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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Arabia
Saudi terror suspects flee, one killed
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Three Saudi terror suspects managed to escape from police grip in Mecca after one of their colleagues was killed in a shootout, reports said Thursday.
Of course they did, the Saudis had them "surrounded".

Official sources said the incident occurred Wednesday night when police raided the suspects' hideout in the al-Aziziya neighborhood in the holy city of Mecca after monitoring their movements for several days. The suspects managed to flee from the city toward a desert area between Mecca and Taif, but were chased by police, who killed one of them after being attacked by hand grenades.
"The remaining three suspects managed to escape after stealing another car at gunpoint, but police are still conducting a manhunt to catch them," the sources said. They said police seized arms, explosives and ammunition from the suspects' hideout and the car they left behind.
Additional: Police had tried to persuade the militant, in his mid-20s, to surrender, but were forced to open fire after he hurled the grenade, a security source said. The source said the man, identified as Saleh Al-Badrani, was not on the Saudi list of 26 most wanted terrorists, 11 of whom are still on the run.
Posted by: Steve || 08/12/2004 10:57:18 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I am trying to work out the "escape from being surrounded by Saudi police" geometry. So far the possibilities are: over, under, and through. I am going through each possibility carefully, and I will issue a technical paper to Rantburg, complete with details, diagrams, figures, and tables when I am done. And don't forget the appendices. Anyone want to whip up a clever cover for the report?
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/12/2004 12:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Better yet, how the hell do you escape into the desert? If my geography is correct, there aren't a lot places to hide in a desert.
Posted by: Anonymous6060 || 08/12/2004 13:59 Comments || Top||

#3  AP,

I believe you've forgotten the non-Euclidean envelope stuffed with cash theorem.
Posted by: dreadnought || 08/12/2004 16:58 Comments || Top||

#4  dreadnought---forgot about that one. I thought both of Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry. I even thought of Hilbert space. But I plumb forgot the Non-Euclidean envelope stuffed with cash theorem. Especially grevious of my omission was that it was a product of Islamic thought from long ago when Hector was a pup. Silly me.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/12/2004 18:05 Comments || Top||

#5  Pie charts, Paul. Don't forget the pie charts. MMMmmmm...pie.
Posted by: Seafarious || 08/12/2004 18:09 Comments || Top||

#6  two words: worm holes
Posted by: Frank G || 08/12/2004 18:23 Comments || Top||


Search for al-Houthi Continues
EFL: Despite the official announcement of the government on August 6th, the major military offensive against anti-US dissident cleric Hussein al-Houthi, in Sa'ada is still going on, local sources told Yemen Times.

The sources said that the house-to-house search for al-Houthi and his main assistants using warplanes and artillery are faced by resisting pockets as supporters of al-Houthi scattered in ten mountainous villages of the Jabal Mran wherein al-Houthi is believed to hide. Military sources said that tens of soldiers have been killed in the guerrilla fight inside the villages: Ratabah, al-Akeef, All Misbah, All Omali, al-Kaza'a, al-Daos, Malha, All Amer, and Shaeeb Salman.
When we use "warplanes and artillery" the bad guys generally die. When the Yemenis do it their own soldiers fill the hospitals. I'm wondering if the Yemeni squad leaders understand what those purple smoke cannisters are for.
There are conflicting reports on the fate of the man which is still unknown; while sources close to al-Houthi expected that the man and his main supporters might have escaped outside Sa'ada, military sources dismissed this and said they are still hiding inside one of the rugged villages. Government troops intensified their search for the man. On Friday, chief of staff Brigadier General Mohammad al-Qassimi vowed the army would soon end the rebellion and catch the outlawed preacher who was fighting government troops since June 18th.

However, the military operations against the rebels in areas of al-Ruzamat, al-Shafia'a, and Nihm led by Abdullah al-Ruzami are fierce, as the military forces used warplanes in shelling these areas.
The military earlier gave al-Ruzami, the second man after al-Houthi in running al-Shabab al-Mumen (Faithful Youth) militant group, an ultimatum to give up. Even some tribal Sheikhs tried to conduct mediation between the two sides. However, all efforts have failed as al-Ruzami is insistent on fighting until the end. Tens of people have been reported to be killed in the recent confrontations.

Tens of soldiers are brought to Sana'a hospitals on a daily basis. President Ali Abdullah Saleh vowed on Monday to press on with an offensive to crush a revolt as the army's losses continued to mount. "Confronting this stray group ... is a patriotic and religious duty," Saleh said in an interview with the UAE-based newspaper Al-Khaleej. Saleh said that the rebellion which is violating the constitution and led by radicals associated with foreign parties is "doomed to fail."
Posted by: Steve || 08/12/2004 10:54:14 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
Terror Suspects Lose Internment Challenge
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2004 10:49 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I really appreciate how they take it for granted that inhuman tortue was applied by US military personnel to detainees to get information - and, like a cherry on top, that any information gained shouldn't be considered regards detaining the people implicated.

No proof of torture is presented - because it doesn't exist - yet it is just accepted without dissent or explanation in this story. Fuck OFF, Robert Barr / AP. Eat shit and die you twisted slanted agenda-assholes.

Then, to say that whatever intel is gained should be barred from consideration against detainees in the UK is hysterical - to a non-lawyer, anyway.

The truth, the same as reality, just is. It does not require your acceptance or approval to be so. If the asshats charged are, indeed, complicit, then Q.E.fuckingD. I know, I know - simplisme cowboy thinking. I'm glad of it.
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 11:20 Comments || Top||


Europe
Al-Qaeda planning to hit Athens
Islamic radical organizations are ready to attack Athens during the Olympic Games, according to reports. They wait for activation order of the Al-Qaeda leadership in Iran to conduct the attacks, US newspaper "Defense & Foreign Affairs" said. The paper added that the attacks would be led by the Kosovo's Albanians.
No word for "gratitude" in Sqip, either, huh?
Defense & Foreign Affairs newspaper claims that people from Syria have stored large quantity of explosive and weapons in Bosnia, which was transported by tracks on the Macedonian-Greek border. The terrorist group is comprised of Albanians, Syrians, including well-trained terrorists from other nationalities. There is a well-developed terror network in Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia-Montenegro, Italy and Germany, the US paper said.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 08/12/2004 12:48:45 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Thousands Evacuated From Spanish Beaches
"Mahmoud! There are thousands of titties on that beach! Their owners must be killed!"
"But Achmed! We used up all our bombs when we boomed the train!"
"Call them and tell them we have bombs!"
Thousands of sunbathers were evacuated from five beaches in eastern Spain for hours Wednesday in what appeared to be the third fake bomb scare in the same tourist area in a week. Beachgoers were allowed back after a two-hour search produced no evidence of explosives, the government said. "It looks like a sick joke, a desire to bother people," said Montserrat Tura, the Interior Ministry chief for the regional government of Catalonia.
"Achmed? Their titties wiggle and sway so enticingly when they leave the beach!"
"Here! Read your Koran and don't think about it!"
Police ordered some 2,000 people to clear the beaches around 2 p.m. after the Basque newspaper Gara, which often serves as a mouthpiece for the Basque separatist group ETA, received two calls warning of bombs, the Interior Ministry said. In one warning, the caller reportedly claimed that 330 pounds of explosives loaded in a backpack would go off at 2:15 p.m. in the same beach area mentioned in bomb threats Sunday and Tuesday. "The beaches have been totally reopened," said Carlos Genovilla, a member of the city council in the resort town of Sant Carles de la Rapita in Tarragona province. Summer bombing campaigns along Spain's coast _ at the height of the tourist season _ are an ETA hallmark.
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2004 10:50 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  330 pounds of explosives in a backpack. Yeah, riiiight.

There was a tale of a paleo bus boomer whose bomb vest was so heavy, when he stumbled while getting into a bus, he fell backwards and couldn't get up.
Posted by: Ptah || 08/12/2004 16:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Now, if the Muslims make bomb theats on discos, the Spaniards will be mad enough to make war ... Uhh, nevermind. The 2005 Spanish swimwear collection is now available.
Posted by: ed || 08/12/2004 18:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Ptah: on the money! 330 lbs in a north face sleeping bag (unrolled, of course)....being drug on the beach? Sounds like Weekend at Bernies, Spanish-version
Posted by: Frank G || 08/12/2004 18:25 Comments || Top||

#4  Mmmmmmmm.......titties! :)
Posted by: RJB in JC MO || 08/12/2004 19:45 Comments || Top||

#5  330 lb of explosives will need a pallet, not a backpack.

"I've fallen down, and I can't get up! KABOOM!"
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/12/2004 21:51 Comments || Top||


Turkey Pins Blame for Istanbul Blasts on PKK
The Turkish government pinned the blame for deadly Istanbul bomb attacks squarely on Kurdish separatists on Wednesday, dismissing a rival claim of responsibility by a group aligning itself with al Qaeda.
"We dunnit!"
"You did not! You wudn't even there!"
But a senior police official said investigators had not ruled out an al Qaeda link to Tuesday's attacks, which killed two people and injured 11, and diplomats said the involvement of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas was not yet proved.
"It coulda been them!"
"B'lieve me, it wudn't them!"
Newspapers quoted Turkish officials as saying the PKK, which recently called off a unilateral cease-fire, was behind the explosions at two small hotels and a gas depot in Turkey's economic capital. A Turk and an Iranian were killed and several foreign tourists were among the wounded. "The people who did this are linked to the PKK militants who were seized two days ago by the Istanbul Security Directorate," the Star daily quoted Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu as saying, referring to a recent crackdown on the organization. Police declined to comment on reports that some arrests had been made in connection with the bomb attacks.
"An' see? It wudn't them we arrested!"
"Well, who did you arrest?"
"We ain't sayin'!"
"Then it coulda been them."
Two groups have claimed they carried out the bombings, at the height of Turkey's economically vital tourist season. The Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, which links itself to al Qaeda and has repeatedly claimed responsibility for attacks including the Madrid train bombings and the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, said on an Islamist Web site it was behind the bombs and warned of more to come. A previously unknown group calling itself the Kurdistan Liberation Hawks also claimed responsibility on a small local news agency that often carries PKK statements. It said it was retaliating for Turkish operations against Kurdish guerrillas.
"It wuz us, see?"
"Oh, shuddup! It wudn't youse!"
The Islamist claim evoked memories of four massive suicide bomb attacks that killed more than 60 people in Istanbul in November, carried out by a Turkish group linked to al Qaeda. But the Abu Hafs group has not been officially linked to any of the attacks it has claimed, and officials quoted in the Turkish media said the bombings bore the hallmark of the PKK. Violence has recently flared again in the southeast after a lull of several years following the jailing of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1999. The conflict has killed more than 30,000 people, mostly Kurds.
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2004 10:20 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Algerian arrested in Ireland for forging passports
Gardaí in Dublin have arrested a 42-year-old man following the seizure of counterfeit identification documents in the city yesterday. The man was arrested after forged passports, drivers licences, cash, computer equipment and a laminating machine were found during a raid on a flat in the Harold's Cross area. Reports in the tabloid press this morning claimed the man was an Algerian with suspected links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. He was reportedly being watched for some time by the Garda National Surveillance Unit.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) || 08/12/2004 9:46:51 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  a crime ya say? It's a cultural misunderstanding
Posted by: Frank G || 08/12/2004 10:22 Comments || Top||

#2  It's a Algerian thing. You wouldn't unnerstand.
Posted by: Seafarious || 08/12/2004 11:04 Comments || Top||

#3  Investigators later learned that the man had a Pakistani mother. "This explains everything," noted Inspector Legume of Interpol.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/12/2004 11:51 Comments || Top||


Bin Laden To Air Message Ending Truce Offered To Europe
An Islamic website said Thursday an audio message is due to be released by al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden or his number two to declare the end of a truce offered to Europe if it pulls out troops from Iraq. "Expect an audio message from Sheikh Osama bin Laden or Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri," said a statement on the Minbar Ahl al-Sunna wal Jamaa website, which has repeatedly posted terror-related news and videos by various shadowy groups.
Guess it all depends on if Binny can make a call from hell.
"To all Muslims: expect an audio message from Sheikh Osama bin Laden on one of the satellite channels during which he will announce the end of the truce that he has given to the Europeans for a pullout from Iraq," it said. The authenticity of the statement could not be verified. In a taped message broadcast by the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television on April 15 the Al-Qaeda chief offered peace to European states that refrained from aggression towards Muslims and pulled their troops out of the Muslim world within three months. European leaders promptly dismissed the offer, saying the idea of negotiating with Bin Laden was absurd. On Tuesday, the Al-Qaeda-linked group Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, which claimed deadly terror attacks in Turkey and Spain, warned of more such strikes in Europe. It was the latest in a series of warnings attributed to the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades since the expiry on July 15 of Bin Laden's truce offer.
Olympics start this weekend. Duck and cover.
Posted by: Steve || 08/12/2004 9:40:10 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  wonder if this is the binny message that's supposed to unleash Dire Revenge(tm).
Posted by: PlanetDan || 08/12/2004 9:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Yawn... awwwwww again?
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 9:59 Comments || Top||

#3  And he'll probably call collect, the cheap prick...
Posted by: Raj || 08/12/2004 12:35 Comments || Top||

#4  Watch your back, Aris.

