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Report: U.S. Drone Wounds Top Islamists in Somalia
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
13 00:00 OldSpook [1] 
2 00:00 GolfBravoUSMC [1] 
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4 00:00 Mitch H. [1] 
6 00:00 Old Patriot [1] 
2 00:00 Bill Clinton [] 
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2 00:00 S [3] 
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Page 2: WoT Background
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3 00:00 JosephMendiola [1]
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9 00:00 Scooter McGruder [2]
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 4: Opinion
4 00:00 CrazyFool [5]
6 00:00 JosephMendiola [5]
3 00:00 Ebbang Uluque6305 [3]
1 00:00 Mike Kozlowski [4]
2 00:00 Bill Clinton [3]
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Page 6: Politix
4 00:00 European Conservative [5]
8 00:00 Pollyandrew [4]
8 00:00 JosephMendiola [3]
16 00:00 Scooter McGruder [3]
Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 07/01/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yeow! Extravagant knickers to remove...
Posted by: Frank G || 07/01/2011 0:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Claire Forlani aka Katrina in "Police Academy: Mission to Moscow" aka Susan Parrish in "Meet Joe Black" aka Brandi Svenning in "Mallrats" aka Patricia Marx (Mrs. Daniel Ellsberg) in "The Pentagon Papers" aka Mary Malone Jones in "Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius" (age 39)



Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 07/01/2011 0:28 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Afghan Border Commander Resigns Over Pakistan Rocket Attacks
[Tolo News] Top Afghan commander of border forces in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday resigned amid deadly missile attacks from Pakistain into Afghanistan.

Gen. Aminullah Amarkhil, senior commander of border forces in eastern zone, told TOLOnews that he resigned because Pakistain missile attacks into Afghanistan's soil have been neglected by the government and the international community.

Gen. Amarkhil said the government has yet to approve his resignation.

Gen. Amarkhil told TOLOnews by phone: "Neither the international community, nor Pakistain -- from president to army chief -- listened to our voice. They [Pakistain] deny attacks into Afghanistan, and I'm responsible as the commander in eastern zone, because people with bodies of their loved ones on their backs come to me."

He urged the Afghan Interior Ministry to confirm his resignation.

On Wednesday National Directorate of Security (NDS) accused Pakistain of launching missiles into Afghan soil and said more than 400 missiles have landed in Kunar and Nangarhar
...on the main road from Lovely Peshawar. The capital is Jalalabad. The population of 1,334,000 consists mostly of Pashtuns with a few Arabs and Pashais...
provinces over the past couple of weeks.

In a statement this week Afghan defence ministry said Afghan national army was ready to retaliate the attacks, but the government should authorise it.

More than 60 people have been killed, and many others have been reported injured and displaced.

The Afghan general had earlier sought permission from the government for a counterattack, but the government still holds back defence institutions from carrying out attacks against the Pak assaults.

On Wednesday for the second time Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
called on Pak government to put the brakes on their missile attacks into Afghan territory.

But Pakistain denies firing missiles into Afghanistan saying its army is not involved in the attacks.
Posted by: Fred || 07/01/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Life would certainly get even more interesting in that part of the world, should Pakistan goad Afghanistan into going to war. Have the Generals of the Pure forgotten that it was the Moghul-Turks of Afghanistan who last conquered their little corner of India? And several previous conquerors of Afganistan who came pouring south to continue in that vein? And each time the people who are now Pakistani succumbed...

Of course, in those long-ago days the Afghans didn't have blue-eyed Jannisaries of their own, already in the habit of hunting down jihading Pakistanis and killing them, whether by dozens or on at a time. Now things are a bit different.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/01/2011 0:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Pakistan are your worst nightmare for a neighbour!

India,Afghanistan even Iran dont trust/like them!
Posted by: Paul || 07/01/2011 8:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Really, Paul?
Posted by: lotp || 07/01/2011 8:51 Comments || Top||

#4  Blue-Eyed Jannisaries:

Plummage: Range Dependent
Range: Everywhere they want to be
Habitat: Anywhere there's free oxygen, frequently under your bed
Song: Varies by range, excellent mimics.

