Seafarious has graciously agreed to help out with editing and troll deletion duties. You'll be able to tell her commentary by its wit, erudition, and light blue background.
Dr. Steve will be on vacation next week, though we expect he'll make bail soon...
Good evening, all, and I am pleased to be considered for the opportunity to serve as associate editor for this esteemed blog. I'm pleased to report that the gig entails a 401(k) plan, a parking pass, and the thanks of a grateful nation. I'm still working out how to pick the lock on the treasury petty cash box. Best wishes, happy posting, and remember to wipe your feet on the mat before you all come tracking mud through Fred's house!
Emily "Seafarious"
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2004 8:21:58 PM ||
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I hope the old man didn't do anything to set you off, Seafarious.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/14/2004 21:13 Comments ||
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What kinda blue? Are we tallking Cyan, Med, UN or My Dawg Just Ate the Baby Blue?
Posted by: dorf ||
08/14/2004 21:39 Comments ||
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Me too.
I probably won't have time for any gettogethers any time soon, but I'm within driving range of the Houston area... what other Rantburgers live in the general vicinity?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
08/14/2004 21:39 Comments ||
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why Em? She's stable and without harsh irrational opinion, unlike some of us......oh wait.....nevermind :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2004 21:53 Comments ||
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Woo-hoo!
Buckle your seat belt, Seafarious - it's going to be a bumpy ride! ;-)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/14/2004 22:17 Comments ||
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Very feminine shade of blue, Em. :-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/14/2004 22:31 Comments ||
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Thanks Barbara...this blue does have a rather UN'ey flavor to it, yes? But it does match my eyes...
The Saudi branch of the Al-Qaeda extremist network has purportedly claimed the killing of an Irish national in Riyadh earlier this month, in a statement published on a website on Friday. "A Brigade of the mujahedeen in the Arabian peninsula killed the Irish engineer in his Riyadh offices," a group calling itself "Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula" said in its magazine, Sawt al-Jihad (Voice of the Holy War), reproduced by the website. Anthony Christopher Higgins, a civil engineer in the Saudi capital, was killed on August 3. "This big operation followed the Al-Saud (ruling family) government claims to have succeeded in reducing the activities of the mujahedeen in the Arabian peninsula," the group said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/14/2004 12:35:21 AM ||
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Islamic Heroesâ¢
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2004 8:52 Comments ||
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It takes a 'brigade' of al Qaeda heroes to murder one defenceless Irish civilian sat behind an office desk. I think in the West we'd call them 'losers'. Even the mob would be ashamed.
Khulna has literally been sitting on a heap of gunpowder until yesterday evening with thousands of frenzied Islamist bigots threatening to pierce through a massive police cordon and destroy Nirala Ahmadiyya mosque complex. Supporters of International Khatme Nabuwat Movement Bangladesh (IKNMB) were standing face to face with security forces cordoning off the area. The situation turned most volatile after Shaikhul Hadith Allama Moulana Azizul Huq, chairman of ruling alliance partner Islami Oikyo Jote (IOJ), issued an ultimatum that any more delay in declaring Ahmadiyyas non-Muslims would simply invite fall of the coalition government. Speaking as the chief guest at a rally of over 30,000 people, Huq said, "The faithful Muslims will crush all Ahmadiyya complexes in the country if adherents of Ahmadiyya Jamaat are not officially declared non-Muslims."
Anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and 10 platoons of riot police were deployed in the area from Moilapota crossroads to Nirala Residential Area to thwart the fanatics' attack. Security measures were also beefed up at KDA Avenue and Babri Square where the local chapter of IKNMB organised the rally after the Juma prayers with IKNMB Ameer Moulana Abu Saleh in the chair. Speakers at the really said Ahmadiyyas had been declared non-Muslims in at least 42 countries and demanded of the government to amend the constitution and follow suit or face dire consequences. After the meeting, the Islamist zealots coming from the city and the neighbouring districts started marching towards the Ahmadiyya complex, but were intercepted by security forces at Moilapota crossroads in Sonadanga. Movement of all modes of vehicles including bicycles was prohibited at the crossroads as well as on Sher-e-Bangla Road, Gallamari Road and all lanes and bylanes in Nirala, cutting off road communication between Khulna and Satkhira districts. The mob dispersed at 8:20pm reportedly after the IKNMB leaders had arrived at some sort of understanding with the law enforcing agencies and local administration, the contents of which could not be known immediately.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) ||
08/14/2004 10:26:40 AM ||
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"Are you the IKNMB leaders? Pleased to meet you. What's this? Oh, a number 7 truncheon, which we will liberally use on you if a window of this complex is broken, since we now know who the hell you are. Tell your people to GET LOST!"
A British citizen facing terrorism charges in the United States believes his prosecution is "politically motivated" and is determined to fight extradition, a court heard yesterday. "My client is of previous good character and a professional man," his lawyer Joanna Evans told the court. "He believes this to be a politically motivated prosecution and refutes absolutely the allegations against him." A week ago, the court in central London heard how Babar Ahmad, 30, had been found in possession of three-year-old plans to attack US Navy ships in the Gulf. Ahmad, from Tooting, south London, is wanted by the US for allegedly using US-based websites and e-mail to raise money to support "terrorist" acts in Chechnya and Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2004 2:12:28 PM ||
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âMy client is of previous good character...â
#2
"I'm a respectable businessman. I don't know nothin' about no Mafia. There ain't no Mafia. An' anybody who says there is is lookin' to get their legs broke!"
#5
Terrorism suspect slams US extradition bid as âpoliticalâ
Why yes, America's motivation is political. Just as Ahmad's putative religion has ultimately political goals as well. If targeting American naval forces is part of your religion, extraditing your sorry @ss to be tried for it is part of our political agenda.
A BRITISH man wanted in the US on terrorism charges will be held in custody for another 28 days, a London judge has ruled. Babar Ahmad, alleged by US authorities to have used US-based websites to recruit fighters and raise support for Taliban forces in Afghanistan, must remain in custody until a further extradition hearing on September 10, Judge Christopher Pratt ruled in Bow Street Magistrates Court today.
Ahmad, 30, was arrested in London on August 4 on a US extradition warrant from the state of Connecticut. The warrant accused him of trying to raise funds for "acts of terrorism in Chechnya and Afghanistan" from 1998 through 2003". At a court hearing a week ago, lawyers representing the US authorities alleged that Ahmad was in contact with a Chechen rebel behind the October 2002 Moscow theatre siege, and that Ahmad had a document on battle group plans for US Navy vessels supporting operations in Afghanistan and enforcing sanctions against Iraq. British police are investigating reports that Ahmad is related to Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan, a computer expert arrested last month in Pakistan.
Three days into 2002, Shahed Hussain was a mini-mart entrepreneur on the crest of realizing the American dream. The 48-year-old Pakistani immigrant was about two weeks away from being sworn in as a naturalized U.S. citizen. He ran gas stations, a beverage center and a retail distribution business, and shared a modest home in Loudonville, N.Y., with his wife and children.
But Hussain made a major mistake: He participated in a scam to get illegal driver's licenses for other immigrants who couldn't get them on their own. He was arrested, and on Jan. 23, 2002, a grand jury in Albany indicted him on one felony count of engaging in the production and transfer of false government identification documents. His subsequent guilty plea seemed to dash his hopes of remaining in the United States. But like others who face prison or deportation, Hussain was offered a way out. He went to work as a government informant.
Following the arrest of a spiritual leader and member of a local mosque on charges related to aiding terrorism, Hussain's undercover work ended with a flourish of national attention. Court papers identify Hussain only as a confidential informant, and the FBI initially asked the Times Union not to publish his name, saying he would be endangered. He is now in protective custody, and his identity has become widely known in Albany.
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Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2004 1:38:47 PM ||
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He participated in a scam to get illegal driver's licenses for other immigrants who couldn't get them on their own.
#2
There must be something in the genetic makeup of most Pakistanis that make them deal in fake IDs. Or it's a cultural thing. We must not be judgemental, no matter what.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/14/2004 20:29 Comments ||
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A military review of the cases against four terror suspects held at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has concluded they are classified properly as enemy combatants and will not be freed, the official overseeing the process said Friday. The four were the first cases, of 21 reviewed thus far, to be decided. There is no appeal. In a change of policy, the Pentagon stopped on Friday the release of detainees' nationalities when their cases are heard. Nationalities, but not names, of the first 21 were released at their hearings, including five Thursday. Lt. Cmdr. Beci Brenton, a spokeswoman for the review process, said the decision to stop providing nationalities was made after some countries objected to the release of that information. Nationalities of those whose cases have been heard and decided - starting with the four announced on Friday - will be released afterward only if their home governments do not object, Brenton said. Four additional cases were being heard Friday at Guantanamo Bay, raising the total to 25; their outcome was not expected to be known immediately.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2004 1:32:14 PM ||
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A former U.S. sailor who sent e-mail messages to a radical Islamic Internet site while a crewman on a Navy destroyer in the Middle East was identified Friday as a communications specialist and Muslim convert, according to sources familiar with the investigation and Navy records. But a woman speaking on behalf of Hassan Abujihaad, who left the Navy in January 2002, denied Friday that he had posted anti-American views on the site, as authorities assert, or did anything wrong.
"No, no! Certainly not!"
