KABUL , Afghanistan Four men have been apprehended by the Afghan National Police, charged with the kidnapping of an 8-year old boy. In a press conference held yesterday at the Ministry of Interior, a spokesperson for the MOI gave details surrounding the case.
Enayatullah, a 3rd grader of Istiqlal High School in the 11th District of Kabul was abducted while walking home from school on September 30, 2006. The kidnappers demanded $300,000 from the family. Was it really the money they were after?
Following a 21-day investigation, the police received information from local residents that led them to the location of the alleged kidnappers. After receiving a report about the issue, police cordoned off the area that the alleged kidnappers were suspected to be in and started investigating, said MOI spokesperson Zemarai Bashary. On October 21, after a one-hour clash with the armed alleged kidnappers, police arrested four men and safely rescued Enayatullah. Has he been checked out by appropriate medical practitioner for 'inappropriate' injuries?
With the cooperation of the people, the ANP is diligently weeding out crime and making Afghanistan safe for all, said Bashary. The ANP is actively pursuing several kidnapping cases and has so far rescued one other person from kidnappers, said Gen. Khetab, chief of ANP intelligence branch. A 'good news' piece, despite my snarky commentary.
(KUNA) -- A NATO soldier and 55 Taliban fighters were killed as fighting erupted in Afghanistan's southern Uruzgan province last night and continued till Sunday morning. Afghan officials say Taliban attacked a joint convoy of NATO and Afghan military in Chora valley, situated north of the provincial capital of Tarinkot. Mohammad Qasim, police chief of the province, said the NATO forces also call air support to target the hideouts of the assailants. He said the clash was still continued with both sides using light and heavy arms.
About 150 Taliban attacked their convoy with small arms which sparked fighting between the two sides. The NATO forces called close air support and their helicopters pounded Taliban's positions.
A statement issued by the NATO forces says one of their soldiers was killed and eight wounded when their vehicle hit a landmine in the area. Nationalities of the soldiers were not released. The statement said in the same area, about 150 Taliban attacked their convoy with small arms which sparked fighting between the two sides. The NATO forces called close air support and their helicopters pounded Taliban's positions. In the fire fight lasting several hours, the insurgents were engaged by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the Afghan National Army (ANA) small arms fire, attack helicopters and close air support. "Close cooperation between the ANA and ISAF ensured the defeat of the insurgents and initial battle damage assessment indicates that up to 55 insurgents were killed," said the NATO forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
It seems to me that NATO has gone in for a body count approach, whereas the military commanders in Iraq have chosen not to disclose them. My feeling is that it would generally be better if we disclosed to the public how many enemy were killed in every engagement. That way, the public would stop thinking that this is an endless litany of one-sided battles in which GI's are killed and the terrorists get away clean. It would also be nice if we could present to the terrorist rank and file big picture statistics about how their leaders are leading them like lambs to the slaughter. Instead, we guard our numbers on enemy dead jealously and make it seem like the enemy are magicians who kill our boys and get away without a scratch time and time again. This simultaneously weakens home front support and encourages potential terrorist recruits to believe that theirs is an omnipotent and irresistible force.
#3
Generally as good, sometimes a little worse, sometimes a little better. The Iraqi Army and Police are certainly releasing their enemy KIA numbers, usually 2-3 days after the end of the operation.
#5
first, it would be good if the numbers were published on a monthly basis instead of a PR effort.
Second, the taliban tactic of fighting in platoon or company size units is a total mistake. They are getting their clocks cleaned. It may be necessary because of the lack of properly trained fighters. This is precisely the desired situation in the WOT. Great work, Bush, Rumsfeld, etc.
#6
I agree that body counting is problematic back home.
Civilians as a rule don't have a grasp of war, which is why they fall prey to things like war photography and body counts and think that things are terrible.
In turn, this represents an even bigger breakdown in communications between the military and the civilian world as a whole, that has existed for decades.
Though the military has made some furtive and futile gestures to connect to the public, there remains a chasm of misunderstanding between them.
#8
Purely from a personal perspective, I would like to see the body counts published but certainly not inflated. I would like confirmed kills. I guess it's a primal instinct for retribution, but I lost alot on 9/11 and most of us in the fire service (at least in my area) are looking for hard data that we are kicking ass. The only thing we hear from MSM and even Fox News is the the fatalities of US GI's, the civilian casualties in Iraq and the occasion blurb about the resurgent Taliban who have lost some 2,500 fighters this year. I agree with Zhang r/e release the numbers let the enemy know we are hammering them, provided most of them can read.
#9
A: Civilians as a rule don't have a grasp of war, which is why they fall prey to things like war photography and body counts and think that things are terrible.
I don't see that the body counts from Afghanistan are making the US public squeamish. My feeling is that conservatives are getting antsy about Iraq because they see a war with only US casualties.
#10
Faith is a wonderful thing, but conservatives typically reserve faith for the realm of the divine. If we can't see results in the form of a peaceful Iraq quite yet, it would be nice to see how many terrorists our guys are taking down along the road to that objective. The body counts that are killing us in the polls are the ones about American casualties. If this indifference to public opinion keeps up much longer, the Democrats are going to hand Iraq over to the enemy, as they did with South Vietnam three decades ago.
#12
I don't think the body counts are hurting us in elections. I think it's the sense of a lack of progress. At the end of the day most people won't remember if there were 3,000 US dead or 15,000. But they will remember if we won or lost.
#13
I don't think the body counts are hurting us in elections.
Well, the lack of some kind of metric is hurting us. Body counts come to mind. But westerners have to realize that like the Vietnamese, terrorists are willing to expend millions to make their point.
Algiers (AKI) - Two truck bombs exploded on Sunday night outside two police stations in the town of Reghaia, some 30 kilometres east of Algiers, killing at least one person and wounding 14, reports say. The simultaneous attacks are believed to be by Islamic militants. Algeria was wracked by a civil war in the 1990s in which an estimated 200,000 people have died. The Algeria-based Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which has sworn allegiance to al-Qaeda, is the only militant group to have remained active in the country after it refused to abandon the armed struggle in exchange for an amnesty in August.