Do not disturb their nests or young. Usually social and open to friendly contact. Not afraid of fire.
Posted by: S || 07/01/2011 9:30 Comments || Top||

#5  ..but usually high maintenance.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/01/2011 14:44 Comments || Top||

#6  #5 ..but usually high maintenance. Posted by: Procopius2k 2011-07-01 14:44

Not necessarily. A box of MREs, a backpack full of ammo, an extra pair of socks, and a few hand grenades and they're good for two weeks, at least. It's only when you want to scare the sh$$ out of someone, as well as kill lots of them cheaply, that you use "high maintenance" techniques. ARCLIGHT comes to mind... 8^)
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/01/2011 22:29 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Report: U.S. Drone Wounds Top Islamists in Somalia
[An Nahar] A U.S. drone fired on two senior commanders of Somalia's Shebab Islamist insurgency after they were found to have ties to al-Qaeda, the Washington Post reported late Wednesday, citing U.S. officials.

The strike last week is believed to have maimed the two leading Death Eaters and came amid increasing concern among U.S. officials about growing ties between Shebab and the global terror network, the Post said.

"They (Shebab fighters) have become somewhat emboldened of late and, as a result, we have become more focused on inhibiting their activities," it quoted an official as saying. "They were planning operations outside of Somalia."

The U.S. military could not immediately be reached for comment.

The official quoted by the Post said the two commanders had "direct ties" to Anwar al-Awlaqi, a charismatic American-born preacher believed to be hiding in his family's native Yemen.

The U.S. military has carried out a number of attacks in recent years against top al-Qaeda Death Eaters believed to be hiding in Somalia, but last week's incident appeared to be the first drone strike, the Post said.

Last Thursday residents reported huge kabooms near Kismayo, a southern port town controlled by Shebab, followed by the sound of aircraft.

A Shebab official in the area said his men had reported an aerial bombing raid on a Shebab base that maimed several fighters, including foreigners, and that he believed it was carried out by U.S. aircraft.

In January 2007 a U.S. air raid left dozens of people dead at Ras Kamboni in the far south of Somalia. It was coupled with a second raid 155 kilometers further north.

One of the presumed targets of those raids was al-Qaeda's chief in east Africa Fazul Abdullah Muhammad, who was bumped off earlier this month in a shootout at a roadblock in Mogadishu after he made a wrong turn.

Fazul was believed to be behind the August 1998 embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, the worst attack by al-Qaeda until the September 2001 attacks on the United States.

Outgoing CIA chief Leon Panetta
...current Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993....
, who is poised to become the next U.S. defense secretary, said earlier this month that the Shebab were looking to extend their operations and carry out attacks abroad.

The Shebab still control most of south and central Somalia and roughly half of the capital Mogadishu despite gains in recent months by 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...
AMISOM forces that are propping up the Shebab-opposed transitional government.

Posted by: Fred || 07/01/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab

#1  According to Strategy Page, Al Shabab is struggling.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/01/2011 9:25 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Britain Gives Body Armor, Uniforms to Libyan Rebels
[An Nahar] Britannia has given the Libyan rebels 5,000 sets of body armor, as well as police uniforms, high-visibility vests and communications equipment, Foreign Secretary William Hague said Thursday.

He said this was "fully in line" with the U.N. Security Council resolution governing international action on Libya and the arms embargo.

Hague announced in April that Britannia had decided to supply the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) with "non-lethal assistance" to help them protect civilians in the fight against Libyan leader Moammar Qadaffy's forces.

In an update on Thursday, he confirmed that 5,000 sets of body armor, 6,650 police uniforms, 5,000 high visibility vests and t-shirts and communications equipment for cop shoppes had been provided.

"I can now confirm that the... additional equipment has been granted to the NTC for the sole use of the civilian police force," he said in a written statement to the House of Commons.

