PLANS by al-Qaeda terrorists to crash aircraft into Canary Wharf and at Heathrow have been thwarted by the security services, it was claimed last night. Pilots would have been trained for suicide missions in strikes modelled on the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, according to a report on ITV News. But the claims were greeted with scepticism, given their timing on the eve of the Queen's Speech, which will outline a legislative programme dominated by Bills to tackle terrorism, organised crime and disorder. One senior security source approached by The Times was unaware of such a plot, and pointed out that al-Qaeda rarely repeated terrorist outrages. ITV News attributed its claim to a "senior authoritative source", saying that crashing aircraft into Canary Wharf and Heathrow were among four or five al-Qaeda plans to have been prevented by British security services. The intervention stopped the training of pilots for such attacks, it reported. Neither the Home Office nor Scotland Yard would comment on the claims.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/23/2004 2:51:43 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11132 views]
Top|| File under:
EFL:
South Korea's government endorsed a plan on Tuesday to extend an unpopular troop deployment in Iraq by another year in hopes that its longer mission would win more U.S. support to resolve North Korea's nuclear crisis. The government convened a meeting of Cabinet ministers, led by Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, and decided to keep the South Korean troops in Iraq until the end of next year. The government would make a formal request to the single-chamber legislature in the near future for a final approval of the government plan.
In February, South Korea's National Assembly authorized its government to send 3,600 troops to Iraq on the condition that they stay there until the end of this year on a non-combat mission for relief and rehabilitation. The mission makes South Korea the largest coalition partner behind the United States and Britain. It was also the country's first overseas deployment of combat forces since the Vietnam War. But the dispatch was delayed for months against a background of growing antiwar protests at home and safety concerns in the wake of mounting violence in Iraq. It was only in late September that the main contingent of 2,800 troops arrived in the Kurdish-controlled town of Irbil in northern Iraq, just three months before their mission expires.
The Defense Ministry has recently requested to extend the deployment of the troops, called the "Zayitun" Unit named after the Arabic word for "olive," for one more year. Defense officials said the mission of the Zayitun troops should be extended because it had been delayed for a long time by controversy over the original deployment of April. "If the mission were not extended, the troops would have to return home without having completed their job in Iraq," an official at the Defense Ministry told United Press International.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve ||
11/23/2004 9:24:19 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under:
A 53-year-old man suspected of supplying illegal equipment for an Iranian nuclear power plant has been arrested in Germany, authorities said. The man was arrested by border police on entering Germany at Frankfurt an der Oder near the border with Poland. He is to appear before a magistrate this week. Prosecutors in Potsdam near Berlin are investigating eight people and three companies in Germany over suspected illegal supplies of crane parts to Iran via Poland or Russia.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/23/2004 10:53:17 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Would that have been beaks, or possibley long legs?
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesian police have arrested a key terror suspect wanted in the 2002 Bali bombings, last year's attack on the J.W. Marriott Hotel and a suicide blast in September at the Australian Embassy, a media report said Tuesday. Rois, alias Iwan Darmawan, was arrested on Nov. 10 at a railway station on the western tip of Java island, Kompas daily reported on its Web site quoting an unidentified police source.
Police choose not to publicize the arrest while they confirmed the suspect's identity, the report said.
And ran down any contacts he had.
Police were not immediately available to comment on the arrest.
Still busy "questioning" him.
Darmawan played a key planning role in the Sept. 9 attack on the Australian Embassy, which killed 10 people including one suicide bomber, Kompas quoted the police source as saying. The report also said the suspect was involved in the Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists, and a car bomb attack on the J.W. Marriott Hotel that killed 12 people. All three blasts have been blamed on the al-Qaida linked Jemaah Islamiyah terror group.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/23/2004 9:14:11 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11124 views]
Top|| File under:
Security forces were Tuesday focusing their hunt for Iraq's most wanted man, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, on an area in north-central Iraq after receiving a tip-off, an Iraqi national guard officer said. "We received concrete information from very reliable sources that Zarqawi was transferred today to Tuz Khormatu and is heading to Baquba," Staff Brigadier General Anwar Hamad Ameed, the national guard chief in the northern city of Kirkuk, said. He gave no further details.
Tuz Khormatu lies about 180 kilometres (111 miles) north of Baghdad. The US military believes Zarqawi, who has a 25 million dollar bounty on his head, was had been using the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, west of the capital, as a safe haven but that he escaped the city before a US-led assault this month.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/23/2004 4:42:54 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
AMBER ALERT for Abu
Description: Brown Hair, Brown Eyes
Last seen wearing grey Burqa
Identifying marks: One leg shorter than other, may be bleeding like stuck pig.
Contact; 1-800-SEMPER FI
FALLUJAH, Iraq — Marines from the 1st Marine Division shot and killed an insurgent, who while faking dead, opened fire on the Marines that were conducting a security and clearing patrol through the streets here at approximately 3:45 p.m. on 21 November.
G'bye, Mahmoud. Say hello to Himmler for us.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/23/2004 16:05 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under:
#5
MEMO
From: CBS News division
To: Records
SUBJ: Image redaction
Remove video series OIF041122 from the feed to the CBS news program. By showing a resistance member apparently opening fire after lying on the ground, it may give the image that the resistance is not following the rules of war. This is too inflamatory to be shown on broadcast news.
#6
Is that Sites jerk still attached to that Marine unit? Send them out to sweep the area and make Sites personally check the bodies to make sure they're dead.
EFL The U.S. military has captured what officials termed a senior Sunni commander in Iraq, near the Syrian border. The military said the Marine Corps detained the top commander in Al Anbar province in western Iraq. The commander, who was not identified, was one of six insurgents captured on Nov. 21 in the Anbar town of Haqlaniya. "One of the six detainees is believed to be a high-ranking cell leader of anti-Iraqi forces operating in and around the Al Anbar province," the military said in a statement on Monday. The military did not provide additional details.