A BOMB exploded beside a police station in Algeria overnight, wounding at least five people in the first direct attack on a police post in several years in the north African country, residents and police said today.
The attack, which occurred in the town of Reghaia 30km east of the capital Algiers, was probably carried out by Islamist guerrillas, they said. No further details were immediately available.
Sporadic clashes between Islamist guerrillas and security forces normally take place in isolated rural areas of the oil-producing country.
SAN'A, Yemen A fourth Australian traitor was detained in Yemen along with one treasonous Dane for allegedly trying to smuggle weapons to Somalia, a security official said Sunday.
All five are Muslims and have been studying terrorismand media relations at the Islamist Iman University, which is run by Sheik Abdul-Majid al-Zindani, who is listed as an al-Qaida supporter by the United States. "We are a school of peace. Our students could not be involved," the Iman said in a prepared statement, "and the Americans have been driven back from Baghdad Airport," he added.
Earlier reports had said three Australians and a Dane were arrested. But the security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to release information to spies and saboteurs media, said the arrest campaign was still going on and that at least eight foreign nationals and 20 Yemenis have been arrested so far.
He did not specify the nationalities of the other three foreigners and said investigations were ongoing. Marin Countystanis? Berkeleyites?
The arrests are part of a state security campaign launched last month against members of an al-Qaida cell.
On Thursday, a Danish Foreign Ministry official confirmed the arrest of the Dane but refused to identify him. Danish media said the suspect is a 23-year-old man who converted to Islam and moved to Yemen two months ago with his wife and child. Nipped in the bud.
The security official said another detainee, Ibrahim Abdullah al-Sinhi, also known as Abu Dujana al-Misiki, admitted he'd been assigned to carry out an attack with an explosive-laden car on San'a international airport.
Yemen is believed to be a frequent route for smuggling arms to Somali factions. Al-Qaida has an active presence in Yemen, the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden, despite government efforts to fight the terror network. The al-Qaida was blamed for the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Aden that killed 17 American sailors and the attack on a French oil tanker that killed one person two years later. The IHT tries to sow seems to have some doubt about AQ's culpability, even though the US, Yemen, and AQ itself agree that it was an AQ operation.
#2
Here are 4 "Australians" who really will learn what it feels like to be meat.
Posted by: ed ||
10/30/2006 9:25 Comments ||
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#3
Heh. If'n they be Muzzies, then they not be Ozzies. Time to stop using the wrong labels. Just confuses the rubes and twits who won't adapt to reality.
The three Australian passport-holders arrested in Yemen are all male and from NSW, the Department of Foreign Affairs says. The Australians are among eight foreigners arrested in Yemen, allegedly on terrorism-related charges.
There have also been reports they converted to Islam earlier this year and received religious instruction in Yemen.
A foreign affairs spokesman said three males from NSW were behind bars in Yemen and had been held there since at least Tuesday. He said the department had been pushing for access to the Australians since then but had been held up by the Eid holiday period in the country. The spokesman said he was aware of reports the group had been arrested on arms-related charges but could not confirm them. There have also been reports they converted to Islam earlier this year and received religious instruction in Yemen. Last month, Yemen said it had broken up an al-Qaeda linked cell which was behind foiled attacks on oil and gas installations.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2006 00:00 ||
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TWO of the three Australians linked to al-Qaeda and detained in Yemen on terrorism charges are brothers whose father is Indonesian.
All three Australians arrested a fortnight ago for attempted arms smuggling are from New South Wales.
The brothers were born here and their mother is Australian.
The third Australian was born in Poland and became an Australian citizen during the 1980s. The three were arrested with five other men, including a German, a Dane, a Briton and a Somali.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer confirmed the arrests yesterday, saying he welcomed the Yemeni authorities' determination to fight terrorism.
Mr Downer said the men were being held in the Yemeni capital Sanaa and Australian authorities had yet to interview them. His department had been in contact with relatives in Australia and Yemen.
"These are very serious charges and the Government, of course, would be deeply concerned if it turns out that they are true," he said.
"We do not have any confirmation of the official charges at this stage, but we understand that the men were detained on terrorist charges, including attempting to smuggle arms to Somalia. This is a country where there have been a number of terrorist attacks over the years - most prominently the attack on the USS Cole - but also there have been attacks that Australians have been caught up in over the years."
Yemen's state run news agency quoted government officials yesterday as saying that preliminary investigations indicated the group had links to al-Qaeda. One of the charges allegedly relates to trying to smuggle arms from Yemen to Somalia, where Islamists have taken control of the government in Mogadishu.
Unconfirmed reports say the Australian trio converted to Islam this year, and had been studying at the Islamist al-Iman University in Sanaa run by Sheik Abdul al-Majid al-Zindani, which has established links with jihadists.
Sheik Zindani is been cited by the US Government as having links to al-Qaeda. Mr Downer said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade would provide normal consular assistance to the three Australians.
Ayman al Zawahiri was the target of a Predator missile attack this morning on a religious school in Pakistan, according to Pakistani intelligence sources.
The raid was launched after U.S. intelligence received tips and examined Predator reconnaissance indicating that al Qaeda's No. 2 man may have been staying at the school, which is located near the village that is thought to be al Qaeda's winter headquarters.
ABC News has learned the raid was launched after U.S. intelligence received tips and examined Predator reconnaissance indicating that al Qaeda's No. 2 man may have been staying at the school, which is located in the Bajaur region near the village that is thought to be al Qaeda's winter headquarters.
Despite earlier reports that the missiles had been launched by Pakistani military helicopters, Pakistani intelligence sources now tell ABC News that the missiles were fired from a U.S. Predator.
Despite earlier reports that the missiles had been launched by Pakistani military helicopters, Pakistani intelligence sources now tell ABC News that the missiles were fired from a U.S. Predator drone plane.
Called that one right, didn't we?