Abujihaad has not been arrested or charged with any wrongdoing. Federal officials had previously declined to identify him by name. According to federal officials, Abujihaad, while serving on the guided missile destroyer Benfold in the Middle East in late 2000 and 2001, sent e-mail messages to a pro-Taliban website, allegedly including one that praised the deadly October 2000 attack on the U.S. destroyer Cole by terrorists in Yemen. The messages surfaced in court documents last week in connection with the arrest in Britain of Babar Ahmad, a 30-year-old college employee wanted by U.S. authorities on charges that he acted as a fundraiser and propagandist for the Taliban and for Muslim separatist fighters in Chechnya. Ahmad is also accused of operating the defunct pro-Taliban website with which the sailor allegedly exchanged messages. He is a cousin of suspected Al Qaeda member Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan, whose arrest in Pakistan triggered terrorism alerts this month in New York, New Jersey and Washington.
Khan appears to be related to approximately 11,000 people at this point...
Federal agents are trying to determine how Ahmad ended up in possession of detailed and highly classified information about the San Diego-based aircraft carrier battle group that the Benfold was part of, including its classified travel plans and its vulnerability to attack. On Friday, Lt. Mike Kafka, a Navy spokesman, said, "There is currently no tie between the former sailor and the documents recovered during the raid in London" that contained details on the ships accompanying the aircraft carrier Constellation. The battle group was involved in actions against Afghanistan and Iraq. Authorities said that Ahmad knew when the battle group was scheduled to pass through the narrow Strait of Hormuz and that one document noted the ships were vulnerable to attack by small craft armed with rocket-propelled grenades.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/14/2004 12:43:16 PM ||
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A former U.S. sailor who sent e-mail messages to a radical Islamic Internet site while a crewman on a Navy destroyer in the Middle East was identified Friday as a communications specialist and Muslim convert
I'm shocked, shocked, I tell you!
Who would have guessed?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/14/2004 19:31 Comments ||
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Nothing wrong with smoothching the radar screen couple time a watch.
"Civil-rights" lawyer Lynne Stewart, who the government alleges helped convicted Egyptian Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman "incite terrorism" around the world, was in White Plains last night to tell her side of the story. Before an audience of about 40 at the YWCA of White Plains and Central Westchester, the 64-year-old Stewart, who faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted, said she represented the sheik properly and did nothing criminal. What is really on trial, Stewart said, is the U.S. system of justice and the ability of a lawyer to represent a client.
That's usually what's on trial when they've got the goods on you...
Her indictment is meant to dissuade defense lawyers from zealously representing people criminalized by the government, she said. Stewart and two co-defendants, postal worker Ahmed Abdel Sattar and Arabic interpreter Mohamed Yousry, are scheduled to return to U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Monday on charges that they helped the blind sheik communicate with senior members of the Egyptian-based Islamic Group, an organization designated by the U.S. government as terrorist. Prosecutors say the defendants relayed messages for Abdel-Rahman, knowing the sheik could inspire acts of terrorism, including kidnappings and murders in other countries. Abdel Rahman, who was convicted in 1995 of joining a conspiracy to bomb New York City landmarks, is serving a life sentence. Stewart was Abdel Rahman's lawyer; Yousry and Sattar were interpreters. The defendants all assert their innocence.
Continued on Page 49
#5
well, Martha, no peach, is still a LOT less harsh on teh eyeballs. Lynne, however, could use a Mach 3 razor refill
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2004 16:07 Comments ||
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LOL Frank G. !
I have toads in my garden more attractive than Lynne...
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
08/14/2004 18:58 Comments ||
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Doesn't she realize that if these bozos get their way she, her daughters, nieces, sisters and every other women would be completely restricted as to what they could do, what they could wear and ultimately when they would die
According to the committee, the decision on granting asylum to Akhmadov was taken by an immigration court in Boston, Massachusetts, which was immediately appealed by the US government. "The appeal has now been rejected and the decision on granting asylum is now final," the committee said.
That makes more sense. Massachussetts courts, rather than the U.S. gummint, have given him asylum...
The committee confirmed that not long ago Akhmadov was appointed to a post at the US non-governmental foundation National Endowment for Democracy and now plans to move to Washington for permanent residence and work. National Endowment for Democracy confirmed that Akhmadov has been awarded a research grant under the Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program and hence is entitled to monthly allowance, medical insurance as well as reimbursement of transportation costs. In December last year Russian Foreign Ministry urged the US to take Russia's position in consideration by examining Akhmadov's application. "The US side is informed about our attitude towards that terrorist accomplice," the ministry's spokesman Aleksandr Yakovenko told the press then. Russian law enforcers claimed to have evidence of Akhmadov's ties to Chechen separatist leaders Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basayev, who has been placed on the international wanted list. In the Aslan Maskhadov government Ilyas Akhmadov held the post of the foreign minister of the self-styled republic of Ichkeria.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2004 10:58:47 AM ||
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first time he steps outta line - plane flight to Moscow
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2004 11:14 Comments ||
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So some low level court is telling the US government to give asylum to a high level terrorist? Why am I not surprised. Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman was given asylum then went on direct, spiritually advise the first World Trade Center bombing and plots to bomb bridges and tunnels that would have killed more thousands, so why not this guy. It's not like he ever did anyting to us.
It's time to get rid of 90% of the lawyers and judges a build a court system to protect the citizens, instead of this playground for lawyers that the court system has become.
Posted by: ed ||
08/14/2004 11:36 Comments ||
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let's all take a collection and make sure he gets a home next door to the judge.
Posted by: B ||
08/14/2004 11:47 Comments ||
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According to the committee, the decision on granting asylum to Akhmadov was taken by an immigration court in Boston, Massachusetts, which was immediately appealed by the US government. "The appeal has now been rejected and the decision on granting asylum is now final," the committee said.
Unfortuneatly, this is BS. The State courts have no authority over granting asylum. Only the Federal Government can do that, and that is dictated by International treaties. The moment the guy sets foot on American soil we can arrest him and send him back to Russia.
Posted by: Charles ||
08/14/2004 16:10 Comments ||
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Immigration court is Fed :-(
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2004 16:22 Comments ||
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Immigration court is Federal Court, not the Federal Government. When I say Federal Government I mean the Executive Branch. Federal Court is part of the Judicuary Branch. The Judicuary Branch has little say in this matter, especially when it falls under International Treaties.
Posted by: Charles ||
08/14/2004 16:32 Comments ||
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This is just another example of why we need a constitutional amendment requiring that Federal judgeships be filled via elections for, say, 10-year terms. It is just ludicrous that decisions important to national security are being made by officials who are not periodically accountable to the electorate.
State homeland security and U.S. Coast Guard officials were searching the waterfront Friday for two Turkish men who jumped off a ship docked in New Haven harbor. "We are looking at it as a security incident," Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Alan Blume said. Two crew members were discovered missing early Friday morning from a Turkish ship bringing steel into the harbor, Blume said. They apparently made off with two life vests, which were discovered on shore Tuesday, he said. Blume said Coast Guard officials were searching the ship Friday afternoon. The vessel was legally in the harbor and had filed all appropriate paperwork, he said. New Haven police Sgt. Ariel Melendez said city police are on the lookout for the men. Trooper One, the state's helicopter, was also called to assist the search. Connecticut Homeland Security Director John Buturla, who was briefing state lawmakers on the state's security situation when the search began, said he was receiving regularly updates from officers at the scene.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) ||
08/14/2004 1:45:05 AM ||
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Why in the hell would Euro-Candidate citizens jump ship in the US? It's stupid. Perhaps it was a misunderstanding or a lack of high quality legal help.
ANKARA, Turkey -- Islamic militants volunteering to fight in Iraq or carrying cash to fuel the insurgency are using fake passports or bribes to sneak across the Syrian border into Iraq, according to the U.S.-led coalition. Others bypass guard posts and simply drive across the poorly patrolled desert border.
Iraqi and U.S. officials are boosting efforts to close the porous crossing points, calling it a key step in fighting the insurgency. But they have to protect 2,200 miles of frontier shared with six countries -- Turkey, Syria, Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Iraq is training 15,000 new border guards and hopes to have them in place within six weeks in an effort to stem the flow of volunteers, said Ziad Cattan, deputy secretary general of the Iraqi Defense Ministry. Cattan refused to say how many guards are now on the border, commenting only that it was "really not a lot."
U.S. forces began Operation Phantom Linebacker in early August, sending thousands of Marines, soldiers and Special Forces troops to beef up Iraqi border patrols, said Maj. Denise Varner, spokeswoman for coalition forces in Baghdad.
Also, Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has lobbied the leaders of Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to better patrol their borders and plans to visit Iran soon, his spokesman, Georges Sada, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Baghdad.
The problem is so serious that Iran has offered to host a conference on border security for Iraq's neighbors, although no clear date has been set.
Under Saddam Hussein, at least 50,000 paramilitary troops patrolled Iraq's borders, and local tribes were paid to monitor areas where they lived, said Amatzia Baram, an Iraq specialist at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington.
But the system collapsed with the fall of Saddam last year.
"The Americans cannot spare the soldiers and the equipment and the Iraqi border guards are not there," Baram said.
Although infiltrators cross the mountainous Iranian border or the border with Saudi Arabia, Varner said, "the Syrian border poses the largest problem now."