*to everyone else* Yeah, he's a pain in the butt, but he's OUR pain in the butt...
Posted by: Ptah || 08/12/2004 16:02 Comments || Top||

#5  NO TRUCE FOR YOU!!!!
Posted by: Binny The Terror Nazi || 08/12/2004 20:11 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Missing Yemeni Student Found In N.Y., Held By FBI
A visiting student from Yemen who was reported missing this week from Purdue University was found Thursday in New York and put into federal custody, the FBI said. The FBI didn't immediately say why Anwar Saleh Ahmed Al-Awdi, 18, was in custody or why he was in New York. Purdue said Al-Awdi left the university in West Lafayette on Aug. 6, saying he was taking a trip to the Detroit area. He was reported missing Sunday when he did not return. Purdue officials on Wednesday said the FBI was investigating his disappearance because the exchange program in which he was involved is funded by the U.S. State Department. Al-Awdi was one of 18 recent high school graduates from the Middle East visiting Purdue as part of the program, Purdue officials said.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) || 08/12/2004 7:35:47 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Too bad, Anwar. Big Ten football is a great tradition in the midwest, and it looks like you'll mis the season. Instead you'll get an extended stay at Club Fed in Leavenworth. Enjoy.
Posted by: Mr. Davis || 08/12/2004 21:36 Comments || Top||

#2  apparently we're keeping better track of *ahem* suspected immigrants?
Posted by: Frank G || 08/12/2004 21:52 Comments || Top||


Mohammed Junaid Babar linked to US plots
U.S. officials Wednesday said Mohammed Junaid Babar has turned out to be a tantalizing figure in the investigation into the al-Qaida plot to attack the five buildings in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Newark, New Jersey. He also met top al-Qaida leaders earlier this year in Pakistan. Babar was actually arrested in March. And as NBC News reported last week, pleaded guilty in secret in June, admitting his part in a plan to bomb targets in London. A huge sweep by British police broke that up in late March.

Babar was born in the U.S. and raised in a New York City suburb. But he has no love for his birthplace. "I did grow up there. But that doesn't mean my loyalty is with the Americans," said Babar in a November 2001 interview. "My loyalty will, has always been, is, and forever will be with the Muslims."

Now, authorities are exploring a possible connection between Babar and members of another British cell arrested last week, which included Esa al-Hindi, the man believed to have done most of the surveillance of the U.S. financial buildings himself. NBC News has learned that investigators now have proof that al-Hindi was actually in the U.S. at the time the buildings were cased. As for Mohammed Babar, investigators are also exploring a trip he admitted taking earlier this year to South Waziristan, a remote part of Pakistan near the Afghan border, now thought to be the center of al-Qaida's top planners. He met there with a man U.S. authorities confirm was a top al-Qaida official and delivered night vision goggles, waterproof clothing, and money.

U.S. authorities say Babar is now cooperating with them, and his family has been placed in the witness protection program. A terrorism expert says the U.S. has made big strides in uncovering the building plot. "Our ability to connect the dots and to link disparate al-Qaida activities in a number of different countries has improved exponentially since September 11, 2001, says terrorism expert Bruce Hoffman.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 08/12/2004 1:00:05 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Another Passenger from Flight 327 Steps Forward With Disturbing New Details
Posted by: tipper || 08/12/2004 02:29 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hmmmm.Shifty eyes and a hand wash in the toilet.
Posted by: crazyhorse || 08/12/2004 3:30 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Muslim Militants unleash firebomb attacks in Thailand's south
Unidentified militants shot dead two people and unleashed firebombs in Muslim-dominated southern Thailand, where officials fear a revived separatist movement has taken root, officials said Thursday. Authorities arrested two unidentified suspects - a religious school teacher and a student at a traditional Muslim school, or pondok - after half a dozen attacks, police and military officials told a press conference in southern Pattani province. Firebombs used in some of Wednesday's attacks caused only minor damage to a restaurant and the homes of a police colonel and an army colonel, said Deputy Region 4 Army Chief Maj. Kwanchart Klaharn. The assailants also detonated a remote-controlled bomb near a police rest area, he said, adding that police accounts suggested many of the attacks were coordinated. Kwanchart said police had expected a group of religious teachers to ``lead their followers'' in arson and firebomb attacks, but said villagers cooperated with police to help contain further violence.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) || 08/12/2004 3:49:26 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Authorities arrested two unidentified suspects - a religious school teacher and a student at a traditional Muslim school, or pondok

any idea how this might happen, Gentle? F*&kwit...ROPMA
Posted by: Frank G || 08/12/2004 17:43 Comments || Top||


80 Muslim converts trained under Janjalani
THE al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group has deployed 80 Muslim converts all over the country, most of them in key cities in Metro Manila, to bomb civilian and government targets. Citing reports from the intelligence community, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said the Abu Sayyaf chieftain, Khadaffy Janjalani, trained these converts, who were former Christians, early last year in the jungles of Basilan. In a roundtable discussion with The Manila Times editors and reporters, Gonzales named the Abu Sayyaf as the "most dangerous" of all rebel groups in the country, despite its membership of less than 300. "Compared with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the New Peoples Army, the Abu Sayyaf is the most dangerous because these terrorists even volunteer to conduct attacks to win the recognition of international terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda," Gonzales said.

Targets for possible terrorist attacks are bus terminals, passenger ships and other crowded areas. Gonzales said the Muslim converts, known in the intelligence community as the Balik-Islam Group, are scattered nationwide, but are concentrated in Metro Manila and the Visayas. The military arrested four of these converts early this year in Metro Manila. "Now we have 76 more to worry about and we hope we can catch them before they inflict harm on civilians," Gonzales said. Since they are former Christians, Gonzales said the Abu Sayyaf doesn't hesitate to send them on high-risk bombing missions. "They don't care whether these converts succeed or not, because of their former religion. They just want them to do the job for the Abu Sayyaf," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2004 1:34:16 PM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Silly question, but why do I see the image of a shrinking tootsie pop? Is it real, or do I need to increase my meds?
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/12/2004 22:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Boy: "Mr. Turtle, how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?"

Mr. Turtle: "I ain't never made it without biting. Ask Mr. Owl."

Boy: "Mr. Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?"

Mr. Owl: "Let's find out. One, a two-hoo, three,.." *CRUNCH!* "Three."

Announcer: "How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?" *CRUNCH!!!!!* "The world may never know."
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 08/12/2004 23:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Is Fred indicating that the Phillipinos are suckers for trying to buyoff terrorists?
Posted by: Super Hose || 08/13/2004 0:38 Comments || Top||


Malaysian riot suspect in southern Thailand arrested
Malaysia's security force has arrested Poh Su Ismail, a Malaysian citizen and a main suspect relating to violence demanding separation in southern Thailand in April, Thai officials said on Wednesday. Poh Su Ismail, wanted by Thailand, was the alleged author of a booklet demanding a separate Islamic state in southern Thailand. The Thai police found the booklet on the bodies of some militants. The arrest took place last week after a meeting between the foreign ministers of Thailand and Malaysia, in which both sides pledged improving the situation along their borderline. Since January, about 250 Thai people have been killed in violence in the area bordering Malaysia and having a large population of Muslims
Posted by: Steve || 08/12/2004 11:35:47 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq-Jordan
U.S. forces storm house of radical cleric
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 08/12/2004 23:21 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


U.S. marines take centre of Najaf (One more for the good guys!)
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 08/12/2004 19:50 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Fatwa forbids Iraq forces from helping US troops
Iraq's top Sunni Muslim body on Thursday warned the security forces against supporting the US military in the fight at the holy city of Najaf. The Association of Muslim Scholars issued a fatwa, or religious edict, forbidding Muslims from offering any support to the forces of "occupation."
Just like Tater asked...
"It is forbidden for any Muslim to cooperate with the occupation forces and killing their own brothers and fellow citizens," it said.
"Good Muslims never kill their own brothers and fellow citizens in cooperation with the occupation forces. They do it themselves."
"Iraqi police and members of civil defence (national guards) should fear God's punishment and wrath of the people as they battle with the occupation and participate in the shedding of their brothers' blood." Calling the Najaf fight as an act of "genocide" by the US forces, the association said the clashes in the holy city were against both sharia Islamic law and civil laws. "What is going in Najaf at the hands of American forces is nothing but genocide and criminal acts forbidden by sharia and civil laws as it is affecting everyone who rejects the occupation," it said.
"'Cuz, ummm... they're bumping off lotsa guys with turbans. That has to be against the law."
"It is affecting the holy Muslim values and the shrines. It makes thousands of women and children leave the city."
"An'... an'... puppies, too! An' kittens! An' baby ducks! An' FLUFFY BUNNIES!"
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 08/12/2004 19:44 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I wonder if there is a fatwa against being moronic & suicidal?
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 08/12/2004 20:08 Comments || Top||

#2  ...and don't bet on the Mahdi Army.
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/12/2004 20:19 Comments || Top||

#3  I always hope that these "fatwas" sound less moronic in the original language than they do in translation. They've reached the point of self-parody for most English speakers. If these people are really so mentally deficient to believe or follow "leaders" who write things like this, it's doubtful that they'll survive long in the real world.
Posted by: RWV || 08/12/2004 20:21 Comments || Top||

#4  As posted on Iraqthemodel the other day, these fatwas and other stuff are starting to turn some muslims against Islam.
Posted by: mhw || 08/12/2004 21:08 Comments || Top||

#5  too hel with their fatwa and the iraqi police
who needs their help? I f the US would just get out of worrying about the politics and their holy cities this would have alrwsady been over with. Can anyone tell me what city in the muslim religion is not a "holy city"?
Posted by: smokeysinse || 08/12/2004 21:09 Comments || Top||

#6  As posted on Iraqthemodel the other day, these fatwas and other stuff are starting to turn some muslims against Islam.

Bwahahahahahahaha!!!
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 08/12/2004 21:36 Comments || Top||

#7  I used to issue fatwas for fun, but with all the small time fatwa generators out there, well....

The Thrill is gone.

The not-so-sad-fact is that the Muslim world is suffering from Fatwa Fatigue™. And you can quote me on that!
-Al-Aska Paul
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/12/2004 21:41 Comments || Top||

#8  The problem with translation is essentially correct. While in English, it might be spelled "fatwa", the correct pronunciation is "fat-head".
As in, "Today the fathead issues a pronouncement forbidding American Marines from looking at Iraqi goats in a lewd manner."
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/12/2004 21:45 Comments || Top||

#9  Hmmmm did I hear a fatwa when Saddam killed the Shiites in Najaf in 1991...