No word yet on whether or not Zawahiri was killed in the raid, but one Pakistani intelligence source did express doubt that Zawahiri would have been staying in a madrassa, which is an obvious target for strikes against militants. That source, however, did express confidence that Pakistani intelligence is closing in on Zawahiri's location. One of the clerics who is believed to have been killed today, Maulana Liaquat, was one of the two main local leaders believed to be protecting Zawahiri.
Pakistani intelligence sources tell ABC News they believe they have "boxed" Zawahiri in a 40-square-mile area between the Khalozai Valley in Bajaur and the village of Pashat in Kunar, Afghanistan. They hope to capture or kill him in the next few months.
Loyal Rantburger KBK posted the same article seven minutes after this one. Better luck next time ;-)
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2006 14:15 ||
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Here's hoping they nailed that goat faced wimp.
Posted by: DanNY ||
10/30/2006 14:29 Comments ||
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#2
Calling the 24-48hr rule
But lets hope so Zarwahiri is a sereous threat his experience cool headed tactics would be sorley missed and hard pressed to replace in AQ. A major victory way overshadowing Zark's card.
#4
Pakistani intelligence sources tell ABC News they believe they have "boxed" Zawahiri in a 40-square-mile area between the Khalozai Valley in Bajaur and the village of Pashat in Kunar, Afghanistan. They hope to capture or kill him in the next few months.
#11
They hope to capture or kill him in the next few months.
Um, they've got him boxed in a 40-sq mile area, you say? And it's going to take several months to find him or kill him. you say?
Let's see...square root of 40 is 6.32 - so, what you're saying is that it's going to take several months to search an area 6.32 miles on each side - or about the front coverage in combat of a regiment?
Doesn't sound like a really intensive search effort to me.
#15
40 square miles sounds small enough to be in the primary blast zone of a B83. What's the delay?
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
10/30/2006 15:39 Comments ||
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#16
It's my understanding that the Muslim stooge and noted adulterer Prince Charles is in Pakistan as we speak, along with his consort, Snaggle-tooth of the Weed-Hair.
No doubt the British leftist rags, led by Al Guardian, will develop an un-characteristic concern for royal dignity and denounce the US for clouding the festivities with this unconscionable attack on a peaceful schoolhouse.
#18
From The Blotter ( http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/10/zawahiri_was_ta.html):
"One of the clerics who is believed to have been killed today, Maulana Liaquat, was one of the two main local leaders believed to be protecting Zawahiri."
From our lips to God's ears - that the mad mullahs should start paying a price for protecting these monsters. You want to enjoy your perverted faith in privacy and leave us alone, fine - but by God, you want to protect those who attacked us and you will have nowhere to run.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/30/2006 16:40 Comments ||
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#19
"but one Pakistani intelligence source did express doubt that Zawahiri would have been staying in a madrassa, which is an obvious target for strikes against militants."
Given the above quote, 20 bucks says he's hiding in a madrassa...
Posted by: Mark E. ||
10/30/2006 17:07 Comments ||
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#20
I heard it on the news, we bombed a religious school and 80 students and teachers reported killed.
#21
"but one Pakistani intelligence source did express doubt that Zawahiri would have been staying in a madrassa, which is an obvious target for strikes against militants."
So the ISA are wholeheartedly admitting that madrassas are the recruiting ground for Islamic Terrorism.
#26
The upshot of Taleban/al-Qaeda's "Winter Campaign" has been hundreds of killings of jihadis, and captives ratting out their tenders. And the rats, all gave "blood oaths" to Mullah Omar, if not bin Laden.
#29
Interesting that such intelligence leaked out. I mean, what possible purpose could it serve our side for the Z man to know that we are ready to trigger him ASAP?
#2
"...Hokay, we killed 'em, no more al-Qaida guys here,right?"
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/30/2006 6:21 Comments ||
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#3
Wanna bet the trainees got an advance warning and left camp before the raid? Or that all that was destroyed was a worn-out tent and a camel that was too sick to leave? (Hey, if it was good enough for Pres. Clinton, it's certainly good enough for Musharraf.)
#9
I always thought one of the waays to beat these guys is pull back, let them regroup, then hit them when they get together, cause they thought they've won. Get a bunch at once.
Pakistani troops, backed by missile-firing helicopters, destroyed an al-Qaida-linked training facility in a northwestern tribal area near the Afghan border Monday, killing "many" operatives, officials said. The pre-dawn attack targeted a madrassa compound holding "70-80" operatives in a village near the town of Khar, the main town in the Bajur tribal district, said army spokesman Maj.-Gen. Shaukat Sultan. Sultan said the facility was destroyed but it was not immediately clear how many people had been killed.
My guess would be "not many."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2006 00:00 ||
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(From the other article) The pre-dawn attack targeted a religious school known as a madrassa holding 70-80 militants in Chingai village
BAGHDAD, Iraq Coalition aircraft thwarted two separate terrorist ambushes as ground forces moved toward their objective early Sunday morning near Balad.
Coalition Forces encountered terrorist activity on two separate occasions along their travel route. After positive identification of the enemy by ground forces and with assistance from Iraqi Police, coalition aircraft engaged the targets with precision fires, killing four terrorists in one engagement and in conjunction with ground forces killed an estimated 13 others in a subsequent engagement along the same route.
Armed with RPGs, machineguns and AK47s, the terrorists were planning to ambush the Coalition ground force. The plan did not succeed. No Coalition Forces were injured during the attack.
During each of the engagements, secondary explosions were observed, indicating IEDs or other terrorist weaponry used by al-Qaeda to kill innocent Iraqis and Coalition Forces patrolling the roads.
Despite the terrorists ambush attempts, Coalitions Forces successfully continued their operation and detained three suspected terrorists.
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/30/2006 16:09 ||
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#1
I'm concerned that this information has gotten out to the public. [/snark]
#2
Just because Sadr City is sealed doesn't mean there weren't explosives already present there. We've scarcely gone house to house and / or probed for all the buried stuff in that sector.
#3
This sounds like a "Use it or Lose it" strike : the bombs were in place and had to be used before they were discovered by Allied forces. Expect several more of these over the next week, as the terrorists assemble and use everything that they have in place, rather than lose it to the coming sweep.
