#5
Looks like a satellite dish. She's obviously using it to communicate with extraterrestrials.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/27/2008 11:55 Comments ||
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#6
No Monica, you wear the tin-foil on top of your head!
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/27/2008 12:28 Comments ||
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#7
She's a spy. It's a listening dish. Very effective for a range of 20 yrds. Drawback--very visible, although the victim may thing she is just endowed by a keen fashion sennse.
GARMSER, Afghanistan For two years British troops staked out a presence in this small district center in southern Afghanistan and fended off attacks from the Taliban. The constant firefights left it a ghost town, its bazaar broken and empty but for one baker, its houses and orchards reduced to rubble and weeds.
But it took the Marines, specifically the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, about 96 hours to clear out the Taliban in a fierce battle in the past month and push them back about 6 miles.
It was their first major combat operation since landing in March, and it stood in stark contrast to the events of a year earlier, when a Marine unit was removed in disgrace within weeks of arriving because its members shot and killed 19 civilians after a suicide bombing attack.
This time, the performance of the latest unit of marines, here in Afghanistan for seven months to help bolster NATO forces, will be under particular scrutiny. The NATO-led campaign against the Taliban has not only come under increasing pressure for its slow progress in curbing the insurgency, but it has also been widely criticized for the high numbers of civilian casualties in the fighting.
The marines drive against the Taliban in this large farming region is certainly not finished, and the Taliban have often been pushed out of areas in Afghanistan only to return in force later. But for the British forces and Afghan residents here, the result of the recent operation has been palpable.
The district chief returned to his job from his refuge in the provincial capital within days of the battle and 200 people including 100 elders of the community gathered for a meeting with him and the British to plan the regeneration of the town.
They have disrupted the Talibans freedom of movement and pushed them south, and that has created the grounds for us to develop the hospital and set the conditions for the government to come back, said Maj. Neil Den-McKay, the officer commanding a company of the Royal Regiment of Scotland based here. People have already started coming back to villages north of the town, he said, adding, There has been huge optimism from the people.
For the marines, it was a chance to hit the enemy with the full panoply of their firepower in places where they were confident there were few civilians. The Taliban put up a tenacious fight, rushing in reinforcements in cars and vans from the south and returning repeatedly to the attack, but they were beaten back in four days by three companies of marines, two of which were dropped in by helicopter to the southeast.
In the days after the assault began, hundreds of families, their belongings packed high on tractor-trailers, fled north from villages in the southern part of the battle zone, according to marines staffing a checkpoint. The Taliban told them to leave as the fighting began, they said. Hospital officials in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, reported receiving eight civilian casualties as a result of the fighting, including a 14-year-old boy who died from his injuries. The marines did not sustain any casualties, but one was killed and two were wounded in subsequent clashes.
Marines from the units Company C said the reaction from the returning civilians, mostly farmers, had been favorable. Everyone says they dont like the Taliban, said Capt. John Moder, 34, the commander of the company. People had complained that the Taliban stole food, clothes and vehicles from them, he said.
There are about 34,000 American troops in Afghanistan, with more than 3,000 marines having been sent into the country after NATO requested additional help in the south, where the Taliban are particularly strong.
The deployment occurred almost a year after up to 19 unarmed civilians were killed and 50 people wounded on March 4, 2007, when a Marine convoy opened fire after a suicide car bomb wounded one marine. On Friday, the Marine Corps said it would not bring charges against two of the commanding officers from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit for the episode, a decision that was greeted with dismay in Afghanistan.
The commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, Gen. Dan K. McNeill, had a checklist of tasks around the country for 3,200 marines when they arrived in March. But the majority of them have spent a month in Garmser after changing their original plan, which was to secure a single road here, when they realized how important the area was to the Taliban as an infiltration and supply route to fighters in northern part of Helmand Province.
This is an artery, and we did not realize that when we squeezed that artery, it would have such an effect, said First Lt. Mark Matzke, the executive officer of Company C.
They also realized it was worth exploiting their initial success. The whole area was unexpectedly welcoming to the American forces and eager for security and development, Captain Moder said. Us pushing the Taliban out allows the Afghan National Army to come in, he said. This is a real breadbasket here. Theres a lot of potential here.
This southern part of Helmand Province, along the Helmand River valley, is prime agricultural land and still benefits from the large-scale irrigation plan kicked off by American government assistance in the 1950s and 1960s. It has traditionally been the main producer of wheat and other crops for the country. During the last 30 years of war, however, the area has given way to poppy production, providing a large percentage of the crop that has made Afghanistan the producer of 98 percent of the worlds opium.
The region has long been an infiltration route for insurgents coming across the southern border with Pakistan, crossing from Baluchistan Province in Pakistan via an Afghan refugee camp known as Girdi Jungle. The Taliban, and the drug runners, then race across a region known ominously as the desert of death until they reach the river valley, which provides the ideal cover of villages and greenery.
With such a large area under their control, the Taliban were able to gather in numbers, stockpile weapons and provide a logistics route to send fighters and weapons into northern Helmand and the provinces of Kandahar and Oruzgan beyond.
The Taliban, who kicked out villagers and took over their farmhouses, were also mixed with an unusual proportion of Arabs and Pakistanis, Major Den-McKay said. Imagine that.