Al Anbar has been deemed the biggest challenge for the U.S. military in Iraq. Much of the province, which borders Syria, has been under insurgency control over the last 18 months, Middle East Newsline reported. They have included Faluja and Ramadi. Officials said the suspected senior Sunni commander was captured during a raid of Haqlaniyah, along the Euphrates River. Marines also found arms and munitions in the counter-insurgency operation. The U.S. military has intensified its search for Sunni commanders in Al Anbar, many of whom were said to have escaped from Faluja over the last month. They said Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi and his leading aides have escaped Faluja and were sited in northern Iraq.
Pray for sepsis...
Flesh-eating sepsis.
The Kurdish newspaper Al Taakhi quoted Iraqi police sources as saying that Al Zarqawi was believed to have been injured in the U.S.-led assault on Faluja. The newspaper quoted a police source from the northern city of Kirkuk as saying that Al Zarqawi was seen arriving in Tuz Khormato, about 75 kilometers south of Kirkuk. Al Zarqawi's leading aide, Omar Hadid, was also said to have been injured in the battle for Faluja. Officials believe he was still in or around Faluja and leading the Sunni insurgency against the U.S.-led coalition force. The military has reported eliminating most pockets of resistance in the city. For his part, Hadid told the Qatari-based A-Jazeera satellite channel that he was not a senior commander in Faluja. He told A-Jazeera that he is 24 years old, never met Al Zarqawi and served in Saddam Hussein's military for three months.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/23/2004 2:54:29 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
Sudan said on Tuesday clashes with rebels in its Darfur region had killed more than 30 policemen, and denied accusations from aid workers that government planes had bombed a town captured by the rebels. Rebels attacked and seized the town of Tawilla in North Darfur state on Monday, and officials said fighting was continuing as police and army struggled to regain control over the town, where about 30,000 refugees are encamped. The Save the Children UK organization said about 30 of its workers were forced to flee on foot when a bomb landed about 50 meters (yards) from one of its feeding centers in the town.
KABOOM! "Feet, don't fail me now!"
Rebel commanders in North Darfur also said the town had been bombed, but Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail denied this. "There are clear instructions to the army that they should not use any bombing. There is no bombing," he told reporters in Khartoum. But he added helicopter gunships may have been used.
Well, that's different then. Not much of a difference, but some, I guess.
Sudan's security chief has said rebels have used villages in Darfur as human shields attracting government bombardment throughout their uprising. The top U.N. envoy in Sudan, Jan Pronk, said the rebel attack on Tawilla was a clear violation of the protocols signed earlier this month in the Nigerian capital Abuja between rebels and the government, and expressed concern that the violence had stopped humanitarian operations around the capital of North Darfur state El Fasher. "The parties have committed themselves to refrain from all hostilities and military actions," he said in a statement "I fully expect them to live up to their obligations."
Well, that makes one of you.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/23/2004 3:24:03 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under:
Two Britons were arrested and handed over to the British embassy in Baghdad after an exchange of fire involving the Iraqi interior minister's bodyguards, a government spokesman said Tuesday. Thaer al-Naqib said two guards protecting the residence of Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib opened fire on a suspicious vehicle on Monday, sparking a gunfight which left one of them dead and the other wounded.
I guess he means the bodyguards.
Naqib said two Britons in the vehicle were apprehended and handed over to the British embassy, which could not immediately be reached for confirmation.
Hummmm, took a wrong turn, trigger-happy bodyguards opened up on them, they returned fire and took off till they got stopped? Interesting that they were "handed over" to the Brit embassy. Diplo-immunity, maybe?
UPDATE: Two Britons were arrested after a shootout in Baghdad between passengers of a vehicle carrying a British diplomat and bodyguards of Iraq's interior minister, a government spokesman and the British embassy said... "The vehicle carried a British diplomat. There was an incident and it is under urgent investigation," said British embassy spokeswoman Victoria Whitford, who would not reveal the identities of the passengers. "We are in close contact with the Iraqi authorities about it," she said, adding that the diplomat was one of the two Britons briefly detained.
Boy, can I call them or what?
Posted by: Steve ||
11/23/2004 2:35:58 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Major Mmmmmmmph and Sgt. Kppppttt of the SAS, I expect.
November 23, 2004: Al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi was recently spotted near Kirkuk, 260 kilometers northeast of Baghdad. Al Zarqawi had to go somewhere, and with a $25 million price on his head, many Iraqis are more than happy to let the police know where the Jordanian terrorist is. Al Qaeda is very unpopular in Iraq, mainly because most of the victims of al Qaeda attacks have been Iraqi civilians. Coalition troops offer smaller rewards for lesser information, like al Zarqawi being seen traveling in an ambulance south of Kirkuk, and possibly wounded. Money is a powerful weapon in Iraq, and has been used lavishly by the deposed Baath party officials who are directing the anti-government forces. Al Zarqawi is thought to be receiving some of that money. While al Qaeda and the Baath party rely on lots of volunteers, you still need cash to run a war. Some things, and some people, have to be paid for. For the last 18 months, coalition intelligence forces, and Special Forces units, have been developing informer networks. Tips from informants inside Fallujah were responsible for the rapid progress of the coalition attack, and the failure of many of the defenders ambushes and boob-traps. Now the coalition money is being spent all over central Iraq. With nearly 2,500 anti-government gunmen dead or captured in Fallujah, those who fled are shorthanded, out in the open, and a source of quick money for sharp eyed Iraqis.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/23/2004 11:23:02 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under:
Assembling in the dead of night, the Marines of "Suicide Charlie" prepare to provide the wake up call of a lifetime for a handful of known insurgents. They mount their vehicles and head towards the small town on the banks of the Euphrates River and as the sun rises the Marines knock on the insurgents door in a way that only Marines can. "Room service, we got a frag grenade, I mean pillow for you."