#4
US troops are surrounding the Sadrites at all points north of the UK occupation zone. Its time for Iraqi nationalists to show what they can do. Check out this map:
#2
Another WaPo reporter goes to Iraq finds a single liberal soul mate among the troops, and suggests that everyone else is being insincere when they suggest that the war in Iraq is going well. In other words, he pretty much goes in deciding what he's going to see, and having gone in, manages to see exactly what he expected. What a zero...
#3
Oh, my! Written by Whitney Terrell. What no III or IV after that name? Where is the Esq.?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
10/30/2006 13:27 Comments ||
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#4
Actually, this is a reasonably balanced article and contains real, honest to goodness reporting from the field as well - despite where it is published.
#5
Not bad, for the WaPo, but still several gratuitous shots. He prolly thought he was trying soooo hard to be fair, but some of his true feelings just sorta leaked out.
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/30/2006 16:34 Comments ||
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BAGHDAD The missing American soldier who has been the subject of an intensive manhunt in the capital since being kidnapped by gunmen outside the heavily protected Green Zone last week was, at the time, visiting an Iraqi woman whom he had secretly married three months ago, his in-laws said.
They identified the soldier as Ahmed Qusai al-Taei, 41, and showed visitors a wedding photo of him and his new bride, Israa Abdul-Satar, 26, a college student, as well as pictures of the couple in Egypt for their honeymoon.
They also described in detail how members of the Mahdi Army of the radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, led by a local commander known as Abu Rami, came to the wife's home in central Baghdad last Monday and dragged Taei away.
"They were saying, 'He's an American journalist,'" said his mother-in-law, who asked that she be identified by only her nickname, Um Omar, because of fears of reprisals. "We were saying, 'No, he's an Iraqi.'"
First, send a Ranger battalion (supported by a couple of Spectre gunships) to bring in Sadr - with orders to obliterate anything and anybody who interferes. Once he's in custody, string him him from the ceiling by his balls - and start skinning him alive with a blowtorch - until he's begging to be waterboarded - or until he provides the location of the missing translator.
Separately, line up a couple of divisions on either side of Sadr City - one as the "hammer", and the other as the "anvil." Put a guy named William Tecumsah Sherman in charge. Start clearing buildings, looking for the missing man. As soon as a building is determined to not contain the man, level it - and move on to the next building. Drive all the inhabitants - empty-handed and screaming - into the rubble fields behind you.
Let all the world watch and understand the consequences of fucking with the US Army.
I liked the lines from a recent article I read by Ralph Peters entitled "Kill Muqtada Now" that read: "If we can't leave a democracy behind, we should at least leave the corpses of our enemies." Amen.
#2
JDAM a Mahdi HQ every day - it may not get him released (he's proll dead) but it's just the good and right thing to do
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/30/2006 8:27 Comments ||
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#3
This is getting queerer and queerer.
visiting an Iraqi woman whom he had secretly married three months ago, his in-laws said.
showed pictures of the couple in Egypt for their honeymoon.
Ahmed Qusai al-Taei, 41, an Iraqi-American, was actually a translator for the American military, something his wife's relatives said they did not know until after his kidnapping.
bu Rami, the Mahdi Army commander, had been living in the abandoned Ministry of Defense building just up the street that is now inhabited by squatters, relatives said.
#5
What a great excuse to annihilate the entire Mahdi Army's chain of command. Get out the industrial size package of pink panties.
Anyone have a clue how a US Army soldier (whether Iraqi born or not) was allowed to slip off post every few days? Piss poor force protection.
Posted by: ed ||
10/30/2006 8:48 Comments ||
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#6
Icerigger, my first impression was this guy did a reprise of that Lebanese Marine's kidnap/desertion stunt. But this article makes it clear he really was kidnapped.
Unfortunately for Mr. al-Taei, I expect he has been either taken to Iran or all this joints have already become familiar with power drills and his body disposed of.
Posted by: ed ||
10/30/2006 8:55 Comments ||
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#7
Tater. Breathing 3 years too long, and counting.
This clown is now reaping the rewards of his stupidity. His fate surely sucks, and I am not immune to the tragedy, but good grief, how stupid can someone get? On top of it all, this is someone who should've known it would blow up in his face, one way (with the US military) or another (asshats discovering his identity and doing this). I'd love for us to get him back, alive, but I doubt that's in the cards, so what's left is to I wonder what intel they have scraped off his hide to use against us...
I like LR's approach. Simplifies things and yields a solid feeling of satisfaction.
BTW, LR's gonna hafta explain the hammer 'n anvil thingy to the more disingenuous types. Seems back when Turkey was wearing its Muzzy face and wouldn't allow the northern anvil, there were a few RBers who pretended it didn't mean anything to have no anvil, meaning no beat-down of the Sunni Triangle, meaning a base of Opns for the Ba'athists and alQ. I guess it wuz cuz they were trying to soft-peddle the Turk perfidy - for some dumbfuck squishy-assed reason or another. Purdy damned expensive in American lives just so's they could maintain a fucked world-view. But that's what's important - no inconvenient bits allowed. Numbnutz dinks.
#9
Lone Ranger,
The US won't show us the brains of a Sadr kill on the sidewalk, such as the Israelis did with Sheik Yassin! It hasn't been shown that Sadr has personally killed anybody to date...and we all know, the US doesn't kill anybody from just hating alone!
#10
Here's an Amir Taheri piece that does a good job of detailing Tater's place in the game. Note that he was charged, along with others, for the murder of rival cleric Abdul-Majid Khoi. The charges ended up being negotiated away / dropped for political BS reasons. In the end, Taheri blows what was decent background and analysis with some premium political BS at the conclusion, i.e. inclusion of Tater in the "government". That his triangulation attempt was tried is why we are looking at the mess we are in the south and in Baghdad today.
A pox on all who refuse to do the obvious, and take the State Dept-style inclusionary accommodation / appeasement route. We ALWAYS end up paying for it, two or three times over. Pfeh.
