Militants armed with rockets have attacked the main Allied military base in Afghanistan, leaving at least two people dead and a number of others hurt.
The perimeter of Camp Bastion was breached as it was hit by small arms fire and there was major damage to buildings, an aircraft hangar and several military jets.
The two soldiers killed are thought to have been US Marines.
This facility is often subject to indirect fire, but officials in Afghanistan say the damage that has resulted is far more severe than normal. The attack was launched in the US area of the base.
Army Major Martyn Crighton, a spokesman at ISAF's Joint Command, says the attack may still be ongoing.
Officials in Afghanistan said it was too early to know if the attack was motivated by the anti-Muslim YouTube film which has sparked violent protests in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Prince Harry is currently stationed at Camp Bastion on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan
#1
Camp Bastion is the brit side of Camp Leatherneck...there's like almost 30miles of standoff there. We only took IDF there once or twice when I was there last yr. So I'd say, yeah, most likely attack is related to current events.
[An Nahar] Somalia's newly elected president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has been moved to the secure presidential compound following an liquidation bid at his hotel, officials said Thursday.
Hassan was unharmed after two blasts went off Wednesday outside the hotel where he had been meeting a visiting Kenyan delegation, but three soldiers were killed in what appeared to be an attack by multiple jacket wallahs.
A front man for the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... Mission in Somalia, Colonel Ali Houmed, said the new head of state who was elected Monday is now staying at Villa Somalia, which was still home to outgoing president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
Western observers had said they were surprised the new president was housed in a hotel -- even if it was just a few hundred meters from the capital's well-protected airport, which is AMISOM's main base -- rather than at Villa Somalia.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2012 00:00 ||
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Four members of the Multinational Force & Observers (MFO) in the Sinai Peninsula were wounded on Friday, after dozens of Bedouin militants attacked their headquarters in northern Sinai.
According to reports, an angry mob broke down the wall of the base and set vehicles and tools alight.The peacekeepers inside the camp, located in the al Gura area of northern Sinai, exchanged fire with the assailants, according to witnesses.
Israel's Channel Two reported that the militants included Salafi extremists.
Soroka Medical Center, Beer Sheva said that two of the wounded were being transferred to the hospital in southern Israel for treatment. The Israel Defense Forces did not confirm the report.
It was unclear whether the attacks were linked to the protests spreading across the Muslim world over a film deemed as insulting the Prophet Mohammed. Locals in the area said the attack was apparently a backlash to the film, however, an Egyptian security official denied the claim.
"The attackers are unknown and the cause of the assault is not immediately clear," the official told dpa on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The Sinai attack was at the Multinational Force & Observers (MFO)'s North Camp base in the north of the peninsula. In the last year, the MFO in the Sinai has suffered from repeated attacks on its bases and forces. This has included stone throwing and the blocking of their envoys.
Around 1,000 peacekeepers, under U.S. command, are positioned in Sinai to monitor Egyptian-Israeli border under a 1979 peace treaty between the two countries.
Last month, Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi deposed both chief of staff Sami Enan and Defense Minister Gen. Hussein Tantawi following the attack at the Israeli border crossing at Kerem Shalom, in which 17 Egyptian policemen were killed.
After the attack, the Egyptian army carried out a wide campaign to eradicate terrorist organizations in the Sinai peninsula, although according to reports in Egypt, the campaign was stopped after talks between Cairo and local Bedouin leaders.
Following the unrest sweeping the Muslim world over the past four days, Morsi said in a televised speech on Friday morning that it is part of the responsibility of Muslims to protect diplomats and foreign embassies located in their countries.
#1
Morsi said in a televised speech on Friday morning that it is part of the responsibility of Muslims to protect diplomats and foreign embassies located in their countries
#4
Colombians run security at the North Camp, about 50 guys assigned to camp security. Americans are present at the camp, as it serves as the HQ and we provide most of the HQ staff. US contribution to the MFO is National Guard troops. We have about 1,200 or so in the Sinai. This is a big deal, folks, and something that has concerned me since the Arab Spring began.
#4
I agree with Glenn Reynolds. If flamethrowers (and SAWs) are not immediately available to our Marine embassy guards, then
1) cancel all visas for citizens of that country
2) order their citizens currently in the U.S. to leave (hardship exemptions if they can prove they love America)
3) suspend all aid programs for 90 days minimum
Why?
To ensure that host governments understand that they AGREED to defend and protect our embassies. If they can't do that, we can't do business with them.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/14/2012 12:16 Comments ||
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#5
Excellent time for an attack on Iran.
Seething and rage:
-Cairo, Egypt - US Embassy
-Khartoum, Sudan - British, German and US Embassies
-Sanaa, Yemen - US Embassy
-Jerusalem - protests at the Old City
-Basra, Iraq - protests
-Tehran, Iran - protests outside the Swiss Embassy
-Amman, Jordan - protests
-Indian-administered Kashmir - protests
-Tripoli, Lebanon - one protester killed as KFC burned
#6
MY greatest concern is that Obama will let this escalate so he can suspend the US elections. And I will go as far as saying this may be a part of a grand plan he has in that regard all along. I do doubt he thought his mobs would kill an ambassador but I would not put such a plot past the radical left that he is a part of.
#7
Best quote of the day these feckers need to learn is-
"When Christians are subject to insults to their faith, and that certainly happens, we expect them not to resort to violence. When Hindus or Buddhists are subjected to insults to their faiths, and that also certainly happens, we expect them not to resort to violence," said Clinton. "The same goes for all faiths, including Islam."
Posted by: Paul D ||
09/14/2012 12:48 Comments ||
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#8
Excellent time for an attack on Iran.
Seething and rage:
-Cairo, Egypt - US Embassy
-Khartoum, Sudan - British, German and US Embassies
-Sanaa, Yemen - US Embassy
-Jerusalem - protests at the Old City
-Basra, Iraq - protests
-Tehran, Iran - protests outside the Swiss Embassy
-Amman, Jordan - protests
-Indian-administered Kashmir - protests
-Tripoli, Lebanon - one protester killed as KFC burned Agreed.They hate us if we attacked or not!