Some fighters cross at poorly patrolled points of the border, but most choose to cross at checkpoints on major highways, Varner said.
"They use fake documents or bribes," Varner said. "Foreign fighters are well-prepared enough and sophisticated enough to get the fake documents."
Syria denies allowing fighters to enter Iraq, but says it cannot thoroughly patrol the whole 360-mile border.
On Monday, Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan said guns from Iran were discovered on some of the Shiite militiamen fighting U.S. forces in the south of the country. Overwhelmingly Shiite Iran has denied interfering in Iraq, but Tehran is believed to be trying to increase its influence among Iraqi Shiites.
Police in southern Iraq said they arrested 315 Iranians and Afghans with fake passports Wednesday. Four of them confessed to planning terror operations and 16 were being questioned, said Rahman Mishawi, police spokesman in the southern city of Karbala.
Border patrols also have uncovered weapons, including assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, military officials said, but arms smuggling is not that significant a problem given the huge quantities already in the country.
Cattan said many of the militants join groups fighting in the Sunni triangle, a hotbed of resistance to the U.S.-led coalition. More than 1,000 foreign fighters were active in the area of Samarra, a city in the Sunni triangle, Cattan said.
U.S. officials said it was difficult to accurately estimate the number of foreign fighters, but it is not believed to be very large.
Some of the recruits, however, are destined for militant networks, including that of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose al-Qaida-linked terror group has claimed responsibility for attacks that have killed hundreds. Al-Zarqawi is believed to have infiltrated from Iran.
Although the insurgency is believed to consist overwhelmingly of local Iraqis, networks like Zarqawi's are singled out as among the most dangerous in Iraq.
"These guys ... will go for jihad anywhere. The danger is not only that they will succeed but that they will succeed in radicalizing the Iraqi insurgents," Baram said.
Turkish officials say they suspect that the alleged al-Qaida-linked masterminds of the November bombings in Istanbul that killed more than 60 people fled to Iraq, possibly via Syria.
The traffic apparently moves both ways. Late last month, Turkish border police discovered some 220 pounds of plastic explosives in a truck crossing from Iraq, apparently destined for Kurdish rebels in Turkey.
Most of the foreign fighters have little or no military training and U.S. forces are closely patrolling the country to make sure insurgents cannot set up training bases, a senior U.S. official said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.
The foreign fighters receive limited hands-on training and practice with unloaded guns to save resources, the official added.
Some of the insurgents' funding comes from Saudi Arabia through wealthy financiers or from Syria, where money from other countries also is collected and smuggled across the border, the senior military official said.
The Philippines military says airstrikes in southern Maguindanao have killed the leader of a kidnap gang and at least a dozen of his followers. The military said Saturday that Tahir Alonto, chief of the so called Pentagon gang, died Friday when rockets and machine gun fire used in airstrikes ignited hidden explosives at his hideout. The Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, said it had cooperated with authorities in giving the go-ahead for the operation in the group's stronghold. But a MILF spokesman says the group has been unable to confirm that Mr. Alonto died alongside at least 14 other gang members. Tahir Alonto was a former member of the rebel group, which has had a cease-fire with the Philippines government since July 2003.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/14/2004 12:51:25 PM ||
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The Pentagon Gang? Bongbong? What is it with these guys, a steady diet of Japanese anime?
A newly arrested al-Qaeda operative is providing valuable insight into the inner workings of Osama bin Laden's network as the United States remains on alert for attacks, U.S. officials and a diplomat in Africa told The Associated Press.
Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian wanted in the deadly bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa, has much to say. His life has tracked al-Qaeda's evolution from a tightly organized network assaulting prominent U.S. targets to a looser group struggling to maintain momentum. Attention surrounding the arrests has focused on another suspect, Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan, an alleged al-Qaeda computer expert. But Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said, "The most important arrest that has been made of late has been that of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani."
While U.S. officials agree Ghailani is an important catch, they are still trying to figure out what role the shrimpy 5-foot-3 dwarf Tanzanian played in al-Qaeda at the time of his arrest. Some say he was an emerging leader, others aren't so sure.
#2
I get your point ZF.) These punks want to have some sort of espirit de corps. Your comments about a certain level of commitment really ring true. They are idiots, easily lead, but no real bravado. Charlie was tough, buy all accounts.
came under suspicion in part because he was the only black man in the eastern Pakistani city of Gujrat
The Paks profiled him? The LLL won't like that!
Whatever happened to loving death as we love life?
That's only for the little jihadis, Zhang Fei - not for important people like him.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/14/2004 1:41 Comments ||
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It's true some of these ass hats seem to spill out their guts as soon as they are captured.
I tell you air dropping sented quilted TP to these clown would prolly cause many to give up if promised a life time supply. That is about how truly commited they are. Most of them have been brought up on Jihad fantasy and are just tools.
#6
Most of them have been brought up on Jihad fantasy and are just tools.
Too bad their momma's didn't raise them as Christians. Then they'd be busy helping spoon food at the local shelter or flying off to foreign lands to help in the orpanage...doing some good in the world, instead of blowing up over nothing.
Posted by: B ||
08/14/2004 10:13 Comments ||
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August 14th, 2004
Authorities in southern Iraq have shut down the main pipeline carrying oil for export after intelligence showed a rebel militia could strike infrastructure. An oil official described the situation in Basra as "bad". Flows to offshore terminals, which account for all of Iraq's oil exports, are running through another smaller pipeline at a rate of one million barrels per day. The larger pipeline has a capacity of 1.5 million bpd.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
08/14/2004 10:03:27 PM ||
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Soldiers blew up a 60 kilogram bomb on Saturday that had been placed by Palestinians south of the Karni crossing in north Gaza Strip. Earlier in the day, security forces detonated a 40-kilogram bomb that had been placed by Palestinians south of the Sufa crossing in south Gaza. Shots were fired at soldiers and a nearby IDF post in Neveh Dekalim, and also at an IDF post near Rafah.
On Friday morning, soldiers north of the Karni crossing shot a Palestinian who opened fire on the troops. Shortly after, they spotted and shot a second gunman. In the West Bank, security forces arrested a Palestinian armed with a gun who attempted to evade arrest near Hebron on Saturday. He was arrested as security forces concluded an operation to nab stolen Israeli vehicles in the town and were loading them onto a truck when they spotted the gunman.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2004 8:11:42 PM ||
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An Air Force F-16 pilot who is flying bombing runs to support U.S. Marines and Army troops fighting terrorists in Najaf tells us that fighting was fierce this week. The fighters were called in to drop precision-guided bombs, and helicopter gunships also took part. The terrorists and other anti-coalition elements "really are not winning," our pilot correspondent says. "Not even a little."
Bombing runs had to be sharply curtailed to avoid collateral damage, the pilot says. "That really pains me, as an F-16 pilot, — not because we don't get to mop up all of the action, but more importantly because that means that our 'boots on the ground' are too closely engaged to allow safe delivery of the stuff that we carry. Accuracy is our forte, but these [bombs] still go 'boom' when they hit. I mean, really BIG Boom." The pilot quoted one colonel on the ground as saying "The engagements in the cemetery were done on foot, encountering numerous fighters at a range when you can smell a man, and it's hand-to-hand combat."
Echoing the political debate under way here, the pilot took a slap at a certain Democratic presidential candidate who has been critical of President Bush's handling of Iraq. "The vast majority, maybe even all of us, are 100 percent behind our president's decision to free Iraq and go on the offensive against terrorists," he said. "Hunkered down in Massachusetts, waiting for the next terrorist strike, is no way to deal with Bad People. That's why we're here." The pilot said many in the military in Iraq are upset at the U.S. television networks for biased reporting. "The Third Reich's Disinformation Machine couldn't possibly have been as thorough as the broadcast 'news,' " he said.
#2
We've come a long way from "Not a pound for air to ground."
Posted by: Matt ||
08/14/2004 23:04 Comments ||
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Well nobody has been brave stupid? enough to come for for air to air with us since Vietnam, so there's nothing for these flyboys to do but lay iron on ground targets. And here he's not even getting to do that because the Marines are getting greedy so close down below.
I like his "hunkered down in massachussetts" comment. :)
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
08/14/2004 23:44 Comments ||
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After all, it worked so well before...
The United States and the Palestinian Authority condemned Wednesday's bombing at the Kalandiya checkpoint north of Jerusalem, in which two Palestinians were killed and six border policemen wounded. "In our view, this once again underscores the need for the Palestinian leadership to take immediate and credible steps to end terror and violence," said State Department spokesman Adam Ereli.
We say that every time, don't we?
PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei called it an attack against Palestinian interests. "Absolutely, it is not beneficial for the Palestinian people and its struggle," he said after a meeting with five US congressmen — Democrats and Republican — led by Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn).
... and he says that every time, too.
He said the PA can only act against terror and lawlessness if armed policemen are allowed to deploy in West Bank towns as they are in the Gaza Strip. The police must be armed "to control the situation, bring back dignity to the PA and impose the rule of law," Qurei said.
He's got a point, y'know. The cops on duty can't be expected to use the same guns they use when they're off duty...
Qurei called upon the Americans "to play an active role, instead of offering advice to both sides like the pope." PA Negotiations Minister Saeb Erekat told The Jerusalem Post he is waiting for a response from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's bureau chief, Dov Weisglass, to his proposal to hold a high level security meeting regarding the deployment of West Bank police. At the meeting the two sides would discuss the number of policemen, their deployment and type of weapons, based on the existing agreements, he said.
