Masri was killed today". He said the battle happened near a bridge in the small town of al-Nibayi, north of Baghdad. Another source in the ministry said Masri had been killed in what he described as "probably score-settling within al Qaeda itself". Both Khalaf and the ministry source said the authorities did not have Masri's body, but the source added "our people had seen the body".
This article starring:
ABU AIYUB AL MASRIal-Qaeda in Iraq
Spokesman Brigadier-General Abdul Kareem Khalaf
Posted by: Destro in Panama || 05/01/2007 07:13 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Amen
Posted by: Alex || 05/01/2007 10:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Why do Michael Moore's Minute Men remind me of the Mafia?

Al
Posted by: Frozen Al || 05/01/2007 10:26 Comments || Top||

#3  Is this the end of Little Rico?
Posted by: Albemarle Glulet4077 || 05/01/2007 10:26 Comments || Top||

#4  Guess i can set in now...
Posted by: Rigor Mortis || 05/01/2007 10:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Gotta love 'red on red.' If this story pans out and a big fish is killed that way, then its probably a good indicator of a general trend.
Posted by: JAB || 05/01/2007 11:06 Comments || Top||

#6  48 Hour rule in effect.
Posted by: doc || 05/01/2007 12:33 Comments || Top||

#7  But the Dimocrats told us that there is no al Qaeda in Iraq!
Posted by: usmc6743 || 05/01/2007 12:40 Comments || Top||

#8  Not no more, there ain't.
Just a handful left, with al Rookie in charge.
Posted by: wxjames || 05/01/2007 14:55 Comments || Top||


Chlorine gas blast kills 6 in Ramadi
RAMADI, Iraq - A tanker laden with chlorine gas exploded near a restaurant west of the Iraqi city of Ramadi on Monday, killing up to six people and wounding 10, police and hospital sources said. The blast took place inside an area that houses restaurants, shops and cafes some 35 km (20 miles) west of Ramadi on a major road.

Ali Mohammed al-Hiti, a doctor at the nearby city of Hit, said his hospital had received six bodies and 10 sick people suffering from burns and breathing problems caused by the chlorine. A police source in Ramadi said the blast killed four people and wounded six.

Insurgents have increasingly used chlorine gas bombs, mostly in the western province of Anbar. Ramadi is the capital of Anbar. The effects of the gas have sickened hundreds of people.
And once again, the MSM has largely ignored the documented evidence of the use of chemical weapons in Iraq.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Where are they getting the tankers of chlorine?
Posted by: 3dc || 05/01/2007 0:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Ramadi is a Sunni town. These idiots are attacking their own support base. They'll go the same way as the Algerian jihadists.
Posted by: Apostate || 05/01/2007 2:04 Comments || Top||

#3  The local tribes are trying to toss the beturbanned invaders, so the beturbanned invaders have declared them apostates.
Posted by: Fred || 05/01/2007 8:32 Comments || Top||

#4  Chlorine is common in industrialized nations.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 05/01/2007 10:01 Comments || Top||

#5  and morons who will use it to kill their own people are common in arab countries.
Posted by: Senate treo || 05/01/2007 10:25 Comments || Top||

#6  Chuck - common is one thing.
If I wanted to to buy a tanker of chlorine, what do you think my chances are?
It would start with a quiz about my reasons and flags would slowly build up.
So... no BATF no DEA no regulations at all - nothing.

Look here in Illinois if I want to buy an over the counter thing like a styptic pencil or some allergy meds its behind the counter because some folk make nasty stuff with those things...

An amino-acid (a building block of life) even got outlawed after a questionable death in Japan for the real reason that some chemist had figured out an easy way to make LSD out of l-tryptophan and CLOROX. If that can happen in the US why can folks get hold of chlorine tanker trucks in Iraq without batting an eye and no trace?

Iraq really needs some NANNY-STATE memes.
Posted by: 3dc || 05/01/2007 10:41 Comments || Top||

#7  3dc:

i doubt that they are buying the stuff. rather more likely the tankers are heisted as they cross into the area or supplied by freindlies in neighboring countries.
Posted by: Abu do you love || 05/01/2007 11:12 Comments || Top||

#8  So require chlorine trailers to have working Lojac's or they are not permitted entry into Iraq.
Track them...
Posted by: 3dc || 05/01/2007 11:29 Comments || Top||

#9  3dc:

that is often refered in systems admin as "a silicon based solution to a carbon pased problem"

any enhanced security measure can and will be circumvented. this is first and formost a carbon based problem. eradicate those who would steal the trucks, and then we dont have to worry about the trucks beng stolen or having to solve the next delima when they adapt to having to disable a lojac system.

