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Hezbollah telecom network shut down
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Afghanistan
Global Bullshit Alert: Muslim analyst says Coalition tried to assassinate Karzai
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/07/2008 19:26 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think these guys have seen Syriana too many times.

Thanks Hollywierd.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/07/2008 20:06 Comments || Top||

#2  yeah because the Taliban has never assasinated anyone
Posted by: sinse || 05/07/2008 20:42 Comments || Top||

#3  I bet he really believes it too! So much for the Muslim analyst.
Posted by: Crolusing tse Tung2778 || 05/07/2008 21:25 Comments || Top||

#4  The analyst is clean shaven. Obviously he can't possibly know what he's talking about.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/07/2008 21:56 Comments || Top||


US Army Special Forces foreign internal defense (FID) mission.
Rish Khvor, Afghanistan - Pvt. Said Reza says he's ready to be a soldier in his country's fight against extremists, and as he stands in uniform in the middle of a training camp here with his semiautomatic rifle, kneepads, and American-style dark glasses, he looks the part.

Private Reza has already graduated from basic soldier training. He volunteered to become a member of an elite unit of the Army that is being groomed to become a model force of Afghan warriors. "The only thing I know is that these [extremists] are a bunch of people who sell their country for a very small amount of money," says Reza of the extremists he expects to fight. When asked if he's ready to take them on, his answer is simple: "Bali ho" – of course.

Trained to be "the best of the best," who fight in riskier, more complex political and military environments – say, taking on a popular tribal leader aligned with the Taliban – the Commandos are distinct from the regular Army but are expected to help define the image and capabilities of Afghan security forces as a whole. The goal is an elite, quick-reaction force that can act independently. It's a crucial addition for an uneven US-NATO mission that many military and civilian leaders agree has evolved in a way that has let the Taliban resurface.

But here at this former Soviet training base in the town of Rish Khvor, near Kabul, the company of US Army Special Forces Command in Afghanistan, 3rd Special Forces Group that is training this band of men is in no danger of putting itself out of a job. With training that gives them a leg up from the common Afghan soldier, these Afghans have helped US forces to nab 40 of the most wanted extremist leaders since last year.

But commandos still require oversight, especially when it comes to advanced planning for missions, says the American commander here, who cannot be identified by virtue of his job in Special Forces. They also need help on the missions themselves, as the commandos have no aircraft to speak of and must rely on their US partners in a myriad of ways.

Yet the advent of the 3,500-strong force, now just a year old, is a natural fit in a country that has seen decades of war and where an inherent warrior ethos helps the drive toward a professional military. In Iraq, US forces training Iraqi security forces gripe that many soldiers don't have the necessary will or discipline. But trainers here say they see plenty of will – they just need to be shown the way.

A permanent home?

The base here in eastern Afghanistan is nestled amid low mountains in a relatively safe, remote area that stands in contrast to the violence of southern Afghanistan.

The base is likely to become the permanent home of the commandos. American officers here hope they can build up the program as much as possible, but unlike coalition forces training the regular Army, the Special Forces expect a long-term relationship with this base as they seek to build and then nurture the program. "We are sure these guys won't leave us," says Col. Abdul Jaber, the commander of the battalion currently undergoing training.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/07/2008 05:29 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Supplies for the force also continue to be a problem. Red tape, onerous Department of State regulations, and manufacturing delays have all contributed to equipment shortages that have handicapped the kandaks' effectiveness, American officials say.

Each kandak, for example, is mandated to have 51 Ford Ranger pickup trucks. But each battalion has only 30 or so, American officials here say.
Posted by: RD || 05/07/2008 12:44 Comments || Top||

#2 
*Sigh* them lucky bastids!

'51 Ford Pick Up Truck

/>:>
Posted by: RD || 05/07/2008 12:50 Comments || Top||

#3  "these extremists are a bunch of people who sell their country for a very small amount of money."

*happy sigh* What a beautifully efficient insult! Private Reza is clearly going to be a good Special Forces soldier. Happy hunting to them all!
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/07/2008 13:21 Comments || Top||

#4  "these extremists are a bunch of people who sell their country for a very small amount of money."

Since when did bipartisan politics overtake Afghanistan?
Posted by: gorb || 05/07/2008 13:42 Comments || Top||

#5  RD, I had one in 1978, got Stupid and sold it.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 05/07/2008 16:14 Comments || Top||

#6  Ah yes, trucks with teeth.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/07/2008 17:18 Comments || Top||

#7  There's a word for those who can't learn from experience.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/07/2008 18:20 Comments || Top||

#8  Gee-Whiz no one got my Korny Joke...:(
heh heh

Posted by: RD || 05/07/2008 20:07 Comments || Top||

#9  TOPIX > US SEES IRAN AS TERROR THREAT [terror bases/staging areas] FROM LATIN AMERICA [in case of US-Iran Conflict].

Also from TOPIX > BARUK: ISRAEL IS [already?] FIGHTING THE NEXT WAR; + THE LOOMING THREAT TO ISRAEL IS FROM WITHIN.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/07/2008 23:58 Comments || Top||


May 2008 Khost
7 years later, it's looking good in Khost
Posted by: Crolusing tse Tung2778 || 05/07/2008 04:19 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Very good, indeed.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/07/2008 13:33 Comments || Top||


Taliban kill Canadian soldier in Afghanistan
Taliban insurgents killed a Canadian soldier in a clash in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar on Tuesday, the Canadian military said. It said another Canadian soldier was also wounded in the incident in the Zhari district to the west of the city of Kandahar, the scene of frequent clashes between NATO-led forces and Taliban militants.