With a bang on the door, the Marines entered houses with such speed that the insurgents didn't have time to react to the early morning visitors. At the completion of this early morning visit, the Marines leave with five insurgents detained and weapons that could have been used to kill coalition forces or innocent Iraqi civilians. The Marines of 1st Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, conducted simultaneous cordon and knocks on three houses' to capture insurgents. They entered through the front door of the first house and began clearing the each room, said Sgt. Tobey J. Owens, squad leader, 1st Squad. The Marines had cleared most of the house when they entered a small room in the rear. They discovered a man crouching along the wall with a loaded weapon pointed at them, stated Cpl. Travis M. Ball, team leader, 1st Squad. "We were on top of the man so quickly he did not have time to react," said Owens. "I kicked him as Ball tackled him to the floor so he would not have the opportunity to shoot at us." That's Leatherneck understatement for: we whipped his bitch-ass and made him cry for his mama.
The squad captured the armed insurgent, Kais Atal Mutatharer, who had worked with the U.S. Army as a translator in the Al Qaim area. Suprise meter did not budge.
Email from a Marine posted at The Green Side, just one short quote:
I will end with a couple of stories of individual heroism that you may not have heard yet. I was told about both of these incidents shortly after they occurred. No doubt some of the facts will change slightly but I am confident that the meat is correct.
The first is a Marine from 3/5. His name is Corporal Yeager (Chuck Yeager's grandson). As the Marines cleared and apartment building, they got to the top floor and the point man kicked in the door. As he did so, an enemy grenade and a burst of gunfire came out. The explosion and enemy fire took off the point man's leg. He was then immediately shot in the arm as he lay in the doorway. Corporal Yeager tossed a grenade in the room and ran into the doorway and into the enemy fire in order to pull his buddy back to cover. As he was dragging the wounded Marine to cover, his own grenade came back through the doorway. Without pausing, he reached down and threw the grenade back through the door while he heaved his buddy to safety. The grenade went off inside the room and Cpl Yeager threw another in. He immediately entered the room following the second explosion. He gunned down three enemy all within three feet of where he stood and then let fly a third grenade as he backed out of the room to complete the evacuation of the wounded Marine. You have to understand that a grenade goes off within 5 seconds of having the pin pulled. Marines usually let them "cook off" for a second or two before tossing them in. Therefore, this entire episode took place in less than 30 seconds.
Looks like giant cajones run in the family.
The second example comes from 3/1. Cpl Mitchell is a squad leader. He was wounded as his squad was clearing a house when some enemy threw pineapple grenades down on top of them. As he was getting triaged, the doctor told him that he had been shot through the arm. Cpl Mitchell told the doctor that he had actually been shot "a couple of days ago" and had given himself self aide on the wound. When the doctor got on him about not coming off the line, he firmly told the doctor that he was a squad leader and did not have time to get treated as his men were still fighting. There are a number of Marines who have been wounded multiple times but refuse to leave their fellow Marines.
It is incredibly humbling to walk among such men. They fought as hard as any Marines in history and deserve to be remembered as such. The enemy they fought burrowed into houses and fired through mouse holes cut in walls, lured them into houses rigged with explosives and detonated the houses on pursuing Marines, and actually hid behind surrender flags only to engage the Marines with small arms fire once they perceived that the Marines had let their guard down. I know of several instances where near dead enemy rolled grenades out on Marines who were preparing to render them aid. It was a fight to the finish in every sense and the Marines delivered.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/23/2004 10:20:23 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I recently went through a briefing where we are teaching the lads to shoot anybody who comes out w/a surrender flag. The surrender flag is a myth. The only valid surrender is when the enemy comes out with his hands on his head and walks calmly toward us.
#3
Ay Jarhead protocol buffs who know the criteria for inclusion of a battle on the base of the Iwo Jima Memorial next to Arlington? Does an event require a "battle plan", or is it a sacrfice of life (Beruit) threshold that gets a battle memorialized? How will the battles of the WOT be included?
#4
Capsu78-
My understanding is that because of the way the Memorial is engraved, nothing can be added to it. On the other hand, it would seem to me that at some point in the near future, the Memorial should somehow be updated to include Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Desert Storm, Afghanistan, and Iraqi Freedom.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/23/2004 12:37 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Leave the memorial alone. We're not in danger of forgetting the other battles, and it's not like some particular social or ethnic group is being slighted. Iwo Jima is a symbol that transcends the particular event. IMHO it's far, far more powerful if it's kept simple and not drowned in tons of words and other associations.
#8
Although, speaking from experience, the best reward is getting your buddies and you home, not in a box...
They better put Cpl Yeager in for a damn medal. Brass ones like that should not go unrewarded. (By now the guys in his squad are probably calling him John Wayne for getting the press that he did).
#9
"the best reward is getting your buddies and you home, not in a box"
Exactly. No medal or memorial compares to that.
Posted by: Pissed off Army ||
11/23/2004 14:27 Comments ||
Top||
#10
I know of several instances where near dead enemy rolled grenades out on Marines who were preparing to render them aid. It was a fight to the finish in every sense and the Marines delivered.
Anyone still think the Marine in Sites' little video was unjustified in his actions?
#11
Although, speaking from experience, the best reward is getting your buddies and you home, not in a box...
They better put Cpl Yeager in for a damn medal. Brass ones like that should not go unrewarded. (By now the guys in his squad are probably calling him John Wayne for getting the press that he did).
#12
Although, speaking from experience, the best reward is getting your buddies and you home, not in a box...
They better put Cpl Yeager in for a damn medal. Brass ones like that should not go unrewarded. (By now the guys in his squad are probably calling him John Wayne for getting the press that he did).
An investigation has been launched into the shooting of a suspected suicide bomber by British soldiers in Iraq, the Ministry of Defense said Tuesday. The man was shot by Black Watch soldiers as he drove towards a checkpoint near their base at Camp Dogwood Nov. 7, an MoD spokesman told reporters in London. The vehicle had pulled out of traffic and accelerated towards the checkpoint, he said. The soldiers fired warning shots but the car continued, and only stopped with the death of the driver.
BANG! "I said Stop, dammit!"
The spokesman reported there were people in the area wearing black clothing similar to that of insurgents. "It was a tense situation," he said. A military spokesman in Iraq told journalists the soldiers were aware of a suicide attack moments earlier in which the legs of two British soldiers were blown off.
The MoD said there was no evidence of improper conduct by the soldiers and an investigation into procedures was standard.