Posted by: Paul D ||
09/14/2012 12:49 Comments ||
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#9
as bad as these attacks are ... they are probably serving as a very important wake-up call in the Middle East. In the event of an attack on Iran, there are going to be a LOT more buildings on fire than the ones we are seeing now. It is time for all westeners, esp. Americans, to get their Plan B on status for "ready to go at a moments notice".
#12
No I don't agree with that. To stop Iran's nuclear program is one thing, but don't forget that there are many courageous young Iranians who want freedom. Support them, and do it without restraint.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
09/14/2012 16:10 Comments ||
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#13
MY greatest concern is that Obama will let this escalate so he can suspend the US elections.
A lot of people said this about Bush, too. Ain't gonna happen.
#17
"MY greatest concern is that Obama will let this escalate so he can suspend the US elections."
"I wouldn't be surprised if he tried."
Me neither - but I'd be surprised if he succeeded.
Posted by: Barbara ||
09/14/2012 19:01 Comments ||
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#18
Me neither - but I'd be surprised if he succeeded.
Exactly. Besides, it isn't up to him. The elections in each State are run by the State. Obama has no say, and neither does the Federal Government. If he tries, that will be the bridge too far.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
09/14/2012 21:00 Comments ||
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Many more pics and inside account of the attack in Benghazi, from the Daily Mail.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/14/2012 09:02 ||
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#1
Thanks Steve. Very sad.
Panic: A U.S. State Department official said Mr Stevens and his team 'became separated from each other due to the heavy, dark smoke while they were trying to evacuate the burning building'
Cardinal rules of any Personal Security Detail (PSD) ....(if you have one); never get seperated from your principal, and never surrender your weapon or lose your SATFONE.
#2
Indeed, thanks Steve. The British source of this story has done a much better job at coverage than our median. One thing that amazes me is how "soft" the consulate appears to be--looks like a pushover.
#4
I shouldn't be surprised to learn sensitive documents specifically identifying Libyans helpful to America have gone missing. Reminds me of Shakil Afridi, I hope these Libyans aren't compromised and killed. More crap compromising our intel.
Why keep these sensitive documents in such an unprotected place. Really?
Posted by: Jan ||
09/14/2012 11:00 Comments ||
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#6
Of course we have to go to the British papers to find out what happened.
The picture of the empty chair floating in the pool must have Axelrods head Exorcist spinning...
Yet to see the bloody handprint picture in the LSM either.
This incident is going to be treated like photos of the jumpers on 9/11.
#7
Yes, of course we have to go to the British papers. You think the NYT would cover this? Doesn't fit the narrative.
Besoeker, thanks for the tip if ever I'm working as a PSD (but if I am the person I'm 'protecting' is in big trouble). I assume that these folks are very well trained, so it's unfortunate this happened. I get it can, though, particularly if all hell has broken loose.
As to the consulate, sometimes they're just buildings. We have a bunch of these in Chicago, either downtown or on the near north, and many of them are just office suites in towers or units in an apartment. I have no idea what arrangements they have for security (though we as the host country are responsible for their security).
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/14/2012 12:20 Comments ||
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#8
I suspect the folks on the security detail were reall good people - there were just not enough of them (and possibly they were not well enough armed). The attack at Benghazi looks to be very well planned - the hit squad clearly knew the laout of the primary target, the number of guards and security personnel, and their contingency plan for evacuation. They also knew the primary safehouse where the evacuation would go to. This attack was professionally executed.
Best account yet of what happened. The phrase 'fog of war' applies...
BENGHAZI, Libya, Sept 12 (Reuters) - A squad of U.S. troops despatched by helicopter across the Libyan desert to rescue besieged diplomats from Benghazi on Wednesday ran into a fierce overnight ambush that left a further two Americans dead, Libyan officials told Reuters.
Accounts of the mayhem at the U.S. consulate, where the ambassador and a fourth American died after a chaotic protest over a film insulting to Islam, remain patchy. But two Libyan officials, including the commander of a security force which escorted the U.S. rescuers, said a later assault on a supposedly safe refuge for the diplomats appeared professionally executed.
So the blasphemous movie is an excuse and an afterthought...
Miscommunication which understated the number of American survivors awaiting rescue - there were 37, nearly four times as many as the Libyan commander expected - also meant survivors and rescuers found themselves short of transport to escape this second battle, delaying an eventual dawn break for the airport.
Captain Fathi al-Obeidi, whose special operations unit was ordered by Libya's authorities to meet an eight-man force at Benghazi airport, said that after his men and the U.S. squad had found the American survivors who had evacuated the blazing consulate, the ostensibly secret location in an isolated villa came under an intense and highly accurate mortar barrage.
"I really believe that this attack was planned," he said, adding to suggestions by other Libyan officials that at least some of the hostility towards the Americans was the work of experienced combatants. "The accuracy with which the mortars hit us was too good for any regular revolutionaries."
Obeidi's Libya's Shield Brigade was formed by civilians during last year's U.S.-backed uprising against Muammar Gaddafi and is now part of the ad hoc government militia forces which the fledgling democratic administration uses to keep order.
Other Libyan officials cited the possible involvement of former soldiers still loyal to Gaddafi's family or Islamist fighters, some of whom have trained and fought in Afghanistan.
U.S. officials have noted it was "complex attack". Several Libyan officials and witnesses said an initial demonstration at the consulate appeared to be largely unarmed, though some elements of an Islamist militia were spotted.
At some point, the crowd became incensed, believing they were under attack from within the consulate, many fetched weapons and the consular villa ended up in flames, with most of the Americans fleeing to the safe house after two, including ambassador Christopher Stevens, had been fatally injured.
"RAINING DOWN FIRE"
Of the eight American troops who had come from Tripoli, one was killed and two were wounded, Obeidi said. A Libyan deputy interior minister said a second American was also killed in the attack on the safe house. It was not clear if this was a diplomat or one of the consulate's original security detail.
"It began to rain down on us," Obeidi told Reuters, describing the moment the attack began - just as the Libyan security force was starting up the 10 pickup trucks and sedans they had brought to ferry the Americans to the airport.