The majority of elements in this area are Arab and Pakistani, and the locals detest them, he said. The insurgent commanders were from Iran, which shares a border with Afghanistan to the southwest, as well as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, he said.
Afghan villagers confirmed that there were local Afghan Taliban fighting, too. But they also said that there were Pakistanis, ethnic Baluchis from southern Iran and Arabs fighting as well.
Locals complained that the Taliban taxed them heavily on the opium harvest. They demanded up to about 30 pounds of opium from every farmer, which was more than the entire harvest of some, so they were forced to go and buy opium to meet the demand, said Abdul Taher, a 45-year-old farmer.
We had a lot of trouble these last two years, said Sher Ahmad, 32. We are very grateful for the security, said his father, Abdul Nabi, the elder of a small hamlet in the village of Hazarjoft, a few miles south of Garmser. We dont need your help, just security, he said.
Villagers were refusing humanitarian aid offered by the marines because the Taliban were already infiltrating back and threatening anyone who took it, Lieutenant Matzke said.
After a month in the region, the marines have secured only half of a roughly six-square-mile area south of Garmser. Taliban forces operating out of two villages are still attacking the southern flank of the marines and are even creeping up to fire at British positions on the edge of the town.
But the bigger test will come in the next few weeks as the marines move on and the Afghans, supported by the British, take over. The concern here is that the Taliban will try to blend in among the returning villagers and orchestrate attacks.
Major Den-McKay said they were ready. The threat will migrate from direct attacks to suicide attacks and roadside bombs, he said.
Now on his fourth tour in Afghanistan, Major Den-McKay said he had seen considerable progress in the confidence and ability of the Afghan security forces. Reinforcements of the police, trained and mentored by the British and Americans, have already moved in and are working well with border police and intelligence service personnel, he said.
The marines, meanwhile, prepare for their next move. To the south are miles upon miles of uncontrolled territory where the Taliban still operate freely, as well as a dozen other districts around the country demanding their attention.
#2
Fascinating. Clicking on the journalist's name, it appears Ms. Gall has been roaming Afghanistan for a while, writing on the happenings there and in Pakistan.
#3
It was their first major combat operation since landing in March, and it stood in stark contrast to the events of a year earlier, when a Marine unit was removed in disgrace within weeks of arriving because its members shot and killed 19 civilians after a suicide bombing attack.
The tribunal investigated allegations that as many as 19 Afghan civilians died when a unit of Lejeune-based Marine special operations troops opened fire after a car bomb targeted their convoy on March 4, 2007 in Nangahar Province.
The Marines said Helland determined the Marines in the convoy gacted appropriately and in accordance with the rules of engagement and tactics, techniques and procedures in place at the time in response to a complex attack.h
An Army report determined up to 19 Afghans were killed, but the officers lawyers said they believed the death toll was no more than five.
Norwegian soldiers have been engaged in heated battles against the Taliban in northern Afghanistan this month. Military officials claim 13 Taliban soldiers were killed.
Around 250 Norwegian soldiers were involved in the mid-May battles in Afghanistan's Badghis Province, the defense ministry reported. It's the second time Norwegian forces have been in armed conflict in Afghanistan in the past six months.
"We had a gathering to get ready for the evening," one soldier told Forsvarsnett, the militarys own official web site, while recalling the evening of May 13. "Suddenly there were explosions. They were firing all over."
The soldier said he and his colleagues "could hear the bullets... and a rocket landed 40 meters from where we were standing."
The Norwegians started firing back. Major Rune Wenneberg said the Taliban rebels conducted "a well-coordinated assault" from a distance of about 1,200 meters against Norway's Telemark Battalion. "The only dramatic moments were the first few seconds," Wenneberg claimed. "Then we did what we've been training to do at Rena, seize the initiative and respond with massive, precise fire."
The battle went on for several hours, with more in the days following. None of the Norwegian or allied soldiers were killed or wounded, claimed the military.
#1
Damn, this is great news, but, still, I'm somehow disappointed, I would have hoped they would have charged the taliban, running naked, foaming at the mouth and biting their shields...
#2
Hold tight to your dreams, anonymous5089, they may yet come true. In the meantime, the reality will certainly do. Besides, I thought only riot police carry shields these days?
#3
The Telemark Battalion -- named after the "heroes of Telemark" from WW2? If not, it should be.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/27/2008 13:11 Comments ||
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#4
TW, actually, that was a reference to Ye Olde berserkers, who did that a lot, they were supposedly impervious to harm while in transe (or drunk, or high with mushrooms); both celts and vikings (from where the name comes) had that type of behavior IIRC (and celts often painted their naked body blue, they were smurfs with swords, if you wish).
#5
Actually, I think it was the Picts that painted their bodies blue, A5089. It was done as part of their worship of the full moon. The Picts were more or less displaced by the Celts, although there are still some of us around.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/27/2008 14:11 Comments ||
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#6
Gratulerer! Lykke til!
(Congratulations! Good luck!)
Posted by: Grenter Protector of the Geats4975 ||
05/27/2008 16:05 Comments ||
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#7
Tusand tak!
Posted by: Harald HardRede7711 ||
05/27/2008 18:44 Comments ||
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#8
The displaced Picts were forced to move into a cave with a few hundred small furry animals. It's all good tho, they grooved.
Posted by: George Smiley ||
05/27/2008 18:56 Comments ||
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#9
Thank God they let them fight, unlike the nutless Germans.