Posted by: Abu do you love || 05/01/2007 11:47 Comments || Top||

#10  If I wanted to to buy a tanker of chlorine, what do you think my chances are?

In a civilized nation? You'd probably face all sorts of paper work and, in the end, the transport would be handled by people trained and licensed to do it safely.

In a Third World country? Particularly in a Muslim country? A little baksheesh and the right contacts, and you're golden.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 05/01/2007 12:11 Comments || Top||

#11  Chlorine in Iraq is used to purify water. Since there few large sources of clean water, many places do their own purification. This results in lots of truck carrying chlorine for legit reasons.

Al
Posted by: Frozen Al || 05/01/2007 12:23 Comments || Top||

#12  They need tighter controls on it.
Posted by: Hank || 05/01/2007 14:39 Comments || Top||

#13  Newer water plants and even older plants are upgrading to Miox or Chlortec units, which generate the necessary hypochlorite disinfetant by electrolysis of salt brine solutions. The resultant solution is about 0.5% free hypochlorite. Chlorine gas is nasty stuff. Break the valve off the top of a cylinder and you are in deep doo doo, although you will be sanitized. The sooner you get the gaseous chlorine out of the area, any area, the safer you are.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 05/01/2007 14:46 Comments || Top||

#14  Where are they getting the tankers of chlorine?

It's used extensively in petrochemistry.

Posted by: Zenster || 05/01/2007 18:30 Comments || Top||


Suicide bomber kills 32 at Shiite funeral north of Baghdad
A suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives killed 32 people when he blew himself up among mourners at a Shiite funeral north of Baghdad on Monday, Iraqi police said. The attack took place inside a crowded mourning tent in the town of Khalis in Diyala province, police said. More than 52 people had been wounded, they said.

Since US and Iraqi forces launched a security crackdown in Baghdad in February, militants including Al-Qaeda have increasingly focused their attacks outside the capital. Diyala, a religiously mixed area, has been the scene of fierce fighting between US troops and Al-Qaeda as well as Sunni Arab insurgents. Residents said the funeral had been for the son of a Shiite family. The son had been killed by gunmen, they said.

In Anbar province, a tanker laden with chlorine gas exploded near a restaurant west of the city of Ramadi, killing six people and wounding 10, police and hospital sources said.
In Anbar province, a tanker laden with chlorine gas exploded near a restaurant west of the city of Ramadi, killing six people and wounding 10, police and hospital sources said.

Separately, at least eight bullet-riddled bodies, many bearing signs of torture, also were found in different cities. British Defense Secretary Des Browne made an unannounced visit to Baghdad on Monday and met his Iraqi counterpart, the British embassy said. Browne and his Iraqi counterpart, Abdel-Qader Jassem Mohammad, talked about the ongoing security crackdown in Baghdad and recent progress made in the war against Al-Qaeda in Anbar, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said.

Meanwhile, the first convicted war criminal in British history was fired from the army and sentenced to one year in jail on Monday after pleading guilty to abusing prisoners in Iraq. Corporal Donald Payne admitted abusing detainees in the case of Bahaa Moussa, an Iraqi hotel receptionist who died after receiving 93 separate injuries from repeated beatings in British custody in 2003.

In other developments, five US soldiers were killed in Iraq over the weekend, raising the number of American troops killed this month to over 100 and making April one of the deadliest of the war for US forces. The toll could increase the pressure on US President George W. Bush, who is fighting a plan by Democrats to set a timetable for withdrawing US forces from Iraq.

The US military said three soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter were killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad on Sunday. A Marine was killed in western Anbar province on Sunday. Another soldier was killed by small arms fire in eastern Baghdad on Saturday, the military said.

Elsewhere, US forces killed eight gunmen in Baghdad on Sunday, in what some witnesses described Monday as a clash with the Mehdi Army militia of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The US military said one Iraqi soldier was killed in the overnight raid in which US and Iraqi forces intended to capture "high-value individuals" meeting in the Shiite Kadhemiyya district, the US military said in a statement. It denied reports that US forces had entered a mosque and an office run by Sadr, but gave no affiliation for the gunmen.

A US military spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Garver, said US forces had set up an outer perimeter during the incident, while Iraqi forces carried out the operation. "The fight was between extremists and Coalition forces in the outer perimeter. Coalition forces came under fire and responded, and killed eight extremists," he said.

