KABUL (AFP) US-led troops and Afghan security forces on Sunday killed a "significant" number of militants, the coalition said, a day after 15 Taliban were killed in attacks in the south. The coalition did not give an exact toll but a local MP said the battle in eastern Nuristan province, in which warplanes were also deployed, left 20 people dead including some civilians.
"The combined force repelled the attack with accurate small-arms fire and crew-served weapons. During the long battle, the insurgents reinforced their positions in several compounds with large groups of fighters," a statement by the US-led coalition said. We were running low on targets so they graciously re-stocked.
It added that troops "inflicted significant insurgent losses" and that many rebels had been detained.
The statement said the fighters were members of Hizb-e-Islami, an outlawed militant group loyal to the former Afghan prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who is said to have joined the Taliban.
Bringing all his ferocious war-fighting skillz with him, like how to throw a grenade ...
Earlier, the defence ministry said 15 Taliban insurgents were killed in separate raids by Afghan and NATO troops in the southern province of Kandahar on Saturday. The interior ministry meanwhile said a senior Taliban commander whom it described as a deputy to Taliban top military commander Mullah Mansoor Dadullah was captured in Kandahar city. Don't these 'leaders' ever go down fighting?
#3
ION, WAFF.com > LA TIMES - NATO SUPPORTS BUSH ON MISSLE DEFENSE PLAN; + NATO ORDERS MISSLE DEFENCE STUDY -TELLS RUSSIA TO LINK DEFENCES.
The last article and siminlar should be of importance to PUTIN + MULLAH OMAR-TALIBAN, as it alludes to the looming irrelevancy of Putin = Russia's desired "MULTIPOLAR WORLD", WID POST-COLD WAR RUSS AS A DECISIVE PLAYER ON PAR WID THE USA, ESPEC IFF OSAMA = RADICAL ISLAM SUCCEED IN ACQUIRING POTENT NUCLEAR-WMD ARSENALS VV RUSS-ASIA [unsecure].
My interpretation of OSAMA BIN LADEN's most recent anti-VATICAN/EUROPE MSGS IS THAT OSAMA + RADICAL ISLAM DO NOT INTEND FOR POST-COLD WAR RUSSIA-ASIA TO BE A PAR PLAYER IN ANYTHING. "Multipolar" will be redux to TWO [US-West versus Nuclear Islamism-Terror], to be redux again later to ONE/MONOPOLAR [OWG Nuclear Global Islamism-State]??? IOW, NUCLEAR ISLAMISM WILL REPLACE THE COLD WAR SOVIET UNION + COMMIE BLOC vv US-NATO/WEST.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A roadside bomb killed a Canadian soldier in southern Afghanistan, while a suicide attack in the same region left three policemen and a civilian dead, officials said. Canadian Pvt. Terry John Street, 24, died Friday in the volatile Panjwaii district west of Kandahar city, long a hotbed of Taliban activity, said Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche, the commander of Canadian forces in Afghanistan.
He said his soldiers were helping bring hope to the people of the war-torn nation. "This is why our brave men and women accept the risk of this mission, he said. "I can only hope these thoughts will be of some comfort to the family and friends of Pvt. Street _ the 82nd Canadian soldier to have died.
In the suicide attack, a bomber blew himself up near a police vehicle on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, said provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal. In addition to the four deaths, seven civilians and another policeman were wounded.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/06/2008 00:00 ||
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Four foreigners suspected of having links with Al Qaeda have been arrested from the Dera Murad Jamali area of Nasirabad district. They were travelling in a Peshawar-bound bus. The suspects are Turkish nationals. They were going to Jacobabad when security officials intercepted the bus on Thursday night, sources told Dawn. They were handed over to the authorities in Quetta for interrogation.
According to sources, the bus coming from Quetta was intercepted by the Frontier Corps personnel on a tip-off. A large quantity of high explosives, 1,600 rounds of sub-machine gun, a laptop, 10 Jihadi books, CDs and a digital camera were found in their possession. Fake Afghan refugee cards and dollars and riyals were also seized.