A roadside bomb has hit a bus in Afghanistan, killing eight passengers and wounding another, officials say. The vehicle was on its way to Nimroz province, Younus Rasuli, deputy governor of Farah province, said. The western provinces which border Iran are frequently attacked. Although militants mostly target military convoys, civilians are often killed. There has been no indication so far of who was responsible - similar attacks have been blamed on the Taleban.
The list of suspects is usually pretty short: Talibs, itinerant Arabians, or Hekmatyar. It's probably not the Tamil Tigers, FARC, or the ETA.
Afghanistan is witnessing a surge in violence, with the Taleban fighting the government of President Hamid Karzai and the tens of thousands of foreign troops deployed there. Nimroz province, which borders Iran, is one of the few Afghan provinces which does not have a permanent presence of international troops and it has seen an increase in violence over the past few months. It is thought the Taleban influence has been growing as fighters have moved across the border in Helmand, where they have increasingly been coming under pressure from international forces, says the BBC's Alastair Leithead in Kabul.
KABUL - A NATO soldier died and two others were wounded in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, the military said on Monday.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which gave the information regarding the blast in a statement, did not identify the nationalities of the dead or wounded soldiers, citing the organization's policy. The statement said that the explosion occurred on Sunday in a southern region, but did not say where exactly in the south the incident took place.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/27/2008 00:00 ||
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[11127 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
Somali gunmen hijacked a Dutch-owned ship as it traveled from Kenya's Mombasa port to Romania in the latest act of piracy off the lawless Horn of Africa nation's coast, a maritime official said on Tuesday.
The MV Amiya Scan, managed by the Dutch Reider Shipping BV, was seized along with some nine Russian and Filipino crew members on Sunday while it passed through the Gulf of Aden, said Andrew Mwangura, director of the Seafarers Assistance Programme.
"Unfortunately we don't know where she is right now ... there's been no ransom demand as of yet," Mwangura told Reuters by telephone. He said the cargo ship was on its way to Romania and was flying under a Panamanian flag.
Piracy is rampant off Somalia, which has functioned without an effective central government since the fall of a dictator in 1991.
In an effort to combat rising cases of hijackings, France, Britain, and the United States sent a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council earlier this year that would give nations the right to arrest pirates in Somali waters.
On Friday, Somali gunmen released a Jordanian-flagged cargo ship after holding it for nearly a week. Pirates generally treat their captives well in the hope of securing a ransom.
#1
Panamanian-flagged Dutch vessel with Russian and Filipino crew on its way to Romania via Kenya sure sounds like a drugs-for-arms shuttle, and not randomly chosen to me. Wonder what the listed cargo was?
Airstrikes, possibly by U.S. planes, caused explosions in a remote area in southern Somalia, officials said Monday. There was no immediate information on casualties.
Buale town chairman Ibrahim Noleye said planes were heard flying nearby Sunday night, followed by two loud explosions that shook the ground. Buale is 255 miles southwest of the capital, Mogadishu. A U.S. military official said there was no information about U.S. planes activities in Somalia.
"Nope, didn't hear a thing."
Noleye said he had contacted officials in nearby villages, who told him by two-way radio that the planes had hit an area between Buale and another town called Sakow. He could not say who launched the airstrike Sunday night. But only U.S. aircraft have launched such strikes in Somalia in recent months. The Somali government does not have an air force. Ethiopian troops based in Somalia have not been reported to conduct airstrikes.
Maybe it was the Norweigans ...
I'm betting on Guatamalans.
"We saw a big light which followed hours of the sounds of planes, and then we heard two big explosions between Buale, where we are, and Sakow," Noleye told The Associated Press by telephone. The area is sparsely populated and used primarily for grazing livestock such as camel and goats. "We contacted some of our people on the ground and they confirmed that it was a(n) (air)strike," Noleye said, adding that soon afterward they lost radio contact.
Ali Bashi Ahmed, chairman of Fanole Human Rights Organization, also said he heard loud explosions, but did not know where they had occurred. Ahmed spoke by telephone from the port town of Kismayo, southwest of Buale.
Duale Ganane, a colonel and a commander of a local militia, said, "we saw a light just a second before three huge explosions in the jungle north of Buale."
Aid worker Hassan Mohamed, who asked that his agency not be identified, said: "the light was like a star falling to earth."
Former military officer Muhidiin Nur Salah said, "I think it was an unknown device because in my view point no one can see a missile coming."
American officials confirmed a U.S. airstrike on May 1 that killed Aden Hashi Ayro, the head of the military wing of Somalia's Islamists, along with 24 other people. Members of the military wing called al-Shabab, meaning "The Youth," have vowed to avenge his death.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic Courts
#1
then we heard two big explosions
An Earth-shattering KABOOM? Perhaps Mars has launched a counter-attack in response to Operation Phoenix.
#2
Could that have been a meteorite? Perhaps the twin sister of that black stone muslims are so fond of? Gee, that's very exciting, I think I'll convert!
#4
Too bad it wasn't a well-coordinated attack on massed muslim extremists by 50 B-52s at midnight through total cloud cover. Otherwise, I'm not terribly thrilled.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/27/2008 14:17 Comments ||
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The chairman of the alliance of the liberation of Somalia sheikh Sharif Sheikh has revealed that Eritrea government carries process wants to break up the alliance he chairs.
