The U.S. coalition said Friday its forces killed 11 Taliban militants, including the leader of a bomb-making cell, during an operation in southern Afghanistan. The raid in Kandahar province on Thursday targeted a bomb-maker responsible for roadside bomb attacks that killed NATO soldiers, a coalition statement said.
Militants barricaded themselves inside a home during the raid and opened fire on the coalition forces.
"You'll never take us alive, infidels!" [BLAM! BLAM!]
After giving time to allow women and children to leave, ...
"Captain, sir, we got the wimmins and the kiddies out of the way."
"Very good, sergeant, now let's grant those hard boyz their wish."
"You bet, Captain."
... the coalition forces fired on the militants with guns and grenades, it said.
[KA-BOOM!!!]
One woman who remained in the building was wounded in the leg. She was evacuated to a coalition medical facility, it said.
Coalition forces found dozens of land mines, grenades, AK-47s and bomb-making materials in the home, the coalition said.
Overnight raids by elite Special Forces troops have been a sore point with some Afghans, including President Hamid Karzai. Afghan officials say camp-followers innocent civilians are often wounded or killed during the risky operations.
Karzai last week attended a memorial ceremony for three Afghans killed in an overnight raid in Khost province. Afghan officials said the three were innocent civilians; the U.S. coalition said they were militants or linked to the insurgency.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2008 01:35 ||
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#1
On this site TAawaiggego, a troll from Russia, vomited a huge number of links to uninteresting pages.
#5
Yet another smear from Karzai's heroin defense committee, posing as a government.
Enough! I have NEVER supported nation building in the Pashto sections of Afghanistan; ie: the toilet of Central Asia. I would have declared the use of civilian airplanes for mass murder on 9-11,should have been declared as a use of Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Taliban-al-Qaeda's home base should have been nuked to oblivion. The Northern Alliance would have been able to pick up the pieces.
#7
Easy for you to say Beldar etc. since you're posting from Canada, which does not possess nuclear weapons. Nice try at goading another country into bearing the responsibility for using them.
OTTAWA (Reuters) - A Canadian soldier was killed and three others were injured in southern Afghanistan on Friday when a bomb blast hit the armored vehicle they were riding in, the military said. The incident occurred in the Zhari district to the west of the city of Kandahar, where Canada has a 2,700-strong military mission.
Canada has now lost 104 troops since the country's military mission to Afghanistan started in late 2002. The soldier was the seventh Canadian member of the armed forces to die in bomb blasts in December alone. The mission is due to end in 2011.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/27/2008 00:00 ||
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Ethiopian police are arresting young Somali men in the Bole area of the capital Addis Ababa over the past few days and 200 are now in detention.
So far, hundreds have been arrested either directly from their homes or on the streets, but many of them have been cleared and released after questioning, fingerprinting and checking their identity papers.
Most of the arrests took place on Tuesday night and Wednesday in the Bole area, the part of the town where most of the Somali community lives. Till Friday morning, police were still holding around 200 men without giving any reason.
Ethiopia's federal police spokesman, Commander Demsash Hailu, has so far not been able to offer any explanation for the arrests, but a Somali embassy spokesman said he understood that security was being tightened before a regional summit.
The embassy spokesman said he understood it had security concerns in the Bole area which is close to Addis Ababa's international airport, especially in the light of the upcoming African Union summit, and he added that if there was a security threat in Bole, then the embassy itself could be the first target.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2008 01:36 ||
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Chinese warships headed toward Somali waters Friday to combat piracy, the first time the communist country has sent ships on a mission that could involve fighting so far beyond its territorial waters.
The deployment to the Gulf of Aden, which has been plagued by increasingly bold pirate attacks in recent months, marks a major step in the navy's evolution from mostly guarding China's coasts to patrolling waters far from home.
The move was welcomed by the U.S. military, which has been escorting cargo ships in the region along with India, Russia and the European Union. But analysts predicted the Chinese intervention could be troubling to some Asian nations who might see it as a sign of the Chinese military becoming more aggressive.
The naval force that set sail from southern Hainan on Friday afternoon included a supply ship and two destroyers _ armed with guided missiles, special forces and two helicopters. China announced it was joining the anti-piracy mission Tuesday after the U.N. Security Council authorized nations to conduct land and air attacks on pirate bases.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2008 01:35 ||
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#2
I wonder if these will be indigenously-produced destroyers, or some of the ones they bought from the Russians. If the former, they may never make it to Somalia.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/27/2008 12:35 Comments ||
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#3
The Chinese will release the pirates all right : with 500 pounds of chains on their ankles, right into the ocean.