The sources said that three of the suspects carried Turkish passports, while the fourth man, also a Turkish national, had no travel documents. They might have links with Al Qaeda, the sources said, adding that initial investigations suggested that they were planning to attack an airbase in Jacobabad being used by the US for providing logistic support to its forces in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
Abdul Hameed of Narang Mandi in Sheikhupura district and Allah Wadaya of Shujabad in Multan district were involved in the suicide attack on the Naval War College, according to the National Registration and Database Authority (Nadra) record and DNA tests.
Police said here on Friday that fingerprints and remains of the bombers bodies were used to identify them. Both had links with a banned militant organisation. Sources said that raids were being conducted to apprehend the man who had masterminded the attack.
This article starring:
Abdul Hameed
Allah Wadaya
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2008 00:00 ||
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[11128 views]
Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi
#1
US ARMY War College, CARLYLYE PA = CARLYLE INVESTMENT GROUP???
BAHAWALNAGAR: District police arrested eight alleged suicide bombers and seized suicide jackets and related detonation material from their possession. Bahawalnagar District Police Officer Syed Zafar Abbas Bokhari told media on Saturday that 45 kilogrammes of explosive material had also been seized from the suspected bombers. The DPO alleged that Maulana Farooq Ahmad Rajan Puri, the chief of a local madrassa, was the ringleader of the gang and had been involved in planning an attack on the residence of ex-minister Ejazul Haq on December 30.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
MND-B aerial weapons team kills 9 criminals
Multi-National Division Baghdad PAO
BAGHDAD An aerial weapons team from Multi-National Division Baghdad killed nine Special Groups criminals who attacked Iraqi Army soldiers with rocket-propelled grenades in Baghdad at approximately 8 a.m. April 6.
After they were observed firing rocket-propelled grenades at the Iraqi Army soldiers, the air weapons team engaged the attackers by firing a Hellfire missile killing three.
The team identified four more criminals fleeing the scene and attempting to their hide weapons in a vehicle. The AWT fired a missile and destroyed the vehicle, killing six criminals. Identified four, two more killed as lagniappe.
No Coalition forces or civilian casualties have been reported. Doesn't sound like any bad guys got away, or will escape from jail in the future.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/06/2008 21:24 Comments ||
Top||
#2
See also WAFF.com > STRATEGYPAGE - THE BAD GUYS COME OUT TO DIE. Sunni Arab, AQ, + Shia Insurgent-Militant, etc. relearn what Vietnam -era Commie predecessors did - D *** NG IT, DON'T FIRE/SHOOT AT THAT KIND OF HELICOPTER [AH-! COBRAS then, AH64's APACHES now].
Gotta get the spin in before Petraeus testifies... our Donk "friends" and Iran enemies working "manicured hand in fist"
Suspected Shiite militants lobbed rockets and mortar shells into the U.S.-protected Green Zone and a military base elsewhere in Baghdad on Sunday, killing three American troops and wounding 31, officials said.
The attacks occurred as U.S. and Iraqi forces battled Shiite militants in Sadr City in some of the fiercest fighting since radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered a cease-fire a week ago. At least 16 Iraqi civilians were killed and nearly 100 wounded in the fighting, according to hospital officials.
A military official said two U.S. troops died and 17 were wounded in the attack on the Green Zone, which houses the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government headquarters in central Baghdad. Another American service member was killed and 14 were wounded in the attack on a base in the southeastern Baghdad area of Rustamiyah, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.
The U.S. military said separately that an American soldier was killed Sunday in a roadside bombing in the volatile Diyala province north of Baghdad. A U.S. soldier assigned to the division operating south of the capital also died Sunday from non-combat related injuries, according to a statement.