Speaking at a news conference he held in Djiboutian capital Djibouti he declared that that Eritrea is accountable for the pitch-black relations between the senior leaders of the alliance after some of the officials in the coalition have accused some members of the groups those took part the failed talks in Djibouti that they were not representing the alliance. "I am apologetic about the speech that some of the alliance's members told to the Somali people saying that there were differences in the group" he said in the news conference.
He called for the other members in the group to preserve the common sense of Somalia people and to steer clear of the divergences they are provoke in the umbrella as he put it. "Thanks to Eritrea for its help on the establishment of the group, but we see something "bad" from them" Sharif said.
He also hailed the UN's remarks to Somali government and Ethiopian troops about that they've violated the law of Somalia's arms ban was imposed by the United Nation on 1990 after Somali lacked central government. "Ahhhh I was overwhelmed Meles Zenawe's remarks( Ethiopian Prime minister) saying that he wouldn't withdraw his forces from Somalia until the Jihadists are defeated, but they will leave by force" Sharif said.
The remarks from Sheikh Sharif come as the last days there were intensifying speculations about disagreements stuck between the senior leaders of the Reliberatoion of Somalia alliance.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2008 00:00 ||
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[11127 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic Courts
The Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) has announced to set Islamic Shari'a administration in Kamsuma, Jilib and Jamaame districts in Middle and Lower Jubba regions southern Somalia, after capturing them few days ago. UIC fighters are holding talks with traditional elders and intellectuals in these areas, in order to sway them to throw out the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia TFG's administration and join UIC.
Abdirahman Abdullahi Weheliye, the commander of UIC fighters in these regions, confirmed that the talks were about to be finalized. He stressed that he is optimistic that the traditional leaders would accept their (UIC) suggestion of establishing an administration based on Islamic Shari'a in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2008 00:00 ||
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A Swiss journalist suspected by the United States of al-Qaida links has died. Albert Huber was one of five members of a now-defunct Muslim firm who were listed by the United States in 2001 as people accused of helping fund terrorism.
Huber's son said Monday that he died May 15 at the age of 80. He did not give a cause of death. The Swiss investigated Huber and the company he worked for, Al Taqwa Management Organization, for 3 1/2 years, but dropped the case in 2005 because of a lack of evidence. Washington accused the company of aiding Osama bin Laden's terror network by sending money through Malta and Switzerland to bank branches in the Bahamas.
This article starring:
ALBERT HUBER
Al Taqwa Management Organization
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2008 00:00 ||
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[11132 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
IIRC, albert hubert (or more accurately ahmed hubert), in addition to being a long time muslim convert, was also an historical neo-nazi, and an associate of an another neo-nazi bigshot, françois genoud. Both were the historical link between the neo-nazi movement, and the pan-arab and then islamist movement, and were instrumental for example in lending nazi propaganda expertise in creating the paleostinian cause, even before the commies got their disinformation heavy industry on that.
Those two were very "important", if shadowy, cogs in the spread of militant islam in europe.
#3
Both were the historical link between the neo-nazi movement, and the pan-arab and then islamist movement, and were instrumental for example in lending nazi propaganda expertise in creating the paleostinian cause, even before the commies got their disinformation heavy industry on that.
It is nice to know that men of good will can always find a common cause.
Assailants opened fire on a car, killing four Shi'ite Muslims hours before a member of the rival Sunni sect was shot dead in northwestern Pakistan on Monday in apparent sectarian violence in which a policeman also died, police said.
The officer died in a shootout while pursuing the car's attackers Dera Ismail Khan, area police chief Silahuddin Khan said. He said the attackers were riding on a motorcycle, and the slain men included two brothers and two of their friends. "It seems to be a sectarian attack, but we are still investigating," Khan said.
He said the victims were in conflict with an outlawed Sunni militant group accused of targeting Shi'ite Muslims across the country.
Hours later, an attacker wearing a mask and riding on a motorcycle shot and killed a Sunni Muslim member of Dera Ismail Khan city council, and wounded two of his friends, Khan said.
Although most Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims live together peacefully, extremists on both sides often target the other's leaders and activists. The majority of Pakistan's Muslims are Sunni.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Takfir wal-Hijra
The government and Taliban were close to achieving a peace agreement in the Mohmand Agency on Monday. A jirga of tribal elders met Taliban representatives in Safi tehsils Gurbaz area, following which Taliban announced they would not attack government officials. However, they said ban on non-government organisations working in the area would continue and female government officials would not be attacked if they wore veils while on duty. Malik Fazal and Mohammad Ali Haleemzai led the jirga while Qari Shakeel represented Taliban. The jirga members later met Political Agent Amjad Ali to inform him about the progress in talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2008 00:00 ||
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[11124 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
KATHMANDU - At least two bombs exploded Monday outside a venue in Nepal's capital where politicians are set to meet later this week to abolish the Himalayan country's monarchy, police said. "Two explosions have occurred in front of the complex but there were no injuries," a police official, Durga Kumar, told AFP at the scene of the blasts.
A previously unknown Hindu nationalist group, which identified itself as G.F.P. Ramdir Sena, left a leaflet at the scene claiming responsibility, the police officer said.