Canada has some 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, mainly based around the former Taliban de-facto capital of Kandahar, and has sustained one of the highest casualty rates among international forces in the country. The latest death would bring the total number of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan since 2001 to 83.
Posted by: Fred || 05/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  FWIW, they have also killed more Taliban than most.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 05/07/2008 21:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Rest in peace with our thanks, soldier.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/07/2008 21:44 Comments || Top||

#3  TOPIX > PAKISTANI RADICAL GROUPS FACILITATING ARAB FUNDING TO TALIBAN, AL QAEDA.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/07/2008 23:52 Comments || Top||


US-led troops kill militants in Kandahar
US-led coalition troops say they killed several 'militants' in east Afghanistan, while a roadside bomb in the south wounded five people.

The coalition said in a statement that its troops killed a number of 'militants' during a raid Monday on several compounds in the Achin district of Nangarhar province. The troops also detained a militant suspected of involvement in conducting bomb attacks in the region during the raid, the statement said. The coalition did not provide the exact number of militants killed.

In southern Afghanistan, which is the center of the Taliban-led insurgency, a bomb placed on a bicycle just outside the city of Kandahar hit a car carrying policemen Tuesday, wounding three officers and two civilians, AP reported. Provincial police official Mohammad Shoaib said the officers worked at a police training academy.

Insurgents often target police, who are more vulnerable and exposed than the better-trained and equipped Afghan national army. Over 920 police officers were killed by militants in 2007.
Posted by: Fred || 05/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Orcs hit a civilian heli in Kunar
Rebels' attack on a civilian helicopter in eastern Afghanistan has left no casualties but forced the chopper to make an emergency landing. No one was injured in the incident in Kunar province, which borders Pakistan, NATO's International Security Assistance Force, ISAF, said on Monday.

ISAF statement said the helicopter made a landing at an ISAF base, in central Kunar, after taking machine gunfire from an unknown number of militants. "The aircrew inspected the aircraft and found one bullet hole that did minor damage to the helicopter," the statement added. The military was not available to provide further information.

Militants have hit several military helicopters in the past. In an attack on a Chinook helicopter in June 2005, 16 US soldiers were killed.
Posted by: Fred || 05/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Arabia
Fifty al-Houthi hard boyz bite the dust
The death toll from clashes in Yemen has climbed to 50, after 19 insurgent forces were killed in fresh clashes in Saada province. The Zaidi group chief Abdul Malak al-Huthi, has blamed the army for the renewed bloodshed in northwestern Yemen that broke out Friday.

A local Yemeni official in anonymity said six soldiers were wounded in the fighting in the Haydan district village of Dafaa for control of the camp.

The clashes erupted when army assault was launched to regain Dafaa military camp, which has been controlled by the opposition group for the past three months, al-Huthi said. "The renewed tension is due to the repeated aggressions of the army ... which is using tanks and other weapons ... in unjustified operations" in the mountainous province of Saada, Huthi told RMC Middle East. "Military chiefs refuse to bring an end to the war because it serves their interests," he charged, while at the same time denying any links between the revolt and Iran.

The dissident group are fighting to restore a Zaidi Shia imamate, which was overthrown in a 1962 republican coup in Yemen. The group is known as Huthis after the death of their late commander Hussein Badr Eddin al-Huthi who was killed in September 2004.
Posted by: Fred || 05/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
N. Korea destroys nuke tower
N. Korea explodes the cooling tower at its Yongbyon nuke facility within a day of the removal from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism. While destruction of the tower, the facility's most recognizable feature, was seen as mostly symbolic, US officials saw it as striking visual evidence that North Korea was retreating from its nuclear ambitions, The Washington Times reported.

During talks last week, North Korean officials also tentatively agreed to hand over thousands of pages of documents, dating to 1990, concerning the daily production records of the facility. Moreover, North Korea reaffirmed it would act quickly after Pyongyang is removed from the US's terrorism list.

The North shut down the Yongbyon plant and is in the process of disabling it under a deal reached with the US, China, the two Koreas, Japan and Russia.
Posted by: Fred || 05/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If this is found to be true (by the MSM) then it will be hailed as a diplomatic victory for the Bush Administration, right?

Attributed to Clinton-Carter diplomacy?

Ignored, because it might be seen as a positive action by BusHitlerHalliburtonCheney?
Posted by: Bobby || 05/07/2008 6:29 Comments || Top||

#2  The Norks have already moved on to Uranium enrichment using centrifuges. Courtesy of Pakistan.
Posted by: ed || 05/07/2008 8:39 Comments || Top||

#3  You have to wonder how much the Israeli bombing of that Syrian facility had to do with this. But then again, you always have to wonder if it's just another NORK trick.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/07/2008 11:56 Comments || Top||

#4  The next time it snows in North Korea, I'd search the entire country for any area snow-free. Then I'd begin looking for tunnel mouths and "unusual" activity. It there isn't any, then we know the Koreans have actually ended their nuclear reactor program. If we do, then we know kimmie just moved everything into a cave dug into a mountain.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/07/2008 12:34 Comments || Top||

#5  You guys are so suspicious!
Posted by: Kimmie || 05/07/2008 18:05 Comments || Top||

#6  This is a Christopher Hill sucker trick by the NORKS. A Charlie Brown-Football moment.
Posted by: Alaska Paul in Thorne Bay, AK || 05/07/2008 19:11 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Five Baitullah bombers enter Karachi
Five members of Baitullah Mehsud group, who could be potential suicide bombers to target officials and government property, have entered Karachi, Daily Times learnt Tuesday.