After action reports are standard procedure, sounds like a good shooting.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/23/2004 9:33:05 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11124 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Why would younk guys volunteer for the army when their obvious correct actions are investigated?
What is wrong with the higher ups that they even show an interest in investigation? What should these soldiers be doing? Waiting for themselves to be blown up?
Why volunter for this job if you work is not only not appreciated but you may be PROSECUTED!
#2
busybody: After an incident like this it is standard proceedure to investigate. What that usually means is everyone involved is questioned about their recollections of the event and when the questions are asked and answered there is usually a "Good job". This doesn't mean the Brass thinks anything wrong was done.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/23/2004 9:48 Comments ||
Top||
#3
This is the military. Somebody's gotta produce and file a piece of paper somewhere...
#4
It also means that when some LLL jerk comes back later to claim it was wrongful, there is a thick file of evidence to the contrary collected right after the incident when memories are freshest and physical evidence available. The best defence is a good offence.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/23/2004 9:54 Comments ||
Top||
#5
On this side of the pond, too, the best defense is a good offense.
#7
Soldiers with rifles in their hands have always despised the REMFs. In this case, the REMF may save the fighti8ng soldier's life as Britain is a signatory to the ICC. Failure to conduct the investigation would leave the individual soldier subject to prosecution in whichever of the Low Countries the ICC sits.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/23/2004 14:50 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Sorry, Mrs. Davis, forgot that the UK signed on to the ICC. We didn't, so it never enters our thought processes.
Some 5,000 U.S. Marines, British troops and Iraqi commandos launched a new offensive Tuesday aimed at clearing a swath of insurgent hotbeds south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. The joint operation kicked off with early morning raids in the town of Jabella in Babil province, netting 32 suspected insurgents, the U.S. military said in a statement. Jabella is 50 miles south of Baghdad.
Insurgent violence has increased in the areas south of the capital in "an apparent attempt to divert attention" away from the U.S-led assault on the militant stronghold of Fallujah, the military said. The cluster of dusty, small towns located south of the capital, has been a major area for insurgent activity. U.S. and Iraqi forces have come under repeated attacks by car bombs, rockets, and small arms fire in the area. The region has become known as a "triangle of death" for the numerous attacks by Sunni Muslim insurgents and criminal gangs on Shiites, Westerners and members of the Iraqi security services.
In the past three weeks, Iraqi troops and Marines have detained nearly 250 insurgents in the area, the statement said. They have been aided by British forces from the 1st Battalion of the Black Watch Regiment, who were brought into the area from southern Basra to aid American forces in closing off militant escape routes between Baghdad, Babil province to the south and Anbar province to the west. It would be the third major military offensive against insurgents since the massive Fallujah operation, which has claimed the lives of more than 50 U.S. soldiers and injured more than 400. Earlier this month, the northern city of Mosul witnessed a mass insurgent uprising in apparent support of Fallujah's guerrillas. Some 2,400 U.S. troops were sent in to retake control over western parts of the city.
Posted by: tipper ||
11/23/2004 9:18:52 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11133 views]
Top|| File under:
Three foreign UN workers who were taken hostage last month in Afghanistan have been freed unharmed. The exact circumstances of their release remains unclear, though the Afghan interior minister denied any deal had been done with the kidnappers. Annetta Flanigan from Northern Ireland, Kosovan Shqipe Habibi and Filipino diplomat Angelito Nayan were abducted at gunpoint from Kabul last month. They had been helping to conduct the recent presidential election. The three were released on Tuesday morning and taken by UN staff to a military base where they were identified and examined by medical staff.
Afghan Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali refused to confirm whether they were rescued by troops or if the group holding them set them free voluntarily. He said the three had been "abandoned in a location inside Kabul". He insisted there had been no payment to secure their release. "No prisoners were released, no money was paid, no demand was accepted," he said. On Monday, two houses in Kabul were raided in an operation aimed at freeing the hostages. Ten people were detained. American and Afghan soldiers used explosives to smash their way into the houses in the pre-dawn raid. Mr Jalali said one suspected kidnapper was killed and four left wounded in operations on Monday. All the hostage-takers "will be brought to justice", he promised.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/23/2004 9:09:30 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under:
As tanks geared up to trample Fallujah and American troops started circling the city, special operations officers rifled through their CD cases, searching for a sound track to spur the assault. What would irk Iraqi insurgents more: Barking dogs or bluegrass? Screaming babies or shrieking feedback?
Heavy metal. The Army's latest weapon.
AC/DC. Loud. Louder!
Let's roll.
I won't take no prisoners, won't spare no lives
Nobody's putting up a fight
I got my bell, I'm gonna take you to hell
I'm gonna get you . . .
While the tanks flattened Fallujah this month, Hell's Bells bombarded the town. Speakers as big as footlockers blared from Humvees' gun turrets. Boom boxes blasted off soldiers' backpacks. As the troops stormed closer, the music got louder. The song changed; the message remained the same.
I'm gonna take you down - down, down, down
So don't you fool around
I'm gonna pull it, pull it, pull the trigger
Shoot to thrill, play to kill . . .
#4
Both Gulf Wars began with Rock the Casbah, by the Clash.
US forces have been blaring the theme song from Team America: World Police in Fallujah this month. I hope the US troops in Iraq get to see that movie.
I hope we don't play Wagner, Jarhead. Somehow, the thought of US troops singing along to âKill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit!â doesn't sound so frightening.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
11/23/2004 10:49 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Loved the scene in Apocalypse Now. The first time I saw something similar was in Kelly's Hero's when Oddball came out of the train tunnel blaring. I do forget what he was playing. Anybody remember? Alway with the negative waves, Moriarty?
Posted by: Weird Al ||
11/23/2004 11:21 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Donald "Oddball" Sutherland was grinning insanely and playing I've Been Working on the Railroad
#7
Beautifull. Thanks. One of the classic scenes in film history. Another probably forgotten scene occurs in one of my favorite Jimmy Cagney movies, "One, Two, Three". The east german police are torturing a suspected "Amerikanisha Shpion" By playing Itsey Bitsey Tiny Weenie Polka Dot Bikini over and over on a crooked record player with the speed going up and down. It would work for me. Probably work on the Iraqis as well.