A senior U.S. military official said the rockets were fired at the Green Zone from Sadr City, while the mortar shells came from another predominantly Shiite neighborhood in eastern Baghdad, New Baghdad. U.S. commanders have blamed what they call Iranian-backed rogue militia groups for launching missiles against American forces.
The strikes occurred despite a strong push by the U.S. military to prevent militants from using suspected launching sites on the southern edge of Sadr City, the Baghdad stronghold of the Mahdi Army of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Fierce fighting erupted in Sadr City earlier Sunday after Iraqi troops backed by U.S. soldiers and attack helicopters tried to advance deeper into the enclave of some 2.5 million people. American helicopters also fired Hellfire missiles that destroyed a vehicle and killed nine militants who were attacking Iraqi security forces with rocket-propelled grenades in the area, the military said in a statement.
The surge in violence came as tensions rose in Shiite areas despite al-Sadr's cease-fire order issued March 30 that eased nearly a week of clashes in Baghdad, Basra and other cities in the Shiite south. The cleric stopped short of asking his fighters to surrender their weapons, and sporadic clashes have continued.
The inability of the Iraqi security forces to curb the militias has cast doubt on their ability to take over their own security two days before the top American officials in Iraq - Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker - are to brief Congress on the prospects for further reductions in the U.S. troop presence in Iraq.
Al-Sadr has called for a "million-strong" anti-U.S. demonstration on Wednesday in Baghdad to protest the fifth anniversary of the capture of the Iraqi capital by invading U.S. troops.
At the edge of Sadr City, Lt. Col. Dan Barnett, the commander of the 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, said Iraqi forces had come under sustained fire overnight after establishing checkpoints deeper into the Shiite district. "They're working to establish control," he said, speaking to a small group of reporters as heavy gunfire resounded outside a joint U.S.-Iraqi base.
Mortar shells also fell on a popular commercial area in the Jamila neighborhood, setting a fire that burned some 100 shops, according to the Baghdad military command. It said fire fighters came under heavy gunfire that slowed their efforts to extinguish the flames. A local fire official said the mortars had been aimed at a U.S.-occupied police station but fell short. That report could not be independently verified.
Last week, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, himself a Shiite, ordered a nationwide freeze on Iraqi raids against Shiite militants, bowing to demands by al-Sadr who had hinted at retaliation if Iraqi security forces continue to arrest his followers.
U.S. commanders said they will fight back to maintain control of a swath of territory on the southern edge of Sadr City that has been used as a launching site for rockets aimed at the Green Zone, which has come under steady fire since the current tensions began. "Where we have criminal elements that are threatening the security and peace of the people of Iraq, we take action," said Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, the top commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/06/2008 20:26 ||
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Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq A local tip led Iraqi Security Forces to the largest explosively-formed penetrator cache found to date in Multi-National Division Centers area of operation, April 2.
The munitions were discovered in a 6-ton truck in a garage in al Qasim, Iraq.
The cache contained more than 1000 EFP components, more than 3000 pounds of explosives and multiple 107 mm rockets and stands. The cache also included more than 200 C-4 demolition charges, more than 10,000 feet of detonation cord, more than 2,000 projectile boosters, 10 devices used to detonate improvised explosive devices, 250 PKC rounds, and myriad land mines and mortar types.
The ISF continue to confiscate the lethal tools of the enemy, disrupt the enemys freedom of maneuver, and apprehend key members of the (criminal) leadership, said Capt. Michael Ranado, 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division spokesperson. The Iraqi Police and Iraqi Army have successfully provided security for the people of the Babil province and continue vigilantly to do so.
The cache was moved to the Joint Coordination Center in Hillah.
BAGHDAD The U.S. military says rocket or mortar attacks against the U.S.-protected Green Zone and a military base elsewhere in Baghdad have killed three American service members and wounded 31.
A military official says two U.S. troops were killed and 17 wounded when rockets struck the Green Zone in central Baghdad. The official says another American service member died and 14 were wounded in another attack on a military base in the southeastern area of Rustamiyah.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity for lack of authorization to release the information.