#4
they couldnt let the Indian Navy do stuff their and not get involved themselves. The rivalry we have discussed earlier continues to develop, albeit with China and India (and the rest of the world) nominally on the same side.
An official source reported that the Yemeni security in Aden on Friday thwarted an attempt by prisoners to escape al-Mansorah prison in Aden.
The official almotamar.net reported that prisoners, possibly al-Qaeda suspects, have dug a 6-meter long underground tunnel inside the prison's cell before the guards find out the tunnel.
"We'll dig three tunnels and name them Achmed, Mahmoud, and Harry."
The al-tagheer.com quoted a source in Aden as saying that more than 25-40 al-Qaeda suspects attempted to escape the al-Mansura jail early Friday.
The source said some prisoners are convicted and some others were detained over the latest al-Qaeda attack on the U.S Embassy in Sana'a that claimed 17 lives of security guards and people.
The source said that the security authorities are investigating the prisoners and people in neighboring houses to know where prisoners got the digging tools. The report said that security forces are surrounding the prison.
In February 4, 2006, on Friday, twenty-three suspected al-Qaeda members escaped from the Political Security Central's Prison in Sana'a. The fugitives escaped through a more than 300-meter long underground tunnel. The tunnel was dug from under the women's prayer yard at Al-Awkaf Mosque to Political Security Central Prison, crossing the prison yard to prisoner' cells.
Some of the escapees surrendered, some were killed in hunting and some others still at large.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2008 01:35 ||
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JAMMU: The Border Security Force (BSF) on Saturday shot dead a suspected Pakistani intruder along the Indo-Pak border in Jammu sector of Jammu and Kashmir, making it the second such incident in two days.
BSF troops of 110 Battalion, deployed on International Border (IB) at Chhawani Border Outpost (BOP) in Samba district, noticed some suspicious movement near the fence early on Saturday, BSF Deputy Commandant S Balasubramaniam said.
Troops then challenged the intruder and asked him to surrender. But, when he tried to flee towards the Pakistani side, he was shot dead. The body was later handed over to the police, he said.
The troops had killed a suspected Pak intruder at Chak Faqira Border Outpost (BOP) in Samba district on Friday.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/27/2008 13:37 ||
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Naxalites dragged a woman from her home and beat her to death -- in the presence of other villagers -- late last night. Thirty-odd rebels carried out the killing in Daldalia village under Charhi outpost, 22km from the district headquarters.
According to eyewitnesses account, the Naxalites acted on the suspicion that Etwaria Devi, 38, was a police informer and believed that she deserved death for her "crimes". After being dragged out of her home, the woman was beaten up with sticks, lathis and stones.
Though she cried out for help, fear of meeting a similar fate kept her neighbours from helping her. The only person who came to her rescue was her 13-year-old daughter, and the teenager was also beaten up and then locked up in her home -- for trying to save her mother.
After some minutes of severe beating the woman died on the spot.
Around 11:30pm, Naxalites armed with sophisticated weapons reached Daldalia and knocked on Etwaria's door. The deceased's husband, Kailu Oraon, opened the door and was overpowered by some cadre -- while others searched for Etwaria. When they spotted the mother of three hiding inside, the rebels dragged her outside. Kailu and his three daughters were locked up in a room with a warning to not intervene.
Eyewitnesses accounts state that after being dragged out of her home by her hair, Naxalites began a kangaroo court where they "levelled" charges against the woman for being an informer and then an enemy of the poor. The cadre alleged that Etwaria had passed several important information regarding the outfit's operations to the police, resulting in arrests and foiled attack attempts. The senior woman was also accused of leaking information to the police that later led to the Dahudaag gunbattle in July.
The officer in charge of Charhi police station, Vijaykant Thakur, was killed in the Dahudaag encounter.
After levelling charges, Naxalites passed a verdict to beat Etwaria to her death. Though the woman tried to save herself, she failed, as did her daughter, Namita, a Class VIII student, who also received blows on her head and arms after running out of the house where she was locked in with her father and sisters.
Police reached the murder spot in the morning and sent the body for post-mortem. Officers recovered two pamphlets near the body that warned of a similar fate to all police informers in and around the area.