He added: "Provision of this equipment is fully in line with UNSCRs (U.N. Security Council resolutions) 1970 and 1973, including the arms embargo.

"This equipment will enable the civilian police to carry out their functions more securely and better protect NTC representatives and the significant international and NGO communities in Benghazi, Misrata and other areas of Libya now controlled by the NTC."

La Belle France acknowledged on Wednesday that it had delivered arms to rebels in Libya, but Britannia said the move raised "quite a few issues" and it would not follow suit.
Posted by: Fred || 07/01/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That's one way to make sure they're recognizable when the bombers pass overhead...
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/01/2011 9:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Parting gifts?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/01/2011 11:35 Comments || Top||

#3  But if they wear uniforms the can't claim to be civilians.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 07/01/2011 12:01 Comments || Top||

#4  Only if they put EFF transponders in the armor plates, TW. Which is a pretty nifty idea, actually - but that sort of Blue Force Tracker gags are beyond the British purse, I fear. Might even be beyond *our* resources these days.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 07/01/2011 14:40 Comments || Top||


Conservative Muslims clash with secularists in Tunisia
[Al Jazeera] Tunisian police have placed in durance vile Islamist activists after they clashed with a group of lawyers outside the capital's main courthouse, as tensions rise over the country's post-revolutionary future.

They were demanding the release of their comrades, placed in durance vile during protests over a film some said offended Islam.

Six members of the Salafist
...Salafists espouse an austere form of Sunni Islam that seeks a return to practices that were common in the 7th century. Rather than doing that themselves and letting other people alone they insist everybody do as they say and they try to kill everybody who doesn't...
movement were placed in durance vile after they stormed a cinema and broke its glass doors in a bid to stop the screening of the film: "Neither Allah, nor Master" on secularism in Tunisia.
Posted by: Fred || 07/01/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  Perhaps being Islamist isn't going to end in the establishment of a local branch of the Caliphate in Tunisia after all...
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/01/2011 9:49 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Rab seizes arms, ammo in Khulna
[Bangla Daily Star] Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) seized arms and ammunition Wednesday night after chasing a gang of criminals at Nurpur in the Khulna city.

Lt Noor-e-Alam of Rab-6 told The Daily Star that a patrol team of the elite force chased four criminals riding two cycle of violences following their suspicious movement near Mannujan Government Girls High School at about 10:30pm.

The gang, however, managed to flee the scene.
... as though they had never been...
leaving behind the arms and ammunition, reports our staff correspondent in Khulna.

Later, the Rab personnel recovered three brand new pistols, one revolver, four pipe guns, four bombs and two bullets.

Shahabuddin Azad, officer-in-charge of Khalishpur Police Station, said they did not receive any of the recovered arms till Thursday morning.
Posted by: Fred || 07/01/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Eight gun-type things, three of them still in the package, and only two bullets? Does that seem a bit odd?
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/01/2011 9:54 Comments || Top||

#2  I suspect the sticky fingers of the RAB. Never can have too many bullet. Especially bullet recovered from the spot.
Posted by: S || 07/01/2011 10:27 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Two PKK elements killed in clash with army, E. Turkey
(KUNA) -- Army troops killed Thursday two elements of the Kurdish rebels in a clash after hunting them down at mountainous areas, east of the country.

"The rebels who belong to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have been killed in the festivities that erupted between the two sides in the mountainous areas of Hakkari province on the coterminous Turkish-Iraqi borders, " Turkish Army said in a statement on its website.

The statement also said that the army, backed by military helicopters, is continuing its operations against Death Eaters in the southeastern areas of Turkey, where the festivities took place.

Further, military sources said that a Turkish soldier has been badly injured today due to the kaboom of a landmine during his participation in a security operation in the southeastern province of Hakkari.