Was cricket season, obviously
Posted by: True German Ally || 08/12/2004 21:59 Comments || Top||

#10  New Iraq = "LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF FATWAS!"
Posted by: borgboy || 08/12/2004 22:12 Comments || Top||

#11  what's an "Ass-ociation of Muslim Scholars"? Sounds like a bunch of butt-brothers.
Posted by: anymouse || 08/12/2004 22:25 Comments || Top||

#12  Sunni clerics forbidding the slaughter of Shi'a "apostates"? Whoda thunk it?

Oh, and guys - take your fatwa, fold it until it's all corners, and stuff it up your oubliette.
Posted by: mojo || 08/12/2004 22:28 Comments || Top||

#13  As posted on Iraqthemodel the other day, these fatwas and other stuff are starting to turn some muslims against Islam.

Good. Maybe these dim bulbs can be prodded to issue even more, for really stupid little things. That would piss off even more people.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 08/12/2004 22:57 Comments || Top||

#14  Do you think that killing poeple is considered a "stupid little thing" ?
I don't see why the Iraqi people should fight within themselves. A muslim should not kill his muslim brother. And that is not a new fatwa. Its not even a fatwa. Its part of a verse.
Besides, why can't the troops do their dirty work themselves?
Posted by: Gentle || 08/13/2004 1:49 Comments || Top||


1200 Captured in Najaf
MIN. AL-NAQIB: Thank you very much, and welcome.

I will talk about the last two days regarding the activities of the Ministry of Interior, represented by the Iraqi National Guard and also Iraqi armed forces. There have been certain breaches in the province of Al Basrah, and before that, in Najaf province also.

In Najaf, the Iraqi National Guard and Iraqi police who were supported by the air force of the multinational forces, they have scanned the cemetery and have confiscated large amounts of weapons and have captured about 1,200 individuals. Some of them are of non-Iraqi nationalities. This operation had lasted until today, and the Iraq National Guard and the Iraqi police were able to reach the perimeters of the holy shrine. In spite of what media reports have said
This guy has been partially Americanized. They don't trust the press but they don't know enough not to say so.,
the coalition forces, or the multinational forces, have crossed the red line and have started approaching the holy shrine.

We say this to the Iraqi people and to anyone who is keen and has the holiness of this shrine in his interests. We say that the multinational forces right now are located in the 1920 Revolution Square. The operations are still continuing in this city and will continue to take place until these militias evacuate the holy shrine either by force or by surrendering to the Iraqi authorities, and to take advantage of the amnesty period issued by the prime minister.

Regarding to the province of Diwaniyah, two days ago some al- Sadr-related groups have come from Nasiriyah. They were about 200 in number, and they settled down at Diwaniyah and started launching attacks the next day in the morning and tried to enter some of the government's buildings. But they were repelled by the Iraqi police and the Iraqi National Guard, who were able -- in cooperation with the multinational forces, they were able to repel their attacks and captured 47 of them. And 10 of them were injured. These injured are now at the hospital. And also among these people were those who do not speak Arabic.
Posted by: Mr. Davis || 08/12/2004 6:26:31 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I really want to know the nationalities and numbers of the captured. I cannot help feeling that there is a sh*tload of Iranians in the perloo.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/12/2004 19:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Wasn't he supposed to only have around 3,000? Figure around 500 dead and wounded (conservatively), and that counts for more than half his "forces".

And, honestly, I'd bet the Taters saw more than 500 dead and wounded.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 08/12/2004 19:24 Comments || Top||

#3  As long as the border with Iran remains porous, the Mehdi Army will be like a clown car from which emerges an endless stream of soldiers all of whom speak with Iranian accents.
Posted by: RWV || 08/12/2004 20:44 Comments || Top||

#4  Just amazing how this flypaper works. These clowns are no brighter than houseflies?
Posted by: john || 08/12/2004 21:03 Comments || Top||

#5  I think it's time to start pumping some cyanide into this "holy place". You have to do things like that now and then to fumigate for rats and other vermin. Once everything's taken care of, bring in a few hundred Iraqis in full chemical gear to go over the mosque with a fine-tooth comb, clean it completely with soap and water, and open it back up, vermin-free. I'm sure that if we looked hard enough, we could find enough cyanide (and other anti-vermin chemicals) in Iraq...
Posted by: Old Patriot || 08/12/2004 21:06 Comments || Top||

#6  CO is good enough - carbon monoxide.

Its not completely fatal either and its not "poison gas".
Posted by: Oldspook || 08/12/2004 22:08 Comments || Top||

#7  Re:#3
_____Witty and accurate. BTW, we have a similar game of "Clown Car" performed daily here on the Mexican border...Border Patrol vs. Illegal Immigrants...
Posted by: borgboy || 08/12/2004 22:16 Comments || Top||

#8  I think a week ago it was reported 1200 Sadr types were captured/arrested. Is this the same 1200 or an additional 1200?
Posted by: AWW || 08/12/2004 22:28 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Taliban commander toes up
A known Taliban guerrilla leader was killed by U.S.-led and Afghan forces after leading an ambush on a military convoy in eastern Afghanistan, a provincial security officer said on Thursday. The Taliban attacked the convoy on Wednesday in the district of Alishing in Laghman province, some 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Kabul. After a two-hour firefight near the village of Qala, the attackers fled leaving behind the body of Mullah Janan, a known Taliban military commander, Laghman's deputy security commander told Reuters.

In another incident two Taliban fighters were captured in the Maruf district on the southern province of Kandahar on Tuesday night, according to Raziq Khan, commander of the Afghan army brigade at Spin Boldak, near the border with Pakistan. Khan said the two men were cornered in the village of Esa Khail after smuggling arms into the country.
Another case of coal to Newcastle...
Posted by: Dan Darling || 08/12/2004 12:52:45 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  cut their balls off.
Posted by: anymouse || 08/12/2004 22:33 Comments || Top||


Pakistan jugs 2 more top al-Qaeda
Two top al-Qaeda suspects, a Pakistani linked to attempts on President Pervez Musharraf's life and an Uzbek national, have been captured in Pakistan, said an intelligence official on Thursday. They are the latest in a gallery of suspected top operatives of Osama bin Laden's terror network caught in the world's second most-populous Muslim nation since mid-July. Both men were close to al-Qaeda's "top leadership", the official said, without naming bin Laden or his Egyptian deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who are believed to be both hiding in mountains along the Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier.

The Pakistani, identified only as Mohsin, was nabbed in the southern port city of Karachi on Monday, said the official, who has been closely involved in the high-profile crackdown. "He is one of the important characters in the Musharraf (attempted assassination) case," he said, referring to two bids on Musharraf's life last December. The Uzbek man, known as Mansoor, was arrested in northwest Peshawar city, also on Monday. Believed to be a key al-Qaeda operative, Mansoor had been hiding in the northwest tribal belt along the Afghan border until Pakistani army assaults sent him fleeing, said the official. "He is... one of the people active in organising and providing the Uzbek people for fighting against the army in Wana and also for acts of terrorism," he added. Also arrested this week was a Turkish man believed to be a top al-Qaeda terror planner. Yilmaz Mehmat, alias Khalid, was arrested in eastern city of Lahore on Sunday. The trio arrested this week - Mohsin, Khalid and Mansoor - had been working closely with Khan and Ghailani, said the intelligence official.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 08/12/2004 12:32:17 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq-Jordan
Marines storm Tater's house...
U.S. forces stormed the home of rebel Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the holy city of Najaf Thursday, witnesses said.
"Dat's right! I seen it!"
They said servicemen went into the house in the center of the city after warplanes bombed nearby targets and battled militiamen loyal to Sadr. The cleric was believed to be at Imam Ali shrine, a mile away.
"He ain't here, sir!"
"The better for us, Duffy! Let's go through his underwear drawer!"
A fire was still raging in the street when Humvees drove to the house. U.S. Marines, backed by aircraft, swooped on Najaf's city center earlier in an attempt to end weeklong fighting with Sadr's militiamen. But they stayed away from Imam Ali Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Shi'ite Islam.
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2004 12:31:22 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He's at the holy moskq ya say?

As holy as you can get ya say?
Posted by: Lucky || 08/12/2004 12:45 Comments || Top||

#2  I'd check the Najaf Dunkin' Donuts first...
Posted by: Seafarious || 08/12/2004 12:47 Comments || Top||

#3  You mean, the Najaf Holy Dunkin' Donuts.
Posted by: Matt || 08/12/2004 12:57 Comments || Top||

#4  Heh, okay, I'll do it...

How holy is it?
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 12:58 Comments || Top||

#5  Sea - sorry to disappoint, but it's actually Little Mo's Holy DonutLand... The Dunkin' outfit hasn't placed any franchises there yet. ;-)
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 13:01 Comments || Top||

#6  OT -- Olympics Soccer Schedule
Aug. 12 1:30 p.m. Men Iraq vs. Portugal

Understand it's going to be live on MSNBC. The Iraqi bloggers are ready! Hope lots of our USA folks show up for this.
Posted by: Sherry || 08/12/2004 13:17 Comments || Top||

#7  How holy is it?
Not as holey as its going to be. (/rimshot)
Posted by: Spot || 08/12/2004 13:23 Comments || Top||

#8  Tater has left the building.
(with apologies to Elvis).
Posted by: Jim K || 08/12/2004 13:45 Comments || Top||

#9  They find anything in it? Whether they do or not, after the Marines leave they should lob an artillery round or two right onto the house and reduce it to rubble. Just to send a nice, clear message. :)
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 08/12/2004 13:53 Comments || Top||

#10  So they gonna serve him up mashed or fried?
Posted by: Atropanthe || 08/12/2004 13:57 Comments || Top||

#11  I don't think he'll be needing that house again...he's got a dirtnap or reservation at the gray-bar hotel awaiting
Posted by: Frank G || 08/12/2004 13:59 Comments || Top||

#12  Besides, he won't want to live in the house after the devil dogs finish with it.
Posted by: Mr. Davis || 08/12/2004 14:08 Comments || Top||

#13  Sir! The bacon is stapled to all the walls, sir!
Posted by: eLarson || 08/12/2004 14:09 Comments || Top||

#14  I heard that when the soldiers got there, they put on a little music and …..

they did the mash..
they did the mullah mash
It was a smash
It was a graveyard smash
Tater’s were gone in a flash
they did the mullah mash

http://www.angelfire.com/ga/sweetgeorgiapeach2/monstermash.html

Posted by: B || 08/12/2004 16:18 Comments || Top||

#15  Tater has left the building.

I'd prefer, "left the planet."

One of these days, Sadr. KAPOW! Straight to the moon! [/The Great One]
Posted by: Zenster || 08/12/2004 17:16 Comments || Top||

#16  (Boris Karloff voice)
Oh, Mr. al Sadr, don't worry about your house and your things.
You're at home...........
With me.........
and the US Marines!"
(/Boris Karloff voice)
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/12/2004 19:30 Comments || Top||

#17  Mooooooooqtie! We're home! You gotta lotta splainin' to do!
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/12/2004 20:30 Comments || Top||


U.S., Iraqi Forces Launch Najaf Offensive ((Thank God))
Thousands of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers launched a major assault on militiamen loyal to a radical Shiite cleric Thursday, with explosions and gunfire echoing near Najaf's revered Imam Ali shrine and its vast cemetery. Shooting also was reported near the rebel leader's home as huge plumes of smoke rose from the city. Coalition forces were trying to crush an uprising led by cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose fighters have been battling U.S. troops and Iraqi government forces in Najaf and other Shiite strongholds across the country for a week. "Major operations to destroy the militia have finally begun," said Maj. David Holahan, executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment. Thousands of U.S. troops were participating, he said.
More on the story at the site.
Posted by: 2% || 08/12/2004 10:47:35 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yo Marines, I like my Taters MASHED!
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 08/12/2004 12:50 Comments || Top||


Marines In the House
Like MC Hammer said "He needs to pray just to make it today".
Posted by: Ol_Dirty_American || 08/12/2004 12:10:55 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is Sadr 2 Legit 2 Quit?
Posted by: Tibor || 08/12/2004 12:30 Comments || Top||

#2  LMAO, nice post ;)
Posted by: Damn_Proud_American || 08/12/2004 12:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Yep - had live video on FoxNews - it was loud, but you couldn't see much of anything. They're showing Sadr's house now, in fact. Now dusk has arrived.