Talking to reporters today, the officers, however, denied Etwaria's police link and described the murder as "brutal" and "irrational".
So far, Naxalites have taken many lives in similar fashion after accusing the people of being police informers, however, this was the first instance where a woman and a mother was made a victim of their suspicions.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/27/2008 10:44 ||
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India on Saturday said Pakistan was trying to whip up "war hysteria" and asked Islamabad and leaders there not to create tension and deflect the issue of the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
"A lot of issues are being raised in relation to the Mumbai terror attacks. It is unfortunate that an atmosphere has been created in Pakistan, some sort of war hysteria," External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee said while addressing an international seminar of Parsi teachers here.
"I appeal to Pakistan and Pakistani leaders, do not unnecessarily try to create tension. Do not try to deflect the issue. A problem has to be tackled face to face. Evading a problem will not help to get rid of it," he said.
"The issue is not the defence of Pakistan, the issue is not war, the issue is the terrorist attack on Mumbai, the unprecedented scale, magnitude, ferocity as well as audacity all clearly demonstrated that it was not only pre-planned, but also well planned," he said.
"The issue is how to prevent terrorism. The issue is how to direct the international community to face the terrorist challenge and eliminate terrorism from the face of the world," he said.
The fight against terrorism, he said, was not directed at any country, nation or religion. "The issue is how to prevent terrorism and against the mentality which gives birth to terrorism, and against the set-up that aids terror."
Mukherjee said that terrorism has no religion and no respect for borders.
"Terrorism is not linked to a particular religion or community. I totally reject such an idea. Islam propagates love and affection."
Posted by: john frum ||
12/27/2008 08:37 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Islam propagates love and affection and deflects the issue of the Mumbai terrorist attacks,the defence of Pakistan is trying to whip up "war hysteria" and has no religion and no respect for borders.
The government will not withdraw army from FATA and Swat and the operation there will continue, Adviser on Interior Rehman Malik said on Friday. Locals were co-operating with the security forces, he said, adding that all political and religious parties were united and would defend the country together. Malik added some elements wanted conflicts between India and Pakistan.
Pakistan diverts troops from FATA to Indian border
Pakistan is moving nearly 20,000 troops from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to Kasur and Sialkot amid reports of Indian troop movement and rising tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi.
A senior military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the redeployed 14th Division would "counter any misadventure by India". "The troops have been moved from the western border areas where the operation [against Taliban] is not going on. But this is a limited movement to reinforce our defence on the eastern border," the official told Daily Times. He said Pakistan Army had restricted the leaves of its troops and officers in view of the security situation.
Pakistan Air Force continued its 'enhanced vigilance' with fighter jets flying low over major cities on Friday evening to test their capability of countering a possible attack at night.
Pakistan Navy's Fleet Commander Rear Admiral M Asif Sandila visited deployed units to assess their operational preparations and told navy troops to stay alert. "Pakistan will respond in a befitting manner if its maritime interests are attacked," he said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan told the United Nations Security Council it would consider an Indian attack a declaration of war, a private TV channel cited unidentified officials as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2008 01:35 ||
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A child was killed and nine persons, including security personnel, were injured when the Taliban fired rockets on Civil Colony in Khar district and Fajja village of Bajaur Agency, local sources said on Friday. They said that two of the injured were in critical condition. Meanwhile, security forces pounded Taliban hideouts in Mamoond and Khar tehsils, but no reports of casualties to the Taliban were received. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Maulvi Omar said the organisation did not oppose female education and the ban on education for females by the Swat Taliban had nothing to do with the TTP. He told reporters on Friday over telephone that the TTP was in the process of convincing the Swat Taliban to review their decision. The spokesman said the TTP had also set up an investigation committee to look into the matter. Omar said they stood by their decision of not resisting the security forces' advance in Bajaur, however, the TTP was concerned about the public's suffering due to the operation.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2008 01:35 ||
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(PTI) In what is seen as an embarassment to Pakistan, a previously unknown pro-Taliban group claimed responsibility for Wednesday's car bomb attack in Lahore for which Islamabad sought to implicate India by claiming its nationals were involved. Punching holes in claims by Pakistan's security and intelligence agencies, a man identifying himself as Toofan Wazir, the commander and spokesman of the group called 'Ansar Wa Mohajir', phoned 'The News' daily from somewhere in North Waziristan to claim responsibility for the Lahore blast and earlier rocket attacks on Dera Ismail Khan city.