PKK, which is described by US and EU as a terror outfit, has been waging a war since 1984 in order to gain independence for Kurdish-dominant southeastern Anatolia in what caused deaths estimated at 45,000 according to observers.
Posted by: Fred || 07/01/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Two suspected TTP men arrested
[Dawn] ISLAMABAD: The capital police on Wednesday claimed to have jugged two suspected activists of the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) for their alleged involvement in an attempt to assassinate President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari
... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ...
in the city last month.

The arrest also led to the recovery of a ready-to-blow explosive jacket, a hand grenade and a pistol from their possession.

The suspects were identified as Munawar alias Meera Jan and Mohibullah, both residents of Fata.

On a tip-off that the suspects were present at the Bloody Karachi Company bus terminal, the Margalla police swooped on them.

The police said the suicide jacket, hand grenade and pistol were recovered from a bag which the suspects were carrying. The bomb disposal squad was called to the spot which defused the explosives, said the police.

During preliminary investigation, the suspects confessed to their involvement in the foiled terrorist attempt at Pakistain Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) during the president`s possible visit to the hospital to see his father in May, the police claimed, adding they also confessed to their involvement in a planned terrorist activity at the district courts in F-8.

On June 4, security agencies picked up eight alleged Orcs and similar vermin for their involvement in the foiled plot to assassinate the president.

The arrest was made after security agencies intercepted a telephone call in which two persons had talked about the presence of a jacket wallah at Pims on May 15.
Posted by: Fred || 07/01/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Cattle thieves turn into dreaded terrorists
[Dawn] A gang of former cattle rustlers has gained notoriety as snuffies in the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar suburbs as it claims responsibility for all violent acts in the area, according to officials.

Known as Jangrez group, the gang has become a terror to the population since its members are wanted in 40 cases of terrorism but none has been caught so far.

"A group of about 14 people, led by Aurangzeb and Jangrez, it tops the list of carrying out terror acts. The group has so far killed and injured hundreds of people including law enforcers in suburban areas," an official of rural circle said.

The latest case registered against the group pertained to an attack on the Frontier Constabulary post at Janay Khwar, near Matani, on Monday night. According to the source, the group is facing cases for attacks on Adezai Qaumi Lashkar, police and different government installations.

"There are some other criminals, who commit crimes in the area and attack police, but cases are registered against Jangrez group as it claims responsibility for every crime," the official said.

About the background of the group, Adezai Qaumi Lashkar chief Dilawar Khan said that Aurangzeb, his brother Jangrez and other members of their group were basically small-time thieves.

They used to steal goats, sheep and rob solitary passengers on pathways in the area, he said.

According to him the group gained prominence when Taliban assigned it a `duty` to carry out sabotage acts in Peshawar.

"They (the group members) can now strike wherever they want as they have resources. We know how to deal them but government is unwilling to support us," he said.

Fazal Malik, the deputy head of Adezai Qaumi Lashkar, also said that the group started its activities as cattle thieves before establishing ties with bad turbans.

He said that Aurangzeb and Jangrez had been active in the area since 2003. He added that they were also wanted by police in several cases of kidnapping for ransom and snatching of motorcars.

"The group was involved in the suicide kaboom at a cattle market in Matani in 2009 wherein scores of people including my father Haji Abdul Malik, who was nazim of Adezai union council, had been killed," he said.

He added that the group members were also responsible for suicide kaboom at a funeral in Adezai in March 2011.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Sajjad Khan, when contacted, said that the group was named in dozens of cases but its members could not be locked away because they shifted to tribal regions.

He said that members of the group knew about the area as they belonged to Adezai village and had contacts with local people.

"They are informed by their informants about the movement of security personnel and peace bodies," he added.

He said that peace bodies should be established in all localities to keep close liaison with police for taking action against terrorists.

He added that role of special branch was also very vital to keep vigil on movement of suspected elements.

He said that police were trying to arrest those myrmidons but they managed to flee easily to the nearby tribal areas. "Kalakhel, Pakhi Parezi, Tor Sapar, Khurma Tangi areas of FR Peshawar and Khyber Agency are situated near Peshawar from where hard boyz can easily enter the settled areas," he added.