"About six mortars fell directly on the path to the villa," he said. "During this firing, one of the marines whom I had brought with me was wounded and fell to the ground.
"As I was dragging the wounded marine to safety, some marines who were located on the roof of the villa as snipers shouted and the rest of the marines all hit the ground.
"A mortar hit the side of the house. One of the marines from the roof went flying and fell on top of us."
A senior U.S. diplomat - not ambassador Stevens, who Libyan officials said died at a local hospital of the effects of smoke - urged Obeidi to push ahead with the evacuation, the Libyan commander Obeidi said. But he had a transport problem.
Having been told to expect 10 Americans and having found 37, Obeidi did not have enough vehicles to break out, despite having one heavy anti-aircraft gun mounted on a pickup truck.
"I was being bombarded by calls from all over the country by Libyan government officials who wanted me to hurry and get them out," he said. "But I told them that we were in such difficult circumstances and that I needed more men and more cars."
Eventually dozens more vehicles were despatched from pro-government militia brigades and, with the sun rising, the convoy headed back to the airport where an aircraft flew a first group of U.S. personnel out to the Libyan capital.
Libyan Deputy Interior Minister Wanis al-Sharif said Stevens and another diplomat died in the first series of incidents around the consulate, while the other two Americans died during the attempt to evacuate from the safe house to the airport.
"(The ambassador) died as a result of suffocation by the fumes of the fire inside the embassy and one was also killed by gunfire before around 37 people were moved to a place we thought was safe," Sharif told Reuters in Benghazi.
Speaking of the rescue mission, he said: "A team of commandos arrived by air and went to a farm which we thought was a secret location. Once they got there, they came under heavy fire from heavy machineguns, rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles, which resulted in the death of two others."
He estimated that a dozen or more Americans were hurt.
#1
Clearly a multi-pronged attack - with very careful preparation and planning for contingencies. The accruacy of the mortars implies that their fire was set up ahead of time ... carefully ranged to target. All the facts in this article seem to support the theory by Debka.com that this was a large Al Qaeda strike. The riots about the film were just a cover so that AQ could mount the attack. That's my $0.02 anyway.
It's really a tragedy to lose two ex-SEALS who were doing such fine work over there. The same comment goes for the US Marines who were killed.
#2
As you know Raider, the ultimate decision maker is the Chief of Mission. If he wishes to iggy his RSO, throw common sense to the wind and trust the locals, it can go to kak in a hurry. You trust this foks at your own peril.
#3
The bit about the film was to help gin up extra mobs after the fact and to provide justification for cowarice aming US leadership which plays into Al Quedas hands.
[ABC News] One of the Americans killed alongside Ambassador Christopher Stevens in an attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya Tuesday told ABC News before his death that he was working with the State Department on an intelligence mission to round up dangerous weapons in the war-torn nation.
In an interview with ABC News last month, Glen Doherty, a 42-year-old former Navy SEAL who worked as a contractor with the State Department, said he personally went into the field to track down so-called MANPADS, shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, and destroy them. After the fall of dictator Muammar Qadaffy ...Proof that a madman with money will be politely received for at least 42 years until his people get tired of him and kill him... , the State Department launched a mission to round up thousands of MANPADS that may have been looted from military installations across the country. U.S. officials previously told ABC News they were concerned the MANPADS could fall into the hands of terrorists, creating a threat to commercial airliners.
Doherty said that he traveled throughout Libya chasing reports of the weapons and once they were found, his team would destroy them on the spot by bashing them with hammers or repeatedly running them over with their vehicles. When ABC News spoke to Doherty in late August, he was enjoying a short time off in Caliphornia before heading back to Libya just days ago.
The State Department declined to comment on Doherty's involvement in the MANPADS program, but pointed to a previous statement from State Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs Andrew Shapiro in which he said the department was looking at "every possible tool to mitigate the threat."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
So Stevens security detail was a man short and Doherty tagged along on this trip as extra security help for the Ambo? What about the day job? Interesting contract. I damn sorry everyone got dead, but send us more info please.
#2
He might have gone along on the trip to get some face time with the ambassador -- hard enough to get otherwise. Or his interest in Benghazi that day merely coincided with that of Stevens.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/14/2012 8:49 Comments ||
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#3
The potentially unarmed piece bothers me. There should be dead bad guys all around. Stevens may have thought, as many State Department do, that guns are icky or he wrongly perceived he was not a target, that all of his area familiarization, linquistic ability, or host nation good deeds insulated him from danger.
#5
Good question swksvolFF, but unlikely. Folks that search for weapons, especially challenging to operate battery operated weapons, usually have 'deep pockets' and receive plenty of smiles and invites for tea.
#6
I dunno how often you guys take air flights thru places like Africa. But every time the plane's wheels lift off the tarmac, I pray there's not a bad guy hidden at the end of that runway with a MANPAD. It's not hard to take down an airliner. AQ has come close a couple of times already.
People like Glen Doherty were doing the world a favor - a BIG favor. There are not many job assignments that an ex-SEAL could have that would make a more positive contribution.
[WKRN] U.S. officials say the Pentagon is moving two warships to the Libyan coast, in the aftermath of the attack in Benghazi that killed the U.S. ambassador and three others.
Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed when an armed mob stormed the U.S. consulate in Benghazi Tuesday and set it ablaze.
Officials say one destroyer, the USS Laboon, moved to a position off the coast Wednesday, and the USS McFaul is en route and should be stationed off the coast within days. The officials say the ships, which carry Tomahawk missiles, do not have a specific mission. But they give commanders flexibility to respond to any mission ordered by the president.
U.S. Sherlocks are looking into whether the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya was a coordinated terrorist assault to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks and not just spontaneous mob violence triggered by an anti-Islam video on YouTube.
The speaker of Libya's Parliament says the attackers "may have had foreign loyalties" - an apparent reference to international terrorists.
President Barack Obama I've now been in 57 states -- I think one left to go... says the U.S. will work with the Libyan government to find those responsible and vows: "Justice will be done."
The U.S. Embassy says its consulate in Berlin has been evacuated as a precaution after an employee reported a strange smell from an envelope.