Wazir reportedly threatened more attacks against security forces and government installations to avenge two recent US missile strikes in North Waziristan in which several militants from Punjab province were killed.
The report in the influential daily said it appeared "obvious that he (Wazir) and his men are pro-Taliban and part of the Pakistani Taliban".
Media reports have said that hours after Wednesday's car bomb attack, intelligence and security agencies in Lahore arrested an alleged Indian national identified as either Satish Anand Shukla or Satish Anand Sharma. The man, who purportedly worked in the Indian High Commission in London, belonged to Kolkata, the reports said.
Geo News channel subsequently reported that intelligence agencies had yesterday arrested three more alleged Indian nationals on the basis of information provided by the first man who was nabbed. A camera and a pistol were reportedly found in their possession.
Police officials in Lahore have not confirmed the arrest of the alleged Indian nationals and there has been no official word . The Indian High Commission here has also not been informed about these arrests.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2008 01:35 ||
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#1
Oops. Wazir didn't get the memo
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/27/2008 9:45 Comments ||
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#2
Not to worry... the ISI will hand deliver a copy of the memo shortly
Posted by: john frum ||
12/27/2008 13:41 Comments ||
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistan began moving thousands of troops away from the Afghan border toward India on Friday amid tensions following the Mumbai attacks, intelligence officials said. The move represents a sharp escalation in the stand off between the nuclear-armed neighbors and stands to weaken Pakistan's U.S.-backed campaign against al-Qaida and Taliban close to Afghanistan.
Two intelligence officials said the army's 14th Division was being redeployed to Kasur and Sialkot, close to the Indian border. They said some 20,000 troops were on the move. Earlier Friday, a security official said that all troop leave had been canceled.
From orbat.com, the 14th Division is returning to its home station in the Cholistan sector (also known as the Multan sector) near Lahore, a key location to stop an Indian armored thrust into central Pakistan and the Pak cities to the east. Apparently the Indians have a very strong strike force on their side of the border in that location, and the 14th is part of Pakistan's XXXI Army Corps charged to stop said Indian strike force. The 14th had been sitting in garrison in the NWFP (silly western reporters no doubt thought they were fighting the Taliban, hah-hah), but now the 14th is moving to plug a potentially catastrophic hole for the Paks. It suggests that the Paks are worried that the Indians just might be coming this time.
An Associated Press reporter in Dera Ismail Khan, a district that borders the Afghan-frontier province of South Waziristan, said he saw around 40 trucks loaded with soldiers heading away from the Afghan border.
A senior security official refused to comment directly on Friday's troop movements, but said, "Necessary defensive measures have been taken, they are in place and Pakistan's armed forces are prepared to tackle any eventuality."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/27/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
happy hunting to all the predators out there...
Pakiwakiland is looking the other direction...
#7
However, the timing is about right. It takes India 30 to 60 days to mobilize its military to the point of launching a substantial offensive action. During that time they're pursuing the usual diplomatic solutions, but if none is found I think they'll go ahead and pull the trigger.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/27/2008 11:18 Comments ||
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#8
I still think Keebo0ki.
Freaking out the Pakis to the point of bedwetting might just be enough. Perhaps a closing of 2 or 3 camps.
Regardless, resupply is going to be a rat-bastard of a problem.
Several suspected al-Qaida in Iraq insurgents staged a daring jailbreak Friday, killing at least 10 police officers and six prisoners during their escape from a prison in Ramadi, authorities said.
Authorities in Iraq's Anbar province, of which Ramadi is the capital, said three inmates considered to be senior militants in al-Qaida in Iraq escaped from the city's al-Forsan police station.
The prison break began when inmates overpowered a guard, grabbed his weapon and shot him dead. They also killed the prison commandant, officials said. Some 40 detainees were set free in an ensuing riot, which lasted for two hours. Police were able to recapture all but three of the militants, authorities said.
Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, was on lockdown as authorities tried to recapture the escapees. Police imposed a curfew and were conducting door-to-door searches of homes. Few other details were immediately available.
The Iraqi government took over security at al-Forsan from the U.S. military in September, and Friday's jailbreak could call into question the timetable for relinquishing U.S. control over the country. Iraq now controls security in 13 of Iraq's 18 provinces.