Eyewitnesses said two men on a motorcycle threw the bombs before speeding off, and dozens of police were combing the area for clues. "There would have been injuries but they threw the bombs where there were no people," the police officer said. "The people who did this are trying to create panic."
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/27/2008 00:00 ||
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[11126 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Holy crap! Looks like he blew two of his buddies clear across the street. Allan Frackbar indeed.
Posted by: ed ||
05/27/2008 15:31 Comments ||
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#2
Note to self : in the case I should ever use a Rpg-7, never, ever shoot the rocket at a large object nearby, like the wall a few feet from me. Or people will laugh at me.
BAGHDAD - An al-Qaida in Iraq front group warned Tuesday that insurgents were waiting for the right moment to retaliate against a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown in the northern city of Mosul.
Gunmen killed a policeman near his station in Mosul, when attackers opened fire with machine guns shortly before noon about 100 yards from the Hadba police directorate, officials said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf ordered an immediate investigation and expressed concern that the policeman had been killed in broad daylight Tuesday in an area that was crowded with Iraqi policemen and pedestrians.
Mosul, located 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, has been dubbed by the U.S. military as al-Qaida's last major urban stronghold in Iraq. The Iraqi government launched an offensive, dubbed Operation Lion's Roar, there earlier this month to clear the area.
Officials have claimed initial success, saying more than 1,200 suspects have been detained, and Iraqi security forces have met little resistance.
But a man claiming to be a spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq in Ninevah province, which includes Mosul, warned in a videotape posted Tuesday that insurgents were prepared to fight back.
"Until now, we have not been engaged ... because we are the ones who control the hour to start the initiative and we will choose the time for retaliation or engagement," the unidentified spokesman said, sitting with his face covered behind a table with a laptop and wearing a white Arab robe.
"We are at full strength and have not had a single soldier killed or arrested contrary to your alleged reports" of major arrests, he said.
He said that during the first week "of the so-called the Lion's Roar operation" many people from Mosul were arrested, but he claimed they were merely former army officers, university teachers and students.
There was no way to authenticate the comments. But the video was said to have been produced by al-Furqan, one of al-Qaida's media production wings, and it was posted on a number of Islamic Web sites that usually carry militant statements.
The spokesman also said members of the group would not comply with a government call to hand over weapons, drawing a comparison with similar offensives against Shiite extremists led by anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army in the southern city of Basra and Baghdad's Sadr City.
"We tell (Prime Minister Nouri) al-Maliki that the soldiers of the Islamic State of Iraq are not like those from the charlatan Mahdi Army who surrendered their weapons to the soldiers of the crusade for few dollars," he said. "We will not hand over our weapons."
The U.S. military said Sunday that al-Qaida in Iraq was "off-balance and on the run" after recent operations against it but remains a very lethal threat.
Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling, the top American commander in northern Iraq, also said last week that the military expected the insurgents to try to regroup and strike back against the two-week-old offensive with car bombs and suicide attacks.
#1
Black Knight: Come on, then! (kicks Arthur again)
Arthur: (on the ground) What?!?
Black Knight: (kicking him again) Have at you!
Arthur: (getting up) You are indeed brave, sir knight, but the fight is mine!
Black Knight: Ohhh, had enough, eh?
Arthur: Look, you stupid bastard, you've got no arms left!
Black Knight: Yes I have!
Arthur: LOOK!!!
Black Knight: Just a flesh wound! (kicking Arthur again)
Arthur: Look, STOP that!
Black Knight: Chicken!!! Chicken!!!!!!!
Arthur: Look, I'll have your leg!
(The Black Knight continues his kicking)
Arthur: RIGHT! (He chops off the black knight's leg with his sword)
Black Knight: (hopping) Right! I'll do you for that!
Arthur: You'll *WHAT*?
Black Knight: Come 'ere!
Arthur: (tiring of this) What're you going to do, bleed on me?
Black Knight: I'm *INVINCIBLE*!!!
Arthur: You're a looney....
Black Knight: The Black Knight ALWAYS TRIUMPHS!
(VOI) - One Sahwa (Awakening) fighter was killed and three more were wounded on Monday in clashes with al-Qaeda gunmen in northeast Baaquba city, a security source said. "Armed clashes broke out between Sahwa fighters and al-Qaeda gunmen in Shirween villages in al-Mansoriya region inside al-Muqdadiya district, northeast of Baaquba," the source told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI) on condition of anonymity. "One fighter was killed and three others were wounded," he noted, adding no further details.
The Sahwa councils were set up in a number of Iraqi provinces such as al-Anbar, Diala, Ninewa, and Salah al-Din with the aim of bolstering political and local tribal powers to fight armed groups, particularly al-Qaeda network, in those areas. These councils are usually led by tribal chiefs or notables in the provinces.
Following the assassination of his father and six of his brothers by al-Qaeda Organization in Iraq in 2004, Sheikh Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha founded the Anbar Sahwa Council and chaired the Iraq Sahwa Congress, an alliance encompassing 42 clans that pledged to fight al-Qaeda members. The Sahwa fighters managed to flush out armed groups from a number of areas once considered strongholds of gunmen for years. Abu Risha, however, was killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack that targeted his house in al-Ramadi, capital of the predominantly Sunni Anbar. The attack also left his bodyguard and two other escorts killed and his nephew seriously wounded.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2008 00:00 ||
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(VOI) - Interior Ministry forces on Monday arrested a key al-Qaeda network commander in western Mosul, a security spokesman said. A force from the Interior Ministry captured an al-Qaeda commander and two senior operatives in Islah al-Zirai Zirawi, west Mosul, Brig. Gen Abdel Karim Khalaf, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, told Aswat al-Iraq Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The spokesman identified the al-Qaeda commander as Abdullah Scania, noting he was arrested based on an intelligence tip-off. The al-Qaeda commander was on the run and arrested after clashes that lasted for more than half an hour, he added He highlighted security forces seized forged documents along with the detainees.