Sunday's attacks come amid fierce clashes between Shiite militia fighters and U.S.-Iraqi forces.
FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq A local tip led Iraqi Security Forces to the largest explosively-formed penetrator cache found to date in Multi-National Division Centers area of operation, April 2.
The munitions were discovered in a 6-ton truck in a garage in al Qasim, Iraq.
The cache contained more than 1000 EFP components, more than 3000 pounds of explosives and multiple 107 mm rockets and stands. The cache also included more than 200 C-4 demolition charges, more than 10,000 feet of detonation cord, more than 2,000 projectile boosters, 10 devices used to detonate improvised explosive devices, 250 PKC rounds, and myriad land mines and mortar types.
That's some serious Iranian munitions. A 6-ton truck load of it. Hmmm.
#5
a US Army helicopter killed nine "criminals" in Sadr City. "We do have reports of an air weapons team engagement, a US helicopter, where nine criminals were killed at around 8:00 AM," Rayan told Voices of Iraq.
IRANIAN forces were involved in the recent battle for Basra, General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, is expected to tell Congress this week. Nancy Pelosi won't like that...
... she's already told him what she wants to hear ...
Military and intelligence sources believe Iranians were operating at a tactical command level with the Shiite militias fighting Iraqi security forces; some were directing operations on the ground, they think. Mahdis getting their master's orders
... while their fearless leader Reg Mookie was forced to remain behind in Iran ...
Petraeus intends to use the evidence of Iranian involvement to argue against any reductions in US forces.
Dr Daniel Goure, a defence analyst at the Lexington Institute in Virginia, said: There is no question that Petraeus will be tough on Iran. It is one thing to withdraw troops when there is purely sectarian fighting but it is another thing if it leaves the Iranians to move in.
Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite Iranian Tool cleric, has called for 1m people to march on Baghdad on Wednesday the fifth anniversary of the fall of the capital when Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador to Iraq, will be briefing Congress.
Further evidence that Iran wants the Basra affair to be seen in the U.S. as another Tet ...
A senior Iraqi official who met Petraeus last week said, It will be difficult to show that the situation is improving. Another Iraqi source described the US general as furious that al-Maliki moved against the militias into Basra without consultation and had to rely on US forces to bail him out.
Exactly who got bailed out? Sadr's boys asked for the ceasefire ...
Abu Ahmed, a senior military commander with the Awakening, the Sunni tribal movement cooperating with US forces, said progress was largely the result of al-Sadrs Mahdi Army ceasefire. When the Mahdi Army decides to resume its activities, neither the American troops nor the Iraqi government will be able to stop it, he said. I'd bet that he's wrong
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/06/2008 11:47 ||
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Top|| File under: IRGC
#1
I believe we are witnessing two things:
1. A low intensity Iran/Iraq war
2. A beginning of the shifting of the center of Shiite influence from Iran to Iraq.
Iran will fight that shifting of influence tooth and nail.
#4
Agree, Pappy, but there's a whole lot of 'accidents' just waiting to happen, assuming we have a competent CIA that can keep its mouth shut for a while ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/06/2008 15:14 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Seems like some big assumptions these days, Doc.
#8
Good. The Iranians will stick out like sore thumbs among Basra's Arab Shia. The Iraqi Army has no bag limit searching house to house.
Posted by: ed ||
04/06/2008 17:20 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Oh. Be sure to parade the Iranians on the street before many television cameras.
Posted by: ed ||
04/06/2008 17:21 Comments ||
Top||
#10
So the Iranians chipped in with help, and Mookie still had to ask for a cease-fire? And now his former political allies have joined with his opponents and told him "disarm or your candidates are out of the election"?
Sounds like Mookie and the Iranians lost, big time.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
04/06/2008 20:06 Comments ||
Top||
AQI seems to have slept through their Dale Carnegie course.