According to sources, the Federal Interior Ministry sent the letter detailing the potential threat to the Sindh Home Department. Reading from the letter, the source said that the five men have reached Karachi from Wana, Waziristan to carry out suicide bombings.

They could use new technology or methods. Sindh Home Minster Arif Khan confirmed the news, saying that this was not the first time this had happened.

“We receive such letters routinely and take all possible precautionary measures,” he said, adding that they did not want to disclose such threats which may create panic among people and hamper the progress of the law enforcement agencies.
Posted by: Fred || 05/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Bugti notable killed in Dera Allah Yar blast
DERA MURAD JAMALI: A Bugti tribal elder was killed and six others injured in a blast on Sohbatpur road near Dera Allah Yar on Tuesday. According to local police, the deceased, Wadaira Bangul Khan Bugti, along with his son Tariq Hussain and a companion Changaiz Khan was coming to Dera Allah Yar in a pickup van when a remote-controlled bomb planted on the roadside went off. Bugti died on the spot, while Tariq, Changaiz and four passers-by were injured. They were rushed to a nearby hospital where all of the passers-by were discharged after receiving first aid, while Tariq and Changaiz were stated to be in critical condition. Hospital staff said that they would be moved to Larkana for further treatment.
Posted by: Fred || 05/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


2 policemen gunned down in Swat
A dozen men gunned down two police constables in a busy market in Swat’s Matta tehsil on Tuesday morning, eyewitnesses and officials said.

Constables Aziz Muhammad and Sardar Ali were on duty at a bank when they came under fire from the assailants, who fled the scene successfully after the attack. The police officials were rushed to hospital, where they succumbed to their injuries.

Security forces resorted to aerial firing after the incident — forcing shopkeepers to pull down their shutters — and launched a search operation in the area. . Officials said several suspects were apprehended during the operation, and had been moved to an undisclosed location for further investigations.

The killings came on the heels of tall claims made by the ANP-led provincial government of making peace with militants in Malakand.

Meanwhile, addressing a delegation of traders from Swat valley on Tuesday, Malakand Deputy Inspector General of Police Tanveerul Haq Sipra said that all possible means would be used to restore peace in the area. Sipra said restoring peace was the foremost priority of the law-enforcement agencies. Lawlessness in the valley had destroyed the tourism industry in Swat, destroyed business and resulted in huge losses to the area’s economy, he added.
Posted by: Fred || 05/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TNSM


Bomb attack kills 4 in Pakistan
At least four people, including a policeman, have been killed and several others injured in a bomb attack in northwest Pakistan. The attack took place near a security checkpoint in the garrison town of Bannu. According to police, the bomber, who was traveling in a rickshaw, detonated his explosives when officers signaled to him to stop.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, and it was not clear whether police had prevented an attack on a different target. The checkpoint is near the office of an intelligence agency.
Posted by: Fred || 05/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


Bajaur Talibs release four hostages
Taliban have released four people, including two workers of an American NGO, who had been taken hostage in Pakistan. "All the four hostages were released through the mediation of a tribal Jirga (tribal elders' council) from Ambar area of Bajaur Agency," a local official told dpa on Saturday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the hostages included two workers of Save the Children - a US organization that works on child rights in the region - and two Pakistani government employees.

The NGO workers were taken hostage by local Taliban a few days previously as they were visiting the neighboring Mohammand tribal district which has recently seen a rise in violence by militants.
Posted by: Fred || 05/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Iraq
Cockle Warming Alert: Mahdi rocket team gets Tickets to Paradise - Video
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/07/2008 16:58 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Cockles warmed. Thank you!
Posted by: anymouse || 05/07/2008 17:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Seems to have been pulled from LiveLeak.
Posted by: phil_b || 05/07/2008 18:24 Comments || Top||

#3  Good news: The video is working again!
Posted by: gorb || 05/07/2008 18:27 Comments || Top||

#4  Bad news: The video has stopped working, again!
Posted by: Big Shatle3920 || 05/07/2008 18:30 Comments || Top||

#5  It's back.

That building on the other side of the wall has some of the unique features of a hospital. I guess the Red Crescent doesn't show up in infrared.

Inquiring minds want to know.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/07/2008 19:21 Comments || Top||

#6  It works for me in FireFox just a bit better than IE... if the first player and browser doesn't work then try some more...
Posted by: RD || 05/07/2008 19:40 Comments || Top||


Iraqi militia commanders harden stance toward U.S. - Now we really want to kill you
BAGHDAD -- It was sunset, and a pair of Iraqi soldiers were sitting in a roofless house by the Iranian border, awaiting orders. Suddenly, Abu Baqr recalls, his friend let out a gasp and fell silent, a sniper's bullet in his forehead. Abu Baqr couldn't help him, couldn't move for fear of being shot. He lay beside his friend's corpse until morning. "How would you feel after that?" Abu Baqr asked. "You come out of that, you only come out bad."

