Free Republic

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28, 2008 – Coalition forces killed six militants and detained eight others in operations in Afghanistan’s Regional Command – East over the past two days. U.S. forces launched multiple operations to disrupt terrorist networks and deny them sanctuary. In Andar District, coalition forces targeted a Taliban commander who funded, coordinated and directed roadside bomb attacks against civilians, Afghan and coalition forces. Officials believe the man facilitates the flow of foreign fighters into the Khowst region of Afghanistan. The force detained one suspected militant during the operation. Coalition forces also targeted a Hakkani sub-commander responsible for planning and conducting...

The US Department of Defense has notified Congress of a potential sale of 1,000 smart bombs capable of penetrating underground bunkers to Israel, which would likely be used in the event of a military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. The notification of the possible sale to Congress was made over the weekend by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), the branch of the Pentagon responsible for evaluating foreign military sales. Congress has 30 days to object the deal. The deal is valued at $77 million and the principal contractor will be Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. The bomb which Israel has...

A new conservative group has produced a television ad attacking Barack Obama for his relationship with former Weather Underground bomber Bill Ayers. "How much do your really know about Barack Obama? What does he really believe?" asks the ad, which then cites the failed attack on the Capitol on 9/11, and links it to the Weather Underground attack on the Capitol decades earlier. The group says it will spend $2.8 million airing the ad in Ohio and Michigan — which would be the largest single third-party expenditure this cycle. "Why would Barack Obama be friends with someone who bombed the...

In my last post I referenced the Days of Rage - put on by the Weathermen AKA Weather Underground in Chicago, October, 1969. I was in Chicago a few days later with my 2 little kids to get visas to travel to Korea for a year with the US Army. This was not fun & games like Woodstock. It was scarey as hell. This is Barak Obama's buddy Ayer's group. His lovely wife Bernadine Dohrn was also a part of it. They were rich, white kids playing revolutionaries. Whether Barak was 8 or not back then, does not take away...

We all know there are lots of rats crawling around in this world. Lest you think I’m typing figuratively here, take a gander at the following story. That’s right, we’ve got bomb sniffing rats taking biscuits right out of the mouths of dogs that would love to have that job, and don’t try to tell me this is a job a canine wouldn’t do. In fact this is one of the things every dog has dreamed of from the time they were a pup.

Nazi sympathiser Martyn Gilleard kept nail bombs under young son's bed By Paul Stokes Last Updated: 6:35PM BST 24/06/2008 A neo-Nazi planning attacks on Muslims, who hid home-made nail bombs under his five year old son's bed, faces life in jail after being found guilty of terrorism offences. Martyn Gilleard's activities were uncovered after police conducted a search for child pornography at his flatMartyn Gilleard said he was a British nationalist Four nail bombs capable of causing an explosion similar to that of a hand grenade were discovered in the home of fork-lift truck driver Martyn Gilleard. Police also discovered...

An Iraqi national policeman assigned to 8th Brigade, 2nd National Police Division, uses his rifle to search debris for weapons and explosive materials during a cordon and search operation in the Beladiyat area of eastern Baghdad, June 10. Along with Iraqi army soldiers, national police detained 23 suspects and confiscated illegal weapons, including 62 AK-47 rifles, six Simonov rifles, four pistols and two artillery shells prepared as improvised explosive devices in Muhalla 740. Photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Meadows. FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY — For Iraqi national police officers and Iraqi army soldiers, conducting cordon and search missions is nothing...

(IsraelNN.com) A Gaza-based organization has expressed "deep concern" at the recurrence of "internal explosions" caused by the manufacture and storing of weapons in civilian areas. The PCHR (Palestinian Center for Human Rights) released its statement after Thursday's tremendous explosion in a large house in northern Gaza, which killed an infant, a 16-year-old and six terrorists. Forty people were wounded in the blast. PCHR announced it is "deeply concerned about the recurrence of internal explosions as a result of weapons being manufactured, and stored, in areas populated by civilians. These actions are threatening the lives and property of Palestinian civilians." PCHR...