The DSP did not rule out presence of bad turbans` controllers in settled areas, saying police had friends and foes in every locality and their opponents could join hands with anti-state elements.

The best solution according to him is induction of local communities in special police or peace bodies so that they can timely inform police to conduct raids against bad turbans.

"The area and its border with tribal region are so vast that police with its limited resources cannot chase myrmidons round the clock," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/01/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  Yet again, the strong connection between criminals and terror groups. It's almost enough to persuade one that terrorists are not the high-minded idealists they claim, but bound-for-hell miscreants with a good public relations agent.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/01/2011 10:09 Comments || Top||

#2  TW,

You have clearly identified the truth.

Most terrorist organizations are more about the money and the endless supply of young girls/boys, drugs, luxury and power than religion.

When you look at the old PFLP and its spawn you see lots of luxury accommodations in France and Switzerland, fancy cars, mistresses, and fine dining. The leaders of these organizations and their children rarely ever never strap on a suicide jacket in the name of jihad. That is for the puppets and the true believers further down the food chain.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 07/01/2011 11:19 Comments || Top||


Forty militants killed in Mohmand operation
[Dawn] Pak troops backed by jets and helicopter gunships have killed 40 Death Eaters in a restive tribal area bordering Afghanistan in the past three days, a military commander said Thursday.
I think the number of deaders has the same significance as "forty days and forty nights" in mythology...
Brigadier Aftab Ahmad told AFP by telephone that his forces had destroyed 17 bully boy hideouts in the Baizai region under his command in the lawless tribal area of Mohmand.
... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Bloody Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar...

"Militants were regularly attacking our posts on the Afghanistan border at Shonkari and Mithai and also targeting goods vehicles going to Afghanistan," he said.

Ghalanai is the main town in Mohmand, where Pakistain has recently stepped up raids on bully boy hideouts, as it faces American pressure to conduct a separate offensive against the Al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network in North Wazoo.
I'm still trying to figure why it takes "American pressure" to get the Paks to assert control over their own territory, assuming the guys actually controlling it aren't also controlling the government...
"An operation was launched three days ago with the support of army aviation aircraft, helicopters and fighter jets. We killed at least 40 bully boys," Ahmad said.

Maqsood Hussain, a government official in Baizai, confirmed the raids and casualties, but it was not immediately clear how the Pak officials reached the body count of 40.

Mohmand is one of seven districts in Pakistain's semi-autonomous tribal belt, where Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked Death Eaters have carved out strongholds used to plot attacks on Pak, Afghan and Western targets.
Posted by: Fred || 07/01/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Science & Technology
Smart Rockets Rule The Battlefield
The U.S. Army has bought 4,410 more GMLRS (GPS guided MLRS) rockets, as well as 3,048 cheaper (reduced range, no explosives) practice rockets. These are packaged and used in containers (pods) holding six rockets each. This new order includes rockets for the U.S. Marine Corps and foreign customers, although the U.S. Army and Marine Corps will get most of them. Deliveries will begin next year. So far, about 2,000 GMLRS rockets have been fired in combat. GMLRS rockets cost about $100,000 each.

The 309 kg (680 pound) GMLRS (guided multiple launch rocket system) missile is a GPS guided 227mm rocket that entered service seven years ago. It was designed to have a range of 70 kilometers and the ability to land within meters of its intended target, at any range. This is possible because it uses GPS (plus a back up inertial guidance system) to find the target location it was programmed with. Three years ago, the army tested GMLRS at max range (about 85 kilometers) and found that it worked fine. This enables one MLRS/HIMARS vehicle to provide support over a frontage of 170 kilometers, or, in places like Afghanistan, where the fighting can be anywhere, an area of over 20,000 square kilometers. This is a huge footprint for a single weapon (an individual MLRS/HIMARS vehicle), and fundamentally changes the way you deploy artillery in combat. By way of comparison, Excalibur (GPS guided 155mm shell) has a max range of 37 kilometers, and 120mm mortars about 7.5 kilometers.