Seems like university students are unarmed and vulnerable the world over. Maybe the first semester should be taught by drill instructors instead of professors?
MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) Gunmen on Sunday kidnapped 42 university students near Iraq's northern city of Mosul. Local army commander Brigadier General Khalid Abdul Sattar said the gunmen ambushed two buses which were ferrying students to Mosul from their homes in Shurkat, 70 kilometres (40 miles) south of Iraq's main northern city.
"Unidentified gunmen kidnapped 42 students of Mosul University. They were ambushed and kidnapped in an area called Jorum on a highway near Mosul," said Sattar, spokesman for Mosul's security plan.
"One of the two buses managed to escape although the gunmen fired at it and wounded three students. The kidnappers later fled after taking control of the other bus carrying 42 students," he told AFP.
Posted by: Glenmore ||
04/06/2008 08:50 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
#1
Update:
Iraqi police say gunmen have released the 42 college students they kidnapped earlier in the day near the northern city of Mosul.
Brig. Gen. Khalif Abdul-Sattar says the gunmen initially released the only two girls aboard the hijacked bus. They later set free remaining occupants after making sure they were not members of the security forces.
Alternative update says the students were freed by IA forces.
The three wounded students were taken to a local hospital while Iraqi Forces searched for the missing students.
The soldiers identified a dump truck with a tarp over the back behaving suspiciously. The vehicle was stopped after warning shots were fired. The driver and passenger fled to a local residence.
Some of the students also left the area immediately after the truck was stopped. Thirty-four students were picked up by Iraqi Security Forces at the scene. The other eight students were picked up at a local combat outpost.
All 42 students are accounted for and are safe.
The three kidnappers were positively identified by the hostages and detained by Iraqi Police.
BAGHDAD Iraqi Army soldiers and innocent Iraq civilians were attacked by small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades during a humanitarian mission in the Sadr City district of Baghdad at approximately 10 a.m. April 5.
Iraqi Army soldiers were handing out water and food to local residents when the attack from criminals occurred. Two innocent civilians were wounded in the attack.
A military transition team with Multi-National Division Baghdad was supporting the Iraqi Army soldiers prior to the attack. The IA soldiers immediately returned fire. No killed or wounded from the criminal attackers has been confirmed. Better get these soldiers some more range time.
These criminals have terrorized the civilians of Sadr City, preventing them from working or providing for their families, said Lt. Col. John Digiambattista, operations officer for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. This was a humanitarian aid mission trying to make life better for innocent Iraqi citizens. If their lives are made better then their would-be 'leaders' will have more trouble inciting them to bitch at & attack the current government.
This mission was attacked by dishonorable criminals who are ignoring al-Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadrs ceasefire."
Posted by: Glenmore ||
04/06/2008 00:38 ||
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#1
BAGHDAD Iraqi Army soldiers and innocent Iraq civilians were attacked by small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades during a humanitarian mission in the Sadr City district of Baghdad at approximately 10 a.m. April 5.
Basra & Sadr City, my 2¢,
I'm afraid that Maliki is dumber than he appears.
Why?
For years Maliki has had the Golden Opportunity to listen to the Best Military Minds in the World, AND see those American Generals put those ideas into action along with the best War Fighting technology in the World.
[Those YEARS should have clued Maliki in, that he was amongst intelectually superior minds especially superior Military Minds and that he 'twasn't One of 'em]
I'm afraid he's no better than most Arab politicians who promise that Dire Apocalyptic Horrors will befall their enemies ['Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi army] BUT in the end settle for a strategic TIE.
Bill Roggio: Members of Malikis Dawa political party approached the leader of Iran's Qods Force asking him to get Sadr to stop the fighting. Shortly afterward, Sadr ordered his troops to withdraw from fighting and issued a nine-point statement of demands for the Iraqi government.
Last question:
How smart are you when you have the Unbelievable Fortune to have General David Petraeus plus staff with his unmatched military machine at your disposal, And yet you refuse to ask him for his help? [until afterwards]
And on top of that incredibly stupid Blunder you decide to Blunder Forth by playing Generalissimo yourself.