Two EOD Soldiers inspect a recently assembled Talon Robot. The Talon is but one piece of technology used to mitigate IED and other explosive threats. Photo by Pvt. Alisha Nye, 14th Public Affairs Detachment. COB SPEICHER — Improvised explosive devices (IED) are one of the greatest risks to troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Proper handling and disposal of IED is essential for the military, and why all branches work together to safely mitigate this threat.The 184th Ordnance Battalion, Task Force Troy-North, does just that. The battalion contains six explosive ordnance disposal companies, including two Navy and two Air Force...

WASHINGTON, June 9, 2008 – U.S. and Iraqi military operations in northern Iraq have cut the number of roadside bombs there nearly in half since February, the commander of Multinational Division North told reporters at a Pentagon briefing today. Video The number of roadside bombs -- known in military parlance as improvised explosive devices, or IEDs -- discovered in May was 550, compared to 900 in February, Army Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling told reporters in a teleconference from Camp Striker in Iraq. Coalition troops clear about half the IEDs each month, he said. Hertling, who also commands the...

WASHINGTON, May 29, 2008 – Coalition and Afghan national security forces killed an unknown number of enemy fighters and neutralized homemade bombs in Afghanistan over the past two days, military officials said. Combined forces killed several extremists during an operation today in Helmand province. While patrolling near the Sangin district center, troops received fire from militants. The combined ground force responded with small-arms fire and called in precision air strikes, killing the enemy fighters. Troops also destroyed a cache of mortar rounds during the operation. In Farah province yesterday, coalition forces killed several extremists with small-arms fire and precision air...

The US will no longer be able to stockpile cluster bombs at its military bases in Britain under government proposals for an international ban on the controversial weapons, it emerged last night. As diplomats from more than 100 states unanimously passed a treaty banning the use of cluster bombs around the world, it emerged that British ministers are prepared to go further. The government has agreed to scrap the two types of cluster weapon in the armoury of British forces, but it will also ask the US to get rid of its cluster bombs based here, and it will no...

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces detained two terrorists and seized weapons in recent operations in Iraq, military officials said. In Iraq yesterday: -- Based on intelligence gleaned from a mid-April operation, coalition forces raided what they believed to be an Iranian-backed “special groups” stronghold in Baghdad’s Rashid district. Troops detained one targeted special groups leader without incident. Military officials believe the captured individual coordinated and conducted attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces in southwestern Baghdad. -- Iraqi special operations forces detained a man in the Ghazaliya area of the Iraqi capital who officials said is an...

Japanese balloon bombs: A forgotten history Posted: May 2, 2008 10:47 PM CDT Balloon bombs, sent aloft by Japanese during WWII, reached West Coast, and one proved deadly With hundreds never recovered, still a rare chance of risky encounter By Christian Boris, KTVZ.COM In 1944 and 1945, the Japanese military launched bomb-carrying balloons to strike the American homeland. Many balloons landed in Oregon, including one that killed six people in Klamath County. On May 5, 1945, a group of Sunday school students encountered a balloon bomb snagged in a tree near Bly in Klamath County. Thirteen-year-old Joan Patzke attempted to...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A high school senior collected enough supplies to carry out a bomb attack on his school and detailed the plot in a hate-filled diary that included maps of the building and admiring notations about the Columbine killers, authorities said Sunday. Ryan Schallenberger, 18, was arrested Saturday after his parents called police when 10 pounds of ammonium nitrate was delivered to their home in Chesterfield and they discovered the journal, said the town's police chief, Randall Lear. The teen planned to make several bombs and had all the supplies needed to kill dozens at Chesterfield High School,...

<p>Home News Tribune is a Gannett site. Gannett has requested that Free Republic allow only a title and link to be posted for any articles originating from Gannett, even if the article is routed through another news site or blog.</p>

Lance Cpl. Jeff Lutz, left, Sgt. Dameon Lyon, center, and Lance Cpl. Michael Janeiro load an AIM-9M 'sidewinder' missile onto an F/A-18 Hornet before a combat mission. The Marines are aviation ordnance technicians with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115. Photo by 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Fwd) Public Affairs. AL ASAD — The current role of an F/A-18 Hornet in Operation Iraqi Freedom is close air support and the pilots of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115, the ‘Silver Eagles’, must always be prepared to deliver a lethal payload on enemy targets. Providing the firepower to the aircraft is the role of...