Two images seem to me to best capture the work of the translator: the image of a river with its two shores, and that of hammer and anvil and what comes between the two.
The image of the river is as pretty as it is familiar. The translator crosses this river with his precious cargo, the stuff of translation, either as a ferryman with his bark or on foot as St. Christopher. The picture of a hammer and anvil is less endearing since a degree of violence is involved in their use.
However, the idyllic image of the river is also deceptive and is mainly deployed in too simple and ahistorical a way, in the question of the means by which the cargo will be transported over the river. The answer to that question only provides information about translation procedures and techniques. However, in the context of current discussion about cultural exchange or dialogue between cultures another question seems to me to be important where the river metaphor is concerned - namely, that of the nature of the two river-banks. The question of where the material is being transferred from and where it is going, the nature of the origin and of the destination, informs us about cultural differences, cultural dependences, cultural prescriptions, and much else besides.
#13
Some claim by being tough we will create more terrorists. I do believe that, however, we have the military might (maybe not the public will) to punish them a lot harder than they can punish us. Eventually, after enough bodies and rubble pile are created, they will capitulate. LR, Amen. Fallujah was quiet for along time after Nov 04.
The British consulate in Basra will evacuate its heavily defended building in the next 24 hours over concerns for the safety of its staff.
Despite a large British military presence at the headquarters in Basra Palace, a private security assessment has advised the consul general and her staff to leave the building after experiencing regular mortar attacks in the last two months.
The move will be seen as a huge blow to progress in Iraq and has infuriated senior military commanders. They say it sends a message to the insurgents that they are winning the battle in pushing the British out of the southern Iraqi capital, where several British soldiers have died and dozens have been injured.
The evacuation also comes halfway through Operation Sinbad, which has experienced some success in restoring control in Basra. The operation ends early next year but Basra will need massive investment by the Foreign Office and the Department for International Development to build on its successes.
Without the British officials' presence the stability of the city's fragile economy and political infrastructure could unravel, paving the way for Iranian-influenced militias to take control. There are about 200 staff at the impressive consulate building - formerly one of Saddam's palaces - including a team of bodyguards and ex-Gurkha guards. There were 12 full-time staff, some hand-picked by Tony Blair.
A handful have already left by helicopter and the rest are expected to go this week, some of them to Basra air station eight miles outside the city and the rest back to Britain. A skeleton staff will continue to man the building until it is deemed safe enough for the rest to return. A Foreign Office spokesman insisted last night that its officials were "not bailing out".
"This is a temporary measure as a response to increased mortar attacks," the spokesman said. "Core staff will remain at Basra Palace and the consulate will continue to maintain a full range of activities."
The Foreign Office and Dfid operation in southern Iraq has been criticised for the poor handling of economic and political regeneration in the area.
While £14 million has been spent on refurbishing the consulate, including a new portico, hardened roof defences and swimming pool, it has spent just £12.5 million on reconstruction that included repainting a tower in the city.
The palace, which is surrounded by a 30ft blast wall and graced with manicured lawns, is in the same fortified compound as 800 British infantry.
Major Charlie Burbridge, the British military spokesman in Basra, said: "We believe very strongly that the Foreign Office and other agencies are critical to the long term solution in Iraq. We have worked closely in our shared endeavour and will continue to do so."
#4
Just whip out one of those omni-present counter-battery units, we've got scads of 'em - parked next to the unused FEMA trailers I hear, and get all hinky and extra-dire. All will be well. I mean, it's not like the south is really controlled by militia and Qom agents, soft power has prevailed!
#5
"The move (read evac) will be seen as a huge blow to progress in Iraq and has infuriated senior British military commanders. They say it sends a message to the insurgents (read terrorists)that they are winning the battle in pushing the British out of the southern Iraqi capital, where several British soliders have died ans dozens have been injured."
Blame for this move lands squarely in the lap of the British Foreign Office. The British boots on the ground are made of the right stuff. It's the pussies lads back at the Home Office who need to grow a sack.
I don't know the name or names of the folk responsible for this move, but if I were God they wouldn't have a job in gov't on my watch.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
10/30/2006 13:35 Comments ||
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#6
Sadr's card is so f*cking over due PUNCHING EEErrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
BAGHDAD Coalition Force personnel detained an individual at the residence of Dr. Adnan al Dulaymi in Baghdad Sept. 29. The detained individual is suspected of involvement in the planning of a multi-vehicle suicide operation inside Baghdads International Zone.
Credible intelligence indicates the individual, a member of Dr. Dulaymis personal security detachment, and seven members of the detained individuals cell were in the final stages of launching a series of VBIED attacks inside the International Zone, possibly involving suicide vests.
Coalition Force personnel detained the individual without incident, securing the area without physically entering the residence of Dr. al Dulaymi at any point. They did search the security trailer and the suspects vehicle.
The detained individual has links to the VBIED network operating in the southern area of Baghdad. He is believed to be a member of the al-Qaida in Iraq group.
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/30/2006 06:38 ||
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#1
Dulaimi is a leader of the Sunni Iraqi Accord Front and leading member of the parliament. Employing terrorists on the staff at least keeps the demands of the constituents to a reasonable level. Too bad the US doesn't have the balls to arrest him.
Posted by: ed ||
10/30/2006 8:34 Comments ||
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American military police backed by Iraqi troops maintained their cordon of Baghdad's Sadr City on Sunday, manning barricades and checkpoints in and around the Shiite slum in an operation to find a kidnapped U.S. soldier and to capture the man considered Iraq's most notorious death squad leader.
The soldier, an Iraqi American translator whose name has not been released, has been missing for six days. He was abducted by armed men while making an unauthorized visit to see relatives in the Karrada neighborhood of central Baghdad last Monday.
U.S. forces have effectively sealed off Sadr City and its 2.5 million residents from the rest of Baghdad, and within Sadr City, they have isolated the neighborhood around the home of alleged death squad leader Abu Deraa, according to an Iraqi Interior Ministry official who would not be named because he was not authorized to release the information.