Thousands of followers of Sadr took to the streets in Baghdad on Monday in protest at the US operation. Sadr urged Iraqis on Monday to paint the concrete barriers springing up around Baghdad with murals showing what he dubbed the "ugly face" of the US military in Iraq.

American and Iraqi forces are gradually building a series of walls around or between some Baghdad neighborhoods, in what their commanders call a "concrete caterpillar" designed to protect residents from sectarian violence. But many Iraqis argue that the barricades will only heighten tension between Sunnis and Shiites by segregating the once mixed city.

Baghdad council has employed professional artists to paint the walls with calming landscapes and scenes depicting Iraq's natural beauty, but Sadr has something more dramatic in mind. "I call on you to draw magnificent tableaux that depict the ugliness and terrorist nature of the occupier, and the sedition, car bombings, blood and the like he has brought upon Iraqis," he said, in a statement issued by his office.
Posted by: Fred || 05/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Suicide bomber kills 32 at Shiite funeral north of Baghdad

Muslim funerals, the gift that keeps on giving.
Posted by: Zenster || 05/01/2007 15:42 Comments || Top||

#2  You know, if they hold a funeral for everyone killed, and a terrorist kills them, and they have funerals, by 6 iterations, the problem should be solved. (32^6 = about 1 billion)
Posted by: Jackal || 05/01/2007 21:49 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Olmert's Handling Of Lebanon War Slammed
(AKI) - A partial report by a government-appointed committee probing Israel's war with Lebanon last year sharply criticised Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert accusing him of "severe failure" of judgment, responsibility and caution. The report, officially released at an afternoon news conference in Jerusalem on Monday, says Olmert acted hastily in leading the country to war last July 12, without having a comprehensive plan. The prime minister, the report said, "bears supreme and comprehensive responsibility for the decisions of 'his' government and the operations of the army."

Olmert also came under fire for what the report said was his failure to consult with either military or non-military experts. "The prime minister made up his mind hastily, despite the fact that no detailed military plan was submitted to him and without asking for one," the report said. "He made his decision without systematic consultation with others, especially outside the IDF (Israeli Defence Force), despite not having experience in external-political and military affairs." Olmert was also censured for failing to "adapt his plans once it became clear that the assumptions and expectations of Israel's actions were not realistic and were not materializing."

"All of these," the report said, "add up to a serious failure in exercising judgment, responsibility and prudence."

As expected, defense minister Amir Peretz was also not spared criticism for his role before and during the month-long conflict. Pertz it said was unaware of the state of the Israel Defense Forces, even though he should have been. Peretz "did not have knowledge or experience in military, political or governmental matters. He also did not have good knowledge of the basic principles of using military force to achieve political goals."

Despite these deficiencies, the report states, "he made his decisions during this period without systemic consultations with experienced political and professional experts, including outside the security establishment." In fact, the panel found, "his serving as minister of defense during the war impaired Israel's ability to respond well to its challenges."
They'd have been better off with a log. At least they could have used it to build a fire if it got cold.
The complete findings of the commission are expected to be published by June.
Posted by: Fred || 05/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  DEBKA > IDF > OLMERT controversy has allegedly induced SYRIA = ASSAD into quietly transferring a SYRIAN BRIGADE from the Iraq border to Lebanon, in turn freeing up Syrian command units formerly based in Lebanon for "other duties".
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/01/2007 1:27 Comments || Top||

#2  Nothing invites agression like weekness
Posted by: Abu do you love || 05/01/2007 10:55 Comments || Top||

#3  If Hizb'Allah was cleaned out of southern Lebanon, Israel would have sent a message to Syria, Iran, and the moonbat Paleos in Gaza not to mess with her. The half baked operation was an unmitigated disaster, for Israel as well as the US. Olmert's mishandling of the operation, and hobbling of his military is bearing bitter fruit to Israel, as well as the US.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 05/01/2007 14:51 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Terrorists escalate attacks during OIC visit
Muslim separatists on Tuesday killed a Buddhist man, shot a child and set off bombs injuring two policemen in the deep South in attacks that coincided with a visit by the Organisation of Islamic Conference.

In Pattani province in the troubled deep South, 21-year-old Phanthong Sae Lasri died Tuesday in hospital from injuries sustained in a bomb blast at a market Monday night.

Another bomb exploded Tuesday morning at a Pattani bus stop, injuring two policemen. The attacks appeared to draw the attention of the visit of the OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu who was meeting with Thai officials and religious leaders in Bangkok on Tuesday.

