There is "a good chance" that Osama bin Laden is dead, French defense minister Alain Richard said Thursday, leaving open the possibility that the al-Qaida leader is not. Maybe he's in a coma. Or he's been kidnapped and his evil twin is dead but he's not. Or he is and the evil twin's not? If you're Osama bin Laden and you have an evil twin what's the difference between you? Or, wait! I got it! What if he has amnesia, see? And he doesn't know who he is? Or he had a serious head injury and doesn't even know if he's dead or not? Or maybe his right lobe is brain dead, and he's left-handed...
My main concern is Osama's admirers & supporters. Posted by Anonymous 3/10/2002 3:13:36 PM
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Pockets of al-Qaida fighters in Pakistan are beginning to communicate with one another to regroup and conduct terrorist attacks against targets in Afghanistan and elsewhere. U.S. intelligence has detected communications between these fighters and some Taliban allies, who are operating in small groups on the Pakistani side of the Pakistan-Afghan border. It is unclear who is be leading the effort. A number of senior al-Qaida and Taliban leaders, including Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar, are unaccounted for. The fighters probably number in the hundreds. Many fled the U.S. bombing but are showing signs of planning to regroup. Shutting down the Talibs was kinda like turning on the light - all the cockroaches that could scurried out of sight. We killed a bunch, but our "allies" decided they could let Cousin Abdul and his friend Mahmud go home if they promised to sin no more. Some actually won't, in fact. Those who do will fall back into the Talifold. Leadership doesn't have to come from Binny or the One-Eyed Ex-Potentate. The Pak nutbags "holy men" are quite happy to help organize a resistance to any kind of civilizing influence, especially when it endangers their cash flow. The same bunch who were sending the truckloads of jihadis across the border in October and November are the ones trying to help the Talibs and the Osamanauts regroup. Musharraf can holler "crackdown" all he wants, but until they're either in jail and incommunicado for long periods or they all have yard-long necks, they're going to present a danger to both countries.
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US-led forces moved from cave to cave in eastern Afghanistan in their effort to drive al-Qaeda and Taliban from one of their last strongholds. At least half of an estimated 600-700 al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the Arma Mountains have been killed since the largest air and ground offensive of the war was launched Saturday. Eight US servicemen were killed and over 50 wounded in the rugged mountains bordering Pakistan, where 2,000 allied troops wage "Operation Anaconda," so-named for the snake that engulfs then crushes its prey. US-led bombing of the mountains' cave complexes resumed Wednesday afternoon after a break of a few hours.
According to Adbul Matin Hassan, a US-allied Afghan commander at Gardez, south of the Arma range, "the Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters are no longer in control of as much ground as they had." Roughly 950 US regular and special forces soldiers are on the ground in the Afghan mountains, joined by 200 commandos from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany and Norway. France is providing air support and the operation is backed by several hundred Afghans under the command of local Afghan warlord Zia Lodin.
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Asia Times has a piece on the Shah-i-Kot complex and the enemy we're facing there. Excerpts:
Shah Kot (or Shahi Kot), which lies to the west of Gardez, is the center of the Taliban's activities. The area from Shah Kot to Zarmat is riddled with hundreds of caves, tunnels and passes. This natural complex provides ample room for Taliban fighters to move long distances, even from city to city. Sources suggested that the Taliban and al-Qaeda had entrenched their heavy weapons in this terrain long before the current US attacks began last weekend. These weapons include T54 tanks, 124mm [sic] heavy artillery, multi-barrel rocket launchers, 76mm anti-tank guns, Stingers and Sam 7 missiles.
About 4,000 Arab and Afghan fighters, most of them trained, have now regrouped in the Gardez area, many of them equipped with special oxygen masks that allow them to secrete themselves deep in the bowels of the mountains. Previously, Mullah Saifur Rehman Mansoor, who once belonged to the Harkatul Jihad-i-Islami and whose father was a prominent figure in Shah Kot, was leading the troops. But now sources say that Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani has taken over after arriving with additional forces.
And just across the border in the Pakistan tribal areas, the Nasir tribe are fully supportive of the Taliban, and are already providing manpower to the Taliban.
The sources say that the Taliban have given the signal for hit-and-run operations to be launched on the troops and installations of the US and its allies, all orchestrated from the Shah Kot to Zarmat area. The writer is sympathetic to the Talibs and gives a partisan description of how tough they are. The US puts their troop strength at 500 as of this evening on FoxNews.