Bret Baeir is reporting that they believe that Sadr is in the Shrine. He says they're about to show video of the asshats firing out of the shrine...

It was 140 deg F today and there seem to be some debate about whether forces will hold position around the shrine - and the US Military owns the night - or pull back and get some R&R - then come back again later.

Now they're saying that this is not the actual "final push" - sigh. I give up - more as it develops.
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 12:37 Comments || Top||

#4  Let's get some!!!
Posted by: Sgt. D.T. || 08/12/2004 13:39 Comments || Top||

#5  There was a clarification just a moment ago from a Marine spokesman on FoxNews. He said that across the street from Sadr's house is a hospital and some clinic bldgs and that 30-45 asshats were firing mortars and such from there - that was why the area was cleared - Sadr's house was just a bonus. They bad guys are "gone" - no clarification of "gone" was given.

140 deg F there in Najaf today... I remember such days all too well. Don't miss 'em.
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 13:43 Comments || Top||

#6  And they said we could not and would not operate in the heat because we were not as adapted to it as the Arabs are.

Another Arab Superiority myth dispelled - they forgot that the US military, and especially the Marines, IMPROVISE ADAPT and OVERCOME.

We attack anywhere and any time we choose because out troops and their leaders are just that damn good.
Posted by: Oldspook || 08/12/2004 21:50 Comments || Top||

#7  Would be fun if they found some porn flicks and booze in Sadr's house...
Posted by: True German Ally || 08/12/2004 21:56 Comments || Top||

#8  Sadr porn? Ewwwwwwww - I feel ill just thinking about the underage goats and quadripeds
Posted by: Frank G || 08/12/2004 22:00 Comments || Top||


20 die in clashes with UK troops
Twenty people were killed and 50 wounded in clashes between British troops and radical militiamen, medics said yesterday, as a week-old Shia uprising spread across central and southern Iraq. For three hours from 1am, British jets bombed three districts of the southern city of Amara where militiamen were believed to be holed up, damaging six houses and cutting off electricity supplies. It was the first operation of its kind since Thursday, when heavy fighting broke out in the central Najaf between radical scholar Moqtada Sadr's Mehdi Army and US-backed Iraqi forces, a British spokesman confirmed.

British troops clashed with militiamen for about an hour late on Tuesday when their tanks tried to cross a bridge into the city, an AFP correspondent said. The director of the Al Zahrawi hospital reported six dead and 15 wounded. An official at the Sadr General Hospital said 14 bodies were brought in - militiamen and civilians - along with 35 wounded, three of them children. British spokesman Major Ian Clooney said the multinational operation "was specifically targeted against insurgent positions from where they continue to fire rockets and mortars against coalition bases". "There was appropriate force in a very targeted and precise manner. The exact number of insurgent casualties is not known," he added.
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2004 11:13 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Shiite bad boys are busy today -- see all the other Rantburg stories from Iraq. Is this the last gasp or will they keep it going for the Republican convention? Only their masters in Tehran know for sure...
Posted by: Jonathan || 08/12/2004 11:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Bulldog, do we still have The Ghurkas? Just had a bottle of Ghurka beer in a takeaway - good beer, great soldiers. Just wondered why they weren't there.
Posted by: Howard UK || 08/12/2004 16:15 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Six dead in new violence in Indian Kashmir
Fresh violence flared in Indian Kashmir as rebels killed two alleged spies and troops shot dead four suspected militants from the disputed region's Pakistani side, police said Thursday. The two suspected informers were abducted by rebels from their homes in the central Kashmir district of Budgam and shot dead Thursday morning, police said. Indian troops killed four suspected rebels in two clashes along the Line of Control -- the de facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan -- in the southern Poonch and Rajouri districts overnight and Thursday, a police spokesman said in the summer capital Srinagar. "All four infiltrated into our territory from Pakistan-administered Kashmir," a police spokesman said. He said a total of seven rebel infiltrators had been killed over the past two days. Violence usually escalates in Kashmir on the eve of India's independence day August 15. Militants and separatist politicians call the event a "Black Day."
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2004 11:11 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Pakistan, India exchange lists of each other's wanted terror suspects
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2004 11:11 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq-Jordan
At least 72 people die in fighting in Kut
At least 72 people were killed and 148 wounded on Thursday in US air raids and fighting between the Iraqi police and Shi'ite militia in the southern city of Kut, a Health Ministry official said. Falah al-Dirmani told Reuters the casualties were taken to hospitals in the city, 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Baghdad. Security sources said most of the victims fell when US warplanes bombed a district controlled by Mehdi Army militia at dawn. Smoke rose from Kut's police headquarters as explosions rattled the city and gunfire crackled. One hysterical woman screamed as a man carried a child in his arms and ran down a street. One man sat dazed on the sidewalk as people wrapped bandages around his wounds. A black shoe lay in a pool of blood. Mehdi Army militiamen, loyal to firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, had killed five police in clashes on Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2004 11:10 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  One firebrand mention. No word yet on the baby ducks.
Posted by: eLarson || 08/12/2004 11:48 Comments || Top||

#2  At least they're playing the Whack-a-Schmuck game for us. Bless their shriveled little brains.
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 11:52 Comments || Top||

#3  If my math is correct, that means we'll be needing 5,184 virgins tonite. I hope they keep the racket down; I'm exhausted.
Posted by: Anonymous6060 || 08/12/2004 13:34 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine
Photos from IDF Kalandia checkpoint
Hat tip: LGF.
There's something about a girl in uniform toting an automatic rifle... Yowsa!
Posted by: Dar || 08/12/2004 10:49:30 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq-Jordan
U.S. Jet Fighters Bomb Fallujah, Killing 4
U.S. jet fighters bombed the turbulent city of Fallujah on Wednesday, killing four people and injuring four others, hospital officials said. Several houses were damaged in the blasts, including one that was completely burnt, said emergency worker Ahmed Maher. The shelling occurred at 5p.m. Wednesday, said Thaer Ahmed of Fallujah hospital. The U.S. military had no immediate comment, but U.S. forces have persistently fought with militants holed up in the city, a well known Sunni stronghold, for months. Many of the insurgents believed responsible for the spate of kidnappings, bombings and shooting attacks at coalition forces, Iraqi forces and civilians, are based in the volatile city, 40 miles west of Baghdad.
Really? When did that start?
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2004 10:48 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good use of cover publicity being generated by the Tater in Najaf.
Posted by: Mr. Davis || 08/12/2004 18:12 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine
Israeli Woman Arrested on Security Charge
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2004 10:48 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa: North
Mauritania Arrests Prominent Islamist
U.S. ally Mauritania briefly arrested a prominent Islamic opposition figure Wednesday, two days after the government said it had foiled an alleged army-led coup plot linked to a threat last month by extremists to strike Mauritania "with an iron fist" over its ties with Israel. Police arrested prominent Islamist Mohamed Jemil Ould Mansour, secretary-general of an opposition coalition that includes Islamists. They searched his home and released him after several hours. Ruling party officials have blamed army officers, civilians and Islamist extremists in the alleged plot to topple the 20-year-old regime of President Maaoya Sid Ahmed Ould Taya. Official accounts said the plotters were planning to assassinate Taya as he left the country Saturday for France. They said simultaneous bombings were planned to sow disarray.

Opposition politicians, Islamic leaders and some Western diplomats were skeptical about the alleged plot. Some said the claims of a plot were simply a pretext by Taya's government to crack down harder on the opposition in the oil-rich nation on the western edge of the Sahara. Authorities have made an unspecified number of arrests. Opposition politician Salek Sidi Mahmoud on Wednesday called the plot "very probably a fabrication." The government "is trying to liquidate those officers who maybe are hostile to the economic, political and social disasters in Mauritania," he said.
By arresting the guys who want to turn it from a kinda secular failed state into an Islamic failed state? Spare me.
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2004 10:47 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq-Jordan
Al-Sadr's Militia Seems to Control Slum
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2004 10:42 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Next.
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 10:49 Comments || Top||

#2  More like diggin' their own graves.
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 08/12/2004 11:12 Comments || Top||

#3  Does this make him a slum-lord?...
Posted by: mojo || 08/12/2004 11:55 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine
Palestinians Occupy Gov't Office in Gaza
Dozens of Palestinians, some of them armed, occupied the local government offices in a Gaza refugee camp for several hours Thursday, demanding assistance after a series of home demolitions by the Israeli army. The four-hour seizure, which ended with no injuries after intervention by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, was the latest sign of growing lawlessness in the Gaza Strip ahead of Israel's planned withdrawal from the area next year. Palestinian security forces, severely weakened by four years of conflict with Israel, have been vying for power ahead of the withdrawal. Taking advantage of the power vacuum, violent gangs roam freely, and militants accuse local officials of corruption and ineffectiveness.
Yep. That's kind of a thumbnail description of Gaza. The sooner the Israelis are out, the sooner it'll implode. I don't even think I'll bother ululating when the last Gazan shoots the second-to-last Gazan...
The office takeover came a day after Palestinian militants exploded a bomb at a West Bank checkpoint. The attack, aimed at Israeli troops, killed two Palestinian bystanders and wounded 16 people, including six Israeli guards. The bombing sparked a rare public display of frustration about Palestinians killing other Palestinians — and the bomber's apparent disregard for civilians. "Absolutely it is not beneficial for the Palestinian people and its struggle," Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said after meeting with U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn.
"Only Jooos! Yer only supposed to boom Jooos!"
During Thursday's standoff in Gaza, several dozen demonstrators marched into the governor's office in the Rafah refugee camp and ejected local officials. At least 10 gunmen were in the crowd, some of them wearing uniforms of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a loosely organized group whose members staged Wednesday's bombing. Protester Yusef Shaat said the group members' homes were damaged or destroyed by Israeli troops about a week ago. "Our houses have been demolished. We have no homes, no beds, no clothes, and nobody from the Palestinian Authority comes to see us," he said.
How's it feel to be part of the faceless masses?
Izzat Abu Al-Khair, director of the governor's office,
... whose house wasn't blown up...
said he reached a settlement with the group after Arafat authorized him to negotiate. The protesters then left the building and the staff returned, he said. Under the deal, the Palestinian Authority agreed to provide clothes and kitchen utensils to the displaced people and to repair damaged homes or rent housing for those whose homes were destroyed, Abu Al-Khair said.
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2004 10:42 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Er, aren't Palestinians what one would expect to find occupying a Gaza government office? ;)
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 08/12/2004 11:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Has it now sunk in, after all this time, that these people have finally realized that they're fucking doomed?
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/12/2004 20:42 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Sadr urges his army to fight on even after his death
Shiite Muslim militia leader Moqtada Sadr called on his supporters Wednesday to fight on against occupation forces in Iraq even if he dies a martyr in the battle. "If I die a natural death or if I die a martyr, I urge the Mehdi Army to continue to fight the occupation forces," he said in a statement handed out in the besieged holy city of Najaf.
"Even if I throw myself on my knees and beg for mercy, keep on fighting! Even if I'm captured hiding at the bottom of an outdoor toilet, keep on fighting!"
"I thank my dear Mehdi Army supporters in (the Shiite southern cities of) Basra, Amara and Nasiriyah, who have offered their soul and blood in the fight against the occupation forces," he added.
"Somehow, miraculously, I remain untouched, not a nick, not a graze. It's uncanny!"
Since Thursday, 22 people have been killed and 109 wounded in Amara; nine killed and 24 wounded in Basra; and 14 killed and 31 wounded in Nasiriyah, according to medics and the health ministry. But the statement also warned against calls from some Sadr supporters for Shiite southern and central Iraq to secede. "I advise you not to split the provinces because they are not our enemies," it said.
"When we achieve our inevitable victory, they'll be there to send us tribute!"
Meanwhile, the US military said Wednesday it was preparing for major assaults against Shiite Muslim militiamen in Najaf alongside Iraqi security forces. "Marines, US army soldiers and Iraqi national guardsmen continue joint training exercises in preparation for major assaults against enemy forces in the city of Najaf," the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) said. US marines, Iraqi national guardsmen, two reinforced US infantry battalions and a US aviation battalion are "currently working together to constitute the force that will conduct these major assaults," its statement said.
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2004 10:31 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