Posted by: Weird Al ||
11/23/2004 11:50 Comments ||
Top||
#8
This is Hollywood's contribution to modern US warfare: now we bring our own soundtrack.
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
11/23/2004 11:52 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Funny, I always thought he (Sutherland) was playing The Eyes of Texas. ;)
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
11/23/2004 11:53 Comments ||
Top||
#10
All right, I really don't have anything important to do right now, so I tracked down the Kelly's Heros soundtrack. Yes, there is such a thing. Herein is the list of songs:Track listing:
Kelly's Heroes | All For The Love Of Sunshine (sung by Hank Williams Jnr.) | Burning Bridges | Tiger Tank | Clairmont Waltz | Battle Hymn Of The Republic | Burning Bridges (sung by The Mike Curb Conurbation) | Quick Draw Kelly | All For The Love Of Sunshine | I've Been Working On The Railroad | Commando Opus | So, it's Ive been working on the railroad. I wasn't going to sleep until I figured it out. And yes, I need a life.
Posted by: Weird Al ||
11/23/2004 12:30 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Oh. My. God. I just remembered, I have that soundtrack at home somewhere.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/23/2004 13:01 Comments ||
Top||
#12
Isnt there a "Best of Leonard Nemoy and William Shatner"? That would probably work. Or some B52s, Meatloaf, or Conjunction Junction 24/7. But then that would be detrimental to our troops as well. How about just loop Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon CD (speaking of which, the original soundtrack to The Wizard of Oz would be perfect for prepairing prisoners for interogation).
#19
Yoko Ono's Greatest Hits.....almost a war crime
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/23/2004 16:29 Comments ||
Top||
#20
theme from "deliverance" accompanied by heavy knee slapping
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
11/23/2004 17:09 Comments ||
Top||
#21
Speaking of Pink Floyd - the (obscure) track - Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving With a Pict - played in the middle of the night at ear shattering volume should do the trick.
For something more modern - Grouchy of GrouchyMedia did wonders with Dope's Die MF Die. It would deliver a positive uplifting message to the terrorists.
#22
Let them know whom they are fighting. Start with The Marine Hymn. Continue with the greatest of patriotic music, Stars and Stripes Forever. Then, the torture.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
11/23/2004 20:18 Comments ||
Top||
#23
And if they don't surrender within 24 hours, drop the musical H-bomb: "It's a Small World". Went on that damn ride at Disneyland, long ago, and tried to chew my own ear off to escape it.
#24
Angie takes the prize, IMHO. If Amnesty International protested that its use constituted a war crime, I'd be forced to agree with them for the first time in several years.
Troops have killed 20 militants in raids on a seminary and a camp in South Waziristan as part of ongoing operations against al-Qaeda-linked fighters, the military said on Monday. Eight people were killed at the seminary in Lalejai area, while 12 were killed in "hand-to-hand" fight in a separate raid on a camp in the Karam Manzai Chund Khel area, a military spokesman said in a statement. "In the Lalejai area, Maulvi Bashir's Madrassah had been serving as a hub of terrorist activities from where miscreants had been launching frequent attacks against security forces and the civil population," an ISPR spokesman said in a statement on Monday. "The stronghold was busted after fierce fighting, in which at least eight terrorists were killed," the statement added.
Similarly 12 terrorists were killed in a hand-to-hand fight with security forces in Karam-Manzai Chund Khel area, where terrorists had made the local population hostage, the spokesman said. The "miscreants managed to take away bodies of six along with them while six bodies were recovered by the security forces," the spokesman said. Following a swift operation the terrorists were flushed out of Khon Khela and Draz Langer Khel area, which they were using as a second layer of their defences. The miscreants had established elaborate medical facilities in Shinkai area. During a search operation, a huge quantity of medicines and surgery related equipment has been discovered, he added. In Tangari area alone, security forces recovered over 15 tonnes of ammunition and explosives on November 19 last. The ammunition included over 900 rockets and heavy weapons like recoilless rifles and mortars.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/23/2004 8:43:40 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
had established elaborate medical facilities
Is this Osama bin Laden's private hospital? Ask that Time reporter, he'll know for sure!
BAQOUBA, Iraq Another Sunni cleric has been gunned down in Iraq -- the second in two days. The man killed today was a member of the Association of Muslim Scholars. The influential Sunni group is urging all Iraqis to boycott the January elections. Police say he was shot dead by masked gunmen after dawn prayers at a mosque north of Baghdad. Yesterday, unknown gunmen killed another prominent Sunni cleric in Mosul. It's unclear if there's a connection between the two killings. Magic 8 ball says ... YES
Posted by: Lux ||
11/23/2004 6:56:20 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Message from the Kurds and Shia that PDiddies "Vote or Die" is taken more seriously over there.
Posted by: Charles ||
11/23/2004 6:59 Comments ||
Top||
#2
hmmmmm - sounds like someone's taking out the trash
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/23/2004 7:58 Comments ||
Top||
#3
If I were an ordinary, not too religious sunni who's keen to maintain some power in the new Iraqi reality, I'd probably pop an anti-elections cleric or two meself. They and the fascist bad boyz are the biggest enemies of sunni enfranchisement now.
#5
good point lex, the Sunni Arabs with clues versus those without. Those who accept the reality of the new Iraq, versus those still hoping to win a civil war (perhaps with outside help)
#6
Someone yesterday wondered about splits within the Sunni cleric group. Anyone know if the two dispatched in the last two days might have been "softies", not hardliners? I'm prepared to be mildly encouraged by this, but I wonder why would some clerics be in danger but the leadership of the Ba'athist/criminal/jihadi alliance not be targeted? Those are the ones we need to see harvested by Iraqis. I read one article months back about a low-key Shi'ite operation that was taking out Ba'athists in B'dad -- why can't more Shi'ites find their Inner Thug and accelerate their country's progress? It would be American luck to find ourselves backing the only sub-group in the Arab world that is insufficiently brutal and aggressive towards their rivals ....