The T54 is pretty much an antique - it was the replacement for the WWII-era T34. SAM-7s (the Russian Strela) are shoulder-fired rockets that could be a danger to US helicopters, but were obsolete by the time the Sovs invaded Afghansitan. And the Stingers (if they exist) are left over from the 1980s. The artillery is probably two-generations-back 122mm towed pieces, and the "anti-tank guns" are probably ZIS-76 training pieces. The MRLs are probably 122-mm BM21s, which are fired in salvos from trucks - effective, but they eat ammunition at a hellacious rate. They're probably the most dangerous weapon in the stash. The thing to always remember with artillery, though, is that it's a specialty. It's only effective with trained artillery officers. I'd just about guess they didn't push that at al-Qaeda jihadi schools.
All of this sounds like leftover junk from the Soviet-era Afghan army. If it's an accurate description of the stash, the US commander is probably breathing a sigh of relief.
Guess we'll have to see if the US is smashing them flat or if the Talibs are making a comeback. I'd put my money on the US forces, but I'd only expect an 85% victory, with the remnants making it safely back to Pakland to try and regroup again in another four or six months.
As somebody who was sheep-dip and has left the T.O.,you are right on. al-Qaeda whole operation depends on luring our guys into that tunnel complex. Well, they will be in for a nasty suprise.(heh, Heh) Posted by Anonymous 3/8/2002 3:35:56 AM
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In a stunning move with deep implications for national security, an Illinois company is recalling about 20,000 fondue sets because a plastic ring with handles attached to the pot can crack during normal heating or cooling, posing burn and fire hazards. We can all sleep a little more securely now. The dangers inherent in these things have been bothering me for months. Years. They bothered my granddaddy, too. We've handed our concern down from generation to generation. It was like a family treasure...
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Mallard told police she had been drinking and using ecstasy the night she struck the man. The impact hurled him headfirst through the windshield, leaving his broken legs protruding onto the hood. With the man still lodged in the windshield, the woman drove to her Fort Worth home, parked her car in the garage and lowered the door as Biggs, 37, began to plead for help. Biggs received no aid for the next two or three days and remained lodged in the windshield, bleeding and slowly going into shock. Mallard told police she periodically went into the garage, apologizing to him but doing nothing about his cries for help. After the Biggs died the woman and several of the her acquaintances helped remove his body, put it into the trunk of another vehicle and drove to the park, where the body was dumped. The body was found Oct. 27.
Mallard's attorney, Mike Heiskell, said the accusation against her was unwarranted. "I think this is overreaching on the part of the prosecution and the police and, in the end, I believe the law will shake out that this was simply a case of failure to stop and render aid," he said. Ummm... I think I disagree slightly with the Learned Counsel. I think this is one of the most apalling stories I've ever heard and that Bitch Woman should be put down like a dog. Her house should be torn down, the site sowed with salt, and her name expunged from the phone book.
That headline deserves an apology... to the female dogs of the world, who are defamed by comparing them to this [expletive deleted]. Posted by Mark Byron [markbyron.blogspot.com] 3/7/2002 7:46:47 PM
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Police have arrested 81 bookies offering bets on the likelihood of religious riots breaking out in a state bordering Gujarat, where hundreds of people were killed in Hindu-Muslim violence. Two of the bookies, Genda Lal and Satyanarain, were offering odds of 1-to-4 to 1-to-6 in favor of riots taking place in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan state. Cheeze. I'll take a piece of that for twenty... Oh. Sorry. That's despicable!
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In a new political twist to the Ayodha temple tangle, Dalit leader Udit Raj has threatened that if the VHP insists on the construction of the temple, he will lead thousands of Dalits to "physically resist" on March 15 at Ayodhya. "We have a mass base. We had confronted them on November 4 last year... Thousands of Dalits will stop the VHP physically if they defy the Constitution and construct a temple at the disputed site," Udit Raj declared. The Dalit leader has called upon Dalits not to participate in the kar sewa and to stop VHP mobs indulging in communal violence. "If we won't stop them today, they will come for the Dalits tomorrow," he said.
Raj, who is Chairman claims that there was originally a Buddhist Vihara in the disputed site and he has archaeological evidence to prove it. His group is filing a petition in the Supreme Court in this regard. "It the court is impartial, let it give Dalits a hearing," he said. So take that, you humorless Hindu bastards. And you humorless Muslim bastards. And if they throw the Buddhists' suit out, the Jains have one warming up, and the Farsis have retained a new mouthpiece right behind them.