U.S. officials have refused to comment on whether they believe that Abu Deraa is holding the missing soldier, and it was unclear whether the two goals of the U.S. operation -- finding the soldier and capturing Abu Deraa -- are related.
On Sunday, U.S. troops searched every car going in and out of Sadr City. Even donkey carts were searched; an American female MP patted a donkey as Iraqi troops sorted through the junked engine parts and cardboard piled on his back. Building materials.
About a mile away, 1,000 men and women gathered inside Sadr City to protest the continuing U.S. operation. A woman cloaked in black robes declared over loudspeakers booming across a square that food and medicine were running short because of the near-blockade.
Parliament members and tribal leaders took the podium to demand that the Americans go away. Men pumped their fists but heeded appeals to remain calm.
"The Americans are trying to pull the Sadr movement into war with the U.S.," one speaker in brown robes exhorted. "Do not fall for their tricks. Keep calm, keep cool."
The Iraqi Interior Ministry official and residents of Sadr City said close lieutenants of Abu Deraa's and some of his relatives were killed in U.S. raids near his house on Wednesday and Friday. They said Abu Deraa, who is feared by Sunnis across the capital for allegedly leading a gang that has kidnapped, tortured and killed thousands of Sunnis, appeared at a funeral Friday and vowed revenge against the United States and anyone in Sadr City who cooperated in the attacks. The Interior Ministry spokesman said Abu Deraa accused Moqtada al-Sadr -- an anti-U.S. Shiite cleric with many followers in Sadr City who leads the Mahdi Army militia -- of being "a coward." He got hat right.
The Mahdi Army, which runs Sadr City, has been accused of killing thousands of Sunni Arabs. But many security officials believe that Sadr is losing control of extremist members of his militia and that Abu Deraa might be a rogue element. This is an Cover for Tater.
Sadr denies knowing anything about the kidnapping of the U.S. soldier, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said last week. The soldier's brother also was abducted, but he was later freed and told police that the kidnappers were from the Mahdi Army, Maliki said.
Although the Sadr movement has previously disavowed Abu Deraa, a Sadr spokesman said Sunday that Abu Deraa was a member of the militia and that he would never speak against the cleric. It's a Love/Hate relationship.
#1
"The Americans are trying to pull the Sadr movement into war with the U.S.," one speaker in brown robes exhorted. "Do not fall for their tricks. Keep calm, keep cool."
Even if Bushitler's army beats you and drags you into the street and makes you eat dirt and puts sand in you eyes and mouth, you must remain cool, even if you shit your pants in fear, you must not fall for their tricks.
Allan's Snackbar !
#3
Pure opinion - that happens to fit the observable facts:
There's massive taqiya both from and about Tater. He's an integral part of the Shia-controlled Iraqi Govt. As an Iranian agent, he's successfully playing both sides as it suits him. Maliki's Shia block demonstrates they, too are Iranian agents by covering for him. Unless the Mad Mullahs are eliminated, Iraq, minus Kurdistan, is destined to be a Qom satellite.
If the MM's are taken out, then everything changes - for the better - all across the region. No other single action could generate more positive effect than simply decapitating the Iranian regime. From the removal of MM agent-provocateurs in Iraq to the implosion of Syria to the sudden poverty of Hezbollah to the probable breakup of Iran and the termination of the nuke game. What's not to like? Gonna hafta do it anyway...
Sadr himself approved Sadr City raid: aide
NAJAF, Iraq (AFP) - Moqtada al-Sadr gave the go-ahead to a US-led raid on the bastion of his Mahdi Army militia in Baghdad and plans to purge his movement of violent elements, according to an aide to the radical cleric.
Sheikh Abdel Razzaq al-Naddawi, a senior assistant to the firebrand Shiite preacher, said Sadr had given the green light to last week's action by US and Iraqi forces after meeting Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
"It was meant to pinpoint the bad elements and hold them accountable before the law," Naddawi told AFP in the Shiite holy city of Najaf. "This movement does not protect those who abuse people and the innocent."
Naddawi said Sadr had set up a committee to purge the Mahdi Army of members suspected of involvement in violence against Iraqis.
"Those proved to have abused people shall be expelled from the Mahdi Army and shall be subject to legal measures," Naddawi said. A source in Sadr's movement said as many as 40 unit leaders could be disciplined.
#7
Heh, Glenmore... I just had a flashback to Linda Blair's head spinning around... spewing split-pea soup...
And this bit is fun: "Sheikh Abdel Razzaq al-Naddawi, a senior assistant to the firebrand Shiite preacher, said Sadr had given the green light to last week's action by US and Iraqi forces after meeting Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki."
when one recalls Maliki's public tantrum that he had not been informed, yadda³.
So much taqiya, so much bullshit, Arabs make the DhimmiDonks look positively amateurish.
We should've told Sistani to go back to phreakin' Uranus and squashed this bug and his bugettes back in Najaf.
#19
Yes, yes, .com. You poor darling, everybody hates you so much that your name was continually taken in vain the whole time you were on vacation. Come sit down and have a cup of tea, and we'll all make much of you until you feel all loved and appreciated again. Although admittedly quite a few of your posts have been quite memorable, and not just the poetic ones.
/Are you starting to feel a little better yet? ;-)
(KUNA) -- A number of 25 gunmen were killed and 18 others were arrested in separate incidents when Iraqi military troops conducted operations in Souwairah city south of the capital, said the Defense Ministry on Saturday. The statement pointed out that military stormed Friday an insurgents' hideout in Al-Hufariyah area north of the city and added that the operations resulted in the killing of 10 insurgents and the arrest of 10 others.
An interior ministry source also said that the military conducted another operation today where they killed 15 insurgents and arrested eight others in Shujairah area northern Souwairah city. Iraqi military forces are trying their utmost to protect the citizens through conducting operations to hunt down those who want anarchy to prevail in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2006 00:00 ||
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Gunmen attacked an Iraqi government convoy Sunday and wounded a bodyguard of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, but the leader was not in the procession, officials said as violence rose in Baghdad after a post-Ramadan lull.