Two unidentified assailants sitting on a motorcycle sprayed villagers in Klong Penang district of Yala province, 800 kilometres south of Bangkok, with automatic rifle fire at 7 am Tuesday, killing Aeb Buasri and injuring four others, including a two-year-old, said Klong Penang Police Sub-Lieutenant Wanawudh Sensiang. "The attack may have been an act of revenge for the burning of Ban Nang Satar, a nearby Muslim village in Yala, last night," said Wanawudh.

OIC's Ihsanoglu, after a meeting with Thai Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsongkram, expressed his concerns for the innocent victims of the violence. Ihsanoglu was scheduled to meet with Islamic leaders from the southern provinces Tuesday morning and afterwards hold talks with Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont.

Plus:

Insurgents opened fire at villagers at a gas station in Yala province Tuesday morning, killing one, as the secretary-general of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference visited the country to discuss solutions to unrest.

Police said the shooting took place at 8.30 a.m., when a 35-year-old rubber tapper was filling his pick-up. Four other people, including his two children, were injured in the attack. The insurgents, who came on motorcycle, then opened fire on his pick-up, killing instantly the man. The others all were hit and wounded. Other than the family members, a 19-year-old man who worked at the station also was wounded.

In Pattani, two patrol police were critically wounded when insurgents detonated a bomb in the morning. The police were on a break at a resting point in Mai Kaen district when insurgents detonated a bomb hidden there, severely wounding the two officers. They were rushed to Mai Kaen district hospital.

In Nong Chik district, about 100 Muslim women and children blocked a road in front of Nong Chik police station, demanding the release of suspects arrested on Monday night. Nong Chik police superintendent Thawal Nakatrawong negotiated with the protesters, saying police would release the suspects if they are innocent.

But wait, there's more:

Muslim insurgents attacked and severely injured a policeman at a road checkpoint near a police station Tuesday afternoon. The attack against the checkpoint near the Yingor district police station took place at 1:20 pm. Pol Sgt Maj Chanatip Jaruvej, 39, who was manning the checkpoint alone was attacked by two gunmen who arrived on a motorcycle. A bullet pieced through his neck and he was rushed to the provincial hospital. The insurgents left immediately after opening fire at him.
Posted by: ryuge || 05/01/2007 07:46 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Motorcycles being the common element - perhaps they should be banned in southern Thailand? Maybe a 1 month waiting period with full security check?
Posted by: 3dc || 05/01/2007 10:29 Comments || Top||

#2  if motorcycles are outlawed, only outlaws will have motorcycles...
Posted by: Abu do you love || 05/01/2007 11:03 Comments || Top||

#3  perhaps the Neck-High Piano Wire Of Doom™ is in order
Posted by: Frank G || 05/01/2007 11:05 Comments || Top||

#4  as the secretary-general of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference visited the country to discuss solutions to unrest.

Here's one.
How about all you infidels surrender?
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/01/2007 12:39 Comments || Top||

#5  I have a suggestion:
First, cut down EVERYTHING for 1Km from the border betwee Thailand and Malaysia.
Second, Pave the cleared area and set up manned pillboxes on the Thai side. Shoot anything and anyone trying to come across.
Third, begin deporting all muslims south to Malaysia. Shoot those that refuse.
Fourth, destroy all mosques.
Fifth, give the land to some of the hill tribesmen from northern Thailand, including the Hmong and Karen. Supply them with weapons.

I guarantee that if these things are done, the trouble will end.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/01/2007 21:14 Comments || Top||

#6  I once woriked on a project for the Govenrment of Thailand. The object was to construct a series of pre-positioned explosives that would blow open an anti-tank ditch. It was deemed impractical. Seems like it might work now.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 05/01/2007 21:23 Comments || Top||


Bomb wounds 20 in southern Thailand
A bomb blast rocked a busy night market wounding 20 people in southern Thailand, where an Islamic insurgency has killed more than 2,000 people since early 2004. A handwritten note found at the scene said the attack Monday in Pattani province's Muang district was revenge for a deadly weekend bombing at a mosque, said police Lt. Somjit Nasomyon.

Monday's bomb was hidden in the front basket of a motorcycle, which was parked in front of a Muslim food stall in the market in Muang district, said Somjit. The 20 wounded people, four of them severely hurt, were rushed to the hospital. Customers fled the scene in panic, and vendors closed their shops early, witnesses said. Somjit said a message written in red ink said, "This is revenge for people in the mosque ... who were cruelly killed by the soldiers."