165 killed in clashes across Iraq in 24 hrs
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2004 10:29 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Funny how the article's author claims it to be a "Shiite uprising". Seems more like militia-based terrorism to me, as I haven't read any accounts that the general population is getting involved.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 08/12/2004 11:07 Comments || Top||

#2  I would imagine Iran is bankrolling and otherwise supporting this effort. They have alot to lose if Iraq goes stable and secular.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/12/2004 12:26 Comments || Top||


Kidnappers release Jordanian
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2004 10:25 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Two Syrian nationals attempt to attack PUK headquarters in Mosul
Two Syrian nationals were arrested by the police in the Kurdistani city of Mosul, while they were attempting to attack the PUK headquarters near the local university, reported by the Kurdish online www.peyamer.com on Monday. Explosives were found in a car during a routine search on Sunday afternoon. The two suspects were arrested and taken away for investigation.
Interesting. The Soddy wanted to boom the KDP headquarters and the Syrians wanted to boom the PUK...
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2004 10:22 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Explosives were found in a car during a routine search on Sunday afternoon. The two suspects were arrested and taken away for investigation.

Cyas!
Posted by: Atropanthe || 08/12/2004 12:09 Comments || Top||


Saudi Arab wants to destroy the KDP headquarters in Mosul
A Saudi Arab national wanted to blow up the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) on Sunday in the Kurdistani city of Mosul, but before the action, he was arrested by the KDP forces, reported Kurdish Xabat, the KDP organ on Monday. According to the paper, the Saudi national confessed that he wanted to blow up the KDP office. His car was loaded with explosives and also with 13 huge missiles.
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2004 10:21 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Najaf ops, from DEBKA...
Today's DEBKA headlines...
DEBKAfile's military sources report Najef standoff nears climax. US Marines-Iraqi National Guards cordons thrown up around Shiite city - one external, second enclosing Old City where fighting rages around Imam Ali Mosque. Reports Sadr has booby-trapped shrine and threatens to blow it up with 2,000 militiamen inside if US-Iraqi force storms in.

Earlier, US F-16 jets leveled Old City house thought occupied by Sadr. He was not there. US generals seek fast end to showdown before general conflagration sparked. Iraqi vice president Ibrahim Jafferi and national security adviser Mufaq Rubai at scene trying to reach Sadr and mediate end to fighting.

Also from DEBKAfile's military sources: US troop build-up east and north of Sunni Triangle hotbed of Fallujah to prevent guerrilla forces taking advantage of Najef standoff to strike American troops.
Posted by: Fred || 08/12/2004 10:14:50 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan/South Asia
Pakistan Nabs Five More Terror Suspects
EFL:
Pakistan authorities arrested five more suspected members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network in the past 48 hours, including "valuable targets," a senior government official said Thursday. He said the arrests were made during raids in different parts of the country and that the detainees were being questioned in efforts to capture other al-Qaida members. "Our forces raided some places in the past two days and captured five terrorists, including foreigners, who are valuable targets," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official would not name the suspects or give their nationalities, and it wasn't clear if any were on the FBI list of most-wanted terrorists. Pakistan's Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed confirmed the arrests, but refused to share any further details.
"I can say no more."
An intelligence official said that the five latest arrests were made on the basis of information gleaned from terror suspects who were captured in recent weeks.
Continuing the chain. It's interesting that Pak military intel can do this but ISI didn't seem to be able to...
He said the five were "definitely al-Qaida men," but declined to say how senior they were. The latest five arrests came days after Pakistani security officials raided a home in the eastern city of Lahore, capturing two Turkish nationals and an African. The authorities so far have not revealed the names of the three suspects, although authorities believe that one of the Turks might have been behind a terrorist attack in Turkey. Another senior government official said he had no details about the attack and whether the Turk was suspected in the suicide bombings blamed on al-Qaida that killed more than 60 people in Istanbul in November. "So far we only know one of them might have played a role in a terrorist attack in Turkey, but our security agencies are still questioning them," the official said Thursday on condition of anonymity.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve || 08/12/2004 9:36:45 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  We got some details:
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Two top Al-Qaeda suspects, a Pakistani linked to attempts on President Pervez Musharraf's life and an Uzbek national, have been captured in Pakistan, an intelligence official told AFP. The Pakistani, identified only as Mohsin, was nabbed in the southern port city of Karachi on Monday, said the official, who has been closely involved in the high-profile crackdown and spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity. "He is one of the important characters in the Musharraf (attempted assassination) case," he said, referring to two bids on Musharraf's life last December.

The Uzbek man, known as Mansoor, was arrested in northwest Peshawar city, also on Monday. Believed to be a key Al-Qaeda operative, Mansoor had been hiding in the northwest tribal belt along the Afghan border until Pakistani army assaults sent him fleeing, the official said.
"He is... one of the persons active in organising and providing the Uzbek people for fighting against the army in Wana and also for acts of terrorism," the official added.
Posted by: Steve || 08/12/2004 13:03 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
It's on in Najaf
The U.S. military Thursday launched a major offensive against Iraqi militants loyal to renegade Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Najaf, south of Baghdad. CNN's Matthew Chance, embedded with U.S. Marines, said the assault by the U.S. military includes tanks, heavy weapons and armored vehicles. According to Chance, the fighting is taking place in close proximity as members of al-Sadr's Mehdi Army jump out of buildings to fire rocket-propelled grenades and mortars at American forces....U.S. military authorities warned Wednesday that a showdown was coming. "Iraqi and U.S. forces are making final preparations as we get ready to finish this fight that the Muqtada militia started," Col. Anthony Haslam, commanding officer of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, said in a statement. Al-Sadr, in a statement Wednesday, was resolute about continuing the battle but thanked those people who he said worked to establish peace in the city....
The peace of the dead for you Mr. Sadr???
Posted by: Rafael || 08/12/2004 3:17:37 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'll believe it when Tater is totted.
Posted by: someone || 08/12/2004 6:47 Comments || Top||

#2  FoxNews is reporting that the entire cemetary (5 mi wide) has been cleared, the old town has been cleared, and now the rats (between 700-1500) are holed up in the Ali Shrine. In other words, the Jarines absolutely kicked ass and cleared a huge area in a mere few hours. And stopped only at the Ali Shrine compound gates - because Allawi backed off and decided that only Iraqis could go in.

They are waiting for the Iraqi forces working with the Jarines to move forward.

Supposedly, the Iraqis will "raid" the moskkk. Realistically, I would bet that they don't and that it becomes a seige - maybe a few skirmishes. Sadly, this means that most, if not all, of these assholes will live. That is a Big Mistake, PM Allawi. You blinked. So now they'll come back to haunt you. Fuckwit.
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 7:11 Comments || Top||

#3  com maybe he wants a public starvation for them? The SOB are purely hated. I was reading some comments at BBC. Iraqi's want Sadar's balls on a pole.
Posted by: FlameBait93268 || 08/12/2004 7:16 Comments || Top||

#4  FB - I hope you're right - and thanx for putting a positive shine on it - I was so pissed it was hard to type. BTW, Sadr's in there, I think. There was film footage, but who knows when it was shot. One ex_Col commented that he thinks it's no mistake that Al Jizz was kicked out just before this began, heh. Sweet!
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 7:25 Comments || Top||

#5  Fallujah is next...mark my words.
Posted by: Anonymous5668 || 08/12/2004 7:32 Comments || Top||

#6  Lol! So marked, heh, but you're fucking Anonymous -- which makes it worth something less than warm spit.

The Sunni Triangle must come next - and it's as obvious as a trout in the milk. Allawi knows he has to end these outlaw situations to stabilize sufficiently for elections to work - that is his primary task as the interim PM. How he does it, however, remains to be seen. This is almost a great start.

The demonstration in Najaf should give him confidence that he can have the Sunni / whatever rats in the Triangle also rounded up into pockets if he gives a green light... The finish here may influence how he decides to handle future finishes. I hope the Tater Tots continue to be remarkably stupid - and choose to die in very large numbers, because that's what can be expected up in the Triangle.

It is my fervent hope that the campaign there is not telegraphed - you know that our pal Zarqi will cover his own ass first, now that he's a media star and all.
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 7:48 Comments || Top||

#7  Anticipate a lengthy siege of the Golden Onion, during which general Shia beligerence will increase and the will of the Authority slowly dissipates until a climbdown / second truce is agreed. We should pen them in, cut off the water, throw in the gas and sort it out NOW.
Posted by: Howard UK || 08/12/2004 8:18 Comments || Top||

#8  assuming the Najaf siege/assault is successful, there are two other more serious problems

1. fallujah and vicinity
2. sadr city in Baghdad

these may be much more difficult than Najaf
Posted by: mhw || 08/12/2004 8:39 Comments || Top||

#9  "Atlanta Beseiged by Sherman"
Savannah is next...mark my words - Anon
Heh!
Posted by: Don || 08/12/2004 8:43 Comments || Top||

#10  Charleston is the one I'm waiting for. That's where it all started.
Posted by: Mr. Davis || 08/12/2004 8:47 Comments || Top||

#11  On to Richmond!
Posted by: Steve || 08/12/2004 9:02 Comments || Top||

#12  A wait-'em-out approach or another truce would be a huge mistake. Take them out now. Alawi needs to establish control and order as his first priority. After that, things will fall into place.
There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
Posted by: Spot || 08/12/2004 9:26 Comments || Top||

#13  Absolutely agreed. The killer is that Allawi and Gawar know far better than we that power is what Arabs respect. They know that some half-assed accommodation is a fool's errand. As with all other situations such as this, the asshats may slink away (or act as if they won) but as soon as they've rearmed and spun things in their recruiting and regrouped, they'll come back and cause similar or worse problems. This could be terrific or it could turn out stupid.

I like the HL Mencken quote that Ace of Spades features on his site:
"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats."
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 9:35 Comments || Top||

#14  Hey - its not just the Marines:

"We're starting to put the pressure on the militia to fight, die, or capitulate," Lt. Col. Myles Miyamasu, from the U.S. Army's 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division, said Thursday.

Like I saidbefore, I almost pity those poor dumb bastards, caught between the Marines and the First Team.
Posted by: Oldspook || 08/12/2004 9:39 Comments || Top||

#15  points 1. A siege is NOT a truce. Especially if theres no water inside the shrine.
2. There are reports that Sadrs boyz have wired the shrine with explosives. OTOH its good for us to spread these reports, if theres even a small chance that theyre true.
3. Dead hard boyz are good for Allawi, but damage to the shrine is not. The more of the former, for the less of the latter, the better off he is. And we are too, BTW.
4. Many reports that the cemetary is clear. Dot coms is the first ive seen that the Old city is also clear.
5. Yes, Allawi has to visibly take on the Sunni insurgency next. Already neocon and Chalabi pal columnist Jim Hoagland is voicing concerns that Allawi is playing a Sunni dominance, Baathist game - supported by the CIA, which want to overthrow Iran, but is solicitous of Saudi, Egypt and Jordan. Im not sure how much Hoagland speaks for DoD (Dan Darling, your take on Hoagland?) but I suspect DoD is not willing to have a pure CIA agenda in Iraq.
6. I would hope that once Sadr is dead or jugged or run off the insurgency in Sadr City would simply dissipate - but i wouldnt get anyones hopes up.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 08/12/2004 9:40 Comments || Top||

#16  that power is what Arabs respect.