Abu Baqr, now a commander in the Mahdi Army militia of cleric Muqtada Sadr, blames Iran for what happened to his friend more than 20 years ago during Iraq's war with Iran, just as he blames Saddam Hussein for that conflict.

He still hates Iran. But now, he said, he accepts its weapons to fight the U.S. military, figuring he can deal with his distaste for the Iranians later. So he takes bombs that can rip a hole in a U.S. tank and rockets that can pound Baghdad's Green Zone without apology or regret.
I send the rockets up, where they come down is Inshallah.
Abu isn't too bright. The Iranians killed your friend, Abu, not us, but if you pick up arms against us, we'll kill you. That'll make your revenge against the Iranians a little difficult ...
"I think that the Iranians are more dangerous than the Americans. I hate them and I don't trust them," he said in an interview over soft drinks. But the militia has limited resources, he said, and "therefore, when somebody gives you or offers help, it's hard to say no."
Gun sex is addictive.
He laughed: "If it came from Israel, we would use it."
That's that Arab thingie again.
I'd use that. Sart spreading rumors that the Zionists are supplying the arms that the Iranians claim to be providing, so as to get Arab to kill Arab ...
Abu Baqr's attitudes illustrate the pragmatism of a movement under siege. Elements of the Mahdi Army are engaged in an intense conflict with rival Shiite Muslim parties in the Iraqi government that benefit from their own close ties to Iran and, more advantageously, the assistance of America's superior firepower.

The attitudes of commanders such as Abu Baqr would seem to confirm U.S. accusations of Iranian meddling in Iraq. Although the extent of their relationship remains unclear, the commanders have embraced a hardened stance that may bode ill for the U.S. military.
Now we're really mad and we're going to set off EFPs and rocket the Green Zone, more.
These leaders confound U.S. attempts to categorize and differentiate between moderate fighters and what U.S. officers call the Iranian-funded and trained "special groups" that are believed to continue armed struggle against American forces despite a truce called by Sadr.
We could kill them all and let Allan sort it out.
"It blurs out there," acknowledged a senior U.S. military commander who is not authorized to talk publicly about the various factions within the Mahdi Army, which is thought to number as many as 60,000 fighters.

Abu Baqr is a senior commander in a few neighborhoods of Baghdad's Sadr City district, responsible for at least 100 fighters. He is trusted enough by the movement that he has served as a mediator between factions in trouble spots in southern Iraq.
Mediator, Hit Man, same/same.

The price of survival

A year ago, in one of a series of interviews with The Times, his voice rose in anger when he talked of Iran's efforts to co-opt the Mahdi Army movement. He seethed about Tehran's drive to recruit fighters to bomb U.S. convoys at a time when Sadr was trying to halt such activities. He railed against militia members whom Iran had bought off.
Free tickets to Paradise and Virgin Vouchers for everyone.
At this time of immense pressure, however, he embraces the breakaway factions. "Not all Jaish al Mahdi members are angels," he acknowledged, using the group's Arabic name. "Some have material interests in mind and they're greedy, and so Iran was able to hit on this particular angle and put them on its side."

But this is the price of survival. His positions shift tactically from moment to moment. He believes the militia should fight the Americans to the end, but even now he hints he is ready to strike a truce on honorable terms with the U.S. military if it agrees to halt its operations against the militia in Baghdad.
An Arab offer of a truce means they know they are losing and need time to recruit new canon fodder. In the imortal words of Patton we should "hold them by the nose and kick them in the ass".
Until March, Sadr loyalists such as Abu Baqr had worked to enforce a freeze the cleric ordered last year on the militia's activities. But that month, everything fell apart when the government launched controversial military operations against Shiite militias in the port city of Basra and in Sadr City, the Shiite slum. The Sadr movement saw the operation as specifically targeting its fighters.

Abu Baqr stopped reining in fighters and once more switched to a war footing. "The balloon has burst," he said soberly.

With gray hair, a slight paunch and the nimble gait of a former athlete, Abu Baqr has played various roles in his five years with Sadr's sprawling grass-roots nationalist movement. In the fall of 2006, he helped inaugurate so-called punishment committees to get rid of militia members who defied Sadr's decrees and were perceived to be committing criminal activities.
He mediated their trip to visit Allan.
He does not talk of what happens when men, insubordinate to Sadr, are brought to religious courts, where underlings speak of beatings and death.
I don't know what happened, he seemed to suddenly lose his head.
Abu Baqr's stature in the Mahdi Army stems from his actions in the final years of Hussein's regime, which favored Sunni Arabs. He heeded the call of Sadr's father, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadeq Sadr. The foundering war veteran was inspired by the grand ayatollah's sermons and defiance of Hussein, finding a fresh purpose in his life. "We started thinking more about and worshiping God, trying to get rid of the injustice on our people," he said.
We personnaly wouldn't hurt a fly.
When Sadr's father and two brothers were killed by unknown gunmen in 1999, Abu Baqr dedicated himself to battling Hussein and joined a secret cell that he says killed some Baath Party officials, with the approval of some clerics. "All of the things we do, we seek to please God, to approach God," he said, describing the violence at that time.
Allan loves violence.
Abu Baqr says he had actually welcomed the Americans five years ago when they toppled Hussein. He handed out flowers to U.S. soldiers early in 2003 and played soccer with them in the street. But he said their behavior convinced him early on that they were not leaving and were intent on antagonizing Sadr. By April 2004, Abu Baqr had joined in the first of the revolts against the Americans.