Spokeswoman Ruth Bennett said the smell came from an envelope containing supporting materials for a visa application given to consular employees by the applicant in person Thursday morning.
There were no reports of injuries and American and German authorities are now examining the contents of the applicant.
Bennett says she has no immediate information on the status of the person who brought the envelope in.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2012 00:00 ||
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Multiple suspects have been arrested in the death earlier this week of US ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other US diplomats in Benghazi, Libyan officials announced Thursday, DPA reported.
"Arrest the usual suspects, Corporal!"
"Yessir, your Emirness! That'll be a plumber, a professor, and a little old lady in black, suitable for accusing of witchcraft, as always. Send for Mahmoud the Weasel!"
"And arrest the Weasel, Corporal!"
"Sir?!?!"
"And then let him go. Quietly. It's good for his cover."
Deputy Interior Minister Wanis Al-Sharif would not release details about the people detained. "The results of our investigation must remain secret for now," he said.
The Libyan investigators are following up on evidence indicating that the attack was not spontaneous, rather specifically planned to take place on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/14/2012 00:00 ||
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U.S. Marines defending the American embassy in Egypt were not permitted by the State Department to carry live ammunition, limiting their ability to respond to attacks like those this week on the U.S. consulate in Cairo.
Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson "did not permit U.S. Marine guards to carry live ammunition," according to multiple reports on U.S. Marine Corps blogs spotted by Nightwatch. "She neutralized any U.S. military capability that was dedicated to preserve her life and protect the US Embassy."
U.S. officials have yet to confirm or comment on the reports. Time magazine's Battleland blog reported Thursday "Senior U.S. officials late Wednesday declined to discuss in detail the security at either Cairo or Benghazi, so answers may be slow in coming."
If true, the reports indicate that Patterson shirked her obligation to protect U.S. interests, Nightwatch states.
"She did not defend U.S. sovereign territory and betrayed her oath of office," the report states. "She neutered the Marines posted to defend the embassy, trusting the Egyptians over the Marines."
#2
when i read the denial, it left room for the marines to have been disallowed ammo. The denial only states that the ambassador did not make the order and that both she and the regional security officer were in agreement as to the security situation at the embassy.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
09/14/2012 3:29 Comments ||
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#3
the sad thing is that none of us here would be surprised if Champ (or Jarrett or some other operator in the admin) had ordered that no live ammo be issued. I can totally see the calculus for them that a trashed embassy would be far less damaging an incident than a deader among the rent-a-mob.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
09/14/2012 3:32 Comments ||
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#4
In view of the administration's feckless penchant for body counting, it does seem rather odd that there were...... NO reports of dead embassy attackers or terrorists, not even one.
Difficult to believe those former Navy Seals went down without bodies stacked around them like cordwood.
#6
Roger-Roger P2k. I'd like to read the After Action Report (AAR) of the Regional Security Officer (RSO).....who evidently survived the attack while his principal the Chief of Mission was murdered. I suspect his next assignment will he'll be as a rangemaster.
#7
A little more complicated than our loving press dictates. First, the Marines are probably not allowed to carry live ammo, or weapons for that matter. But right next to the Marine post is the arms locker for this type of event. Second, the Marine mission is to protect the classified in the building and in the event of an attack, they are to protect it and/or destroy it. Defending the Mission/embassy is the RSO and the dip security mission. The PSD for the Ambo falls under the RSO and he failed this mission costing the Ambo and others their lives.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/14/2012 9:43 Comments ||
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#9
#7 It would seem that the dual missions of protection of the embassy staff and protection and/or destruction of classified security documents both fall on the Secretary of State and ultimately on the commander-in-chief.
#11
When the dust settles we may discover that Ambassador Stevens "went native" and threw caution and security to the wind. I hope I am very, very wrong.
#12
B, I think your probably right on that call. Sad but true. Why an Ambo would only have a few security guards tells me a low situational awareness.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/14/2012 10:41 Comments ||
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#13
Well, the alleged movie evidently made a politically extreme lifestyle statement. Was the US Mission the target or was Ambassador Steves specifically tageted as revenge for this statement? Are the reports of torture and sodomy accurate?
#14
B, one other point. You have been in prolonged combat. There comes a time when you realize everyone is out to kill you. You become numb to it and have a hard time deciding what intel is white noise and what intel is the silver bullet and gonna kill you. In that country I would wager there are a lot of reports of attempts on the embassy making it difficult to manage.
Last point. The hit on the Ambo is one thing. At his home and DSS blew it. The walls of the embassy were breached, but the embassy was not taken, that is as I understand it, and the families of essentials have not been neo-d yet. Makes me wonder if they embassy attack was over reported.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/14/2012 10:53 Comments ||
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#15
She also broke the law - Embassy Marine details are NOT allowed to be disarmed, ever, by diplo personnel. They can be told to stand down, but NEVER disarmed.
#17
I suspect his next assignment will he'll be as a range master.
Quartermaster...Adak Alaska.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
09/14/2012 14:31 Comments ||
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#18
#6 One of the two that were wounded will be lucky to survive. In critical condition with serious head wounds.
#14 Easy to say when you have no idea what actually happened. He was not at his home. His home was in Tripoli and he was visiting the consulate in Benghazi for a publicized event.
#15 If in fact she disarmed the Marines - what law did she break? Be specific - what section of the US criminal code did she violate? You can't just say some one broke the law and not know the statute. I'm highly suspect of this report.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
09/14/2012 18:13 Comments ||
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#19
The classified contract between State and DOD/MCH for Embassy protection services. Facility security, as opposed to DSS.
#20
BB, the Goldwater-Nichols Act stipulates the legal the 'chain of command', incorporated into Title 10 USC. I don't recall the Ambassador in that DoD chain. Further the military are subject to UCMJ which requires action to be taken only by those in the chain of command. Much like allied commands [ie NATO], there is co-operation but never a surrender of authority to those outside the lawfully designated command and UCMJ authority.
[An Nahar] Yemeni police Thursday rubbed out a protester and maimed five others when they opened fire on a crowd attempting to storm the U.S. embassy in Sanaa to protest a film mocking Islam, a security official said. "Death to America! Death to the Zionists! Death to -- [BANG!] -- aaaiiieee! My brisket!"