I see a request for a shipment of coal to Newcastle arms and ammunition coming. Am I psychic?
Erekat said he contacted the Americans and other Quartet members urging them to pressure Israel to hold a security meeting and let the police carry light weapons. Palestinian officials were angered by press reports saying that Sharon objects to an armed police force in West Bank towns. "[Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser] Arafat finally agreed to unite the security services into three and pass control of the civil police to Abu Ala [Ahmed Qurei] but now Israel is blocking the security measures by delaying a security meeting," an aide to Qurei said. "It is impossible for the PA to face armed gangs without guns... we can't even control the traffic without guns."
[KERBLAM!] "I said no left turn, dammit!"
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2004 4:29:51 PM ||
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#1
seems we're all playing a waiting game for Yasser to clear the decks by dying (hopefully painfully).
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2004 18:16 Comments ||
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#2
...offering advice to both sides like the pope...
Works for me. I think that should be US policy. Cost effective for the Paleo situation.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/14/2004 18:48 Comments ||
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IDF soldiers manning a Gaza checkpoint fired warning shots to turn back a car carrying a senior Spanish diplomat, Spanish news reports and Israeli officials said Friday. The incident occurred Thursday morning when soldiers at the Abu Holi checkpoint fired shots above a car carrying Alberto Ucelay, the Spanish consul general in Jerusalem, an IDF official said on condition of anonymity. Ucelay had gone to Gaza to pick up 15 Palestinian children due to travel to Barcelona, via Cairo for a cultural festival, the Spanish national news agency Efe said, citing Foreign Ministry officials. Efe quoted ministry officials as saying that Ucelay had given several days notice of his trip to Gaza, as per Israeli regulations. The ministry described the incident as "serious" and questioned the Israeli charges d'affaires in Madrid over the matter Friday, Efe said. The IDF official, however, said the troops tried to hail Ucelay's car with a loudspeaker as it crossed the checkpoint without stopping and then opened fire when the warning was ignored. The military official said he was not aware of any children being in Ucelay's car.
"I'm important! I don't gotta stop!"
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2004 4:27:34 PM ||
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#1
Spain Out Of Gaza! Don't make the IDF warn you again.
Posted by: ed ||
08/14/2004 16:47 Comments ||
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#2
Fire lower next time.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/14/2004 17:20 Comments ||
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Details of the three terrorists who orchestrated the Kalandia bombing attack on Wednesday, in which two Palestinians were killed and six border policemen injured, were released by the Shin Bet on Friday. Bassam Abid, a taxi driver who was arrested shortly after the explosion, supplied security officials with information that led to the arrest of Muhammad Dieb Ayush, on Thursday. Both are residents of Arabe near Jenin. Late Thursday night security forces arrested Wael Nabil Nuirat, 29, of Metalon, in Samaria who was caught hiding out in a mosque in the Ibn Jabel neighborhood in A-Ram. The three told officials that Zakaria Zubeidi and Muhammad Khalifa supplied them with the bomb and instructed them to perpetrate an attack in Haifa or any other major Israeli city.
The three set out from Jenin on the day of the attack in two taxis. The bomb and a baby carriage they had purchased were to be used in the attack. The bomb was to be concealed in the baby carriage and smuggled through the checkpoint. The three wised that IDF troops and border policemen will not search the unsuspicious carriage. When they reached the Kalandia checkpoint they began removing the bomb to place it in the baby carriage. At the same time security forces raised security in the area after receiving warnings that terrorists are planning an attack in Jerusalem. Deterred by the large presence of security forces at Kalandia, the three decided to detonate the bomb as border policemen approached to inspect their suspicious behavior. After the attack Ayush and Nueirat fled in cars used to evacuate wounded Palestinians to Ramallah hospitals and a clinic in A-Ram.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2004 2:15:30 PM ||
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On Thursday, Maqsood Ansari, from Uttar Pradesh in nothern India, was seized in Lahore, based on information from a local member of Jundullah, a rebel outfit believed to have been acting on Al Qaeda's orders. Pakistani intelligence officials, who did not want to be named, said Ansari fled Karachi following the June attack on Lieutenant-General Ahsan Saleem Hayat which he helped coordinate.
Ten members of Jundullah, or "Allah's Army", have been captured so far, including Rao Mohammed Khalid, who was arrested in Karachi on Thursday and found in possession of weapons. Police believe there are around 20 Jundullah members. Khalid appeared before an anti-terrorism court yesterday and was remanded in custody for 10 days.
Among those arrested since July 12 are top Al Qaeda figures, including a Tanzanian wanted for the 1998 attacks on US embassies in east Africa and a Pakistani computer engineer who revealed plots to attack the United States and Britain. But the swoop has also revealed more evidence of links, some of them fairly recent, between Al Qaeda and local rebel groups who share its anti-US agenda and want to topple President Pervez Musharraf, who has supported the war on terror. Some of the network's foreign operatives in Pakistan fought in the anti-Soviet insurgency in Afghanistan during the 1980s and then trained in Al Qaeda's camps there in the 1990s. Many fled Afghanistan when the United States launched a war on the Taleban in 2001 and moved to Pakistan, hiding in lawless tribal regions in the west or seeking refuge in crowded cities. In the last few weeks, Pakistan has captured two Turks, a Tanzanian, an Uzbek, an Indian, a man from the United Arab Emirates and several Pakistanis, all with direct links to Al Qaeda or local sympathisers. A computer seized from engineer Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan last month showed the network was at least considering attacking financial institutions in the United States and Heathrow airport in London, intelligence officials said. Now authorities are bracing for a backlash inside Pakistan, and security is tight in Islamabad and Karachi ahead of Independence Day.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2004 2:07:26 PM ||
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... instead of mere cannon fodder...
Fighters in Moqtada Sadr's Mehdi Army threatened yesterday to become suicide bombers if their leader is killed in the fighting in Najaf with US and Iraqi forces. Torn between disbelief and anger after reports the fiery Sadr was wounded earlier in the day, the militiamen warned they were willing to sacrifice their lives to bomb US bases across Iraq. "I heard the news of his injury and I want to be the first to carry out a suicide bid against the Americans if Moqtada Sadr orders me to," said Alaa Abed Mohammed, 22, who travelled to the holy city from his hometown of Samawa and was exhausted and feverish after nine days of battle. "I am very angry and that gives me double the strength to fight," said Mohammed, dressed in the informal all-black Mehdi Army uniform and wearing a green bandanna sybolising a target Islam around his forehead.
A Sadr spokesman had said the cleric was hit by shrapnel in the chest, arms and legs, although the interim Iraqi government denied the report. Sipping tea near the revered Imam Ali mausoleum, another 22-year-old fighter, Abu Sadjad Al Khafadji, pledged his life to Sadr even as the multinational forces appeared to be closing in on their positions. "If God allows Moqtada Sadr to become a martyr, all those in the Mehdi Army will turn themselves into human bombs against American bases," said Khafadji, who hails from Baghdad. "It will be hell for them and paradise for us".
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2004 2:02:07 PM ||
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#1
I wonder if Tater broke some rule about Mahdis not bleeding...
#6
What is it with you and Wahabi teaching?
The wahabi movement was one which wanted to restore some of the old values of Islam.
I mean I'm not exactly a Wahabi, but any good sunni muslim believes them. There is nothing new that they said.
Get it?
They just reminded poeple of Islam.
And those radicals could never be Wahabi.
#7
ikhwan is good ole fashion values? you are say it youself:
but any good sunni muslim believes them
thatn good family and god like teachings gentle. lets raid em towns! butcher evryone in site and cut out babies from pregnant women. anyone who is not believer like us is deserve death and rape!
#9
NO NO No!
Why are you so cruel?
Don't you get it? We are poeple just like you.
It is not for us to make judgments.
Don't you see that?
What those poeple are doing is wrong.
In Islam, in war, no one is to be hurt except young men who will insist on fighting. Even then, they should either be killed at once, or taken captive.
Not even a tree should be pulled, or a stick of it burned.
Those are the true values of Islam.
#10
Wahhabi values will get Saudi overthrown and the Arabs destroyed. The seeds of Wahhabi hate sown will cause their downfall. If they'd just stayed as the back-assward third rate culture in their own kingdom, they might've survived, but sooner or later they'll find Allan and the US are not amused.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2004 15:02 Comments ||
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#11
Okay.
Where do I start.
First of all, most saudis hate the Wahabi values.
Believe me, the last thing I want to do is to defend the saudis.
They twist everything in Islam just to suit thier strange ideas of what is right and wrong.
The wahabi teachings are not so, they are peacful, and do not concentrate on fighting and so on, but on living peacefully with one another.
Where do you get your info.?
tell that to you goddam peples! they are seem have no problem doing that. we are just respond in kind thank you. wahabis are judged me infedel to destroy. i am judge them pieces shit to be sweep down the gutter. the game is work both way. tit for tat when ima prefer tit on tit. :)
but that is nother story.
look up muck in em dictionary. itn give you something to do. you can figure from there.
#13
11 Okay.
Where do I start.
First of all, most saudis hate the Wahabi values.