A mortar attack elsewhere in the capital killed four Iraqis and wounded four, while other gun assaults left two policemen and a civilian dead and two officers wounded. A kidnapped state television host and his driver also were found slain. North of Baghdad, gunmen ambushed a convoy of Sunni pilgrims bound for Islam's holy city of Mecca and killed at least one person, with attacks across Iraq causing a total of at least 15 deaths. The bodies of 23 people also were found, most believed to be the victims of sectarian reprisal killings. The U.S. military said its troops foiled an ambush near Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad, early Sunday, killing 17 suspected insurgents with gunfire and aerial attacks. No U.S. or Iraqi soldiers died in the fighting, the military said in a statement.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh did not release the name of al-Maliki's bodyguard or give his condition, but said the prime minister was not in the convoy hit by gunfire in the volatile capital's southeastern al-Rashad neighborhood. He gave no other details on the attack.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2006 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- Unidentified gunmen gunned down 15 Iraqi policemen and two interpreters on the road between Al-Zobair governorate and Basra city, south Iraq, an Iraqi security source told KUNA Sunday evening. The gunmen, riding five cars, intercepted police trainers who work at the Police Academy in Al-Zobair governborate, Basra province, and showered them with bullets, killing 15 policemen and two interpreters, the source said. British police officers train the Iraqi security forces in the academy. The incident is expected to exacerbate the security situation in the area that witnessed relative calm in the last few weeks.
Another explosion took place near an elementary school north of here, wounding 8 civilians.
Meanwhile, two Iraqi civilians were killed and 3 others were injured in a car explosion near Mar-Youssef church, in the Banks district, north of here. The explosion caused heavy damages to the church, KUNA learned. Another explosion took place near an elementary school north of here, wounding 8 civilians.
Earlier in the day, the U.S. and Iraqi forces killed 17 gunmen in a shoot-out near Balad.
Earlier in the day, the U.S. and Iraqi forces killed 17 gunmen in a shoot-out near Balad town, north of here. A joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol rebuffed an attack by insurgents in Balad town. U. S. helicopter gunships joined the battle, killing 4 gunmen while the land forces killed 13 others, according to a U.S. military statement.
In another development, the U.S. forces broke into several mosques and schools in the Sadr city during the noon prayer and arrested a number of worshipers. The operation targets the captors of a U.S. soldier in the city, Iraqi security sources told KUNA reporter there.
Also on Sunday, the Iraqi police found 40 bodies in various districts of Baghdad. Eleven bodies were also foundd in Al-Azeem district, south of Kerkuk, north Iraq. The victims, most of them Iraqi soldiers, were killed one day after being kidnapped in the area. They were riding a Kia vehicle when they were kidnapped by gunmen on Saturday, an Iraqi police officers told reporters.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
"Unidentified gunmen."
Uh, huh, right. These are local Shia militia, many of whom are actually Jabr's "police", trying to prevent the training of real cops. Big surprise.
I'm sorta of the opinion that all of the police in the Shia areas should be divided into two groups - those that were and those were not trained by competent non-Iraqis.
Then get medieval on those who were not - they are militia agents, death squaddies, and Qom bitches.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Palestinian gunmen abducted a Spanish aid worker in the Gaza Strip on Monday, the latest in a wave of kidnappings of foreigners, Palestinian security officials and colleagues of the man said.
The hostage was identified by colleagues as Roberto Vila, a 34-year-old aid worker with the Cooperation Assembly for Peace, a Spanish charity group.
Roberto prob'ly thought he was safe since he was a proper, peace-loving, leftist dhimmi.
Celine Gagne, a fellow worker, said she and Vila were on their way out of Khan Younis after visiting a project for handicapped children when three or four men carrying Kalashnikov rifles stopped them. "They asked me to stay behind," she said. The gunmen then forced Vila into their car and sped away, she said.
Palestinian security officials said they were searching for a yellow Skoda.
Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for the Hamas-led Palestinian government, condemned the kidnapping, saying it hurts the Palestinian image abroad. Wouldnt want to tarnish that stellar international reputation.
"I think these people are thieves. They are not nationalists. They are just looking for personal profits, cheap profits, and we have to work against it," Hamad said. Translation: Kidnapping and extortion is acceptable but only when it's carried out by "nationalists" and preferably those from HAMAS.
Tawfiq Abu Khoussa, spokesman for the rival Fatah party, called for the immediate release of Vila. "The protection of our foreigner friends is a collective responsibility for all Palestinians," he said. Translation: Fatah considers matters of "responsibility" best left to others.
I'm surprised his tongue didn't roll back into his throat when he tried to pronounce 'responsibility'.
Palestinian gunmen have kidnapped a series of foreign journalists and aid workers in Gaza over the past two years, usually pressing the government for money or job guarantees. In most cases, the hostages were quickly released, and none of the hostages have been seriously harmed. Last week, Associated Press photographer Emilio Morenatti, a 37-year-old Spaniard, was kidnapped in Gaza City and released unharmed about 16 hours later.
Five Israeli-Arabs were arrested Sunday in the Arab village of Um el-Fahm just hours after it was released for publication that a young Israeli-Arab woman was arrested for planning a bombing.
The entire Wadi Ara region of north-central Israel, where Um el-Fahm is located, was placed on high alert Sunday due to intelligence information that a terror cell was hiding in the Israeli-Arab villages in the region. Heavy traffic resulted, as police set up checkpoints along major arteries and checked all vehicles leaving the villages.
Another resident of Um el-Fahm, Ahmed Mohammed Mahmid, was arrested in recent weeks for burning vehicles belonging to local Arab residents he suspected of assisting Israeli security forces.
Mahmid confessed to the crimes, but claimed the vandalism was not driven by ideological motives, but because he blamed the owners of the cars for the death of his friend.
The Um El-Fahm arrests were announced the same day that Yisrael Beiteinu joined the government coalition. The party's chairman, MK Avigdor Lieberman, has called for the revocation of the citizenship of Israeli-Arabs in Wadi Ara and and the transfer of control of those villages to the PA. In exchange, Israel would annex Jewish populated areas in Judea and Samaria.