The shooting came as protesters, chanting "O, messenger of Allah... O, Mohammed," launched a second charge on the complex which they had stormed earlier but were ejected by the security forces.
President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi apologized to his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama Why can't I just eat my waffle?... and the American people for the acts of a "mob" and ordered a probe.
"Those who are behind (the attack) are a mob that are not aware of the far-reaching plots of Zionist forces, especially those of made a film insulting the prophet," said Hadi.
Some protesters said they saw three vehicles being torched by some of the demonstrators after they gained access to the compound through an unguarded security gate.
After being evicted from the complex on their first assault, protesters retreated about 100 meters (yards) from the gate, gathering near a checkpoint where they chanted anti-Jewish slogans.
"O, Jews: Khaybar, Khaybar. The army of Mohammed will return," they chanted evoking a 7th century war in the west of the Arabian Peninsula in which the Mohammedans are said to have defeated the Jews.
They then launched a second bid to access the compound, prompting police to fire on the crowd, witnesses said.
The violent protests in Sanaa come two days after four Americans, including the ambassador, were killed when a Libyan mob attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, and protesters in Cairo tore down the Stars and Stripes and replaced it with a black Islamic flag.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
a tad slow on the go, but better late than never.
One hopes the lesson is learned and Champ will encourage this response elsewhere rather than running the marine who dropped the hammer through the mill.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
09/14/2012 3:21 Comments ||
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#2
A single warning blast from a flamethrower for the first over the walls to see. Thirty seconds later if they arent clumbing back in a hurry you fry them.
Not our fault they scaled the walls right into the middle of flamethrower practice.
[An Nahar] About 100 protesters burnt the United States' flag and rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Thursday to demonstrate against an anti-Islam Internet film.
The demonstrators, mostly students at Islamic seminaries, hit the flag with shoes before setting it ablaze in front of the Baitul Mokarram Mosque, Bangladesh's biggest mosque.
Chanting "God is Greater", "We won't accept mocking of Prophet Mohammed" and "Down with American imperialism", the protesters held up traffic at a major road junction in the city.
"America should apologize immediately and arrest the people who've made the film," Shah Ahmadullah Ashraf, head of Bangladesh Khalefat Andolon, a small Islamic party that organized the rally, told the crowd.
He said the U.S. embassy in Dhaka could be targeted and called for nationwide protests after Friday prayers.
Bangladesh police said they had boosted security at the embassy to prevent any repeat of violence that left four Americans including the U.S. ambassador dead in Libya on Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2012 00:00 ||
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For a map, click here. For a map of Tamaulipas state click here.
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
Armed confrontations between criminal groups and Mexican security forces have killed four since last Tuesday in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, according to Mexican news and Twitter accounts.
Two gunfights took place Tuesday between armed groups and elements of the Mexican Army according to a news item posted on website of Revista Proceso.
The news item quoted the Tamaulipas Procurduria General de Justicia de Estado, or state attorney general that one gunfight took place in Mil Cumbres colony, leaving one unidentified individual dead and an abandoned Jeep Liberty SUV at the scene. That gunfight took place at around 1350 hrs.
A second confrontation took place in Lomas del Real de Jarachina Sur colony where armed suspects fired on a Mexican Army road patrol. Mexican Army return gunfire killed three suspects. One GMC pickup truck was seized in the aftermath.
Subsequently armed groups in Reynosa put up roadblocks, blocking Bulevar Colosio, UAT Rhode bridge and Bulevar Morelos and others.
Thursday additional gunfights and roadblocks took place in Reynosa, but no reports of dead or wounded have been released by official sources.
A news report posted on the website of Noticias de Tamaulipas news website said that one civilian had been wounded in Calle Quintana Roo, when the victim ran from the area and was reportedly fired on by Mexican Army personnel.
Detentions have been reported. However, the numbers or identifications have not been released.
According to a news item posted on the website of Telvisa, Thursday's gunfights took place on Zona Centro on Calle Madero. Gunfire was also reported in Cumbres and Jarachina colonies.
Mexican Army units had reportedly been reinforcing Reynosa since last Tuesday, and have intensified patrols in the city since Thursday morning.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
[An Nahar] A man was charged with terrorism offences in Australia Thursday after a series of raids connected to a Melbourne Islamic center.
The 23-year-old was charged after a police swoop on properties across the city netted computers, firearms and a thumb drive containing "violent orc materials" linked to a group at the al-Furqan Islamic Center. "Where you headed off to, Mahmoud?"
"Goin' down to the Furkan Islamic centre. Wanna come along?"
"Yeah. Lemme stop by home and pick up my furkan megaphone."
"The individual has been charged with four counts of 'collecting or making documents likely to facilitate terrorist acts'," police said in a statement.
"The maximum penalty for this offence is 15 years imprisonment."
The man was tossed in the slammer Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! during Wednesday's raids at al-Furqan and more than 10 associated properties and police said he was due to face court later Thursday.
Police confirmed that further "operational activity" was under way but could not provide details, following reports of a fresh search of a home in eastern Melbourne on Thursday morning.
The raids are linked to a group from the center who police allege were "contemplating and getting information" about terrorist activities, though they stressed no plot was yet in train.
Local Mohammedans described the al-Furqan center group, linked to an outspoken holy man named Sheikh Haron, as being on the fringes of the community and having radical views.
"They are a splinter group that decided to go their own way. They had their own ideologies and interpretations and the other stuff that goes with it," said one man who occasionally prayed at the facility.
Another local told The Age newspaper Haron's following was "not large but his teachings are very fiery ...a single two-syllable word carrying connotations of both incoherence and viciousness. A fiery delivery implies an audience of rubes and yokels, preferably forming up into a mob... . He's a pretty marginalized figure in the Mohammedan community".
Among material being searched for by police, according to The Age, was "Inspire" -- an al-Qaeda-linked publication that last year featured an image of the Sydney Opera House, the first time an Australian landmark has been prominent in orc material according to the government.
Neighbors of the tossed in the slammer Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! man said they were stunned.