#2
There are other interpretations, though. Maliki wouldn't have started the operation if he hadn't thought he could win. It was supposed to be a purely Iraqi operation -- ostentatiously without U.S. help, in fact. The breakdown of segments of his force left him standing naked in the schoolyard of Iraqi politix with his organ in his hand.
Had he succeeded, he'd have been in the cat bird seat with regard to Iraqi politix and the U.S. forces. It was his bad luck that the best Iraqi military minds aren't up to the standard of the U.S. But he did have some reason for confidence. The Iraqi army has historically been an instrument for suppressing the populace, not for winning wars.
Nor were the Iraqi forces defeated, especially once he called for U.S. and British help. His most serious problem was that he had egg on his face.
What good did come out of it was that the cessation of hostilities was set up by elements within the Dawa party. At least now he knows which one's Tessio and which one's Clemenza.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2008 8:18 Comments ||
Top||
#3
There are indeed other interpretations. Consider:
You're a prime minister, a compromise candidate who was placed into power, and considered to be be both and simultaneously a tool of the Dawa party, the White House, the radical Shiites, and the Iranians. You're also trying to hold a fragile coalition together, with parties joining and resigning as they or their masters jockey for power.
Your background is nationalist; you were under a death sentence by Hussein's Baathist government. You've clashed with the coalition forces over their use of force and over some of their operations, the State Department over Blackwater, and your own political parties. You've pissed off the Americans by inviting the Iranians to come and train your military. On the plus side, most of the Democrats despise you and think you're incompetent.
Then the Mahdi army and Iranian-backed criminal elements begin overtly acting up. They control the oil export apparatus and transport system. They're in defiance of the central government and in conflict with the Dawas and Sistani's group (your two main backers). You think if you don't make a move, you're going to lose face.
But you're a nationalist. You don't want to be seen as a tool of the Americans. You sure as hell don't trust the British. You also don't want to completely alienate the Shiite community in the south and drive them all into the arms of Sadr, or the Iranians.
So you gamble that your own forces can do the job...
#5
Iraqi Politics make Medusa's snaky hair look inviting.
Post Operation Knights'
Bill Roggio: The Iraqi government has now essentially co-opted the same strategy of dealing with the Mahdi Army as the US military instituted in late 2006. The strategy works to divide the Mahdi Army into legitimate actors and criminal groups. This strategy allows for the government to target the illegal elements of the Mahdi Army in raids under the mantle of the law. US and Iraqi security forces have conducted numerous operations against the Special Groups using this method. This has caused schisms inside the Mahdi Army, with some elements breaking off to receive support from Iran and others defying Sadrs orders to lay down their weapons.
The major political parties in the ruling Coalition remain united in supporting the offensive against the Mahdi Army and the Iranian-backed Special Groups cells. President Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barazani, the president of the Kurdish Regional Government reiterated their support for the operation on Friday, while Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki ratcheted up the rhetoric against the Shia terror groups.
Maliki called the Shia terrorists "worse than al Qaeda" and vowed to remain in Basrah until the operation is completed. "Our determination is strong ... those who break the law are punished, and those who draw their weapons in the face of the state are punished," Maliki said on Iraqi state television.
***
Love the analysis Fred and Pappy, wish we had more...
The Arab politician Maliki can afford to gamble the lives of Iraqi soldiers [lack of readiness, reserves, replenishment] and throw them into the snake pit of Basra, and to a lesser extent Sadr City etc.
[my opinion of political or military leadership that throw American soldiers lives away for the sake of War politics is unprintable, even though i recognize it must be done occasionally, even so I reject it]
Perhaps Maliki politics will look absolutely brilliant in time, anyhoo politically he's is allot smarter than my opinion of his looks and military judgement alone.. ~:)
#6
The Arab politician Maliki can afford to gamble the lives of Iraqi soldiers [lack of readiness, reserves, replenishment] and throw them into the snake pit of Basra, and to a lesser extent Sadr City etc
It's not necessarily a matter of 'affording'. It may a matter of dire necessity. There is a difference.