All human beings respect power. Its an evolutionary thing, I suspect. But to keep the power, so they respect you, you cant alienate everyone.

Thinking about it, I think Allawi could survive A. damage to the shrine or B. The shrine being destroyed by the Sadr forces themselves C. IF the shrine is totally destroyed by US or Iraqi forces attacks, hes got a big problem - perhaps not insurmountable, but it will take a lot of assuaging. Perhaps major concessions to Sistani and to Dawa to keep the lid on. If thats the only way to beat Sadr its worth it. If, OTOH, destroying the shrine is done only to keep one or two hundred hard boyz from escaping its NOT worth it.

Look, we've shown that US forces can go through these guys like a hot knife through butter. Even the current imperfectly trained Iraqi forces can stand up to them. And they alienate people in whatever city they takeover I dont see it as worth the consequence in Iraq and beyond of shrine destruction to kill off a few more of them.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 08/12/2004 9:47 Comments || Top||

#17  .com: And stopped only at the Ali Shrine compound gates - because Allawi backed off and decided that only Iraqis could go in.

I think Allawi can go only as far as Iraqis are willing to go. Remember that Saddam used to demolish shrines without compunction because he had no need for popular approval. Allawi isn't in that position. When enough Iraqis as a people are baying for Sadr's blood, then the Marines will be allowed to go in and crush the Sadrites to dust.

Remember - Iraqis have gone through decades of programming about the US being the Great Satan. One does not reverse these views in a single year. It will take time, and perhaps tens of thousands of Iraqi victims of Saddam's death squads, for Iraqis to realize that they have been praying at the altar of the false god of anti-Americanism - that Uncle Sam is there to help them start a working democracy, not impose a clone of Saddam upon them.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/12/2004 9:59 Comments || Top||

#18  It is also a statement of power to clearly posess it but use it judiciously. While Tater and his tots are best broiled, there's no point burning the kitchen down to do it.
Posted by: Mr. Davis || 08/12/2004 10:02 Comments || Top||

#19  Hot Maps! Get yer maps here. Hot Maps!

Global Security Maps of Najaf. Note bottom left and right maps focus on the shrine. Area north of shrine is the huge cemetary - shown well on this map from Ace Pilots.
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 10:17 Comments || Top||

#20  Ace Pilots link: Forbidden! Verboten! Access Denied! GTFO!...also, a 404 was encountered
Posted by: Frank G || 08/12/2004 10:19 Comments || Top||

#21  LH, ZF, Mr D - Think like an Arab, not a Westerner. Wonderful points from you all - but what do you think they mean to an Iraqi Arab?

I'm not the bad guy, here, BTW. You can argue amongst yourselves in fine Western logic, and it won't mean diddley-squat to Yagoub (that's Arabized Jacob). No, Jake Iraqi will smile and then blame you anyway, if he can.

Whatever. You guys update the link and work it out.

Arab Think.
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 10:26 Comments || Top||

#22  Frank - that must be some aspect of your cookie settings. Works fine for me.
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 10:27 Comments || Top||

#23  "We're starting to put the pressure on the militia to fight, die, or capitulate,"

NO capitulation. Every member of Sadr's militia that is found needs to be dispatched, no questions asked. Capturing and imprisoning them means that there is a possibility that they can either escape from captivity or in a rush of foolishness by Iraqi authorities be granted amnesty, which means that in either case, they WILL be back to possibly cause future problems. Ice them now, and there will no uncertainty about any future repercussions from either escape or release.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 08/12/2004 10:28 Comments || Top||

#24  but what do you think they mean to an Iraqi Arab

while i know or have known personally several muslims, almost all were south asians, turks, etc. I dont really know any arabs well, and must go by what ive read - so you can always trump me with your personal experiences. My impression is that they are not all the same, and will not all react the same way.

Why have the Shiites in Najaf turned against Sadr more firmly than Shiites elsewhere in Iraq, as it seems?? If the only thing Iraqi arabs respect is power, than they the Najafis who have lived under Sadrs power should be the most compliant, and the others should not be. All evidence has been that Sadrs firm application of power has alienated the locals, and resulted in Anti-sadr vigilantes.

Look, its one thing to be a totalitarian like Saddam. When youre THAT firm, (most) everyone will comply - something that Arabs seem to have in common with Russians, Germans, and just about everyone else whos lived under totalitarianism. Impose anything less and being feared alone isnt good enough.

Posted by: Liberalhawk || 08/12/2004 10:37 Comments || Top||

#25  LH - I don't give a hoot about trumping - I care about getting Sadr out of the way as a problem solved. I observed Western logic, not Arab Think - and said so, that's all. Not disrespect - just trying to get everyone to accept that their excellent logic doesn't apply there. No offense, just a heavy sigh.

As for which cities have shown Sadr disrespect - it's those in which his minions have interrupted their lucrative shrine business. I'll bet a lot that the Tots have stepped on a lot of toes, believing themselves above the laws of men and all that rot. I'll bet that they've fomented some serious grudges - they have to eat - so I'll bet they take what they want, in Sadr's name. And you can probably add much more to that tally.

They are, if nothing else and almost above all else, merchants and simple workers with families to feed. After that's covered, then they play the family/clan/tribe/flavor of Islam cards in that order. There are exceptions, of course, such as blood libels, fueds, ronin without a Master, etc.
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 10:46 Comments || Top||

#26  .com: I'm not the bad guy, here, BTW. You can argue amongst yourselves in fine Western logic, and it won't mean diddley-squat to Yagoub (that's Arabized Jacob). No, Jake Iraqi will smile and then blame you anyway, if he can.

Look - if we want to fight a limited war with Islam, we're going to have to defer to their wishes on some issues. We could wipe them off the face of the earth, but to do that without nukes is going to require total mobilization on the scale of WWII - with tens of millions of Americans wiping out entire cities with artillery and incendiary bombs.

Destroying Fallujah or Najaf alone won't make the point - the relative peace we enjoyed in Germany and Japan were the result of us killing off 12% of the German population and about 3% of the Japanese population respectively, including close to 3 million civilians. To truly crush the Iraqis, we'd probably have to kill off 10% of the Iraqi population or about 2 million Iraqis - as well as of the military-age populations of the jihadi breeding grounds in the surrounding countries. Are we prepared to do what it takes to kill tens of millions of Muslims in the surrounding countries? I'm not sure we are, short of a reintroduction of the draft to get the millions of ground troops we will need.

We don't need to make any more enemies than necessary. This is why GWB went on the horn to apologize for Abu Ghraib, even though that was dwarfed by single-event Muslim atrocities alone, never mind cumulatively. He's trying to keep the scope of the war small.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/12/2004 11:12 Comments || Top||

#27  To people who point to the British practice of setting examples by imposing harsh but limited punitive expeditions, note that the British empire is no more. Ultimately, the British fled the Mid-East, Africa and all of their colonies east of the Suez canal. The human costs (to enemy civilians) of imposing unconditional submission were too high for the British to bear. The only way you can get a country to submit unconditionally is to kill them in large numbers - in the manner of states like the Chinese or the Roman empires. Are we prepared to slaughter Muslims on a WWII scale? I don't think we have the necessary manpower or munitions stockpiled for that - we'd certainly need to spend more than the puny 4% of annual GDP on the military we are today. (WWII expenditures were 50% of GDP).
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/12/2004 11:20 Comments || Top||

#28  Another point I should have made is that it's cheaper and easier, in both dollar terms and friendly casualties, to defeat Muslim countries in detail - i.e. fight these guys one at a time, than to provoke them to the point that you have to fight them simultaneously.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/12/2004 11:26 Comments || Top||

#29  I believe it is time to go multinational with this. I would love to bring in some russians with their * Sleaping Gas * they used in their Play standoff a few years back and pump that into the shrine.
Posted by: Patrick || 08/12/2004 11:28 Comments || Top||

#30  ZF - I did not say nor suggest any wholesale slaughter. Period. I have to say your posts, suggesting I did so, yet without showing any such thing, piss me off. And that's a first because I respect your opinions, as I do LH and Mr D. Sigh.

Look at what happened in the only other moment of truth - Fallujah. Blink-blink. And now it will be even harder, but it will have to be done - else the Interim Govt has failed. Right? Can there be elections under the current situation?

You have to break Iran's insurgency and influence and you have to break the Sunni Ba'athist dream and the Zarqi game before you can plan for, register for, and hold elections. If that means Allawi needs to employ fear - so be it.

This is both example time (#2) and where the rubber meets the road. You can bet everyone is watching Allawi (especially the Sunnis) to see if he's up to pacifying the country for elections - or not. Period.

Allawi should take a hard stand and order a raid - a real one. Lots of flash-bangs, gas, the works, but a no-shit raid. Some of them will die, yes. But on his orders and led by the Iraqis (supported by US in direct backup) this is the only way that breaks the Sadr game. Every other option leaves him to play another day - even if from a prison cell. And emboldens the other asshats - for without hardcore action, they know they have nothing to fear.

I note that no one is offering a real alternative, one that doesn't result in stalemate at best and continued violence at worst. Which would be failure regards those elections and a the future of Iraq.

Just my opinion. I'm done. If you wish to pick apart shit, knock yourself out - just stick to my actual words and understanding of my intent when you do:

It's about sufficient pacification to hold reasonably safe and clean elections - sans external subversion and violence from any source. That's what the Interim Govt is charged to accomplish. It won't happen peacefully because no one has (yet) served notice that there is a real penalty to pay for violent opposition. We pulled the punch the first time. If we do it again, it will only be harder down the road.
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 11:48 Comments || Top||

#31  .com: ZF - I did not say nor suggest any wholesale slaughter.

I did not mean to imply that you suggested wholesale slaughter - I was suggesting that if we get the natives really riled up against us, we will have to resort to wholesale slaughter to pacify Iraq. This is why we're deferring to their wishes where that seems prudent. There's no point in alienating the Iraqi population - many of the anti-American crowd are being antagonized by the jihadis - we need to act after they are ready to see these people crushed, not before. It's a lot like FDR during WWII - before Pearl Harbor, we were bringing German attacks upon ourselves by supplying the Brits and the Russians - after Pearl Harbor, Americans wanted to flatten both Germany and Japan.

Iraqis have to be convinced - via terrorist atrocities against them - that the enemy is not America before they will finally cross the psychological bridge that prevents them from seeing fellow Arabs and Muslims as the enemy, and a mostly non-Arab and non-Muslim Americans as their friends. If we act before they are convinced of the danger to their lives and their future well-being, then they will blame us for exaggerating the terrorist threat and suggest that the jihadis were just misguided individuals who could have been negotiated with. If we are successful, these efforts could seal a friendship, rather than merely an alliance, with Iraq that could last decades.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/12/2004 12:01 Comments || Top||

#32  .com: Allawi should take a hard stand and order a raid - a real one.

Allawi, or any other politician in his position, can't take a stand unless the vast majority Iraqis are ready for it, since Najaf is the Shiite Jerusalem. If he jumps the gun, Iraq's version of John Kerry will blame him for the infidel desecration of the holy city and for being an American puppet. Do we really want an Iraqi version of Kerry replacing Allawi at the January polls?
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/12/2004 12:05 Comments || Top||

#33  ZF - I follow you - so the question is Allawi and the elections "scheduled" for next January. If he thinks he and the Iraqis are not ready, then the elections slide. One rather sticky problem - his govt is "scheduled" to cease in January with the election results.