It has been a long road since then. One of his sons was gunned down firing a rocket-propelled grenade toward a tank in May 2004.
Imagine that, gunning down a inocent civilian launching a rocket.

An enduring fight

On some nights, he helps oversee battles, operating from buildings, coordinating with fighters by cellphone, radio and courier.

He claims the Mahdi Army has men everywhere inside the heart of the Iraqi police and army. "It is our right to place elements within the Iraqi army and police," he said. "We are even close to the operations command, and they give us information in real time."

He brags about the ambushes they have set for the U.S. and Iraqi troops -- lining alleys with bombs for armored vehicles. He boasts about the militia's knowledge of the Green Zone and the layout of the U.S. Embassy and houses and offices of prominent Iraqis. "We know the Green Zone inch by inch," he said. "We are working 24/7 gathering information."

Like his late son, he claims, he is ready to die fighting the Americans and has no doubts about sacrificing himself for the Sadr movement.
Please go to Hellfire Will Call and pick up your Tickets to Paradise.
"We believe in God. God is with us," he said. "The first and foremost agenda is to kick out the American occupation. The Iranians are right next door. The Americans come from far away."
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/07/2008 12:27 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Now we really want to kill you

... but we know you'd hand us our asses in a trice, so we'll keep killing random strangers!
Posted by: mojo || 05/07/2008 15:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Abu Baqr Charlie
Abu Baqr Charlie

Sorry, couldn't resist. Also, just for style reference ... a person called Abu Baqr would not be shortened to just Abu unless as a sign of respect. Abu means basically "father" so Abu Baqr would be something like "Father of cow" ... so I wonder if that isn't some crafty Arab playing a little joke on a reported feeding him "bullshit".

It is common practice to use Abu to assign almost nicknames to people. It is almost never their real name.
Posted by: crosspatch || 05/07/2008 16:12 Comments || Top||

#3  Abu...You are next.
Posted by: anymouse || 05/07/2008 17:12 Comments || Top||

#4  See FREEREPUBLIC > IRANIAN HEADLINERS CRITICIZE KHATAMI - DEBATE/CONTROVERSY OVER "EXPORTING THE REVOLUTION".

Perhaps ABU BAQR can talk wid NORTH KOREA about how sovereign and independent from China they are.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/07/2008 18:28 Comments || Top||

#5  Actually, "Father of Cattle" might be a more accurate description. And in the old days it would have been to signify one of wealth.
Posted by: crosspatch || 05/07/2008 18:39 Comments || Top||

#6  Abu isn't too bright.

Abu isn't too bright. Seems to be a malady in this part of the world. They suffer from "cantfigureoutwhoyourrealfriendsare_itis."
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/07/2008 19:46 Comments || Top||

#7  He still hates Iran. But now, he said, he accepts its weapons to fight the U.S. military, figuring he can deal with his distaste for the Iranians later.

There are plenty of angry people, but he's not really channeling his anger in the right direction. These guys are nothing compared to VC.

but even now he hints he is ready to strike a truce on honorable terms with the U.S. military if it agrees to halt its operations against the militia in Baghdad.
Posted by: Crolusing tse Tung2778 || 05/07/2008 21:33 Comments || Top||

#8  "Father of cattle"

Fascinating, crosspatch. More interesting translations as they come up, please -- because it helps to understand the culture, and because I'm greedy to learn such things. :-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/07/2008 22:03 Comments || Top||


ISF, MND-B soldiers kill nine criminals, find cache in Mosque no less
BAGHDAD – Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Division – Baghdad soldiers killed approximately nine criminals and discovered weapons caches during night operations in Baghdad May 5-6.

At approximately 6:35 p.m., soldiers from the 11th Iraqi Army Division discovered six rocket-propelled grenades and two explosively formed projectiles in New Baghdad.

Iraqi Army soldiers from the 24th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, while on patrol, discovered 32 81 mm mortar rounds west of Baghdad at approximately 7 p.m.

At approximately 7 p.m., Iraqi National policemen from 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st National Police Division, discovered a weapons cache in the courtyard of the Imam Ali Mosque in the al-Ghadier neighborhood of Baghdad.

The NPs found five explosively formed projectiles, two improvised explosive devices, five rocket rails, three grenades and numerous rounds of various ammunitions.

Soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, provided a security cordon outside the mosque as the NPs seized the cache.

At approximately 9:20 p.m., Special Groups criminals fired upon a barrier emplacement team in Sadr City. An aerial weapons team was called in support of troops in contact and fired one Hellfire missile, eliminating the criminal threat.

Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, currently attached to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, and Iraqi Army soldiers from the 11th Iraqi Army Division, were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades in Sadr City.

Iraqi Army soldiers engaged the dismounted criminals with RPGs, and soldiers from 1-64 AR fired two M1A2 Abrams tank rounds, killing six criminals.

At approximately 2:50 a.m., an aerial weapons team witnessed criminals emplacing an improvised explosive device in New Baghdad. The AWT fired two Hellfire missiles and killed three criminals.

“Iraqi Security Forces and U.S. soldiers are working side by side to eliminate the criminal elements, discovering and seizing weapons caches and capturing or killing criminals involved in violent attacks against innocent Iraqi civilians and Iraqi and Coalition forces,” said Col. Allen Batschelet, chief of staff, MND-B and 4th Inf. Div. “They put their lives on the line daily for the Iraqi people; they are all heroes.”