Believe me, the last thing I want to do is to defend the saudis.
They twist everything in Islam just to suit thier strange ideas of what is right and wrong.
The wahabi teachings are not so, they are peacful, and do not concentrate on fighting and so on, but on living peacefully with one another.
Where do you get your info.?
make up you goddam mind! are they twisting or arethey peaceful!?!
#14
I know what muck means, I asked WHY you chose that name, but forget it.
The Wahabi are peacful, the saudis are kinda twisted, but still peacful. Except for those radicals. You see we think that too much oppression makes some of the tend to explode.
#17
"Awright, lissen up! We've had reports that some of the Madies may become suidide bombers if Tater gets whacked, so we want to be sure to respond appropriately to this... Yeah, Goldman?"
"That'd be a double-tap center-mas at a minimum of 100 yards, right Sarge?"
"You got it. But remember - if the boomies bunch up, try and spread your fire some. They tend to go off in twos and threes in that situation..."
#20
I got tired of history, till I came to the part where I realised that they shipped criminals to the new discovered land by C.C.!
It explained a lot.
#22
Memo to Gen Tile: Never try to be go one on with the entity known as Muck4Doo it ceaseless and you will be rendered into muslo-pulp mucki stold debate skillz from the marama and uses them against poeple with bad menorah karma and knows all the good resturants
#24
The wahabi movement was one which wanted to restore some of the old values of Islam.
I hate to break this to you, Gentle, but those "old values" include amputation as a form of criminal punishment, stoning to death of women, condoning domestic violence against women, institutionalizing arbitrary male privilege, defacing incredibly beautiful mosques, sponsoring international terrorism, promoting genocide, advocating global theocratic rule, elimination of all competing religions and political systems and the bilious hatred of everyhting that modern progressive secular society represents.
Your defense of Wahhabism signifies an astounding degree of blindness and an ability to countenance one of the most violent and hostile forms of Islamism on earth. The Saudi royals helped breed up Wahhabism, but are not solely responsible for its bloodthirsty doctrine. If there is one religious sect destined for history's graveyard scrapheap, it is Wahhabism. That you rise to its defense indicates a puerile and purblind state indistinguishable from outright ignorance.
#26
Gentle, you are such a moron!
You're going to hurt yourself trying to "think."
America was NOT settled by "criminals!"
(That was Australia.)
And the Indians don't "own" our land--they LOST their wars with the White Man!
Just like the Paleostinians lost their war with the Israelis.
But they think that by whining enough and using suicide bombers, they can un-do all that...AS IF.
Nor are Waahabs peaceful!
They believe that all Muslims who believe other than they do are "polytheists" who should be killed or subjugated by force, same as the rest of the infidels.
Go back to your Al-Jizz message board and don't come here with your LIES!!!!
#28
Hey! Can y'all put out some sort of warning next time Gentle and Mucky get it on, metaphorically speaking? I need time to make the popcorn, and settle back in the comfy chair.
#29
5000 of Sadr's boyz have been so good at committing suicide these past few months. If they get any better, we will need bulldozers to bury them all.
Posted by: ed ||
08/14/2004 16:45 Comments ||
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#30
... we will need bulldozers to bury them all.
Perhaps Israel will be so kind as to lend a few. [rimshot]
#32
Headline: Sadr men warn they could become suicide bombers
Promises, promises... What is it about Muslims that makes them so talkative about dying in battle while hanging back and surrendering in droves? Sounds like they could use some motivational sessions with Vince Lombardi.
#33
It's so not a surprise to find "Gentle" defending the Wahabis.
'Course, if she wants to claim those violent, destructive lunatics are respected by all Sunni, then she just indicted all Sunnis.
It amazes me how little "Gentle" really knows about Islam. It's like it's purposefully ignorant. I wonder if that's it's choice of the choice of another...
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/14/2004 17:39 Comments ||
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#36
Beware and forewarned infidel. GENTLE is a member of the Fifth Column. Gentle wants you to die, convert, or submit to second class personage. Do not be fooled by Gentle. I'm not. Anybody on this Board recall when Gentle called for a reformation or ideological cleansing of Islam? I don't. Gentle and Gentle's ilk will abid your existence on condition you agree with Gentle or submit to Gentle's agenda. If not, you can die in the process of resisting. It's your choice. I personally intend to resist.
Posted by: Mark Z. ||
08/14/2004 19:07 Comments ||
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#37
thanks Mark - more clearly than I put it, for sure
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2004 19:16 Comments ||
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#38
In Islam, in war, no one is to be hurt except young men who will insist on fighting. Even then, they should either be killed at once, or taken captive.
Islam is a religon of truth also. I am sad to say they I hear Mr. Jordan is going to sell his F1 Team to a young Prince (LOL) of Abu Dabi giving Islam a foot in the F1 door. I expect nothing but success from this effort.
BTW I have been shorting OrvenBacher #3 Sweet for 2 months.
Gen Tile I am a trained TireMaster of Love could maybe you procure for me a stint on the AbuJordan Team? You know, for old times sake?
Her view of Islam is probably based on what is going on in her mosque and her neighborhood.
And she is, at least partly correct about Wahabism being, initially, a reform movement. Unfortunately, movements have a way of mutating. The DAR of the 1950s was not what Thomas Jefferson would have wanted it to be. The second generation of Francisan monks was led by corrupt and worldly jerks who St F would have despised.
#40
Please somebody take one of these Active Denial Systems or even the demonstrator, air lift to Najaf and point at the mosque. Then Fire! It will not hurt the mosque and should send the jihadist scrambling for a quick surrender.
#41
I"ve been thinking long and hard about what to do about Monkey-Man, especially after having to dodge the 1"+ hailstones in my back yard this afternoon. I've decided the best thing to do is to surround the mosque where he's hiding out with VERY LARGE speaker systems, and blast acid rock at him for the next six or seven weeks, at about 250dB, non-stop. Only, we shouldn't do it all from one CD. Na, we're really gonna mess with each of his three remaining marbles - we're gonna play six or seven different CDs, from six or seven different "bands", all at the same time. Mix in a little punk, some Gangsta Rap, and whatever else we can come up with - maybe some Indian off-key Sitar music. As soon as the Jihadis inside reach the breaking point and start running out, we shoot 'em with crossbow darts. We do NOT want to use any other kind of weapons - nothing that would 'harm' the mosque, or set off any loud booms from the inside. If we could get a few people with good soundboard skills over there, to play with the volume controls (up and down like ocean waves, only a full sweep about every half-second or so), all the better. Let's also make sure no food or water gets inside, and during the night, shine the biggest, brightest searchlights we can get at the mosque from every direction. War is SUPPOSED to be hell - let's make it so.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/15/2004 0:44 Comments ||
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#42
This is what happens to me when I turn on MTV.
Does the mosque have glass windows? And if so, are they holy?
#43
3dc, you are heartless. Don't you realize that this system would deprive the Medhi fighters of their trip to Paradise and their virgin bounty?
I'd much prefer that they be dispatched to their promised rewards.
#44
Please somebody take one of these Active Denial Systems or even the demonstrator, air lift to Najaf and point at the mosque.
That 95 GHz beam is not going to penetrate the mosque's walls. This is why I keep advocating the use of sleep gas or simply flooding the place with CO2 in order to displace all breathable atmosphere. Suffocate the sh!ts where they sleep, sit or stand, then let the Iraqi police remove the bodies.
Authorities in Pakistan have arrested another four suspects in their ongoing hunt against Al-Qaeda linked militants, officials said on Saturday. Police arrested two suspects, Muhammad Imran and Qari Muhammad Noor, from the eastern cities of Sargodha and Faisalabad yesterday, a police officer said. Imran was wanted for a July 30 suicide attack on prime minister-designate Shauakat Aziz, he said. Noor was arrested along with two other unidentified companions in Faisalabad, he said. Investigators were questioning them about their links with Al-Qaeda operatives plotting the assassination of Pakistani leaders.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/14/2004 12:38:06 PM ||
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ISLAMABAD: Security forces on Friday arrested another militant linked to last month's assassination attempt on prime minister-designate Shaukat Aziz as part of its biggest crackdown on militants to date. Intelligence officials identified the man suspected of involvement in the suicide attack on Aziz as Muhammad Imran from Khushab district. Imran belongs to the outlawed Jaish-e-Muhammad which is known to have links with Al Qaeda. The officials hoped the arrest, the first in the case, could lead authorities to others involved in the suicide attack, which killed several people including the bomber. Aziz escaped unhurt.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2004 12:51:18 PM ||
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THOUSANDS of Iraqis loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr were at the gates of the central Iraq city of Najaf today, where he and his militia have held out against a US-led assault over the past week. Many of the demonstrators arrived in buses and were led by Sheikh Hazem al-Araji, a senior Sadr aide in Baghdad. He had urged people during yesterday's weekly prayer to march to Najaf in protest against the US assault. A spokesman for Sadr said early today that the militia had agreed to a ceasefire to allow for peace talks with the government and the US military.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2004 12:44 ||
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AT least 13 Iraqis were killed and 84 wounded in heavy overnight fighting between US troops and insurgents in Samarra, north of Baghdad, hospital and police said today. "We have received 13 bodies including three women and two children and 84 injured," said Dr Abdul Hamid al-Samarrai of Samarra's general hospital, adding that many of the wounded were also women and children.