"They were pretty quiet and were always covered up when I saw the women," one neighbor who did not wish to be named told local media.
"They were not unpleasant but I'm just shocked."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2012 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Takfir wal-Hijra
Never forgive, never forget, never understand. And never drop the investigation.
[Dawn] Police in Indian Kashmire have cooled for a few years Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! a myrmidon suspected of involvement in the 1999 hijacking of an Indian passenger plane that was flown to Afghanistan, a government front man told AFP Thursday.
Mehrajuddin Dand, alias Javed was cooled for a few years Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! by police in Kashmire's Kishtwar district on Thursday morning, ending a near 13-year-old pursuit of the forces of Evil behind the high-profile hijacking.
The New Delhi-bound Indian Airlines aircraft, flight IC-814, with 157 people on board was seized and flown to the southern Afghan city of Kandahar by five men after it took off from the Nepalese capital Kathmandu on December 24, 1999.
Kuldeep Singh Dhatwalia, a front man for the home ministry told AFP that Dand was cooled for a few years Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! in the morning and that the "initial investigation reveals that he provided logistical support to the hijackers".
Media reports said that Dand had provided assistance and fake travel documents to the five hijackers, none of whom were apprehended by police after the incident.
Dhatwalia claimed Dand moved across the border between India and Pakistain for years until police nabbed him.
"He is being questioned in a number of other cases as well, but we cannot reveal those details yet," he said.
The 1999 hijack crisis ended after India's then Hindu nationalist government swapped three Islamist forces of Evil imprisoned in New Delhi for the captives.
Five actual hijackers -- Ibrahim Athar, who is a brother of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, S. A. Sayed alias Doctor, Z. I. Mistri alias Bhola and R. G. Verma alias Shakir -- commandeered the plane to Kandahar after it was refused landing request in Pakistain.
Following tense negotiations with Indian officials the hijackers successfully got Azhar and two other forces of Evil released from Indian jails in exchange for the passengers and the plane. Indian foreign minister at the time Jaswant Singh and bigwigs escorted the freed inmates to Kandahar where the exchange took place.
The prisoners released by India included Mushtaq Zargar, chief of Al-Umar Mujahideen myrmidon outfit.
The third free myrmidon, Ahmed Saeed Sheikh, also known as Sheikh Omar, was later involved in the kidnap and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl in Pakistain -- for which he was cooled for a few years Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! and sentenced to death. ... but so far hasn't had his neck stretched...
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2012 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
[Dawn] Pakistain on Thursday blocked access to an anti-Islam film as security measures beefed up around US diplomatic missions, following attacks on American consulates and embassies in Libya, Egypt and Yemen.
The Afghan government earlier ordered an indefinite ban on the entire YouTube video sharing site to prevent access to the film made in the United States, which Kabul said was offensive to Mohammedans.
"Pakistain Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has proactively blocked and is vigorously preventing all access to the anti-Islamic video placed on the worldwide web via YouTube with the name of 'Innocence of Mohammedans'," it said in a statement.
It said "the authority is in close liaison with all the service providers for immediate blocking of the provocative video", adding that "proactive monitoring and blocking is being done, round the clock".
The PTA, which is the main regulatory authority, is mandated to block blasphemous and pornographic websites.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2012 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Why not just cut off their internet access, to be safe? Satellites, too. Then increase funding to VOA.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/14/2012 5:51 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Correct me if i am wrong but dont muslims criticize other religions on a regular basis online/TV/Mosque etc?
Its seems a little one way here!
Posted by: Paul D ||
09/14/2012 7:52 Comments ||
Top||
[An Nahar] Nine laborers were killed on Thursday when gunnies riding on cycle of violences sprayed bullets at road workers in Pakistain's troubled southwestern province of Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... , officials said.
A group of four or five gunnies came to the site of road building works in the town of Dasht, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of the scenic provincial capital Quetta, and opened fire, senior administration official Irfan Shah told AFP.
"The gunnies fled on their motorbikes leaving nine people dead and four injured," he said, adding that one was in a critical condition.
Police officer Mohammad Ismail confirmed the toll.
Nobody immediately grabbed credit for the attack. The oil and gas rich province which borders Iran and Afghanistan is plagued by sectarian violence, attacks by Talibs and a tribal insurgency.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2012 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Baloch Liberation Army
[CBS] The Times of Israel reports about 100 peaceful demonstrators marched outside the embassy to protest the anti-Islam movie which mocks the prophet Muhammad.
A radical group called the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement led the demonstration, according to the Times of Israel.
A top Israeli Arab Knesset official warned of "Armageddon" if the United Nations ...When talk is your weapon it's hard to make yourself heard over the artillery... does not intervene. "We're stalkin' serious Gog and Magog stuff here: doggies and kitties sleeping together, anti-Christ, anti-anti-Christ, anti-anti-anti-Christ..."
"If the U.N. does not mobilize to stop this erosion, it will be Armageddon," MK Talab el-Sana told the Israeli paper.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2012 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#1
Don't think Islam wins in a real Armageddon...
Posted by: Water Modem ||
09/14/2012 0:50 Comments ||
Top||
#6
D *** NG, I KNEW IT - twas the late-nite Movie that launched a Milyuhn Ships!
Obviously Israel being surrounded like Custer or the Brits at Isandlhawana by anti-Israeli, anti-US-West, pro-Sharia, pro-Militancy-Jihadism, pro-Caliphate, Nuclear-happy "democratic" Islamist
"democracies" has nothing to do wid it.
SAY IT WID ME, AMERICA = AMERIKA, SHERIFF BUFORD T. JUSTICE > THE G *** D **** GERMANS HAVE GUT NOTHING TO DO WID ANYTHING!
[An Nahar] Several hundred Paleostinians in the Gazoo Strip protested on Thursday against an anti-Mohammedan film that has sparked deadly riots in Libya and Yemen.
The protest, called by the ruling Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, government's ministry of religious endowments, comes after two days of demonstrations that have left four U.S. embassy staff including the ambassador dead in Libya and a protester rubbed out in Yemen.
Ismail Radwan, Hamas's minister of religious endowments, called on the protesters gathered outside the legislative council building in Gazoo City to "boycott American products."