This article starring:
ABDULLAH SCANIA
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Gen Abdel Karim Khalaf
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2008 00:00 ||
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(VOI) - Iraqi security forces on Monday afternoon opened one of Sadr City's main inlets after a two months period of being closed. "The forces opened the main inlet at Sahet Muthafar at 4:00 p.m. on Monday and allowed civilian vehicles to pass," the Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI) correspondent said. The correspondent noted the presence of joint U.S.-Iraqi forces at the city's inlet to search the passing vehicles.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2008 00:00 ||
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[11133 views]
Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
#1
Sadr city's main inlet - conjurs image of looking down into an uncleaned toilet...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/27/2008 8:40 Comments ||
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#2
Much the same concept, isn't it?
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2008 11:31 Comments ||
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(VOI) - Seven civilians were wounded in an attack targeting an Interior Ministry senior official in central Mosul, a Ninewa police source said. A hand grenade was hurled at the Interior Ministry director for tribal affairs Brig. Gen Abdel Husseins motorcade in Sarajkhana district, central Mosul, leaving seven individuals, including Hussein's official bodyguards, wounded, a Ninewa police source, who requested anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq Voices of Iraq (VOI). The Interior official was not in the motorcade at the time of the attack, the source added. Mosul, the capital city of Ninewa province, lies 405 km north of Baghdad
This article starring:
Gen Abdel Hussein
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2008 00:00 ||
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(VOI) Four Sahwa (Awakening) tribal fighters and two policemen were killed and 18 others wounded when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive motorbike near the headquarters of the leader of al-Tarimiya Sahwa force in northern Baghdad on Monday, police said. "A suicide bomber on a motorbike blew himself up near the headquarters of the Tarimiya Sahwa council chief in northern Baghdad, killing four Sahwa fighters and two policemen and wounding 18 other Sahwa men," a police source, who requested anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2008 00:00 ||
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(VOI)- A leader from the Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq armed group was arrested on Monday near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, an Iraqi army source said. Acting upon intelligence, an Iraqi army force managed to arrest a leader from the Islamic State in Iraq armed group in al-Dakmati village, 30 km southwest of Kirkuk, Major-General Shewan Hama Gharib told Aswat al-Iraq- Voices of Iraq- (VOI). The detainee, according to Gharib, admitted that he had killed 11 persons and planted nearly 60 explosive devices all over Kirkuk province. The self-styled Islamic State in Iraq, al-Qaeda-linked-armed group, was declared in October 2006 in the Sunni areas in Diala, Kirkuk and Mosul.
Also near Kirkuk, a roadside bomb exploded, yesterday evening, near an ambulance in Daquq district, 35 km south of Kirkuk, wounding the driver and a passer-by, according to Daquq police. Kirkuk is 250 km northeast of Baghdad.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2008 00:00 ||
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(VOI) - Seven civilians were wounded on Monday in two bombs explosions in Baghdad, said a police source. "An improvised explosive device was detonated in al-Shaab region in eastern Baghdad, targeting a police vehicle patrol, wounding two civilians and damaging a number of vehicles and one store," the source, who asked to remain unnamed, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI). "Another roadside bomb went off on the Baghdad Airport road near Sahet Abbas bin Fernas, injuring five civilians," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2008 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD - Two American soldiers were killed and four more were wounded in two separate roadside bomb attacks in Iraq on Monday, the US military said. "A coalition force soldier was killed as a result of injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device in Salaheddin province (north of Baghdad) on Monday," a military statement said. "Two soldiers were wounded."
In another roadside mine attack in the central province of Najaf, one soldier died and two more were wounded on Sunday, the US military said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/27/2008 00:00 ||
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Six teenage boys who said they were being trained as suicide bombers were detained Monday in the northern city of Mosul, Iraqi officials said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf told The Associated Press that the boys were between the ages of 14 and 16, and that initial investigations show they were being trained by a Saudi militant who was killed in military operations.
The soldiers were acting on tips when they found the boys in the basement of an abandoned house that was being used by insurgent groups in the Sumar area in southeastern Mosul, deputy Interior Minister Kamal Ali Hussein said later at a press conference.
He said the boys had been recruited over the last month to carry out suicide bombings against Iraqi security forces in Mosul, although the specific targets had not been revealed to them.
The insurgents had threatened to kill the boys or their families if they refused to obey, Kamal said, adding that the group included the son of a female physician, the son of a college professor and four who belonged to families of poor vendors.
"They were trained how to carry out suicide attacks with explosive belts and a date was fixed for each one of them," he said. The U.S. military in northern Iraq said American forces were not involved and had no information about the arrests.
U.S. and Iraqi military commanders claim that Al Qaeda in Iraq is increasingly trying to use women and children in attacks to avoid stepped-up security measures. There has been a series of recent bombings by women.