A MEMBER of al-Qaeda in Iraq who broke out of jail has been killed in a firefight while two other prisoners on the run have been surrounded by police. "We killed 'Imad the killer' and he is lying on the street in front of me," an officer said. "We are exchanging gunfire with the other two who are hiding in a house in Street number 20 in the centre of the city."
The man killed by Iraqi forces, Imad Ahmed Farhan, was nicknamed "Imad the killer" because police say he has admitted to murdering at least 100 people. The men escaped from Forsan police station in Ramadi, capital of Anbar province, yesterday in a brazen breakout that sparked a gunbattle which killed 13 militants and policemen.
The incident began at around 2am when a prisoner called out that he was sick, and a policeman went to a communal cell to check. When the officer entered the cell holding 40 men, 13 of them al-Qaeda members, they grabbed him and cut his throat with a makeshift knife. They then seized his gun and went to the police chief's office and slit his throat. The 11 al-Qaeda prisoners then dashed into the courtyard where they shot a lieutenant and made it to the armoury before the gun battle erupted.
This article starring:
IMAD AHMED FARHAN
al-Qaeda in Iraq
IMAD THE KILLER
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Posted by: tipper ||
12/27/2008 06:43 ||
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#1
alias "Imad The Killed"
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/27/2008 9:48 Comments ||
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#2
A tombstone for him might read " I Mad No more. I Dead, Now".
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/27/2008 11:09 Comments ||
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#3
The story started bad, but at least it ended on a positive note. And no Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the verdict or sentence.
Aswat al-Iraq: Security forces defused a car bomb in northern Mosul city on Friday, according to a source from the Ninewa Operations Command (NOC). "The bomb squad in Ninewa province managed on Friday to defuse a car bomb parked on a street in al-Mohandessin neighborhood, northern Mosul, without incident," the source told Aswat al-Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2008 01:35 ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: A civilian man was wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) blast targeted the house of a displaced local resident in central Baaquba city on Friday, an official security source in Diala said.
"An IED planted by unidentified gunmen went off on Friday evening near a house that belongs to a displaced local resident in the area of al-Anafsa, central Baaquba, leaving one civilian wounded and the building totally devastated," the source told Aswat al-Iraq.
He did not give more details.
According to security sources in the province of Diala, areas in the city of Baaquba have witnessed during recent week blasts by persons believed to belong to al-Qaeda network in Iraq targeting displaced families that returned to their original dwelling places.
More than 27,000 families in Diala were forced to leave their homes due to sectarian violence. Only 2400 families of them returned after a relative improvement in security conditions in the province.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2008 01:35 ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: A gunman driving a vehicle rigged with 17 containers of TNT was shot down by Iraqi army soldiers after killing a soldier in a checkpoint he targeted in the city of Falluja on Friday, a police source in Anbar said. "Security agencies detonated the explosive vehicle after imposing a security cordon in the area," the source told Aswat al-Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2008 01:35 ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi army forces seized 56 Katyusha missile launching pads and five missiles in a farm in eastern Mosul city on Friday, an army source said. "The force seized the pads and missiles thanks to intelligence tip-offs in the area of al-Jammasat, eastern Mosul," the source told Aswat al-Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2008 01:35 ||
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#3
Debka has been correct quite often in the last 8 years in which I have followed them closely. Other Israeli media outlets now reporting the same thing about ground assault preparations that debka reported quite some time ago. Doesn't mean it will happen, but the JP and Arutz7 are reporting same thing.
#6
I have been reading Debka reports for years and have never ever seen a single one of their analysis prove out.
" Debka has been correct quite often in the last 8 years in which I have followed them closely"
Sure, when they are reporting something reported by another news service or something put out by a government ministry in a public context. But *never* have I ever experienced a "Debka Exclusive" being correct. Not once. Ever.
Sure, what they report might validate what some people might wish to be true and that influences people to believe it.
The government of Israel has said they might follow up with ground forces so Debka isn't reporting anything they couldn't get off of AP or Reuters in this case.
But if anyone can give me a single case of a Debka exclusive ever being correct, I will give you a cheese burger and a coke. I have never, ever, seen one. Not once.
Heck, they had us attacking Iran a half dozen different times over the past 5 years. A few times even saying the attack was "imminent".
#9
crosspatch, Debka called the transfer of WMD from Iraq to Syria and Sudan first, before anyone else. That was the only time I've seen them correct, outside Israel.