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/07/2008 02:15 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Mahdi Army

#1  five explosively formed projectiles, two improvised explosive devices

Just religious supplies for the Religion of Pieces, no different than Communion wafers in a Christian church.
Posted by: Menhadden Snogum6713 || 05/07/2008 7:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Ima marking the day when Involuntary Ignition of Islambarga Secondary Explosions becomes a festival in civilized countries.
Posted by: ed || 05/07/2008 7:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Shoot the frickin' imam.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/07/2008 11:44 Comments || Top||

#4  Either that or hang him and broadcast the hanging on TV.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/07/2008 11:45 Comments || Top||

#5  Not a mosque. That's not possible. A mosque is a house of worship?!?
Posted by: anymouse || 05/07/2008 17:13 Comments || Top||


Dozens of Iraqi police detained in operation
BAGHDAD, May 6 (Reuters) - Iraqi soldiers detained dozens of policemen and closed down a hospital suspected of treating Shi'ite militiamen in a Baghdad stronghold of cleric Moqtada al -Sadr's Mehdi Army, Iraqi security officials said on Tuesday.

Iraqi and U.S. security forces have been battling Mehdi Army fighters in Baghdad since late March. The upsurge in violence has underscored the fragility of Iraq's security at a time when U.S. troops in the capital are reducing their numbers.

The U.S. military announced that the third of five combat brigades sent to Iraq last year to help curb sectarian violence had begun withdrawing. The brigades have been credited with helping to reduce violence. The military said it expected to complete the withdrawal of about 3,500 troops within the next several weeks under a wider plan to draw down 20,000 troops by July.

The announcement will likely fuel debate about the ability of Iraq's military to step into the breach. Iraqi soldiers have performed with mixed results in the street battles with Sadr's militia and have relied heavily on U.S. airpower. Since the Iraqis do not have a combat Air Force that makes sense. The US soldiers rely heavily on air power. Another Rooters twit.

Most of the recent fighting has been concentrated in Sadr City, a sprawling, densely packed slum of about 2 million people where the anti-American Sadr has a strong following, but Iraqi army units on Monday raided Shula district in northern Baghdad. The soldiers detained 42 policemen suspected of collaborating with "outlaws" on Tuesday, an officer of Baghdad's security spokesman Major-General Qassim Moussawi's office said. Iraq's police are seen being as infiltrated by Shi'ite militiamen, using the cover of their uniforms to mount attacks.

The soldiers also raided the Mohammed-Bakr Hakim hospital, arresting 35 workers, including orderlies and cleaners, and forced its closure, said hospital head Dr. Yassin al-Rikabi. Well, there goes all of Rooters unnamed sources. Reuters Television footage showed empty corridors and beds in the hospital, which workers was suspected of treating wounded Mehdi Army fighters.

"We don't have any staff to receive patients," Rikabi told Reuters. Patients had been transferred to another hospital.

"At 9 a.m., around 40 soldiers and their officers stormed the hospital ... They beat some people, including me," he added. Baghdad security forces confirmed the raid, which prompted dozens of hospital staff to protest outside the Health Ministry.

ELECTION LAW PRESENTED IN PARLIAMENT

Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki launched a crackdown on militias including the Mehdi Army in late March. Maliki says the offensive is to disarm militias, but Sadr's followers see it as an effort to sideline the cleric's mass movement before provincial elections in October.

A draft law that outlines how those elections will be conducted had its first reading in parliament on Tuesday. The draft includes a clause that bans any party from taking part in the polls if they have a militia. Few analysts expect Sadr to disarm the Mehdi Army, putting the prime minister and the cleric on a collision course ahead of the Oct. 1 vote. A parliamentary official said he expected a second reading of the bill within a week, which could lead to amendments.

The Sadrist movement boycotted the last provincial elections in January 2005 and is expected to do well at the expense of other parties backing Maliki, especially in the Shi'ite south.

The law is part of a raft of legislation the United States hopes will reconcile Iraq's divided sectarian and ethnic groups. The most important piece of legislation, an oil law that will determine how oil revenue will be shared and open the door to foreign investment, has been stalled for more than a year.

The U.S. military dismissed media reports that a well-known Mehdi Army brigade commander, Arkan Hasnawi, had died after being wounded in a U.S. missile strike in Sadr City on Saturday. Reports of his death spread like wildfire through the slum on Tuesday, but there was scepticism among residents who saw them as a bid to fool the Americans into thinking he was dead. U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Steven Stover said a U.S. missile strike near a hospital in Sadr City on Saturday was aimed at "special group" militias linked to Iran.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/07/2008 01:58 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iran extradites al-Qaeda members
The Iranian ambassador to Baghdad says Tehran has handed over a group of al-Qaeda terrorists who were captured in Iran to their countries.

In a Tuesday interview with ISNA, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi confirmed news of the handover, which was first published by Asharq al-Awsat. Iran has not withheld any of the al-Qaeda members, the Arabic daily had quoted Kazemi-Qomi as saying.

In his interview with ISNA, Kazemi-Qomi also commented on Iran's stance toward Iraq and said the Iraqi government should be in charge of the country's security affairs. “The Islamic Republic believes that the Iraqi government must control all arms. This has been our stance all along,” said the Iranian envoy.

Kazemi-Qomi also said there was nothing to support US allegations about Iranian interference in Iraq, and added that the Iraqi government had rejected such claims.