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 07/01/2011 10:36 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Boy Howdy, so us butter bars calling in fire support can give a 10 place grid coordinate and take a smoke break?

Wow, I mean back in the day, this could have been a wonder weapon. But now? Geez, the kid commanders have a GPS, satellite imagery and these things. It is not a good time to be a bad guy. The theories of insurgency that Mao, et. al. wrote and every tin hat fanatic reads, have now run head long into the meat grinder that is modern technology, highly trained, disciplined troops and overwhelming fire power...I guess that is why most of these crazed loons out there seem happier blowing up girls schools and car bombing markets, the guy who wants to martyr himself would prefer to make strawberry jam of himself when he can inflict casualties instead of making jam of himself at 85 clicks trying to heat water to make tea.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 07/01/2011 10:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Makes the old idea of firebases obsolete. Which is a good thing.

I still love the idea of calling in support fire for 10 different areas around the country and hitting the button and have 10 radio operators say, "Thanks!"
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/01/2011 11:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Of course, the trick is for the butter bar to know which grid coordinates to call in.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/01/2011 11:34 Comments || Top||

#4  That is what the NCOs are for, Steve. And to wipe the snotty nose of the butter bar and to stomp mud holes in the privates.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/01/2011 11:44 Comments || Top||

#5  "Artillery lends dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl."
Posted by: mojo || 07/01/2011 14:29 Comments || Top||

#6  This is so totally more awesome than when I was with MLRS / ATACMS. One launcher could wipe out an entire grid square on a map. It was all fun and dandy cept for when you break track.
Posted by: newc || 07/01/2011 15:04 Comments || Top||

#7  Our BN shot these in OIF 05-07; they racked up kills. Happy to see GMLRS (or MLRS in general) get the use it deserves. Shoot, move, and communicate!
Posted by: Keenster || 07/01/2011 15:28 Comments || Top||

#8  Oh yeah, the vid here is from our BN, Alpha 2-20, supporting Marines (probably Marines you hear in the background). If you watch closely you can see a bad guy fall from the sky on the left side of the building about 8 seconds after the blast. You can also see a few baddies fly off the right side of the building when the rocket hits. Classic.
Posted by: Keenster || 07/01/2011 15:30 Comments || Top||

#9  These weapons make it somewhat more likely that Afghanistan will be a success even with fewer troops.

Somewhat.
Posted by: Lord Garth || 07/01/2011 15:56 Comments || Top||

#10  Saw a test of these on one of the gee-whiz weapon cable shows. They intentionally fired the rocket off-axis, about 45 degrees to the right of the direct line to the target.

Still hit.

Posted by: Rob Crawford || 07/01/2011 16:14 Comments || Top||

#11  But 100k a shot? Good thing we're rich.
Posted by: KBK || 07/01/2011 19:41 Comments || Top||

#12  Yes but think of how much all the lawyers cost if we take them prisoners.
Posted by: Silentbrick - Halliburton Lost Drill Bit Division || 07/01/2011 20:14 Comments || Top||

#13  $100K missile versus leading a fireteam on a sniper clearing op? Money well spent from my viewpoint.
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/01/2011 22:11 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hariri Arrest Warrants Names Leaked
[An Nahar] Media reports have stated that the indictment in the murder case of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri includes the names of four suspects: Mustafa Badreddine, who is close to Hizbullah, Salim Ayyash, Hassan Aneissy, known as Hassan Issa, and Assad Sabra.

Born in 1963 in the southern town of Harouf, Ayysah is a Civil Defense volunteer and a member of Hizbullah.

Known as Abu Salim, he may hold an American citizenship.

According to the arrest warrant, he is responsible for the cell that executed Hariri's liquidation and he himself participated in the operation.

Badreddine, also known as Sami Issa, was born 1961.

He is a cousin and the brother-in-law of slain prominent Hizbullah official Imad Mughnieh.

He is a member of the Hizbullah's Shura council and the head of its external operations.