It was released on Sunday for publication that a 20-year-old Israeli-Arab female terrorist was arrested before she could place a bomb in a Raanana restaurant. She had been working in an Israeli supermarket in a Jewish neighborhood and her cousin, who was from PA-controlled Shechem (Nablus), had in the past been employed illegally at the very restaurant they sought to bomb.
A Tamil rebel was transporting the mine on a bicycle when it went off.
mine explosion claimed the lives of five civilians and a suspected Tamil rebel who was carrying the mine in Northern Sri Lanka Sunday. A Tamil rebel was transporting the mine on a bicycle when it went off in Jaffna in Northern Sri Lanka Sunday, news agency Indo-Asian News Service reported. The incident took place while the Sri Lankan Government and Tamil rebels were holding peace talks in Geneva in an attempt to resolve the decades old ethnic conflict in the Island nation.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2006 00:00 ||
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Pakistani police have captured Taliban and al Qaeda personnel who were in possession of surveillance cameras. Apparently al Qaeda or Taliban bomb makers have been experimenting with the use of surveillance cameras in conjunction with command-detonated (via a wire or wireless) IEDs. Because American and NATO forces have so many jammers, wireless detonators are often useless. So by using cheap vidcams, a wire detonated roadside bomb could be watched without having any terrorists nearby. Since the American and NATO response is often so swift, the bomb detonation team is often in great danger when they try to get away. The battlefield is different in Afghanistan, where population density and distribution is quite different from Iraq. So new technologies are needed if the bomb teams are to survive.
#3
This is an incredibly dangerous precedent - probably evolving from the use of just such videocams to "hunt" by remote control from some stupid bunch of butchers in Nevada or somewhere last year (they set up several remote cameras and a gun that you were supposed to be able to fire via the web to kill game with).
I have no objection to hunting (though I no longer do so myself - too many fools and idiots carrying weapons out in the hills and woods these days for my taste), but doing so without actually going into the great outdoors, doing so solely for the pleasure of the kill, and doing so without packing out and eating what you kill is simply wrong.
Back on point, however, this whole technology sets an incredibly dangerous precedent that can be used and abused by anyone anywhere in the world.
#4
This could be a good thing: since vidcams are relatively cheap, our forces could shoot out the fixed ones and see who comes in to fix the 'bait,' if its a good guy, give him a new one (with a secret feed, just in case, and if its a bad guy, well either give HIM a new one with the secret feed to find out where he is hiding out or just cap him then. mobile ones are going to be a bit harder, but its a start.
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.
KABUL , Afghanistan Four men have been apprehended by the Afghan National Police, charged with the kidnapping of an 8-year old boy. In a press conference held yesterday at the Ministry of Interior, a spokesperson for the MOI gave details surrounding the case.
(KUNA) -- A NATO soldier and 55 Taliban fighters were killed as fighting erupted in Afghanistan's southern Uruzgan province last night and continued till Sunday morning. Afghan officials say Taliban attacked a joint convoy of NATO and Afghan military in Chora valley, situated north of the provincial capital of Tarinkot. Mohammad Qasim, police chief of the province, said the NATO forces also call air support to target the hideouts of the assailants. He said the clash was still continued with both sides using light and heavy arms. 
Algiers (AKI) - Two truck bombs exploded on Sunday night outside two police stations in the town of Reghaia, some 30 kilometres east of Algiers, killing at least one person and wounding 14, reports say. The simultaneous attacks are believed to be by Islamic militants. Algeria was wracked by a civil war in the 1990s in which an estimated 200,000 people have died. The Algeria-based Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which has sworn allegiance to al-Qaeda, is the only militant group to have remained active in the country after it refused to abandon the armed struggle in exchange for an amnesty in August.
kill em all 
BAGHDAD The missing American soldier who has been the subject of an intensive manhunt in the capital since being kidnapped by gunmen outside the heavily protected Green Zone last week was, at the time, visiting an Iraqi woman whom he had secretly married three months ago, his in-laws said.
The British consulate in Basra will evacuate its heavily defended building in the next 24 hours over concerns for the safety of its staff.
A handful have already left by helicopter and the rest are expected to go this week, some of them to Basra air station eight miles outside the city and the rest back to Britain. A skeleton staff will continue to man the building until it is deemed safe enough for the rest to return. A Foreign Office spokesman insisted last night that its officials were "not bailing out".
While £14 million has been spent on refurbishing the consulate, including a new portico, hardened roof defences and swimming pool, it has spent just £12.5 million on reconstruction that included repainting a tower in the city.
Parliament members and tribal leaders took the podium to demand that the Americans go away. Men pumped their fists but heeded appeals to remain calm.
(KUNA) -- A number of 25 gunmen were killed and 18 others were arrested in separate incidents when Iraqi military troops conducted operations in Souwairah city south of the capital, said the Defense Ministry on Saturday. The statement pointed out that military stormed Friday an insurgents' hideout in Al-Hufariyah area north of the city and added that the operations resulted in the killing of 10 insurgents and the arrest of 10 others.
Gunmen attacked an Iraqi government convoy Sunday and wounded a bodyguard of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, but the leader was not in the procession, officials said as violence rose in Baghdad after a post-Ramadan lull. 
(KUNA) -- Unidentified gunmen gunned down 15 Iraqi policemen and two interpreters on the road between Al-Zobair governorate and Basra city, south Iraq, an Iraqi security source told KUNA Sunday evening. The gunmen, riding five cars, intercepted police trainers who work at the Police Academy in Al-Zobair governborate, Basra province, and showered them with bullets, killing 15 policemen and two interpreters, the source said. British police officers train the Iraqi security forces in the academy. The incident is expected to exacerbate the security situation in the area that witnessed relative calm in the last few weeks.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Palestinian gunmen abducted a Spanish aid worker in the Gaza Strip on Monday, the latest in a wave of kidnappings of foreigners, Palestinian security officials and colleagues of the man said.
(KUNA) -- A claymore 