#7
Either way, Verlaine, this is very good news. If Iraq is to have a civil war, it seems more and more likely it will be a sunni-only civil war. Surround and suffocate 'em, I say. Give the Kurds and Shi'a as much autonomy as they can handle and let the handful of sunni provinces spill their own blood until they're too exhausted to fight.
We should think of Iraq in terms of that other multi-ethnic and violence-ridden entity known as the British Isles. Kurds as Scotland (mucho sovereignty, own parliament, but still under the crown), shi'a as England and Wales, and sunni as Ireland with the Sunni Triangle as Ulster.
Re-set expectations. It's not an Iraqi problem, it's a sunni/ba'athist problem.
#8
From Iraq the Model:
I don't like them and I frankly I consider them as a part of the terror network that is trying to destroy Iraq but I'm against assassinations and I don't see assassinating people as a good way to solve problems.
We're looking forward to build a democracy where law and only law can rule and no one should try to make a judge of himself and throw out judgments and execution orders here and there.
Anyway, I see this assassination as a message from an unknown group to this association telling them that the violence they're encouraging and the hatred they're provoking could easily turn against them.
Hundreds of pro-Saddam rebels holed up in the Iraqi Triangle Of Death have been cornered by British troops. The Black Watch and Queen's Dragoon Guards based at Camp Dogwood have trapped a "hornet's nest" of militants trying to flee the Fallujah battle-zone. Military Intelligence officers now believe this is the reason for the ferocious attacks on the Dogwood-based Brits who have suffered daily rocket and mortar attacks. A British intelligence officer in Central Iraq revealed last night: "We have been surprised by the ferocity of the attacks but we are now able to fight back. The force based at Dogwood has effectively closed the back door on ex-Ba'athists and rebel insurgents trying to escape the American assault on Fallujah. What has happened has proven the value of the Black Watch and Queen's Dragoon Guards being there - there is nowhere for the rebels to go. We have blocked off their escape route and that is why the attacks have been so desperate. They were trying to punch through us and haven't done so."
The controversial decision to deploy British troops into the hazardous Sunni Triangle outskirts was aimed at blocking off key insurgent supply routes into Fallujah. But yesterday the first signs the Brits were making headway with their hearts and minds approach started showing as locals welcomed them for the first time. Despite the death toll the troops have suffered both The Black Watch and The Queen's Dragoon Guards have been trying to acknowledge locals as they pass through their villages. In a crucial breakthrough an armoured unit from the Black Watch's Alpha Company was slowly moving through a tiny cluster of farms close to the Euphrates when they waved at families as they passed through. Children and their parents waved back at the armoured unit and smiled.
Posted by: Zhang Fei ||
11/23/2004 1:23:21 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Children and their parents waved back at the armoured unit and smiled
Apparently so did the suicide bomber a couple of days ago. Be wary.
Posted by: Rafael ||
11/23/2004 1:34 Comments ||
Top||
#2
In a crucial breakthrough ... they waved at families as they passed through. Children and their parents waved back at the armoured unit and smiled.
Hey - this is part of the softly-softly approach that worked so well in Ireland. Sorry, I mean Northern Ireland. Even if it takes a hundred years to reach a peace agreement (after giving up most of the island in the wake of centuries of periodic rebellions), it's well worth it.
#4
Ok, soooooooooo...what are they going to do with them now, feed them crumpets! Keep them boxed in, call the Americans to come in and dispatch the insurgents! No prisoners!! Prisoners equal UN and Red Cross interference and meddling.
#5
Time to bring in the Gurkhas to revenge their countrymen..
Posted by: Howard UK ||
11/23/2004 5:42 Comments ||
Top||
#6
...but make sure the 'embeds' aren't invited.
As to 'crucial breakthrough' - what a weird turn of phrase.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
11/23/2004 7:13 Comments ||
Top||
#7
This sounds like the "anvil" part of the strategy we heard about before we lowered the hammer on Fallujah. Any other reports of Fallujah fascists fleeing into the face of other US or UK troops to the south and east?
#9
It is. I think the sarcasm comes as a result of the criticism of US approaches in the north vs. the softer approach of the UK troops in the friendlier Shia south, earlier in the war. It did not go unnoticed that once the Black Watch engaged the southern perimeter below Baghdad, they quickly set aside the berets and took a harder approach when they came under serious attack - an implicit vindication of US tactics in the less friendly Sunni areas.
But that said, it is a good sign whenever the Iraqis welcome our work there.
#10
It is good news 2b, I think it's just that people are aware of what the MSM ('crucial breakthrough'??) could make of this: "massacre, war crimes, death of innocents, baby ducks!" as well as the danger to troops of suicide attackers and phony surrenders.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
11/23/2004 9:34 Comments ||
Top||
#11
in fact this "triangle of death" is (from what Ive read) a mixed area, with a largely Shiite rural population, and townspeople largely Sunnis who were brought in by Saddam as part of a deliberate effort at demographic change. The jihadis have been attacking Shiite pilgrims on the way south from Baghdad to the shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala. No love lost between the Shiite villagers and the insurgents.
I still dont think many people in the US realize the depths of intergroup hatred in Iraq, or its relationship to the current insurgency. We, both on the right and left, tend to think its all about *us* - either THEY love us, or they hate us - not realizing that THEY know we'll be gone eventually, and their relationships with, and hate for, each other is MUCH more important.
#12
It looks like this is a local Newcastle newspaper, a kind of CityBeat thing. In that case the audience will want to know that their boys are making friends in faraway places. Thus, after the hard facts of the hard & effective actions of the Watch and the Guards, a soft bit about how beloved they've made themselves over there.
Only the first part matters, and the journalist knows it. The rest is pro forma...probably something similar in every hard news article in the paper.
#15
Jules - not entirely THEIR challenge, I fear. A. If Iraq falls apart,and AQ can set up a base there, thats very bad for us.
B.If Iraq stays together, but with Sunnis completely excluded, thats not as bad as A, but reduces the value of Iraq as a model for the region, since most states in the region are Sunni.