Palestinian officials say around 200,000 people in northern Gaza don't have running water or power. Electric company spokesman Jamal Darasawi says there hasn't been any power since Palestinian operatives from Islamic Jihad detonated a truck bomb at a nearby border crossing last Thursday. The explosion cut two of the seven major power lines that come in from Israel. The IDF says it's trying to fix the lines, but it will take time because of security considerations. On Tuesday, an Islamic Jihad spokesman said the group didn't mean to cut off power but warned of more attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
This is GOOD, get the Gazans pissed at the Islamic Jihad, nothing so annoying as lost power to piss people off.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/27/2008 0:10 Comments ||
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#2
No, it's the Jooooos fault because they didn't repair the lines before immediately. And because the Jooos made IJ set the bomb by their horrible, evil blockade.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
05/27/2008 0:33 Comments ||
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#6
I suggest that the IDF take out two additional lines in retribution and then temporarily withdraw just far enough to make all the repairs a Palestinian problem.
#9
I suggest that Israel NOT repair any powerlines, let the stupid fucks who blew it fix them (Keep the lines at full voltage during the Islamic Jihad "Repairs")
Broadcast widely the reason there's no power, and who's supposed to fix the problem that they caused.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/27/2008 18:35 Comments ||
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#10
CondorMan that's a good idea anywhere.
Posted by: George Smiley ||
05/27/2008 19:03 Comments ||
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#11
It sounds like the lines were cut on the Gazan side of the border. Israel withdrew from Gaza quite some time ago. Surely Hamas wouldn't let Israel back in for a triviality that could be handled by Palestinian craftsmen?
#12
#11 As been remarked on numerous occasions (not involving just Paleos), TW, "We think of this as charity that they receive---they think of this as the jizya."
Four soldiers were wounded in a bombing in the southernmost province of Pattani, one of three Muslim majority Thai provinces bordering Malaysia. The remote-controlled bomb was detonated when four soldiers were patrolling a section of road in Khok Pho district. The soldiers suffered from shrapnel wounds in their faces and bodies. They were sent to hospital and are in stable condition now. Police and military response units are tracking the attackers.
COLOMBO - At least seven people were killed and more than 60 injured when a bomb exploded on a train during rush hour in the Sri Lankan capital on Monday, military officials said. The military blamed Tamil Tiger rebels for planting the bomb, which detonated in the Colombo suburb of Dehiwala.
"I was at home when I heard the explosion, when I came out I saw injured people struggling, so we sent them to the hospital using a bus and private vehicles," said Nandana Peiris, a witness. A Reuters witness saw four dead bodies at the scene.
The military defused two powerful bombs on two buses over the weekend and has stepped up security in public areas.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/27/2008 00:00 ||
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Ok, it's Debka, so...
When Damascus confirmed peace talks with Israel on May 21, a secret high-powered military purchasing delegation, headed by air force-air defenses commander Gen. Akhmad Ratyb, was already in Moscow. With a $5 billion allocation in hand from Tehran, the delegation was bidding for the most advanced products of Russias munitions industry.
The six main categories of interest to Damascus are disclosed by DEBKA-Net-Weeklys military sources as
1. The latest model of the Russian Iskander-E, a surface-to-surface tactical missile with a range of 280 km and a 480-kilo warhead. This missile is considered one of the most advanced of its type in the world today, partly because of its cruise attributes which enable it to home in on target undetected and with high precision. Iskander-E can be guided by pilot-less air vehicles or satellites.
2. Fifty of the latest MiG-29SMT fighter-bombers. The Russians have added advanced avionics and electronics and lengthened the warplanes operational range. It can fly 3,700 kilometers without refueling, and 6,700 kilometers with in-flight fueling. Their purchase therefore goes with Russian refueling aircraft.
Even though Israel is just next door ...
3. The Pantsir S1E air defense missile systems. Syria has already received nine or ten batteries but Moscow has held up the rest of the 36-missile order at American insistence after part of the first consignment was transferred to Iran.
I imagine the Syrians want something better than the last batch of SAMs after what happened to their nuclear facility ...
4. Damascus wants 800 Strelets short-range anti-air missiles. The Popeil Igla-S version, our military sources report, is shoulder-borne and able to hit surface-to-surface and cruise missiles. Damascus has informed Moscow that the vehicle-mounted version is acceptable for deployment along the Syrian-Israeli border as a defense against Israeli missiles.
It slices, it dices, order now, operators are standing by ...
5. A key component on the list is 75 Yak-130 light combat-cum-training planes. As a fighter craft for short distances, the Yak-130 is reputed to be one of the most effective of its type in any of the worlds air forces.
So it should last for seconds going up against the Israeli F-15s ...
The fact that it has been commissioned by Syria points to heavy investment, with the active help of Russian military experts, in creating a defense system for halting an Israeli invasion.
The Yak-130 is an integral element of the combat equipment in Russian armored divisions. Syria will be able to use this fleet of 75 light combat craft to shield its armored divisions against Israels tank hunters, the Cobra and Blackhawk choppers. The Yak-130 outclasses the Israeli choppers in speed, maneuverability and firepower.
5. Syria wants to buy two Amur-1650 submarines, whose features compare with the Israel Navys German-made Dolphins, which are capable of firing cruise missiles. The Amur-class submarine can strike salvo missile blows at different targets. This is its outstanding feature. Its sonar signature level is considerably less than the Kilo-class vessels which are reputedly the most silent in the world.