On Sunday, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh described the US accusations against Tehran as mere 'speculation', saying Baghdad does not want to be pushed to any conflict with Tehran. "We don't want to be pushed into any conflict with any neighboring countries, especially Iran. What happened before is enough. We paid a lot."

Dabbagh was referring to a US-backed, 8-year war imposed on Iran by the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Posted by: Fred || 05/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq

#1  My bet is that they are low-level shlubs barely able to qualify for 48 virgins, say nothing about 72. The Iranians have themselves another AP/Reuters/MSM golden moment of moderation against which their less-responsible activities will be allowed to go un-noticed....
Posted by: OyVey1 || 05/07/2008 12:53 Comments || Top||


Tikrit car boom kills 2, injures 26
At least two people have been killed and 26 others injured, including 5 soldiers, in a car bomb attack in the Iraqi city of Tikrit. The bomb went off outside a restaurant On Tuesday, in Tikrit, 170 kilometers north of Baghdad, DPA reported. Ten cars were burnt in the attack and nearby buildings were also damaged.
Posted by: Fred || 05/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  such a waste. It accomplishes absolutely nothing of any value whatsoever.
Posted by: Sninert Black9312 || 05/07/2008 2:08 Comments || Top||

#2  They got a newspaper headline out of it.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/07/2008 22:04 Comments || Top||


10 Iraqi troops killed in Diyala
At least 10 Iraqi soldiers have been killed and 13 others wounded in an attack on a checkpoint in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad. The victims were decapitated after being shot. "After killing the soldiers, the gunmen beheaded them," an Iraqi security official from Baquba in Diyala province told AFP.

He said the attack took place at around 7:00 pm (1600 GMT) on Monday. The US military blamed the attack on al-Qaeda insurgents who have allegedly escalated their attacks in the volatile Diyala province, according to AP.
Posted by: Fred || 05/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
7 Palestinians wounded in West Bank
Seven Palestinians have reportedly been wounded in a clash between PA security forces and Palestinian activists in the occupied West Bank.

The clash erupted in Qabatiya, south of the city of Jenin, when the security forces fired at the activists 'massively and indiscriminately', Israeli Ynetnews quoted the residents as saying on Tuesday. Ahmad Kamil, one of the injured civilians, who sustained critical wounds, is reportedly in a state of brain death. Two Islamic Jihad activists were also wounded in the attack, the sources said.
Posted by: Fred || 05/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Jihad

#1  on the one hand - good work, we need more of this to feel better about the road block concessions.

On the other - Abbas was saying they didnt need new Pal Sec froces in Jenin, that they should be sent to Nablus or elsewhere, this seems to show Barak was right in insisting on deployment to Jenin first.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 05/07/2008 9:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Paleos shooting at each other---good. Too few fatalities---bad.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/07/2008 18:22 Comments || Top||


Palestinian slain in Israeli air raid
One Hamas fighter has been killed and another wounded in an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials say.

According to Moaiya Hassanain of the Gaza Health Ministry, the attack occurred early Tuesday and left the 23-year-old Hisham Abu Shomar dead and the other man in serious health condition.

Palestinian security sources said an Israeli drone fired at least one missile towards a car near residential houses in northern Gaza Strip.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said in a statement that Shomar belonged to its ranks.
Posted by: Fred || 05/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Southeast Asia
Worker gunned down in southern Thailand
A Buddhist worker was killed in a drive-by shooting in this southern border province Wednesday morning. Wichai Sringarm, 40, was shot by a pillion rider in Muang district at 8:15 am while riding his motorcycle to work. His wife and 4-year-old son, who were riding with him, escaped uninjured.
Posted by: ryuge || 05/07/2008 05:36 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Lebanon political conflict turns violent
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Supporters of Lebanon's U.S.-backed government fought battles in Beirut on Wednesday with gunmen loyal to the Hezbollah-led opposition, escalating the worst internal crisis since the 1975-90 civil war. Supporters of Iranian-backed Hezbollah paralyzed the capital and cut routes to its sea and air ports by blocking roads with blazing tires, old cars, heaps of earth and concrete blocks.

An opposition source said the protest campaign would continue until the government rescinded decisions affecting Hezbollah, including a move to take steps against a telecommunications network operated by the group. Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, has led a 17-month-long political campaign against Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's anti-Syrian cabinet. Friction has already led to bouts of lethal violence.

Security sources said pro-government supporters exchanged assault rifle and grenade fire with Hezbollah sympathizers in the Beirut neighborhoods of Noueiri, Ras al Nabae and Wata al-Musaitbeh. Some 10 people were wounded in the violence.

Opposition gunmen took over an office of the Future political group led by Saad al-Hariri, leader of the governing coalition, Lebanon's most influential Sunni politician and a close ally of Saudi Arabia. Youths loyal to the rival sides pelted each other with stones in Mazraa, one of the Beirut districts where sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shi'ites have been high.

The army, mostly regarded as neutral during the crisis, deployed in force but did not attempt to remove the barricades.

Government minister Marwan Hamadeh said Hezbollah, a political group with a powerful guerrilla army, was using "military means" to block the airport. The blockade trapped some 300 passengers arriving at the airport.

Tension between the government and Hezbollah escalated sharply on Tuesday when the cabinet said the group's communication network was "an attack on the sovereignty of the state." Hezbollah said it was part of its security apparatus and played a major role in its war with Israel in 2006. Hezbollah was also infuriated by government allegations it was spying on the airport and the cabinet's decision to remove the head of airport security, a figure close to the opposition, from his post.