As the Thais would say, 'pahn hah yai - chart nah' -- big problem - maybe next life.
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 12:05 Comments || Top||

#34  Re: your second post, which overlapped my response, I say the Iraqis will follow Allawi if he's strong and tough - not the other way around. As for the shrine, that's why Sistani bailed - and he will return to either bless or condemn what happened in his convenient absence. You know there were deals made between Sistani's minions and Allawi - and I assume that is what is guiding him. I believe the Iraqi majority will give him plenty of rope - then look to Sistani to see whether they should laugh or cry. Personally, I'd shed nary a tear if he expired under sedation, but that's another matter - I'd certainly explain such a possibility to him while I had my hands on him.
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 12:10 Comments || Top||

#35  That cemetery is just amazing. Here's a photo of it. Dates back to the 7th c and is said to have five million graves. Wow.
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 08/12/2004 12:12 Comments || Top||

#36  angie ima think you are give rong link.
Posted by: muck4doo || 08/12/2004 12:34 Comments || Top||

#37  Here's the right link I think.
Posted by: 2% || 08/12/2004 12:38 Comments || Top||

#38  See #19 for links to some images of shrine and Najaf.
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 12:41 Comments || Top||

#39  but dot com, dont you agree that if the shrine is destroyed, that gives Sistani additional cards to play against Allawi and the US? And dont we agree that while Sistani may be someone with whom deals can be cut, its preferabble that he NOT deal from a position of strength? Ergo, its worth something to finish off Sadr with the mosque as intact as possible (there will of course be some who who will whine about the inevitable bullet holes - thats NOT what im thinking of, but of more or less complete destruction) and IF that should mean letting SOME of the hard boyz (but NOT Sadr himself) escape to fight another day, that may be a necessary, if unfortunate tradeoff.

Im no infantry tactician, but from the photos you linked to, taking the shrine with light weapons alone is going to present a considerable tactical problem. Unless, as some have suggested, we can wait them out till thirst weakens them. Im not sure - tactical discussions, anyone?

Posted by: Liberalhawk || 08/12/2004 12:44 Comments || Top||

#40  and note the whack a mole in Kut and elsewhere - the other lesson from Fallujah, is that when we have a nest of baddies surrounded and bsesiged, their best political-military response is countersiege - in April the Sunnis rose in Ramadi, and in the villages west of Baghdad, on the supply lines to the Marines in Fallujah. By surrounding and besieging the shrine(and Sadr, and his toughest thugs) do we not force them to rise wherever they can, from Baghdad to Basra? And given a better political military situation for us than in April, isnt that ideal for clean-up?

Just thinking through the options, is all.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 08/12/2004 12:50 Comments || Top||

#41  LH - Duh! Of course. Um, do I have to say it? I didn't call for, or suggest, or even whisper that the shrine should be targeted or damaged. Read my posts, and stick to what I said, plz.

We have Abrams and Bradleys all over the area. The old City was literally overrun by Marines and armor - FoxNews reports. It is calm and quiet cuz it's motherfucking occupied by overwhelming and very visible power - and no one is fucking with them.

There is beaucoup firepower - there is only a rat's nest of 750-1500 asshats in a building complex we don't want to destroy.

Seige - maybe for awhile. Raid. That's the word. Led by the Iraqis - who have performed very well according to eyewitness accounts thus far in this opn.
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 12:52 Comments || Top||

#42  "I believe I can fight a more effective, more thoughtful, more strategic, more proactive, more sensitive war on terror that reaches out to other nations and brings them to our side and lives up to American values in history."
Posted by: John Forbes Kerry || 08/12/2004 13:02 Comments || Top||

#43  "I believe I will get a pony this Christmas."
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 13:04 Comments || Top||

#44  Supposedly, the Iraqis will "raid" the moskkk. Realistically, I would bet that they don't and that it becomes a seige - maybe a few skirmishes. Sadly, this means that most, if not all, of these assholes will live. That is a Big Mistake, PM Allawi. You blinked. So now they'll come back to haunt you. Fuckwit.

Im sorry, perhaps i misinterpreted you. Perhaps i was confused by posts by others here that did call for the destruction of the shrine.

Im not sure about the relative cost benefit of fairly aggressive raids, fewer and lighter raids, or siege. I guess I was misled by your "strong" language :) to thinking that you really thought any consideration of a tradeoff between shrine damage and dead Sadrists was a sign of "fuckwitness".

Sorry. I think as usual our thinking is closer here than our styles would let on.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 08/12/2004 13:06 Comments || Top||

#45  "Just a small one, a thoughtful and sensitive one, one that I can take with me wherever I go."
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 13:07 Comments || Top||

#46  LH - that was my first blush as the story broke and I was typing in anger, heh. My follow-up post to FB indicates this.

As for what I think they should do: Maybe let them stew a bit, but RAID! As I said in the last couple of posts (about Najaf): an Iraqi-led raid with the full intent of clearing the whole thing out.

AP posted an interesting idea about some hardboyz amongst the Tot sheep who might try to blow up the moskkk. A raid could pre-empt this.

And night-time is the time to do it - about 3:00 AM - which will be before the first prayer (sometime after 3:30) - just my notion of where to go from here... Flash-bangs and gas - 2 seconds - and Iraqis in night-vision gear and gas masks shooting anyone who stands or is holding a weapon. US follows to take the survivors outside for a nice cable-tie wristlock and a sit-down.
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 13:17 Comments || Top||

#47  Mr.com :LOL!
Posted by: Heisenbergmayhavebeenhere || 08/12/2004 13:17 Comments || Top||

#48  FoxNews:Military sources cautioned reporters that the action in Najaf was not the "major offensive" that had been discussed on Wednesday, but just one in a series of raids aimed at breaking al-Sadr's hold on the city and drawing his loyalists out.

Kinda like the USMC (and 1st cav, and Iraqi forces) went into the cemetary backed out, rinse, repeat, before securing the cemetary, this is the FIRST raid into the old city, move in kill, pull back, rinse, repeat, THEN secure old city, THEN move on Shrine (and dot coms suggestion as good as anything ive seen (but im a THINKER,Jim, not a tactician))

As dot come points out, careful preparation leaves the risk that the Sadrists will blow the shrine themselves. If our forces were clear of it, I wonder what the hearts and minds effects would actually be, for the fence sitting Iraqi Shiite (IE not the proUS guys with their blogs, or the hardcore Sadr supporters, but Yacub Shiite, will he blame the Sadrists or the US? IE Im not sure that isnt actually a quite acceptable risk.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 08/12/2004 13:40 Comments || Top||

#49  I think the jihadists misunderstand the nature of courage. Courage isn't being willing to die in one shot, by blowing yourself to kingdom come. Courage is facing death repeatedly - in battle after battle - and coming back to roll the dice just one more time. I think a lot of these guys will break and run after a few dozen raids - and count themselves lucky to be alive.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/12/2004 13:56 Comments || Top||

#50  If our forces were clear of it, I wonder what the hearts and minds effects would actually be, for the fence sitting Iraqi Shiite (IE not the proUS guys with their blogs, or the hardcore Sadr supporters, but Yacub Shiite, will he blame the Sadrists or the US?..

You're assuming again that these people think logically. They've proved time and time again that they don't. If Sadr's followers dynamite the shrine, U.S. forces are still going to get the blame anyway, regardless. Any explanation, no matter how improbable or impossible, is viable as long as blame can be laid on Americans.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 08/12/2004 14:09 Comments || Top||

#51  angie ima think you are give rong link.

ima sory mucky stoopid yahoo dymanically

Er

I mean, Yahoo (as I mentioned the other day) gives some of their images dynamic links, so the picture changes throughout the day. Hopefully this one will stand still.

2%'s link was also wrong, and I was also denied access to the Ace Pilots image .com linked to in #19.
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 08/12/2004 16:11 Comments || Top||

#52  I uploaded the Ace Pilots map - for those who couldn't access it.

And here's Tater himself saying everything's A-OK! And I hope he is soon on his way to the moon...
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 16:28 Comments || Top||

#53  Cant wait for the new picture once the USMC washes the smile off his face.

Think they will need some extra-strength pumas.
Posted by: 2% || 08/12/2004 16:36 Comments || Top||

#54  When I was last able to access RB, about 4:10, FoxNews ran a long live videophone interview with some journalist type who's with the US troops. He says the Iraqis are very weary of Sadr, etc. Nice sounding stuff, but I'm leery when I'm told what I want to hear - RB's trained me well!

But what struck me was that more than 50% of the US troops had their IR helmet gear mounted. Easy to conclude they're not likely to be pulling back tonight.

As for blowing up the moskkk and the resulting blame, they'd prolly say we forced them into blowing it up by our attacks and presence. Maybe even adding that we were desecrating it by being there - and thus they were performing an heroic service to Islam. Martyrs all. Believe it or not, that shit would make perfect sense to them. Just a thought that hit me after reading BaR's post.

Here's Allah Pundit's take... Endgame in Najaf
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 16:36 Comments || Top||

#55  And then I hose the damned map link, lol!

H E R E
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 16:38 Comments || Top||

#56  crap! And here I've been messing with IE and cookie settings! .com steered me wrong!
Posted by: Frank G || 08/12/2004 17:17 Comments || Top||

#57  Awright - lol - blame me, al-Frank! *mumble mumble*

Ace Pilots is not a restricted / registered site! I dunno what to tell you! :-/
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 17:20 Comments || Top||

#58  no prob - I lied about doing anythig about it :-)
Posted by: Frank G || 08/12/2004 17:30 Comments || Top||

#59  LOL! Gag! Cough! Sputter! 8-)

(Remember this?)

*GAZE*
Posted by: .com || 08/12/2004 17:33 Comments || Top||

#60  They need to position around the mosque and then move in that EXPERIMENT MICROWAVE CROWD CONTROL equipment.. You know the some of the neat stuff that the government showed us before the war but didn't have the balls to use. If they all feel like they are on fire they will come out even if their eyes say no.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/12/2004 19:07 Comments || Top||

#61  Muqtada al-Sadr-------------> times up!
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 08/12/2004 23:01 Comments || Top||


Al-Qaeda sez they beheaded a CIA agent
An Islamic Web site carried a videotape Wednesday that appeared to show militants in Iraq beheading a man identified as a CIA agent. The authenticity of the videotape could not be verified immediately. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said CIA officials have accounted for all employees and no one is missing. U.S. officials were working to determine if the tape was authentic, the official said.

The Internet site, which Islamic extremists often use to post tapes and statements, displayed footage of eight militants surrounding a seated man. A sign around the man's neck showed his photograph and carried a message saying he was a CIA agent and what appeared to be an official pass bearing the word "visitor" written in English.

The footage, titled "Video of the beheading of an American CIA operative in Iraq," lasted more than four minutes and included several scenes, including a masked militant holding a large knife to the captive's throat. On the tape, a man was heard telling the captive in Arabic "put down your hand, this is the last time, next time I will gouge your eyes out." Then in English, he tells the captive, "open your eyes, open your eyes." The footage was shot during the daylight hours in a house that appeared to be in a rural area. Date palm trees could be seen behind a mud brick wall. The location of the house was not given in the videotape.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling || 08/12/2004 12:27:03 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wow! I had a "Visitor" badge on yesterday...maybe it was me? Let me check.....nope...
Posted by: Frank G || 08/12/2004 9:00 Comments || Top||


Africa: Subsaharan
More details emerge of al-Qaeda activities in West Africa
More details emerged this week on the activities of al-Qaida in West Africa, especially in Liberia, where terrorists allegedly have been closely working with the government in the diamond trade. The new information on al-Qaida is part of a report given to foreign media by the United Nations-backed war crimes court in Sierra Leone. It is being described as a watered down version of what was given to the U.S. commission investigating the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. It details how half a dozen senior al-Qaida operatives worked closely with top officials in Liberia onwards from 1999 during the rule of former Liberian President Charles Taylor. It says they were basically given a safe haven to make illicit diamond deals.
Those stories have been around for awhile. It looks like they're finally being taken seriously. I think they were originally dismissed as propaganda...
The head prosecutor in Freetown, David Crane, says his investigators easily traced back some of the illicit diamond trade to al-Qaida. "When you place an international legal entity in a part of the world that has not really known the rule of law for many, many, many, years you're going to find all sorts of actors moving in and about what I would call a dark corner of the world and there are many of them and this just happens to be one," he said. "Certainly, al-Qaida have been here for a couple of years and they have been using diamonds to wash their money and so, yes, they certainly have a presence here. There's specific and direct evidence to that effect." Mr. Crane says terrorists then easily re-sold smuggled diamonds.