... and the remainder were puppies, kittens, baby ducks, and fluffy bunnies...
Police in the city said their headquarters at the entrance of the city was badly damaged in the fighting and that three of their comrades were killed. It was not immediately clear if they were included in the hospital toll. Police also said that more than 40 homes and several civilian vehicles were destroyed in the fighting as well as the municipal building and the offices of the political party of Iraqi Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib. Mosques were heard urging people through loudspeakers to donate blood. The US military confirmed it had conducted operations in the Sunni Muslim insurgency hotbed of Samarra but refused to provide further details.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2004 12:43 ||
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TWENTY Polish soldiers who had been surrounded by several hundred Shiite militia at their post at Hilla, south of Baghdad, were evacuated today, a spokesman for the multinational division said. "Under the protection of the rapid reaction force, the unit of Polish soldiers returned to their base at 7.20am," Polish Colonel Artur Domanski told the Polish news agency PAP. He said the operation went off without any exchange of fire or casualties. Yesterday afternoon the 20 soldiers as well as several dozen Iraqi police found themselves surrounded by several hundred rebel fighters loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr at the police post in Hilla, about 5km from their main base at Babylon. According to Colonel Domanski, the situation in Hilla today was calm and the town was under the control of Iraqi forces. But according to police and Iraqi hospital sources, the rebel militia managed to seize two police posts in the town during the night in fighting which left eight dead and 33 injured.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2004 12:38 ||
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THE Iraqi government would resume military operations against Shiite militiamen after peace talks broke down in the holy city of Najaf, national security adviser Muwafaq al-Rubaie said today. "Yes, the military operations will start," Mr al-Rubaie told a news conference, when asked by reporters about the result of the breakdown of the talks. Fierce fighting between Shiite radical leader Moqtada Sadr's Mehdi Army and US-backed Iraqi forces had stopped on its ninth day yesterday to pave the way for the truce negotiations.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2004 12:28:36 PM ||
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#1
Crikes, why are these guys talking about it? Just issue no comment and DO IT.
The first four days of the battle of Najaf, between 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) forces and the Muqtada Militia, started here in the early morning darkness well before dawn, Aug. 5. A large number of aggressors, later confirmed to be members of the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Muqtada Militia, attacked the city of Najaf's main police station at 1 a.m. and were quickly repelled by the Iraqi police. Later, at 3 a.m., they attacked again, this time with heavy machine guns, rocket propelled grenades, mortars and small arms.
Iraqi National Guardsmen from the 405th Battalion, 50th Iraqi Brigade, were notified and arrived on the scene and helped the IPs successfully defended the station from the Anti-Iraqi Forces. At this point, the governor of An Najaf province decided to send an urgent message to the 11th MEU requesting their assistance. A quick reaction force from the MEU was dispatched.
"Attacking local police, whose sole job is to maintain peace in Najaf and keep its citizens safe, is another demonstration of the Muqtada Militia's disregard for the people of the city, and their desire to prevent a free and prosperous Iraq," said Col. Anthony M. Haslam, commanding officer, 11th MEU (SOC).
When the Marine Quick Reaction Force arrived, the AIF had withdrawn into the city's exclusion zone. The Marines didn't fire a single shot.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Jarhead ||
08/14/2004 11:11:36 AM ||
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#1
The best part of this is that the Iraqi police and national guard units apparently fought well. That's measurable progress.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/14/2004 15:10 Comments ||
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There are signs of the Taliban leadership "falling apart," a U.S. military spokesman said on Saturday, citing reports this week that a breakaway faction no longer recognizes Mullah Mohammad Omar. I wonder why they don't recognize him? Perhaps Omar lost another eye...
...Reuters reported Monday that a dissident group named Taliban Jamiat Jaish-e-Muslimeen (Muslim Army of the Taliban) had broken away, taking with it about one-third of the Taliban's fighting strength. First, the Beatles broke up, now the Taliban. What is the world coming to?
The new group was being led by Mulla Syed Mohammad Akbar Aga, a 45-year-old commander from the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, Sabir Momin, who was the Taliban's deputy operations commander in southern Afghanistan, told Reuters Monday. Don't use that satellite phone any time soon Aga, or your new name might be Mulla Splat.
The rift within the Taliban comes hard on the heels of a series of arrests of al Qaeda members in neighboring Pakistan, suggesting success on two fronts in the U.S.-led war on terror. The communists columnists at Rooters are finally admitting that we have made some progress. Amazing.
Posted by: Ol_Dirty_American ||
08/14/2004 9:44:03 AM ||
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#1
Muslim Army of the Taliban? Who's left? The Roman Catholic Army of the Taliban? Some mercenary Episcoplians? The Lutheran Legion?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2004 11:46 Comments ||
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#2
I am surprised that Rooters did not attribute the split to mitosis, but they probably could not spell it, so they did not say it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/14/2004 11:59 Comments ||
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#3
Mitosis eh? Likely. Good thing we all know about Mitosis and dont' have to google it. Yep. Mitosis, it's a killer of armies.
TALKS to end days of fighting between Shiite militia and United States-backed Iraqi forces in the central holy city of Najaf broke down today, Iraq's national security adviser, Muwafaq al-Rubaie, said.
Posted by: tipper ||
08/14/2004 9:35:23 AM ||
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#1
wow..... I'd have guessed at least two days, maybe three. Looks like Allawi's not into taking demands when he has the whip hand?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2004 9:40 Comments ||
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#2
Now that the talks have broken down, can we now resume breaking Tater down?
#3
Sounds like Sistani gave Allawi the green light or we got a guy with cajones in there. Wonder if Tater will take instructions from the Black Hats to the end. Life as a chip aint fun Tater.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/14/2004 10:02 Comments ||
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#4
The "truce talks" sure came and went awfully fast ; Diplomats never give up that quickly - this whole thing smells like it was planned.
The military part of me thinks more like a 2 day operational pause in order to consolidate.
The Cavalry and Marines basically have cleared the cemetary and old city - they have the shrines surrounded. But they have had a fast op-tempo and hard fighting that cannot be sustained for a lot longer. Plus they have grabbed up a lot of territory there in Indian Country.
They need a couple days to resupply, reinforce and solidify the outer and inner perimeters, clear out the muj/madhi corpses, and completely sight in all pertient points of the Imam Ali shrine.
A couple days of careful recon and setups for UAVs doesnt hurt either.
They stopped fighting on the Holy Days (Fri-night thru Sat night), for a bit of a cultural boost. You dont want to bust into a Shrine on Friday when they have Mobleader Imams across the country speaking in Friday prayers.
The analyst part of me has twigged to something a bit different...
Want to know the a probable "behind the scenes" reason for the pause?
The real beneficiary of this woudl be the Iraqi "Special Forces" battalion. Think about it - Iraqis are the only ones who can get into that shrie without causing political earthquakes across the region. Political reality demands that Arab(Moslem, Shia) troops liberate that shrine.
They now have a secure area for operations.
No need to worry about patrolling (The US has the area clear),
no need to worry about posting security (The US forces have the area locked down and curfew declared)
there is lots of available support in place now with fast response: US UAVs, recon, ammunition, supply and medical are onsite
Right at hand are US commanders who can provide fire support and call in air support from Helis and fast movers and Puff.
Possibly even a few US SOCOM (Rangers, Delta, Seals) in critical spots for "snatch" teams to help them out.
But just as importantly, they now have had a couple of pre-positioning, planning and practice days for their assault on the Shrine, with no cameras on them - meaning they are there but nobody knows they are there, and they have had the one thing most special ops need: time to prepare and train.
In my opinion, this wasn't negotiation with a bandit, it was simply buying time to sling the rifle, and pull out the silenced pistol, and now they have quietly cocked the hammer.
Right weapon for the job. Iraqi "Commandos". And you will note that there are more Iraqi Police and National Guard being deployed on the outer perimeter and into the occupied areas of the city to hunt down Madhis and Muj.
One thing I hope we have learned form the "Media/Propaganda" war:
Hopefully they have cameras set up to record more footage of the abuse of the shrine by Sadr's boys - and the US must start pushing those images all over the place (TV, newspapers - spew them all over Sadr City and other Shia ghettos) to show just who the bad guys really are, BEFORE anything happens at the Shrine. Sunday and Monday papers there should be crammed full of imiages of the mortars and machine guns in the Shrine, desecrating it, and show IRANIANS in the forces there (that'll definitely piss off the locals). Parade the Iranians in handcuffs next to the weapons they were carrying, and emphasize they were coming to KILL IRAQIS.
Dunno why anyone at psyops and the pentagon hasnt done this yet - its a propaganda bonanza starting them in the face.
#5
wretchard at Belmont notes that Sadr made impossible demands that would emasculate Allawi if agreed to - he can't do that and stay PM -and the push by Sadr supporters to rescue Sadr from the seige (while they'll be stopped by our double cordon) which will quickly push this into a needed resolution. I totally agree that we need to be filming, documenting the defilement of the shrine and getting that out to the Iraqis
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2004 10:50 Comments ||
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#6
Dunno why anyone at psyops and the pentagon hasnt done this yet - its a propaganda bonanza starting them in the face
Gotta get the Iraqis in place, announce the withdrawl of US troops from Europe and SE Asia and make other plans for taking down Iran first. ??