He called for new demonstrations to be held after Friday prayers.
Protesters held banners reading "Where are you Mohammedans, when your prophet is being insulted?"
In Tel Aviv, around 60 Arab-Israeli protesters demonstrated outside the U.S. embassy, in a protest called by the Islamic Movement in Israel.
"We came to protest against the producers of this movie and the United States which allowed it to be made," protester Zahi Nijidat told AFP.
Demonstrators rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud against U.S. President Barack Obama I am the change that you seek... and criticized the film, a low-budget amateur production available on the Internet that was largely unheard of before the violent demonstrations that rocked several capitals since Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2012 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
A villager was killed in a drive-by shooting in Pattani province on Friday morning.
Witnesses said that Somchit Thongna, 34, his wife and young daughter were travelling on a motorcycle along the Pattani-Yala road when a gunman on another motorcycle fired at him. The assailants then fled.
Somchit was shot in the head and died on the spot. His wife and seven-year-old daughter were slightly wounded when they fell from the motorcycle.
[Reuters] Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri ... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is... has called on all Mohammedans to back the rebels in Syria, saying the overthrow of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Trampler of Homs... would bring them closer to the ultimate goal of defeating Israel, according to an audio recording posted on the Internet on Thursday. Suddenly Pencilneck as an idea looks so much better.
Speaking on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Zawahri criticized Mohammedan governments in the Middle East and in Asia for failing to pursue the cause of political Islam. He chastised the new leadership in Egypt in particular for sticking to its 1979 peace treaty with Israel and Pakistain, which he described as a "government for sale and an army for rent".
The 2011 Arab Spring revolutions have redrawn the political landscape in the Middle East, bringing in Islamist governments in Tunisia and Egypt and increasing the influence of Islamist political groups throughout the region, which Western governments have watched with concern.
Zawahri said the United States was propping up Assad because it feared the rise of another Islamist regime to threaten its ally Israel.
"Supporting jihad in Syria to establish a Mohammedan state is a basic step towards Jerusalem, and thus America is giving the secular Baathist regime one chance after another for fear that a government is established in Syria that would threaten Israel," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2012 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
Maybe we could cut a deal with Pencilneck. In exchange for information on the whereabouts of the Z man, he gets to keep his head on top of his pencil neck.
[An Nahar] The U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed on Thursday sanctions against Hizbullah's leadership in Leb, further exposing Hizbullah's active support to the regime of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... , as well as its role in terrorist activities.
"Hassan Nasrallah, Hizbullah's secretary general, is being designated today pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13582, for providing support to the Syrian government," said the Treasury in a statement.
"Mustapha Badreddine and Talal Hamiyeh, two senior terrorist leaders of Hizbullah, are being designated today pursuant to E.O. 13224, for providing support to Hizbullah's terrorist activities in the Middle East and around the world," it added.
"By aiding Assad's violent campaign against the Syrian people and working to support a regime that will inevitably fall, Hizbullah's ongoing activity undermines regional stability and poses a direct threat to Leb's security," said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen.
"Hizbullah's actions, overseen by Nasrallah and executed by Badreddine and Hamiyeh, clearly reveal its true nature as a terrorist and criminal organization," he continued.
"Hizbullah and its leader Nasrallah have sought to depict their organization as a social and political party, as well as a resistance movement," said the statement.
These efforts are belied by the facts: Hizbullah consistently uses terrorism against civilian targets to achieve its goals, and this trend has only increased recently. The last year has witnessed Hizbullah's most aggressive terrorist plotting outside the Middle East since the 1990s, it revealed.
Moreover, in recent months Hizbullah has also played an increasingly active role in providing support to the Government of Syria, further enabling the regime to carry out its bloody campaign against the Syrian people.
Under the Assad regime, Syria has been a longstanding supporter of Hizbullah -- providing safe haven to Hizbullah and routing weapons, in many cases from Iran, to Hizbullah in Leb. Hizbullah, under the direction of Nasrallah, is now returning the favor by providing training, advice, and extensive logistical support to the Government of Syria as the Assad regime continues to wreak havoc on the Syrian people through the use of terror and violence -- Hizbullah's area of expertise.
"Today's designations build upon a number of actions that the U.S. government has taken against Hizbullah over the years for its support for terrorism and its role in supporting the violence being perpetrated by the Assad regime against the Syrian people," said the U.S. Treasury statement.
Hizbullah was designated for its support to the Government of Syria pursuant to E.O. 13582 in August 2012. It was also named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to E.O. 13224 in October 2001, and listed in the Annex to E.O. 12947 as a Specially Designated Terrorist (SDT) in January 1995. Nasrallah was designated pursuant to E.O. 12947 in January 1995.
"Since the beginning of the Syrian people's courageous campaign in early 2011 to secure their universal rights, Hizbullah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah has overseen Hizbullah's efforts to help the Syrian regime's violent crackdown on the Syrian civilian population by providing training, advice, and extensive logistical support to the Government of Syria. Hizbullah has directly trained Syrian government personnel inside Syria and has facilitated the training of Syrian forces by Iran's terrorist arm, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF). Also under Nasrallah, Hizbullah has played a substantial role in efforts to expel Syrian opposition forces from areas within Syria and coordinated its support to the Government of Syria with IRGC-QF and senior Syrian government officials. Indeed, under the direction of Nasrallah, Hizbullah since mid-2012 has escalated its support to the Government of Syria.
Mustafa Badreddine is a senior Hizbullah official who is believed to have replaced his cousin, Imad Mughniyah, as Hizbullah's top beturbanned goon commander after Mughniyah's 2008 death. In June 2011, the prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Leb charged Badreddine with the attack on February 14, 2005 that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others.
Talal Hamiyeh is the head of Hizbullah's External Security Organization (ESO), which maintains organized cells worldwide. The ESO is the Hizbullah element responsible for the planning, coordination, and execution of terrorist attacks outside of Leb.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2012 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
[An Nahar] Around 200 protestors erupted into the streets of the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of thich is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... on Thursday to express outrage over a U.S.-made film mocking Islam and the Prophet Mohammed.