I did not believe the Sudan part of the story, but then it got verified from another source that stated Sudan decided to return some unspecified equipment to Syria, saying they don't want to have anything to do with it.
#13
Definitely shock, then. I await awe with great anticipation.
Thank you for the popcorn, Barbara! If this keeps up, and I do hope it does, I'll retire to the kitchen to cut up crudites... for the nutritional balance, of course.
Israeli aircraft struck Hamas terrorist security compounds across Gaza on Saturday in an unprecedented series of simultaneous strikes. Hamas and medics reported that dozens of terrorists people were killed and that others were still buried under the rubble.
Terrorism Health Ministry official Moawiya Hassanain said at least 120 terrorists people were killed. In one of the Hamas compounds, bodies of more than a dozen uniformed terrorists security officers were seen lying on the ground. One survivor raised his index finger in a show of Muslim faith, uttering a prayer.
Among the dead was the Gaza terrorist police chief, Maj. Gen. Tawfiq Jaber, witnesses said.
Israel confirmed it carried out a series of air strikes on Hamas installations, but did not provide details. Israel has warned in recent days it would strike back hard against continued rocket fire from Gaza on Israeli border towns. There was no sign of an Israel ground offensive, in parallel to the air attacks.
#5
Expecting UN and EU condemnation shortly. It's fine with the UN / EU as long as it's Paleos killing Jews. When Israel finally responds, well that's simply not permitted.
#8
It would not surprise me if 'international outrage' over this escalated for a few weeks, to be followed by an Arab assault. It would time well as an introductory test for Obama. It would work to boost oil prices. It would divert internal attention from economic woes of the neighboring states. The two things those neighboring states have to fear are 1) getting whipped again, and 2) what might be worse, winning, and no longer having Israel to blame or to provide regional economic activity. That would lead rational governments to make noise but do nothing, but the Arab governments (and Iran) have often been lacking in the 'rationality' department.
#14
Gaza's not the rel problem & the Gazans have always just been pawns in the game.
Indeed. The real problem is Jooooooooooos breathing Arab air... or just breathing... depending on if you're talking to a moderate or a stone cold whabi saucer.
#17
All police HQs in Gaza destroyed The wide-scale offensive on Hamas installations in the Gaza Strip was codenamed 'Operation Cast Lead,' after a Hanukkah poem by H.N. Bialik referring to a "dreidel cast from solid lead."
Methinks, there's a better poem "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
you wives of Lamech, hearken to what I say:
I have slain a man for wounding me,
a young man for striking me.
If Cain is avenged sevenfold,
truly Lamech seventy-seven fold."
The Vatican's spokesman has urged Israelis and Palestinians to renounce violence and seek a peaceful solution to their conflict after Israel launched air strikes on the Gaza Strip in response to rocket fire.
Don't dis the boss' relatives, Ratzinger.
#21
How long do you think it would take for the Israelis to systematically push all Gaza Paleos into Egypt, then slam the door shut behind them?
Moose, the 'Gyptos aren't buying ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/27/2008 13:49 Comments ||
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#22
Why isn't every mosque on the target list?
Posted by: ed ||
12/27/2008 14:42 Comments ||
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#23
I hope they go back at them again tonight.
And make sure government/terrorist/clerical officials don't live a life with any of the modern conveniences whatsoever. A condition that for sure will go away after a short but obligatory period of resistance marked by those same officials living the lifestyle they should be living. Make their privileged lifestyles contingent on peace being maintained - both in practice and rhetoric.
They can start the process by bombing every one of their government buildings and personal villas. With them in it.
#26
I'm having a hard time getting the warm fuzzies over this. Sure, I like seeing Israel pound the Paleos, but nothing meaningful will come of this.
It's not brutal enough to make the Paleos change their thinking and it does nothing to reform Gaza. Take, hold, reform, rebuild is the solution. And the reform process will spill enough Paleo blood for us all to have something to cheer about.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/27/2008 17:47 Comments ||
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#27
The only thing that'll reform them is another spin on the wheel.
#29
Mike N - yeah, they are being realistic. In 2006 they said they were going to crush Hezb, and so they looked like they had lost even after doing considerable damage to hezb. A lower bar gives them much more flexibility, both operational and propagandistic.