Earlier Monday, suspected Muslim insurgents killed two Buddhist villagers, beheading one of them, and left a similar message saying the attack was in response to the mosque attack. The two burned bodies, one of them headless, were found on a road in Pattani's Nong Chik district, said police Lt. Natachai Janpho. A severed head was found about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the scene, he said, adding they were apparently killed Sunday night, but there was no indication as to how.

In a separate incident Monday, a bomb was detonated at a roadside restaurant in Narathiwat province's Sungai Kolok district, injuring one worker. The bomb was hidden in a bag that belonged to a customer who left the restaurant before the detonation, police said. It was triggered by a mobile phone that was later found near the scene.
Posted by: ryuge || 05/01/2007 07:42 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  1. bomb ... in front of a Muslim food stall
2. "This is revenge for people in the mosque"

Stupid is as stupid does.
Posted by: ed || 05/01/2007 10:15 Comments || Top||


Police Search For Grenade Throwers In Aceh
(AKI) - Police are hunting a number of terror suspects allegedly involved in several blasts in North Aceh, Indonesia's Antara news agency reported on Monday. "A series of grenade throwing had disrupted people's peacefulness. We have to intensity our investigation," said Aceh provincial police spokesman Sr. Comr. Jodi Heriyadi, quoted by Antara.

The latest incident occurred when a grenade exploded outside the home of a former rebel spokesman in Aceh province, but caused no injuries. The blast shattered the front windows of Sofyan Dawood's house in the northern town of Lhokseumawe, said local police chief Benny Gunawan. He was not home at the time of the attack, but other family members at the house were not injured. Police were collecting shrapnel for investigation. There were no witnesses and no arrests had been made, he said, adding that the motive for the attack was unclear.
My guess is that somebody wanted to blow his house up. What's yours?
Residents in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh were last Tuesday terrorised by two grenade attacks there. One of the grenades hit the Aceh Mobile Brigade police headquarters in the Aceh capital of Banda Aceh on Tuesday. The other was aimed at the residence of Lhokseumawe deputy mayor Suadi Yahya, a former GAM member, on Monday evening. Even though the grenade attack at the police headquarters did not cause any casualties, the operational vehicles belonging to the Mobile Brigade unit were damaged.

Yahya was away at the time of the attack on his residence. The grenade was thrown onto the roof of the house's security post and exploded three meters away after falling into the garden. The explosion broke window glass at the front part of the house and damaged the walls. There were no casualties.
Posted by: Fred || 05/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Ahmadinejad Supporters Stab Protesters At Top University
(AKI) - A group of supporters of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday forced their way into the campus of top Tehran university Amir Kabir Polytechnic and assaulted a group of student activists who were staging a peaceful rally against the detention of their spokesman Babak Zamanian, who was arrested last week. About a dozen students who were stabbed and attacked with chains were transferred to hospital. A similar attack by Ahmadinejad supporters was carried out Monday against activists at the university of Lorestan, in western Iran.

About a dozen government supporters wounded with knives students who were staging a demonstration on campus. One of the protesters, Siamak Nadali is in hospital in a critical condition.

Students at the university of Lorestan were carrying out an all-out protest, following the example of their peers in the capital Tehran, in Babol near the Caspian sea, and Shiraz in the west, who are rallying against new government measures imposing strict new dress codes and opening hours on campus as well as restrictions on political activity.

Last December, dozens of protesters burned pictures of Ahmadinejad crying 'dictator go away', 'death to dictatorship' and threw firecrackers when Ahmadinejad was visiting Amir Kabir university in Tehran. The rally forced him to interrupt several times a speech he was giving and leave before scheduled.

The students’ complaints largely mirrored public frustrations over the president’s crackdown on civil liberties, his poor economic policies and a Holocaust denial conference his government had organised early December. They also protested against the president’s campaign to purge the universities of all aspects of the reform movement of his predecessor, Mohammad Khatami. It was the first time since his landslide victory in June 2005 that Ahmadinejad was challenged in public.
Posted by: Fred || 05/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The students need tasers!
Posted by: 3dc || 05/01/2007 0:41 Comments || Top||

#2  The Basji Boys are on the prod...
Posted by: Caesar Hupang1125 || 05/01/2007 1:27 Comments || Top||

#3  More allies of the Democratic Party.
Posted by: Excalibur || 05/01/2007 8:41 Comments || Top||

#4  MoveBack.Org
Posted by: Frank G || 05/01/2007 9:02 Comments || Top||

#5  but this was a peaceful protest...
Posted by: Abu do you love || 05/01/2007 11:06 Comments || Top||