Lex - I hope thats possible, but havent really seen any evidence thats happening. AFAICT, most Sunni Arabs support the insurgency, or at best are neutral.
#16
...The melting thing..wondering if the bad guys are starting to have to resort to heavier and heavier doses of pharmaceuticals to keep going.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/23/2004 14:03 Comments ||
Top||
#17
Those things you say are true, LH, but ulitamtely it IS their challenge.
Do you think our engagement there a time-unlimited proposition? If, over time, the resistance forces are replenished again and again by Iraqis, is it a smart proposition, not only in terms of our national security, but also with regard to our regional foreign policy goals and our interfacing with the Muslim world, to continue on the same path? We give all and they continue to act out like bloodthirsty savages who hate the word "peace"? Are they smart enough to recognize a chance for their families when they see it and are they savvy enough to take it?
My take is that the American people do not mind sacrificing IF it leads to a free, stable Iraq and IF there are signs that Iraq is healing and progressing. But if things get more hostile over the long run or less probable in terms of our strategic gains, continued sacrificial engagement will not fly with Americans, nor should it.
#18
that may well be the case Jules. Sometimes you DO have to accept a tactical defeat, and look to the next battlefield. I am not pessimistic now wrt to Iraq, but I cant say that couldnt change. But defeat it would be, if even scenario B takes place.
#20
A. If Iraq falls apart,and AQ can set up a base there, thats very bad for us. I see no scenario that leaves the Sunnis with their own state or quasi-state. Worst case (and reasonbaly likely IMO) is the Kurds and the Shia carve up the Sunni areas and the Sunnis are relegated to 2nd class citizens.
Its remarkable how little we know about what is going on in Iraq. There must be ongoing kurd on sunni conflict as the Kurds try to move back into the areas Saddam expelled them from, yet we hear nothing about it, even in the Kurdish media.
#22
Better to carve up the country if that isolates and separates the sunni problem from the decent functioning of the remainder. Sort of like isolating the IRA in Ulster: peace for 80-90% of the citizenry and hell for the rest is better than misery for 100%.
While we're on the British Isles analogy, there's no reason that Iraq can't have several levels of autonomy, as Britain does. Kurdistan could be like Scotland: an ethnic enclave with its own parliament and tax authority but otherwise subject to the laws of and economically and militarily integrated with a state dominated by a different ethnic group. Fine for the Scots, fine for the Kurds; neither the English/Welsh nor the Shi'a are in any serious way harmed.
As to the sunnis, they're the bloody Irish in all this. Peaceful ones get autonomy. The others get tanks and H-block.
#24
lex, it's my dream but only that. Stand alone sunni's would create the new home for Al Q. Stand alone Shia would be annexed into Iran. Stand alone Kurds would invade Turkey. Unfortunately we need the Kurds to threaten the Sunnis with death and the Shia to outvote them. Three legs to the stool. And that is what Iraq is, stool.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/23/2004 21:14 Comments ||
Top||
#25
:) ah, Mrs. D, you outflank and outclass me yet again. Fine, three legs then, so long as we don't fall between the stools
"Usually we keep the gloves on," said Army Capt. Erik Krivda, of Gaithersburg, Md., the senior officer in charge of the 1st Infantry Division's Task Force 2-2 tactical operations command center. "For this operation, we took the gloves off." Some artillery guns fired white phosphorous rounds that create a screen of fire that cannot be extinguished with water. Insurgents reported being attacked with a substance that melted their skin, a reaction consistent with white phosphorous burns. Kamal Hadeethi, a physician at a regional hospital, said, "The corpses of the mujahedeen which we received were burned, and some corpses were melted."
Posted by: Zhang Fei ||
11/23/2004 1:15:09 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
LMAO !
Posted by: God Save The World ||
11/23/2004 1:51 Comments ||
Top||
#2
white phosphere (sp) is an inciendenary device, but is it a chemical weapon? i overheard a guy in class claiming its a chemical weapon, making the bigger claim that the US is evil, yadda, yadda.
Does anyone have views on this? I always thought that it was an incienendary dispersal device - sure it maybe "chemical" based, but so it a stick of TNT>
#6
I've seen this mentioned before. The melting, that is. Some dude decrying the dangers of depleted uranium, "witnessed" in Afghanistan, after a battle, birds melting into tree branches. I think that there was a substance present, but not the depleted uranium.
Now, don't get me wrong... I am not a dope, but some 30 years ago, some joker dropped into my beer a farmaceuticum designed for schizophrenics, called trifenidyl. On normal people, it works like a strong hallucinogen. The reality changes dramatically, no visions like LSD, but inanimate objects become animate and yeah, the melting, plenty of it, it is almost zen-like. It took 3 days to wear that off completely. Since then, I am a bit weird. :-) It rewired my brain.
#10
Marines just introducing the "insurgents" to the concept of BBQing.
Posted by: Charles ||
11/23/2004 6:57 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Good point phil_b - but I really doubt that it has. Now, if there's an airstrike called in on where those 'insurgents' are cornered by the Black Watch, they *may* get a clue. If not, rinse and repeat...
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
11/23/2004 7:21 Comments ||
Top||
#12
WP is not classified as a che weapon.During the tunnel battles of Vietnam anti-war activst tried to claim using CS gas in the tunnels was chem warfare,didn't work.
#16
Smokeysinse, we care. Our military cares, because it ultimately degrades morale and unit cohesion.
War is organized violence - "kill people, break things". It takes leadership and discipline to walk the fine line at which we are effective without destroying future effectiveness.
#17
The left maintains that any weapon that is effective against the enemy is immoral. WP and CS gas are two examples, and so are cluster bombs, mines and DU rounds.
#19
melting huh? Just a preview of your afterlife, muj assholes. Kinda hot down there? Raisins too cooked to eat?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/23/2004 10:06 Comments ||
Top||
#20
The left maintains that any weapon that is effective against the enemy is immoral. WP and CS gas are two examples, and so are cluster bombs, mines and DU rounds.