I think what Glenmore is referring to as the real problem is Iran. Hamas is an ally/puppet of Iran, and weakening Hamas, or even just forcing i it to step back from the brink for its own survival despite that not being in Irans interest, is a way of demonstrating Israels strength relative to Iran. Doing so when oil is low, is a good idea.
Arab reaction? Word from Israel is that they got a wink and a nod from Egypt and Jordan (Livni was in Egypt a couple of days before) neither has withdrawn its diplos from Tel Aviv.
The usual arab street elements will make faces.
So far the targets of value vs the collateral damage ratio seems to have been exceptionally good. Advantage of tactical surprise.
I dont know if they will go in the ground in a big way. Im inclined to think they wont, but I dont really know.
I note that PA officials are said to have said they are ready to go back into Gaza if Hamas falls. I dont think Israel would object if that happened, but I dont think they are counting on it, and its very good that they are NOT announcing that as a goal.
If Hamas survives but is severely chastened, that would be good too.
#34
Happy Hanukkah, liberalhawk! I hope you didn't lose too much Hanukkah gelt playing dreydl with the little ones... and that this time Israel makes all our fondest dreams come true.
The Sri Lankan army, backed by artillery, fighter jets, and helicopter gunships has reportedly captured a Tamil Tiger training base.
On Friday, Sri Lankan soldiers fought a fierce battle with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) over the town of Mulliyawalai near Mullaittivu, the main military headquarters of the rebels, the defense ministry said. The military added that heavy fighting was going on in the area but failed to give details of the number of the soldiers killed in the battle.
Earlier military reports claimed that soldiers have killed at least 40 rebels in the clashes that erupted Thursday along at least three fronts outside the town of Kilinochchi, the besieged political capital of the LTTE.
In the recent months, government forces have cleared most of the land held by the rebels, pushing them into a small area in the jungles of the northeast. Kilinochchi and Mullaittivu are the two remaining big towns still under rebel control in the north of the island.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2008 01:36 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The U.S. coalition said Friday its forces killed 11 Taliban militants, including the leader of a bomb-making cell, during an operation in southern Afghanistan. The raid in Kandahar province on Thursday targeted a bomb-maker responsible for roadside bomb attacks that killed NATO soldiers, a coalition statement said.
OTTAWA (Reuters) - A Canadian soldier was killed and three others were injured in southern Afghanistan on Friday when a bomb blast hit the armored vehicle they were riding in, the military said. The incident occurred in the Zhari district to the west of the city of Kandahar, where Canada has a 2,700-strong military mission.
Ethiopian police are arresting young Somali men in the Bole area of the capital Addis Ababa over the past few days and 200 are now in detention. 
Chinese warships headed toward Somali waters Friday to combat piracy, the first time the communist country has sent ships on a mission that could involve fighting so far beyond its territorial waters.
An official source reported that the Yemeni security in Aden on Friday thwarted an attempt by prisoners to escape al-Mansorah prison in Aden. 
JAMMU: The Border Security Force (BSF) on Saturday shot dead a suspected Pakistani intruder along the Indo-Pak border in Jammu sector of Jammu and Kashmir, making it the second such incident in two days.
A child was killed and nine persons, including security personnel, were injured when the Taliban fired rockets on Civil Colony in Khar district and Fajja village of Bajaur Agency, local sources said on Friday. They said that two of the injured were in critical condition. Meanwhile, security forces pounded Taliban hideouts in Mamoond and Khar tehsils, but no reports of casualties to the Taliban were received. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Maulvi Omar said the organisation did not oppose female education and the ban on education for females by the Swat Taliban had nothing to do with the TTP. He told reporters on Friday over telephone that the TTP was in the process of convincing the Swat Taliban to review their decision. The spokesman said the TTP had also set up an investigation committee to look into the matter. Omar said they stood by their decision of not resisting the security forces' advance in Bajaur, however, the TTP was concerned about the public's suffering due to the operation.
Several suspected al-Qaida in Iraq insurgents staged a daring jailbreak Friday, killing at least 10 police officers and six prisoners during their escape from a prison in Ramadi, authorities said.
A MEMBER of al-Qaeda in Iraq who broke out of jail has been killed in a firefight while two other prisoners on the run have been surrounded by police. "We killed 'Imad the killer' and he is lying on the street in front of me," an officer said. "We are exchanging gunfire with the other two who are hiding in a house in Street number 20 in the centre of the city."
Israeli aircraft struck Hamas 