Nope - they have staff officers to handle all that - the operations officers in-theater shoudl be doing this psyops stuff. Need to ge tthese images of Sadr's boys with morats in the shrine and main temple area, and even show them running demolition wire, etc. The UAVs and long-range cameras can get a lot fo this stuff.
I didn't mean tht the ops officers would do those tasks themselves ... I mean that the time for the psyops might not be right. Hard to tell from a distance away ....
#9
But why not just leave the city.
I mean, it does belong to them.
And poeple taking over it may seem a bit hostile to them, don't you think?
But then again, look at the poor Red Indians, no one would think that the U.S. belongs to them.
#15
Gentle, you idiot!
The US doesn't belong to the Injuns--They LOST in the wars they made against white men!
And we're not giving the land back to them now or ever!
Gentle, perhaps it has escaped your notice that Moqtada al-Sadr is a violent theocratic gangster who seeks only his own self-aggrandizement, even at the cost of innocent Iraqi life. Sadr is one of the principal obstacles to peace in the region and must be removed, by force if necessary. You continue to display the most naieve and ill-founded perspective regarding Islamism and its outward political goals. Until you show the least understanding of how Sadr, the Iranians (Wahhabism too) and violent Islamists imperil global security and peaceful progress, you will merely be one of the sheep they slaughter on their way to infamy.
Islamism will die, it is only a question of whether it will be via conventional weapons or nuclear bombs. People like you who continue to blindly deny the violent intentions of Islamism's political agenda are the ones that will make necessary the wholesale elimination of Islam, most likely through nuclear obliteration. Nowhere do you ever mention your own efforts at reforming this wayward religion that you praise so highly. Your lack of comprehension is precisely what drives the Islamist's hellbound juggernaut. It is such unquestioning loyalty and faith as yours that ensures the demise of this brutal and despotic political system disguised as a religion.
PS: Excellent analysis, Old Spook. Keep it coming!
#18
careful, dcreeper may deign you as non-acceptive of the educated and forward-looking Miss (for her age, culture, and educational background - caveat)
:-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2004 16:27 Comments ||
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#19
careful folks! Frank may use intimidation and 'Youse not wulcom ear' talk if you stray too far from his accepted positions of opinion (regardless of how inoffensive you are or how politely you dissent from his golden seat) :-)
#20
porcelain, baby...I leave golden to Saddam et al
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2004 16:56 Comments ||
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#21
but, please don't feel intimidated, dcreeper - we all fall or stand by what we say here, and all are welcome. I'm just a participant, snarky commenter, donor to the Fred fund, and right sometimes, wrong others (admittedly)
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2004 17:15 Comments ||
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#22
Gentle I'm gonna teach ya the first rule of land ownership. The side with the biggest and largest number of guns on a property owns that land. Might may not always be right but it sure as hell is hard to contest it.
This has been true in virtually all of history even BEFORE guns. You can lay claim to a land that you are in physical possession of or able to defend (but you better be damn sure you are able to defend it later if its contested). Otherwise well its up for grabs. If that history lesson is too hard for you to grasp well theres nothing anyone can teach you.
#23
Now, now, "gentle" may have a point: perhaps it is time we cleaned up some historical property disputes.
I vote we start with kicking all the mooselimbs back to Arabia, and give Iraq back over to the Christians, Jews, and Persians who lived there originally...
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
08/14/2004 19:17 Comments ||
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#24
Just to disagree with OS just a little: No need to worry about patrolling (The US has the area clear), no need to worry about posting security (The US forces have the area locked down and curfew declared)
Patrol always and a little more for fun when you feel safe, secure everything and then wire it down and paint it.
Once they have enough force in place and the planning done, then go in and get it done.
========
The other is wait a week, clean up the city outward, and emplace the Iraqi Police in authority everywhere except the shrine. Make a big issue out of "We are giving them a chance, we are helping Najaf to recover, we are pleading with them to peacably disarm and leave the Mosque".
Let the Sadarites sweat, run thru their supplies (while keeping any new ones from getting in) and suffer the heat without electricity and without water and without sewage.
And on top of that, be sure we have snipers (Marine snipers) set up all over the outside of thr grounds - and have them taking shots every hour of every day. Carry a weapon in the shrine area, suffer a one-shot kill.
After 4 days, go in on Wednesday, clear it Thursday, and put a "friendly" cleric in there to do the Prayers on Friday.
American troops and Moqtada al-Sadr's rebel militiamen paused Friday after eight days of fighting to allow negotiations on a truce that would end the siege of a rebel bastion in the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, one of the greatest pilgrimage sites in Islam. Gunfire fell silent across most of the city as Iraqi government representatives met into the night at the provincial governor's headquarters with emissaries of Mr. Sadr, the populist Shiite cleric. His Iranian backers stand against American forces here has stirred a widespread insurrection across southern Iraq, starting in Najaf and then quickly setting off fighting in at least eight other predominantly Shiite cities.
The talks in Najaf appeared to have ended, at least for now, the risks of a climactic battle in the Old City here, and the threat that would have posed to the 1,000-year-old mosque, burial place of Imam Ali, revered as the founder of Shiite Islam. But the terms set by the two sides appeared far apart, at least publicly, and it was far from certain that a solution to nearly five months of sporadically deadly confrontation would be found. Even as the talks opened, the cleric, a rotund, bushy-bearded figure in his early 30's with a shrewd instinct for survival the passions of Iraq's Shiite underclass, added a new dimension to his legend. Aides claimed he suffered shrapnel wounds to the face, chest and genitals shoulder during a skirmish that was said to have occurred near the Najaf shrine shortly after dawn on Friday, just as the pause in fighting began. An aide, Ahmed al-Shaibany, told reporters that the cleric was "in a very good condition," in what he described as a safe place, but offered no other details.
"He's gonna pee sideways the rest of his life but he's otherwise okay," the aide said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/14/2004 12:35:21 AM ||
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#1
But the mere word of it among his fighters set off a fresh round of fury against the Americans, with vows of suicide bombings and other renewed attacks.
This is why we must kill them all now and end this once and for all.
Trust Sadr to tell the truth? You may as well trust John Kerry to tell the truth too. They both will claim to have a mandate from God to lie....
#2
This is insane! Letting al Sadr live is to let a known terrorist keep inciting violence and insurrection against the government. If you take him out, sure everyone will go nuts. But are they going to do that forever? Decisive action is needed now. The longer you wait the more legitimate Tater becomes.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/14/2004 1:38 Comments ||
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#3
How can you defeat someone, if every time you have 'em on the ropes.....you quit swinging???? This is bullshit!!!! Kill them motherfuckers....NOW!!! How do you teach lessons.....when you do not punish???
Posted by: Halfass Pete ||
08/14/2004 1:55 Comments ||
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#4
This sort of crap must stop. Now. I think Bush is getting some seriously bad advice and it's going to cost him the presidency in November. Then we're really screwed.
#5
To defeat someone....I mean really DEFEAT someone.... you MUST stomp 'em into the dirt.... AND MAKE 'EM LIKE IT. No negotiations....no bargaining....JUST KICK THEIR FUCKING ASS AND MAKE 'EM REMEMBER IT FOREVER.
We are pussyfootin' around with these filthy muslim animals....tryin' to make sure they retain their dignity, in defeat. A defeat with their permission, if you will.
They must be humiliated, totally stripped of any pretense of dignity, and sent home with their tails tucked between their legs....OR DEAD. You dictate terms of surrender to the defeated, not ask their permission to defeat them. Goddamnit....let's get this thing over with....!!!
Posted by: Halfass Pete ||
08/14/2004 2:24 Comments ||
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#6
Mr. Powell set terms that appeared to reflect a growing conviction in Washington that the Najaf confrontation has become a watershed, with repercussions that could crucially affect American hopes of wresting order out of what has become an increasingly chaotic situation across much of Iraq.
Along with Mr. Sadr throwing much of Shiite Iraq into turmoil, Sunni Muslim insurgents in a dozen cities have so defied American troops and the government in Baghdad as to have reduced much of Iraq into a patchwork of rebellion and disorder.
This is what happens when you don't do as you say you're going to do. If you say you're going to capture or kill someone, do it. If you're going to bring some order into all this chaos, do it! If either of those two require some harsh measures, including imposing martial law, or a curfew, or whatever, by all means DO IT! These Shiite assholes are playing our (well, most of "our", except for myself) "compassions" like a damn fiddle, and they're getting the better of us.
#7
The Only rational reason for this pull back in Najaf is that al-Sadr has in fact wired the Imam Ali Mosque for detonation should any forces, Iraqi or US, attempt to storm the Mosque.That is a result that neither Allawi or we can live with.
The phrase, "Opperational Pause," certainly after Falluja, just sticks in my craw...but this possible blowing up of the Imam Ali Mosque is at the bottom of this.
I would also hazzard to guess that Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani gave tacit approval to this action initially, but the final assualt has, once again, taken too long in coming and the pressure is on him now to help broker the cease-fire, whereas before he had washed his hands of Sadr.
This is all depressing, but this is my analysis of what is going on. Checkmated by al-Sadr yet once again.
Sadr should have been assassinated almost a year ago when I first recommended it here.
#8
Sometimes it is more important to teach a lesson than to prove a point. The Marines have demonstrated without question that they could destroy the ragtag Sadr mob anytime they choose.