During Vietnam it was napalm and the good ol' 50-cal.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/23/2004 10:21 Comments ||
Top||
#21
Anonymous2u, most automobile air bags use lead azide (PbN3) for propellant. Azides give off nitrogen gas (N2) quite explosively.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
11/23/2004 10:53 Comments ||
Top||
#22
Yah, I have a bit of a scar from my airbag too. Could not breathe from the powder when the thing inflated. Thanks for the info.
#25
Thanks for your feedback. I was wondering if any of you could provide a solid argument on why WP is not a chemical weapon. The difference, etc.
In my non-military opinion, WP is like a 'nade version of a flame thrower. But, I'd like to get a better argument than that next time I cross path with a "America is Evil" student.
#26
The airbags are packed with a powdery substance that is intended to serve as a lubricant when the airbag deploys, and the heat of the friction from the rapidly deploying bag usually burns it up. If you got burned, it was probably either from the powder as it burned up or the friction of your skin on the airbag as it was still deploying. No WP in there!
I can't imagine WP could be classified as a chemical weapon either. It's incendiary--not designed to be inhaled or absorbed through contact--although it burns on contact!
I recall reading of one engagement near the end of WWII when a Sherman gunner used WP against two Tiger tanks. Realizing his AP ammo wouldn't penetrate the Tiger's frontal armor, he used WP which caused the Tiger crews to think their tanks were on fire. They bailed out, leaving the two intact Tigers to be captured and disabled before they could chew up a bunch of Shermans.
Posted by: Dar ||
11/23/2004 12:10 Comments ||
Top||
#27
Hey Dar, thanks for that explanation. Makes absolute sense.
#28
Did a look-see on HowStuffWorks.com (which everybody here should have bookmarked already, right?). They say the powder is regular corn starch or talcum powder. Nothing fancy.
Posted by: Dar ||
11/23/2004 13:04 Comments ||
Top||
#29
#2
You have encountered a very old, and very common, lefty distortion, dating back at least to the Korean War. As usual, the left-conformists delight in crude semantic distortions, a common characteristic of mediocre minds who mistakenly regard themselves as cutting-edge elitists: WP is a "chemical," "chemical weapons" are prohibited, therefore WP is prohibited.
As you correctly point out, such substances as TNT, dynamite, and even the gasoline used by "revolutionaries" in their molotov cocktails are also chemicals, yet these are not banned.
These Military Chemicals are Not Considered to be Chemical Weapons Incendiary agents such as napalm and phosphorus are not considered to be CW agents since they achieve their effect mainly through thermal energy. Certain types of smoke screen may be poisonous in extremely high concentrations but, nonetheless, smoke ammunition is not classed as a chemical weapon since the poisonous effect is not the reason for their use. Plants, microorganisms, algae, etc. which produce toxins are not classed as chemical weapons even if the produced toxins belong to that class. Pathogenic microorganisms, mainly viruses and bacteria, are classed as biological weapons.
#31
Adding to what AC said, here is the official US position (which ICC aside, is the only position that matters to the commander in the field) on the use of incendiaries, from FM 27-1, The Law of Land Warfare:
36. Weapons Employing Fire
The use of weapons which employ fire, such as tracer ammunition, flamethrowers, napalm and other incendiary agents, against targets requiring their use is not violative of international law. They should not, however, be employed in such a way as to cause unnecessary suffering to individuals.
#34
It always amazes me when "war critics" jump on our tactics. Not you guys, but the reporters in the story and such.
White Phospherus (forgive my spelling) is one of the nastiest things around. As long as the compound has oxygen, it will continue to burn until the compound burns itself out. As far as using WP for only smoke (old spook), not true. Mix it with High Explosive artillery rounds and you have what is called a "shake and bake". Guarnteeed to lay some serious shapnel and burning damage on the enemy. But it is not a chemical weapon and its not just for smoke anymore.
Depleted Urainium (DU) is used in every modern tank as part of it armor. I stress the word modern. The A-10 uses DU rounds to punch through steel and other types of armor. The DU round gives off way less radiation then watching a TV. True statement. When we did site clean up in Bosnia, the DU had the same background radiation as dirt, steel and concrete. Ergo, you got the same radiation effect you get from being exposed to the sun.
Posted by: Pissed off Army ||
11/23/2004 14:44 Comments ||
Top||
#35
They should not, however, be employed in such a way as to cause unnecessary suffering to individuals.
Er, well-done instead of medium rare?
As long as the compound has oxygen, it will continue to burn until the compound burns itself out.
Sounds like a magnesium fire. Teacher in metal shop in HS melted down a small bar of that stuff as a demo and it burned white hot down to a little pile of ash.
#36
Willy Pete? What? Oh!
I'd have used it against that sob Fucker Tredrikson if I'd had any. Check out these Golden Flakers here, got a good crunch and even you can afford em.....
Posted by: Bill Peterson ||
11/23/2004 16:26 Comments ||
Top||
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.
The U.S. military has captured what officials termed a senior Sunni commander in Iraq, near the Syrian border. The military said the Marine Corps detained the top commander in Al Anbar province in western Iraq. The commander, who was not identified, was one of six insurgents captured on Nov. 21 in the Anbar town of Haqlaniya. "One of the six detainees is believed to be a high-ranking cell leader of anti-Iraqi forces operating in and around the Al Anbar province," the military said in a statement on Monday. The military did not provide additional details.
As tanks geared up to trample Fallujah and American troops started circling the city, special operations officers rifled through their CD cases, searching for a sound track to spur the assault. What would irk Iraqi insurgents more: Barking dogs or bluegrass? Screaming babies or shrieking feedback?
Troops have killed 20 militants in raids on a seminary and a camp in 
BAQOUBA, Iraq Another Sunni cleric has been gunned down in Iraq -- the second in two days. The man killed today was a member of the Association of Muslim Scholars. The influential Sunni group is urging all Iraqis to boycott the January elections. Police say he was shot dead by masked gunmen after dawn prayers at a mosque north of Baghdad. Yesterday, unknown gunmen killed another prominent Sunni cleric in Mosul. It's unclear if there's a connection between the two killings.