#6  Hey Whackjob, How ya gonna build and maintain all them high-tech weapons if you go around stabbing all of your brightest tech students?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 05/01/2007 11:37 Comments || Top||

#7  Good rule of thumb: never attend a "peaceful protest" unless you are armed to the teeth.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/01/2007 12:59 Comments || Top||

#8  Each day Monkey Boy Ahmadinejad's Islamo-nazis thugs are creating a counter domestic army for a Mullah régime free Iran through their brutal actions.
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 05/01/2007 13:00 Comments || Top||

#9  MoveBack.Org
har har hee
Posted by: Shipman || 05/01/2007 13:15 Comments || Top||

#10  throwback.org is more appropriate.

the left has a record, no economics, just thuggary.
Posted by: 2g 2 u har har1697 || 05/01/2007 13:31 Comments || Top||

#11  The religon of peace!
Posted by: gorb || 05/01/2007 17:15 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Must See: Yon TV!
Posted by: Frank G || 05/01/2007 17:40 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  didn't quite know where to post this, Mods - move as you see fit
Posted by: Frank G || 05/01/2007 18:20 Comments || Top||


G'mornin'...
Younger brother replaces drunk Indian groom at weddingSuicide bomber kills 32 at Shiite funeral north of BaghdadClan festivities kill 10 in southern SomaliaOlmert's Handling Of Lebanon War SlammedAhmadinejad Supporters Stab Protesters At Top UniversitySeparate religion from politics: MP BhandaraKhaleda's brother made BNP vice-president
Show me a woman with a cabbage between her bazooms and I just lose control...
Posted by: Fred || 05/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Measurements: 39 1/2-22-36 (as Miss Sweden 1950), 42-27-38 (posingn for glamour photos in 1982 at age 50), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)
Posted by: Excalibur || 05/01/2007 8:40 Comments || Top||

#2  :-)
Posted by: Frank G || 05/01/2007 8:41 Comments || Top||

#3  Cabbages! Why do they hate us?
Posted by: Almost Anonymous5839 || 05/01/2007 9:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Fred,
After yesterday's picture, I think I'm detecting a trend.

Al
Posted by: Frozen Al || 05/01/2007 10:33 Comments || Top||

#5  Yeah, I needa Eckberg.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 05/01/2007 12:09 Comments || Top||

#6  Welcome to Rantburg Dairy Week
Posted by: Fred || 05/01/2007 13:42 Comments || Top||

#7  thanks for the Mammaries, Fred. And the cabbage
Posted by: Frank G || 05/01/2007 14:25 Comments || Top||

#8  eeewwwww!!!! Cleanup on aisle #8.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 05/01/2007 15:14 Comments || Top||

#9  The mods beat me to it. Thanks. That was nasty.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 05/01/2007 15:15 Comments || Top||

#10  Augustino, that link is not appropriate and definitely not safe for work. Mods, please clean.
Posted by: remoteman || 05/01/2007 15:25 Comments || Top||

#11  Augustino was a comment spambot.

I'll take Anita over a spambot any day.
Posted by: Mike || 05/01/2007 16:16 Comments || Top||

#12  Still Augistino is a fine name for a 'Bot and was nearly mannerly.
Posted by: Shipman || 05/01/2007 17:25 Comments || Top||

#13  Cabbage: the other white meat!
Posted by: USN, ret. || 05/01/2007 20:24 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2007-05-01
  Abu Ayyub al-Masri reported rubbed out
Mon 2007-04-30
  UK police charges 6 with inciting terror, fundraising
Sun 2007-04-29
  Somalia president claims victory, asks for international help
Sat 2007-04-28
  Missiles Kill Four Hard Boyz in Pakistan
Fri 2007-04-27
  US House okays deadline for Iraq troop pullout
Thu 2007-04-26
  London: Four men plead guilty to explosives plot
Wed 2007-04-25
  IDF to request green light to strike Hamas leadership
Tue 2007-04-24
  Lal Masjid calls for jihad against ''un-Islamic'' govt
Mon 2007-04-23
  51 killed as Somalia fighting rages
Sun 2007-04-22
  Khaleda sets out for exile any time now...
Sat 2007-04-21
  Rocket fired at Fazl's house
Fri 2007-04-20
  Paks demonstrate against mullahs
Thu 2007-04-19
  Harry Reid: "War Is Lost"
Wed 2007-04-18
  Sadr pulls out of govt
Tue 2007-04-17
  Iranian Weapons Intended for Taliban Intercepted

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