Some protestors burned the U.S. flag while chanting "holy shit! Allahu akbar!" (God is greatest), while others carried with them black flags that read: "There is no God but God, and Mohammed is his prophet."
Despite the relatively small number of demonstrators, security forces were heavily deployed in the city during the rally.
Scores of men and women also demonstrated on the outskirts of the southern port of Sidon to denounce the film.
"Freedom does not mean insults to religion," read one poster held up by protesters. "Who are you, you low lifes, to insult what is good for people," read another.
Protestors have demonstrated against the film in several countries.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2012 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
[An Nahar] Up to 500 people protested in Tehran on Thursday over an anti-Islam film made in the United States, chanting "Death to America™!" and death to the movie's director, an AFP photographer at the scene said.
The rally took place near the Swiss embassy, which handles U.S. interests in the absence of U.S.-Iran diplomatic ties.
Hundreds of police and security personnel prevented the crowd from approaching the diplomatic compound, which had been evacuated by Swiss diplomats as a precaution.
Several protesters carried Egyptian and Libyan flags in support of Moslems in those countries where violent protests against the film occurred on Tuesday.
Iranian news agencies said the demonstration was called by the Student Islamic Society, a hardline university group loyal to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that has held anti-Western rallies in the past.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2012 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
DAMASCUS: Syrian fighters killed at least 18 soldiers in a car bomb and ground attack on a military position in Idlib province yesterday, as fighting also raged in the countrys commercial capital, Aleppo.
Four Armenian Syrians were killed and 13 wounded on the road home from the airport after a trip to Yerevan.
There were 70 to 100 soldiers there when the attack occurred in the town of Saraqeb, Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP. Twenty soldiers escaped, and clashes are still going on, he added.
Abdel Rahman said the details of the incident were still sketchy, and that he could not say whether the car bombing was a suicide attack.
Outside Aleppo, fighting erupted at dawn in the Nayrab area, around five kilometers from the citys airport, which remained fully operational, the Observatory said.
Over the past several weeks, fighters have taken to attacking military airfields in an attempt to prevent them from being used for launching air strikes, while commercial facilities have been left alone. However, this is not the first time there has been fighting around Aleppo airport, which serves the countrys commercial capital.
A friend of the Syrian Armenians told AFP: Its not obvious who opened fire, but the result is that five cars were attacked and four Armenians were killed and 13 or 14 others were wounded.
Some say it was the FSA (Free Syrian Army), but its not clear. We dont have proof and we should wait and see. I dont think the FSA would attack random cars in the street.
Meanwhile, the army shelled a string of neighborhoods in central Aleppo, including Suleiman Al-Halabi, Sheikh Khodr and Qadi Askar, the Britain-based Observatory said.
Helicopter gunships also strafed the rebel district of Bustan Al-Basha, a witness said, and the Observatory reported that fighters used rocket-propelled grenades to attack a security branch in the adjacent Midan neighborhood. Fighters had been trying for four days to enter Midan.
Elsewhere, a boy and a girl were killed and dozens of civilians wounded when the army shelled the rebel village of Latamneh in Hama province, said the Observatory, which gathers its information from a wide network of activists.
Also in Hama, the Observatory reported that eight bodies had been found in farmlands in Halfaya village, following an assault by government forces. It said the number of dead was expected to rise as many people were reported missing.
In eastern Syria, troops shelled several districts of Deir Ezzor city, and an unspecified number of people were killed in air strikes on the town of Albu Kamal, the Observatory said.
Fighters launched rocket attacks on a number of army checkpoints in the northwestern city of Idlib, the Observatory added, with locals reporting powerful explosions and columns of smoke rising from the targets.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/14/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Al-Qaeda on Thursday posted an online video of two plane hijackers of the September 11, 2001 suicide kabooms, which they said were part of a war to drive U.S. forces out of the Arabian Peninsula.
Salim al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdar, two of the 19 gunnies who hijacked the four airliners, appeared reading their wills, in a video produced by As-Sahab media arm of al-Qaeda and provided by the U.S.-based SITE Monitoring Services.
Mihdar, dressed in a military jacket and a white turban, with a machinegun to his left, said he was reading his will on 21 Safar 1422, on the Islamic calendar, which was April 26, 2001.
Mihdar is believed to have landed in the United States in January 2000.
"Arab leaders... have gone far in betraying their nation and have permitted Christian Americans into the land of the two holy sites" of Mecca and Medina, he said.
The operation was "part of jihad (holy war) campaign against the United States and its supporters," said Hazmi in a separate message.
"It is to restore dignity for Mohammedans and to drive you out of the Arabian Peninsula," said Hazmi, who appeared with a patchy beard, wearing a brown thawb garment and a black turban.
"The Aqsa mosque (in Jerusalem) is being desecrated... and the Arabian Peninsula is full of U.S. and British troops that fight Allah," he said in a clear reference to foreign troops based at the time in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face....
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2012 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
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.
Four members of the Multinational Force & Observers (MFO) in the Sinai Peninsula were wounded on Friday, after dozens of Bedouin militants attacked their headquarters in northern Sinai. 
One of the Americans killed alongside Ambassador Christopher Stevens in an attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya Tuesday told ABC News before his death that he was working with the State Department on an intelligence mission to round up dangerous weapons in the war-torn nation.
[WKRN] U.S. officials say the Pentagon is moving two warships to the Libyan coast, in the aftermath of the attack in Benghazi that killed the U.S. ambassador and three others.
Multiple suspects have been arrested in the death earlier this week of US ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other US diplomats in Benghazi, Libyan officials announced Thursday, DPA reported.
U.S. Marines defending the American embassy in Egypt were not permitted by the State Department to carry live ammunition, limiting their ability to respond to attacks like those this week on the U.S. consulate in Cairo.
Yemeni police Thursday 
Pakistain on Thursday blocked access to an anti-Islam film as security measures beefed up around US diplomatic missions, following attacks on American consulates and embassies in Libya, Egypt and Yemen.
Zawahiri
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
"By aiding Assad's violent campaign against the Syrian people and working to support a regime that will inevitably fall, Hizbullah's ongoing activity undermines regional stability and poses a direct threat to 