He was locked away and imprisoned in Kuwait in 1983.

In 1990, he managed to escape prison and flee to Iran where the Revolutionary Guard returned him to Beirut.

According to the arrest warrant in the Hariri murder case, he is accused of planning and overseeing the execution of the liquidation.

The name of Abdul Majid Ghamloush is not among the names if the suspects as had been previously reported.

A delegation from the Special Tribunal for Leb had visited General Prosecutor Saeed Mirza at the Justice Palace on Thursday in order to hand him the indictment.
Posted by: Fred || 07/01/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Syrian Troops Storm New Villages amid Aleppo Protests
[An Nahar] Syrian troops swept into new villages in the northwest on Thursday amid anti-regime protests in the country's second city Aleppo,
...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins...
activists said.

Around 60 tanks and armored personnel carriers rumbled into two villages in the countryside of Idlib, said Rami Abdul Rahman of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The operation was the latest in a campaign to quash dissent against the autocratic rule of President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad.
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...

Abdul Rahman said the troops were exiting from the village of al-Bara when they split into two units, one heading towards the village of Kafr Nabl and the other to the village of Kansafra.

Early on Thursday the troops stormed the village of al-Bara, a hamlet known for its Roman remains, Abdul Rahman said.

"Heavy gunfire rang out, probably to terrorize villagers to prevent them from leaving their homes," he said, adding that the troops then left heading for the other villages.

After the operation villagers were seen fleeing al-Bara and the nearby villages of al-Rami, Mar-Ayan and Kafr Haya, "heading south and west," Abdul Rahman said.

On Wednesday, 10 civilians were rubbed out by troops when they stormed a cluster of villages in Idlib's Jabal al-Zawiyah district as they pressed on with their crackdown against dissent, Abdul Rahman told Agence La Belle France Presse.

That operation came a day after tanks entered al-Rami on the main road leading to Aleppo, activists said.

The crackdown comes in defiance of repeated global condemnation and warnings from Western powers to Syria to show restraint and despite new U.S. sanctions against key regime pillars and Syria's top ally Iran.

The Observatory says 1,353 civilians have been killed since mid-March in a crackdown by Assad's regime on the reformist movement and that 343 security force personnel have also died. Thousands have been placed in long-term storage.

Hundreds of pro-democracy protesters swept the streets of Syria's second city Aleppo on Thursday, prompting security forces to use batons to disperse them, activists said.

"Hundreds of people took part in several neighborhoods of Aleppo," said Abdul Karim Rihawi, president of the Syrian League for Human Rights.

"Security forces dispersed the protesters who were chanting slogans calling for freedom, using batons."

Rihawi said that two people were reportedly injured and that some pro-regime supporters held counter-demonstrations.

A Facebook group that has been a motor of the uprising had urged Syrians to march on Thursday on Aleppo -- the country's commercial beacon -- to demand Assad's ouster, and to rally nationwide as well on Friday.

"The Aleppo Volcano. The people want the fall of the regime," freedom fighters said in a message posted by the Syrian Revolution 2011 on its Facebook page.

"Revolutionaries, come to Aleppo and Idlib provinces ... and go to central Aleppo ... to protest and to light the spark of the Revolution," said the message.

The group also called on people to rally after weekly Mohammedan prayers, branding July 1 "the Friday of departure" and saying in a message to Assad: "We don't love you ... Go away, you and your party."

The crackdown against Syrian protesters has been widely condemned and met with a series of sanctions.

On Wednesday the U.S. Treasury issued a new list, targeting Syria's Political Security Directorate and air force intelligence chief Major General Jamil Hassan.

Iran's police force was also sanctioned "for providing support to the Syrian regime," a statement in Washington said, about a week after the European Union slapped penalties on the Islamic republic for involvement in the crackdown -- charges denied by Tehran.

Assad and six top aides have already been sanctioned by Washington, and the Syrian president is also on a list of 23 figures hit by an assets freeze and an EU travel ban.

Posted by: Fred || 07/01/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria



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