U.S. forces are pushing Shiite militias farther from the Green Zone in an attempt to put the area out of range for rockets and mortars that have recently pounded the diplomatic and government enclave.
The strategy - which targets the southern outskirts of the Shiite district of Sadr City - began as part of a wider crackdown on armed Shiite groups that left Iraqi leaders in disarray after strong resistance and protests from the powerful Mahdi Army militia.
But for American commanders, the showdowns offered an opportunity to move against the launch sites, known as "rocket boxes," which soldiers previously had not reached through the teeming Sadr City streets.
U.S. troops reinforced positions on the edges of Sadr City - an 8-square-mile slum with about 2.5 million people - and have battled their way into suspected launch sites. "We've seized the 'rocket boxes' and pushed them north," said Col. John Hort, commander of the Third Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
The 107 mm rockets typically used by the militiamen could hit the Green Zone if fired from the southern edges of Sadr City, about 3.5 miles northeast of the zone. The rockets can be launched from mobile platforms. Mortars, too, can be done in a fire-and-hide style.
Militants used a few 122 mm rockets, which can be fired from far deeper inside Sadr City where there is no American presence, but they seem to have few of those weapons.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
#1
We STILL need an ARCLIGHT-type strike in Iraq. That, and that alone, would put the fear of God into the Sadr Army - and give the Iranian generals second, third, and fourth thoughts. Failing to use your most potent weapon is foolish. Ask any member of the NVA that was anywhere in hearing distance of an ARCLIGHT strike what they thought of them. You'll get an earful, and you can noticibly see them shake as they think about them. I hope the idiot in the Pentagon that ruled against them has been fired.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/06/2008 13:40 Comments ||
Top||
#3
OP someday you may get your wish, the Iranians come to mind.
If only the leadership in Qom and Tehran were stripped of their "man"-dresses and were stood out on a flat plain and could feel the HEAT of a Hydrogen Weapon say 1 mega-ton from 10 miles..
Or feel the concussive effects of an Arc-Light mission with 500/750/1000 lb bombs going off at their high sequential rate from 1/2 mile LOL!
Or have a cup-full of burning Napalm stuck to their feet, then I believe even these heartless dick-weeds might consider changing the course in their rat race to death.
A joint police military operation has led to the discovery of a training camp used by the Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK) terrorist militant group. Members of the group had already fled the area when a team comprising 50 security officials raided and destroyed the jihadi rebel groups base on top of Ta Beh mountain in Mayo district, Pattani province. Authorities found uniforms, home-made weapons including guns and knives inside a cottage near the training camp.
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
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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.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A roadside bomb killed a Canadian soldier in southern Afghanistan, while a suicide attack in the same region left three policemen and a civilian dead, officials said. Canadian Pvt. Terry John Street, 24, died Friday in the volatile Panjwaii district west of Kandahar city, long a hotbed of Taliban activity, said Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche, the commander of Canadian forces in Afghanistan.
Four foreigners suspected of having links with Al Qaeda have been arrested from the Dera Murad Jamali area of Nasirabad district. They were travelling in a Peshawar-bound bus. The suspects are Turkish nationals. They were going to Jacobabad when security officials intercepted the bus on Thursday night, sources told Dawn. They were handed over to the authorities in Quetta for interrogation.
FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq A local tip led Iraqi Security Forces to the largest explosively-formed penetrator cache found to date in Multi-National Division Centers area of operation, April 2. 
IRANIAN forces were involved in the recent battle for Basra, General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, is expected to tell Congress this week. 
U.S. forces are pushing Shiite militias farther from the Green Zone in an attempt to put the area out of range for rockets and mortars that have recently pounded the diplomatic and government enclave.