Provoked by the government's moves, Hezbollah was "flexing its muscles" in the streets, said Oussama Safa, director of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies. "The heat has been turned up. But it's probably not going to unfold into war. A confrontation is not winnable," he said. "Things could get very ugly, but I don't think they will spread out of hand," said Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. "Everyone is armed and angry."

Hezbollah was the only Lebanese faction allowed to keep its weapons after the civil war to fight Israeli forces occupying the south. Israel withdrew in 2000 and the fate of Hezbollah's weapons is at the heart of the political crisis.

Hezbollah has deemed Siniora's cabinet illegitimate since its Shi'ite ministers resigned in 2006. The governing coalition has refused to yield to the opposition's demand for effective veto power in cabinet. The crisis has paralyzed much of government and left Lebanon without a president for five months.

Air traffic was suspended for six hours on Wednesday because of a strike by staff taking part in labor union action to demand more pay. The opposition had urged its supporters to back the strike.
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/07/2008 12:35 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Lebanon: Hezbollah telecom network shut down
(AKI) - The Lebanese government has accused the radical militant organisation Hezbollah of violating the country's sovereignty by operating its own telecommunications network. The western-backed government on Tuesday pledged to close the system which it called a threat to national security.

The challenge to the Shia militant group, backed by Iran and Syria, is likely to increase tensions in Lebanon which is suffering its worst political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.

Hezbollah has been leading a campaign against the former government of prime minister Fouad Siniora since November 2006. Lebanon has also been without a president since for the past five months and the country's political leaders have been unable to reach agreement on a new leader.

A cabinet statement released on Tuesday described Hezbollah's communications network as "an attack on the sovereignty of the state" and said it would prosecute anyone involved with it. Last week, the authorities accused Hezbollah of installing spy cameras at the airport, allegedly in a bid to prepare a terror attack. Hezbollah denied the accusations.

The cabinet, which has strong backing from the United States and Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, also removed the head of Beirut airport security in another challenge to Hezbollah.

Hezbollah said the communications network was part of its military and security apparatus and played a key role in its war with Israel in 2006.
Posted by: Fred || 05/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  JPOST/OTHER > HIZBULLAH BLOCKS OFF ROADS, AIRPORT IN LEBANON, in response to Lebanese Govt's recent actions.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/07/2008 19:56 Comments || Top||


Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 05/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Thems stems.
Posted by: Scott R || 05/07/2008 0:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Dude.
Posted by: anymouse || 05/07/2008 1:29 Comments || Top||

#3  Yowza! That ain't no Dude! believe me! :)
Posted by: RD || 05/07/2008 2:01 Comments || Top||

#4  State-within-state no longer has phone-network-within-phone network

By the beard of the prophet, I have no bars!
Posted by: mrp || 05/07/2008 7:22 Comments || Top||

#5  She has my vohs--er, I mean vote!
Posted by: Mike || 05/07/2008 7:58 Comments || Top||

#6  What else do we have to trade for the rest of the deal?

I dunno, what's for lunch?
Posted by: Steve White || 05/07/2008 9:32 Comments || Top||

#7  It is always fascinating to read the bios, when available, at IMDB. Not hard to believe she was the youngest Rockette ever, at 16. Harder to believe she got typecast as a dumb blond. Our loss.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 05/07/2008 9:48 Comments || Top||

#8  http://zapitok-91710.blogspot.com http://zapitok-35917.blogspot.com http://zapitok-14505.blogspot.com http://zapitok-34151.blogspot.com
http://zapitok-42463.blogspot.com http://zapitok-35346.blogspot.com http://zapitok-66362.blogspot.com http://zapitok-37529.blogspot.com
Posted by: koperfild || 05/07/2008 17:45 Comments || Top||

#9  Mods: Cleanup Aisle 8!
Posted by: gorb || 05/07/2008 19:23 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
54[untagged]
7Taliban
6Hezbollah
3al-Qaeda in Iraq
3al-Qaeda
3Govt of Iran
2Mahdi Army
1Iraqi Insurgency
1IRGC
1Islamic Jihad
1PLO
1Thai Insurgency
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1TNSM
1Govt of Pakistan
1Govt of Syria
1Hamas

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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
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ryuge
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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2008-05-07
  Hezbollah telecom network shut down
Tue 2008-05-06
  3500 U.S. troops surge home
Mon 2008-05-05
  Kaboom misses Iraqi first lady
Sun 2008-05-04
  24 killed, 26 injured in Iraqi violence
Sat 2008-05-03
  Marines chase Talibs through Helmand poppy fields
Fri 2008-05-02
  Orcs strike Iraqi wedding convoy, kill at least 35, wound 65
Thu 2008-05-01
  Paks deny Karzai murder plot hatched in Pakistain
Wed 2008-04-30
  Hamas steals Gaza fuel
Tue 2008-04-29
  Pak Talibs quit peace talks
Mon 2008-04-28
  U.S. Marines join Brits fighting Taliban in Helmand
Sun 2008-04-27
  Karzai survives another assassination attempt
Sat 2008-04-26
  Tater loses nerve, tells fighters to observe truce
Fri 2008-04-25
  Basra in govt hands
Thu 2008-04-24
  Baitullah orders Talibs not to attack Pak forces
Wed 2008-04-23
  Petraeus to Head Central Command

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