Some investigators, from non-governmental groups like London-based Global Witness, believe al-Qaida's diamond proceeds, estimated at least $15 million, helped finance the 2001 terrorist attacks. The author of the recently released book Blood from Stones: The Secret Financial Network of Terror, former West Africa-based journalist Douglas Farah says the court's findings substantiate his own reporting. He alleges U.S. intelligence neglected what was happening in Liberia, despite the close ties between the two countries. "It's one of the things that is so embarrassing to the U.S intelligence community that there's one place in West Africa where they could've had a handle on events happening and should have had a handle of events, it was in Liberia but they essentially paid very little attention to Taylor and his multiple criminal activities for many years," he commented.
That statement makes sense only if you first predicate unlimited intelligence collection resources. U.S. intel is better than the press usually gives them credit for being, but resources aren't infinite, and West Africa is actually a backwater. When Chuck was finally going down, we didn't file it here under WoT, and he certainly wasn't a major military threat to us. Collection managers look at today's requirements, not what's going to be significant in ten years. And if they don't, they get fired.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling || 08/12/2004 12:22:25 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think most American intelligence agents are idiots. All the ones I've ever seen are suit wearing, college degree holdin', sittin' in air-conditioned Washington D.C. offices, by-the-book losers...We need way more dirty, criminal, aggressive, crazy mo-fo's.
Posted by: Kentucky Beef || 08/12/2004 10:03 Comments || Top||

#2  KB,

Got a record? Want a job? Call me. 202-555-6969.

Porter
Posted by: Porter Goss || 08/12/2004 10:10 Comments || Top||

#3  U.N. peacekeeping operations in both Liberia and Sierra Leone seem to leave little room for the terrorists to maneuver for now.

Are there still Brits in SL? That would help explain the above sentence. In any case to the extent that the bluehats are keeping even a modicum of order, that could be enough to harm a second tier AQ operation.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 08/12/2004 10:19 Comments || Top||

#4  Having worked inside the "industry" for most of my military career, I have to say that intelligence agents are as varied as the rest of society, and about as varried in their success. It's not the AGENTS, or the ANALYSTS or the INTERCEPTORS or the INTERPRETERS that are the problem. Most of them are extremely well qualified, know their subject, and do a job you'd have to see to believe. The problem is, they ALL work for bureaucrats who have about as much knowledge of what they're doing as any set of clowns in Washington, and whose primary job is to look good (or more importantly, keep from looking bad), put in their time, get promoted if they can, collect their pay, and retire as soon as possible. Until we break THAT mold, our "intelligence" will continue to suck.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 08/12/2004 20:21 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
How 1 cell phone led to Pakistani al-Qaeda arrests
The recent string of high-profile arrests in Pakistan of al-Qaida operatives accused of plotting against financial institutions in the United States resulted not from a meticulously planned counterterrorism operation but from a fateful lucky break, according to Pakistani police. It was the kind of break investigators dream about: A cell phone that was to trigger an explosion on a busy road in Karachi failed to detonate.
Just like in Spain, they used their own phones and the cops traced them.
The phone, connected to 18 pounds of explosives, led Pakistani police in the crowded port city to the bomb maker's house. There, police expected to find a local "jihadi group" plotting violence against Pakistan, one police officer said. Instead, police found Musaad Aruchi, believed to be the nephew of a top al-Qaida operative, who helped unravel the most comprehensive discovery of a terrorist plot against the United States since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Bush administration officials have touted the snowballing of arrests as proof of the president's success in the war against terror. But Pakistani police give the credit to the botched bombing, the cell phone discovery and, more broadly, to Pakistan's own, internal war against extremists.
Since this is the Seattle Post Intelligencer, there's no use pointing out that the two aren't exclusive...
Just as Saudi Arabia's war on terror began in earnest when the violence began to threaten the Saudi royal family, Pakistan's intense investigations -- which have borne so much for the United States -- also have at their root the Pakistani government's own instinct for self-preservation, regional specialists and U.S. officials say. "Frankly, I think it is a mistake to think that Pakistanis are doing this for us, at our bidding," a State Department official said. "They recognize that these groups are a threat to them."
Nor should we bother discussing coincident national interests...

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling || 08/12/2004 12:24:58 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bush administration officials have touted the snowballing of arrests as proof of the president’s success in the war against terror. But Pakistani police give the credit to the botched bombing, the cell phone discovery and, more broadly, to Pakistan’s own, internal war against extremists.

The Pakis wouldn't have done a damn thing without the pressure from the President. The WOT uses all kinds of tools and methods, including putting pressure on "allies" to clean up their act. Unilateral and preemtpive military force is an option that the President wants, but which Kerry/Edwards/LLLs want to summarily declare as verboten.
Posted by: Ptah || 08/12/2004 8:59 Comments || Top||


Caucasus
Caucasus Corpse Count
Eight Russian soldiers were killed in rebel raids in Chechnya over the past day, an official in the Kremlin-backed regional administration said Wednesday. Six of them died in 20 rebel attacks on Russian bases and checkpoints over the last 24 hours, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Eleven servicemen were wounded in these raids. Two other soldiers were killed in a clash with residents during security checks carried out in the village of Niki-Khita in the southern Kurchaloi region on Wednesday morning, the official said. Four local police officers also were wounded when rebels shelled their vehicle as they headed to the scene to help the servicemen. In Grozny, two federal military officers were kidnapped Tuesday by unidentified assailants at a street market, the official said.

And in the village of Novogrozny, east of Grozny, two rebels were killed Tuesday when an explosive device they were trying to plant accidentally detonated in their hands. Federal artillery shelled suspected rebel bases in southern Chechnya, and federal forces detained at least 200 people on suspicion of rebel links over the past 24 hours, the official said.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 08/12/2004 12:29:15 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan/South Asia
3 arrested in tribal areas trying to enter Afghanistan
Law-enforcement personnel arrested three people, including an Arab national, in the Mohmand Agency when they were trying to cross into Afghanistan, officials said. They claimed the arrested persons were Al Qaeda suspects who were trying to enter Afghanistan through an unfrequented route at the time of their arrest by the border security force. An official said the Arab national, who belonged to the United Arab Emirates, had been identified as Mohammad Khalid Rashid Ahmad while his two Pakistani friends - Murad and Saif Ali - belonged to Multan. The arrested persons have been handed over to a secret agency in the tribal region for interrogation.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 08/12/2004 12:14:35 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mohammad Khalid Rashid Ahmad

Ever heard of this guy??

Posted by: Anonymous5668 || 08/12/2004 7:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Any relation to Rashid Ahmad Khalid Mohammad? These guys are like the Beagle Boys.
Posted by: BH || 08/12/2004 9:58 Comments || Top||


Africa: Horn
Atrocities 'continue in Darfur'
Why would atrocities 'ever stop'?
Government-backed militias in Sudan are still attacking civilians and are "routinely" raping women and girls in the Darfur region of the country, human rights groups said yesterday. The studies by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch came as Sudan was under growing international pressure to rein in the marauding Arab militias, known as Janjaweed.
Hey! Just give them some more time...
Sudanese officials yesterday dismissed reports of further atrocities and the president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, accused the US and Europe of exploiting violence in western Sudan for their own ends. "America and Europe have aims that do not include the safety and comfort of people in Darfur," Bashir said in an interview published in Lebanon's al-Mustaqbal yesterday. He said Sudan was the victim of a media campaign aimed at diverting attention from violence in Iraq. "Yes, there is killing, displacement and migration, but is the Darfur issue the only issue in the world? What about Palestine and Iraq?" Mr Bashir asked.
We're fixing Iraq. Do we have your permission to fix Paleostine?
He discounted claims by human rights groups that his government was organising a campaign to drive Darfur's non-Arab people from their land. He said it was a decades-old dispute between "farmers and herders".
Which doesn't answer the original question, does it?
"Nothing said by the government of Sudan should be believed. They are serial liars," Peter Takirambudde, the Africa director of Human Rights Watch, told the Guardian yesterday.
Noticed that, did you?

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White || 08/12/2004 12:00:21 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "What about Palestine and Iraq?" Why don't we compare monthy murder and rape estimates between: the Sudan, Palestine, Iraq, North Korea, and wherever the University of Colorado and Baltimore Ravens football teams are traveling. As it is the 21st century, we should base our interventions on data.
Posted by: Super Hose || 08/12/2004 0:38 Comments || Top||

#2  The cowardice of the EU is amazing. The total and complete incompetence of the UN had gotten to the point to where they mean nothing anymore except to bad mouth the USA. Rush Limbaugh today said in so many words about Sudan in his opening monologue “Dear World now is your chance to prove that your way is better than the USA’s, whenever we promote our way of freedom you get pissed off. Whenever we defend and conquer a brutal dictator you get pissed off, so now, before we step in and KILL the bad guy in Sudan, you the planet (Everyone but the current Coalition under the US flag in Iraq) have the chance to show the World how it should be done. You talk the talk but do you walk the walk? “ (like I said, in so many words)

I believe that “Coffee in a Can” was to busy burning Oil for Food doc’s to Answer Rush’s question, Germany Russia and France are contemplating there next move against each other. And Spain, well Spain is moving at a very rapid pace towards a 3rd world country once again..

Personally, I think we could use an air base in Sudan.
Posted by: Long Hair Republican || 08/12/2004 1:45 Comments || Top||

#3  You know, this all makes perfect sense as long as you consider the non-arab victims who are being murdered and raped as 'non-persons'.

It all puts it into its proper 'racist' context. Of course you won't hear the UN or MSM call it such -- since it is being comitted by muslims it must be ok in their book. Kind of a arab cultural thing you know?

And, no, I am not calling them non-persons - the Sudanese government (and by omission the MSM) is.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 08/12/2004 10:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Great rant, LHR. The UN of today lives in 'the world of incantations and delusions', not 'the world as we will act to make it'. They are posers and corrupt ones at that.
Posted by: jules 187 || 08/12/2004 10:31 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2004-08-12
  Tater hollers for help
Wed 2004-08-11
  Sadr boyz attack on two fronts
Tue 2004-08-10
  Sudan launches fresh helicopter attacks in Darfur
Mon 2004-08-09
  Tater vows to fight to last drop of blood
Sun 2004-08-08
  Qari Saifullah nabbed in Dubai
Sat 2004-08-07
  Islamist Spy in the Navy?
Fri 2004-08-06
  Pakistan hunting for more al-Qaeda
Thu 2004-08-05
  Federal Agents Raid Mosque In Albany, N.Y.
Wed 2004-08-04
  British Arrest 13 in Anti-Terror Sweep
Tue 2004-08-03
  Paks jug 18 Qaeda
Mon 2004-08-02
  Pakistan confirms arrest al-Qaeda computer expert
Sun 2004-08-01
  Iran Resumes Building Nuclear Centrifuges
Sat 2004-07-31
  Paleos Kidnap, Release Aid Workers
Fri 2004-07-30
  Blasts hit embassies in Tashkent
Thu 2004-07-29
  Foopie jugged in Pakland!

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