Amur subs can operate in all the worlds seas excepting those under solid ice cover, in all weather conditions and in shallow or deep water.
#1
I think this is a brilliant idea. After, Damascus will have significantly less in the way of financial reserves, and a bunch of really modern looking, rusted out hulks that were deadly when they left the manufacturer. Look how well their brand new Russian radar worked when Israel decided to destroy that lovely nuclear warhead plant that North Korea had just put into operation for them.
#3
Syria and Iran are as thick as thieves. Need to take care of Iran. Many mid-east problems will disappear.
Posted by: BO ||
05/27/2008 18:43 Comments ||
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#4
Amur subs can operate in all the worlds seas excepting those under solid ice cover or under surveliance by the US Large Tuna Clipers , in all weather conditions and in shallow or deep water.
Posted by: George Smiley ||
05/27/2008 19:08 Comments ||
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#5
Popeil
HA! Way funny... you get da points Grom, and 2 x LOL!!
>:>
Security officials say at least nine people have been wounded, two seriously, in a gunfight in downtown Beirut between Hizbullah Shiite supporters and pro-government Sunni loyalists. Officials said the two sides traded insults before the shooting Monday night as Hizbullah supporters drove by waving flags and saluting leader Hassan Nasrallah shortly after he finished giving a speech. Officials said the army deployed in the area after the shooting to prevent further clashes.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
Patience. They'll be killing each other again soon enough. Nobody's going to call for Syria to step in and "restore order" if they don't.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2008 11:35 Comments ||
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#3
It was their first major combat operation since landing in March, and it stood in stark contrast to the events of a year earlier, when a Marine unit was removed in disgrace within weeks of arriving because its members shot and killed 19 civilians after a suicide bombing attack.
The tribunal investigated allegations that as many as 19 Afghan civilians died when a unit of Lejeune-based Marine special operations troops opened fire after a car bomb targeted their convoy on March 4, 2007 in Nangahar Province.
Story continues below «
The Marines said Helland determined the Marines in the convoy gacted appropriately and in accordance with the rules of engagement and tactics, techniques and procedures in place at the time in response to a complex attack.h
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.
GARMSER, Afghanistan For two years British troops staked out a presence in this small district center in southern Afghanistan and fended off attacks from the Taliban. The constant firefights left it a ghost town, its bazaar broken and empty but for one baker, its houses and orchards reduced to rubble and weeds.
KABUL - A NATO soldier died and two others were wounded in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, the military said on Monday. 
Somali gunmen hijacked a Dutch-owned ship as it traveled from Kenya's Mombasa port to Romania in the latest act of piracy off the lawless Horn of Africa nation's coast, a maritime official said on Tuesday.
Airstrikes, possibly by U.S. planes, caused explosions in a remote area in southern Somalia, officials said Monday. There was no immediate information on casualties.
A Swiss journalist suspected by the United States of al-Qaida links has died. 
Assailants opened fire on a car, killing four Shi'ite Muslims hours before a member of the rival Sunni sect was shot dead in northwestern Pakistan on Monday in apparent sectarian violence in which a policeman also died, police said. 
The government and Taliban were close to achieving a peace agreement in the Mohmand Agency on Monday. A jirga of tribal elders met Taliban representatives in Safi tehsils Gurbaz area, following which Taliban announced they would not attack government officials. However, they said ban on non-government organisations working in the area would continue and female government officials would not be attacked if they wore veils while on duty. Malik Fazal and Mohammad Ali Haleemzai led the jirga while Qari Shakeel represented Taliban. The jirga members later met Political Agent Amjad Ali to inform him about the progress in talks.
BAGHDAD - An al-Qaida in Iraq front group warned Tuesday that insurgents were waiting for the right moment to retaliate against a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown in the northern city of Mosul. 
(VOI) - Interior Ministry forces on Monday arrested a key al-Qaeda network commander in western Mosul, a security spokesman said. A force from the Interior Ministry captured an al-Qaeda commander and two senior operatives in Islah al-Zirai Zirawi, west Mosul, Brig. 
(VOI) - Seven civilians were wounded in an attack targeting an Interior Ministry senior official in central Mosul, a Ninewa police source said. A hand grenade was hurled at the Interior Ministry director for tribal affairs Brig. 
BAGHDAD - Two American soldiers were killed and four more were wounded in two separate roadside bomb attacks in Iraq on Monday, the US military said. "A coalition force soldier was killed as a result of injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device in Salaheddin province (north of Baghdad) on Monday," a military statement said. "Two soldiers were wounded."
COLOMBO - At least seven people were killed and more than 60 injured when a bomb exploded on a train during rush hour in the Sri Lankan capital on Monday, military officials said. The military blamed Tamil Tiger rebels for planting the bomb, which detonated in the Colombo suburb of Dehiwala.
Security officials say at least nine people have been wounded, two seriously, in a gunfight in downtown Beirut between Hizbullah Shiite supporters and pro-government Sunni loyalists. Officials said the two sides traded insults before the shooting Monday night as Hizbullah supporters drove by waving flags and saluting leader Hassan Nasrallah shortly after he finished giving a speech. Officials said the army deployed in the area after the shooting to prevent further clashes.