But it is necessary for the Iraqi leadeship to handle the final disposition Najaf. Having the US decide the outcome does the Iraqi government no good.
The image of hundreds of slaughtered Iraquis surrounding the shrine would not be a positive image to carry once the mainstream media started twisting the story of the Massacre of Najaf. Remember Waco?
And we are not done with Fallujah yet. It has gone below the radar.
Posted by: john ||
08/14/2004 7:59 Comments ||
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#9
These fundamentalists need to be given no mercy. What good would would it serve if the bastard recovers. More chaos , more innocent deaths
#10
On the very plus side, the good guys here are not idiots. Let us examine the situation. Most of Tater's people have been, I suspect, intentionally driven into the shrine. There is now a double cordon of Marines sieging it--no one out, and especially, no one in.
Undoubtedly they have cut off the electricity, sewer and water. The high temperature today is 110F. With 1000 to 2000 men in that building, it is *not* going to be a pleasant place to hang out for any length of time.
You'll note that one of Tater's top five demands is to "restore essential services to Najaf."
Once again, I will predict that after a time, pistol shots will be heard inside the mosque. Then a large contingent will frog walk out the door with their hands on their heads. Last but not least there will be a scramble by the few remaining hard corps, who will waltz into a free fire zone from Hell.
The plan is not just for them to lose, but for them to be utterly humiliated and to lose face so much that they become an embarrassment to their own families.
#11
Tear gas the shrine and if they don't run out with their hand up, then shoot them down like the morons they are.
Posted by: ed ||
08/14/2004 9:18 Comments ||
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#12
News Flash: The Marines were right to set up a double cordon. Sadr supporters are flooding into Najaf hoping to relieve Sadr in the mosque with supplies. This time, unlike Fallujah, it's not going to happen.
The double cordon, or "contravallation", was first invented by Julius Ceaser, to stop such "break-ins" to relieve a siege. By the Middle Ages it came to mean a deep trench with a guard tower surrounding the siege, performing the same function but needing fewer men.
#13
Hmmmm in that heat, with no water, what's the expiration date for tater tots?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2004 9:21 Comments ||
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#14
The truth is that we checkmated him. Heâs only got us in check for the moment by threatening to kick over the board if we move our hand to complete the game.
Tater canât just blow the mosque â A) cause he doesnât want to die, and B) because heâs a true-believer and Iâm guessing he doesnât want to blow up the burial site of the founder of Shite and C) Shiteâs will be as ticked as if Louis Farrakahan(sp?) blew up a historic church with a favored Saint in it.
Donât get me wrong, Iâm not saying that he wonât blow the mosque. Iâm just saying itâs unlikely that Tater wants to do it. And if he does, Waco is a good example of the press frenzy and subsequent outrage that will follow.
But if it does happen, the upside is that weâll be rid of Sadr and his most hardcore followers and the Iranians will need to find a new âpopularâ leader to rally the masses.
#17
I'm thinking more of "Blazing Saddles" when Cleavon Little held his gun to his own head and said "don't move, or the n****** gets it!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2004 9:29 Comments ||
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#18
frank..lol! Yep..that's it.
Posted by: B ||
08/14/2004 10:05 Comments ||
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#19
Iraqi forces will be the ones to enter and clear the shrine. Hopefully some will infiltrate and cap the triggermen up close and personal and prevent detonation. They will finally use that Iraqi "Special Forces" battalion hey have been training for months over there. See my comments on how the "failed negotiations" thread - and how they look to me to be a setup.
A kidnapped British journalist was released Friday with minor injuries less than 24 hours after gunmen seized him from a hotel in the southern port city of Basra. James Brandon, 23, on assignment for the Sunday Telegraph, was shown in a video on satellite television with kidnappers who threatened to kill him unless U.S. troops withdrew from Najaf, the holiest of southern Shiite cities. Brandon reportedly was released after al-Sadr aides intervened on his behalf. "Journalists are our brothers, our friends," said Sheik Salah al Ubaidi, an al-Sadr spokesman in Baghdad. "They reflect our opinions and convey our voices to all of the world." It's nice to find something about which we and Tater can agree. Isn't unity wonderful?
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy ||
08/14/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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#1
"Journalists are our brothers, our friends ... They reflect our opinions"
Hell, journalists share your opinions. And they're more than your friends - they're your ass-kissing bitches.
That's probably the first time the truth has come out of the Sheik's mouth. I'm surprised it didn't hurt.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/14/2004 0:16 Comments ||
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#3
The Telegraph isn't exactly known for having an anti-war or pro-terrorist bias
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
08/14/2004 0:23 Comments ||
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#4
badanov - Uh, actually, I do. I've never cared for nicknames.
(Don't care if others use them, I just don't like them for me.)
But thanks for asking. :-)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/14/2004 0:46 Comments ||
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#5
Beetlejuice!
Beetlejuice!
Beetle [gmurp!]!
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2004 1:21 Comments ||
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#6
Hmmmm Brandon's one of theirs, huh? I'd keep an eye on the guy
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2004 8:31 Comments ||
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#7
He's 23, probably fresh out of university. Still a vivid shade of green and a bit wet behind the ears. There's still hope. Maybe once his concussed brain gets back to thinking straight he might have a "D'oh!" moment recalling how he thanked his kidnappers for their fine treatment (fine treatment, that is, barring the black eyes, facial bruising, death threats, and, oh, 'all sorts of bad things').
Differences among tribesmen over whether to support the government in the ongoing crackdown on militants turned sour as they pulled guns on each other when Ahmedzai Wazir tribes held a jirga on Friday.
"We're supportin' the gummint, Mahmoud!"
"No you ain't, you yella-bellied apostate!"
"That does it, go fer yer guns!"
"They [elders] nearly came to blows and pointed guns at each other," said a tribal elder from the Khojelkhel sub-tribe. He said the jirga was held to discuss differences over the 36-member committee supervising the lashkar and whether or not to support the government in its fight against foreign militants hiding in South Waziristan. "It was the most disorderly jirga in Ahmedzai Wazir tribes' history and that's saying something. Thank God that some elders calmed the situation and averted a bloody clash," he added.
Damn. I always enjoy a good tribal shootout...
The Ahmedzai Wazirs, consisting of nine major Waziristan tribes, was sharply divided over the committee's role. Formed two months ago, it was assigned to supervise the tribal lashkar assigned to fight wanted tribesman and Al Qaeda militants. "The jirga failed to decide if it wanted accept a Shakai-type agreement with the government," the tribal elder said. Three Shakai tribes — Sperkai, Shudyakhel and Khuniyakhel - reached an agreement with the government on July 5 to support the government against local and foreign militants. The agreement helped lift economic sanctions imposed on tribesmen on May 29. Elders from Ahmedzai Wazir tribes thought a similar agreement with the government could help lift sanctions against them. Tribal elder Malik Behram Khan told Daily Times that the jirga would be held again on Saturday and he hoped it might reach agreement.
"We ain't finished here, Mahmoud!"
"So you say, Ahmed, but Saturday's another day!"
Meanwhile, an official from a seminary run by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, his driver and a security guard were injured when a jeep they were riding in hit a landmine in Shakai on Friday. Maulvi Hasan and his driver were taken to hospital in Peshawar.
Those Shakai-type agreements seem to work well...
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/14/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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#1
"Mahmoud, you're a pain in the ass! I challenge you to a duel. Pick your weapons!"
"Ok, Ahmed, you are a pain in my behind, drums at 10 paces!"
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/14/2004 1:14 Comments ||
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#2
divide and conquer
Posted by: B ||
08/14/2004 10:04 Comments ||
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#3
I like a sleek drum top! It feels like victory! Death to Ohio State and the so called buckeyeds!
Posted by: Gin Tur ||
08/14/2004 15:09 Comments ||
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A Libyan man believed to be the head of Al Qaeda's terror operations is the top target of Pakistani security forces hunting key operatives of Osama bin Laden's network, officials said Friday. Abu Faraj Farj, a former personal assistant of bin Laden, masterminded the two December attempts to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf, said a senior intelligence official closely involved in the high-profile Al Qaeda crackdown. "Farj was a personal assistant of bin Laden and our information is he is the current top operational chief of the network," the official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/14/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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Good catch Dan.
Farj heads Al Qaedaâs clandestine operational apparatus in Pakistan.
American pressure on Musharraf to crack down on Pakistan's homegrown terrorists, and to settle its border dispute with India, appears to mark the end of Musharraf's covert support of the likes of HUJI, HUM and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan's Jammu and Kashmir adventure. But what really has these groups in the bullseye is what Musharraf cannot risk: An attack on America to rival or surpass 9-11 which has been coordinated, if not planned, within Pakistan by ultras once covertly supported by the Musharraf regime.
Posted by: Robert Stevens ||
08/14/2004 3:36 Comments ||
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#2
Forgive my civilian ignorance, but what exactly is a cohort? Is it something like a brigade (which has lots and lots of soldiers in it, I believe) or more like a platoon? Or does it just mean evil minions?
#3
Cohort (with apologies to Webster's Dictionary) - 1) One of ten divisions of an ancient Roman legion comprising at first 300, but later 500 to 600 soldiers.
2) Companion; accomplice
(Generally used - as far as I know - in a negative sense.)
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Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