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Fifteen people were killed and dozens wounded overnight when two rival Somali factions clashed in the Bulohubey district of south Mogadishu, militia leaders and witnesses said. The fighting pitted the militia of powerful Mogadishu warlord Mohamed Qanyare Afrah and those of his rival, little-known Hashi Dhabarey. Dhabarey said that Afrah's fighters had attacked his militiamen late on Wednesday killing 11 of them near his home. "I lost 11 of my people and others are wounded," said Dhabarey, who added that Afrah's militiamen had also seized two of his armed vehicles. Y'see, "Greasy Thumb" Dhabarey didn't want to let "Crazy Joe" Afrah wet his beak. Dis pipsqueak - who the hell is he, anyway? - he's struttin' around like some kinda pezzonovante, and what's he got? A coupla armored cars, nuttin'. So Crazy Joe, he gives him a little slap, just to wake him up, show 'im who's the ricotta, y'know? So now Greasy Thumb, he makes like it's a big deal, and goes to the mattresses. Go figger.
Writing the warlords off as East African Crips and Bloods was our mistake last time. If we go back in, we have to look at "dees guys" as lightly-armed armies rather than gangs. Posted by Mark Byron [markbyron.blogspot.com] 3/7/2002 7:55:44 PM
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Palestinian groups expected to participate in the attempt to depose Mr. Arafat are said to include Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Hamas and PFLP-General Command. The new organization would include members of Mr. Arafat's mainstream Fatah movement, according to the Saudi daily Al-Watan, which has reported on the scheme. The newspaper said the organizers are motivated by concern that the Palestinian Authority (PA) "is gradually collapsing" under Israeli pressure, and that the Jewish state may succeed in replacing it with "a Palestinian leadership subservient to it." The collapse hasn't been a pretty picture, but Yasser's departure will actually clear the air. His immediate successor (or two or three) will probably be worse, but not having the inertia of the large number of years Yasser drags around with him, they'll be a little more disposable. With a little judicious planning, the Israelis (and the US and probably the Jordanians) could get the fundos and the Marxists fighting each other to see who's in charge to the point where the bodies are piled up nine deep. The thing to be afraid of is another hard boy like Yasser grabbing onto power with both hands and holding it for the next 35 years.
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A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in a supermarket at the entrance to a Jewish settlement in the West Bank on Thursday, killing himself and wounding four bystanders, just hours after another bombing was thwarted in the heart of Jerusalem. One of the four wounded bystanders was in serious condition. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed the credit. "Avner! Is he dead?"
"All the pieces of him I see are, Myra."
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Two militants of Ansar-ul-Mujahideen were killed and an Army jawan was injured in an encounter in central Kashmir. The injured jawan was shifted to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
Three Hizbul Mujahideen were killed and two securitymen injured in another encounter in Kupwara district in north Kashmir. Eight houses and few other structures were gutted and 18 animals roasted alive in the clash.
In another encounter in Kupwara, security forces killed a Pakistani of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen at Choornar forest.
Militants kidnapped and later killed a civilian in Anantnag district in South Kashmir. In a separate incident, three persons including a counter-insurgent associated with an Ikhwan outfit were wounded in a grenade attack in Anantnag.
A security jawan was wounded in an exchange of fire with militants in Kupwara district. A militant of Al-Badar was arrested with two AK rifles and some ammunition during separate search operations. A hideout was also destroyed during the operation.
A Hizbul Mujahideen militant surrendered and a hideout was busted in two other operations in Kupwara. Some arms and ammunition were recovered.
Security forces also unearthed an underground hideout at Anchar on the outskirts of Srinagar which led to the recovery of an AK assault rifle, a grenade and some ammunition.
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In yet another targeted killing, a doctor has been shot dead in Karachi. Dr Muzaffar Hussain Samoo, of Lyari General Hospital, was shot dead by two motor-cyclists near the Ali Hotel who sprayed his car with bullets and fled the scene. Police claim to have arrested four members of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Those arrested have also allegedly been involved in the high profile killing of Shaukat Mirza. 2.5 million Pak kiddies die of diarhhea every year, so what's the solution? Kill physicians. You don't have to pass an IQ test to be a snuffy.
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