Report Cites Increase in Attacks on Military Recruiting Centers Wednesday, March 26, 2008 By Melissa Underwood Shattered windows and bomb scares are growing threats for recruiters working to find young men and women to join the U.S. military, according to a new report that claims attacks on military recruiting stations are on the rise. The report, issued by a not-for-profit group that supports members of the military, calls the incidents — including the spray-painting of graffiti — "attacks," and claims there have been more than 50 since March 2003. "The peace protesters are not peaceful," said Catherine Moy, executive director...

DAVIS – A student was in custody Thursday following the discovery of explosive devices at the University of California, Davis. Two partially assembled pipe bombs were found in a student's dorm room, university spokeswoman Lisa Lapin said. Authorities believe it was an isolated incident and said there was no need to detonate any devices. More than 450 students were evacuated Wednesday night from eight dormitories and slept in dining halls or at the homes of family and friends. They were expected to be let back into their dorm rooms later Thursday morning, Lapin said. Police became aware of the situation...

The Boeing Company celebrated a trio of Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) delivery milestones -- the 1,000th SDB I, the 200th BRU-61/A Bomb Rack Unit Carriage System and the first 50 Focused Lethality Munitions (FLM) -- demonstrating a commitment to providing effective solutions to the U.S. military. The milestones were observed with a ceremony at Boeing's St. Charles, Mo., Weapons Programs facility. Because of its small size and robust performance, the SDB I weapon system, which includes the four-bomb capacity BRU-61/A carriage system, greatly increases the mission capability of current and future platforms The all-weather SDB I weapon system is compatible...

** EXCERPT ** President George Bush cited the London July 7 bombings in an interview broadcast last night to justify his support for waterboarding, an interrogation technique widely regarded as torture. In an interview with the BBC he said information obtained from alleged terrorists helped save lives, and the families of the July 7 victims would understand that. Bush said waterboarding, which simulates drowning, was not torture and is threatening to veto a congressional bill that would ban it. In a wide-ranging interview, Bush: Defended the existence of Guantánamo Bay where many of those caught up in the US "war...

No matter what Israel does, the rockets from the Gaza Strip just keep coming. Young men like Abdul are the reason why. He studies by day, but at night he builds bombs for the Islamic Jihad. He and his fellow militants can produce up to 100 per night. The young man pulls the door of the taxi closed. He is wet. There is a light drizzle in the Gaza Strip. He turns around and greets the passengers in the back seat with a quick handshake. "Are you ready?" he asks them. "As of this moment, we could be going to...

BAGHDAD —  U.S. bombers and jet fighters unleashed 40,000 pounds of explosives during a 10-minute airstrike Thursday, flattening what the military called safe havens for Al Qaeda in Iraq on the southern outskirts of the capital.The strikes, carried out above approaching U.S. and Iraqi troops, was part of Operation Phantom Phoenix, a nationwide campaign launched Tuesday against Al Qaeda in Iraq.The air raid was followed by a ground attack that led to 12 arrests and the discovery of two houses used to torture kidnap victims, according to an Iraqi army officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Jan. 3, 2008 – Afghan national security forces saved the lives of Afghan civilians and coalition forces when they found two improvised explosive devices placed on commonly used routes in the Sangin district of Afghanistan’s Helmand province last week, military officials reported today. Afghan National Army soldiers from 205th Corps detonate an improvised explosive device discovered on a hillside in the Sangin district of Afghanistan’s Helmand province, Dec. 29, 2007. The Afghan soldiers found the IED while conducting a security patrol in the area. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. During a...

(IsraelNN.com) The rocket war in and around Gaza is heating up. The Israel Air Force bombed Gaza three times on Thursday afternoon in retaliation for a Katyusha rocket that landed further north than any rocket ever fired from Gaza. Shortly afterwards, a Kassam rocket attack from Gaza injured a Sderot woman hanging laundry. An Iranian-supplied Katyusha rocket fired around 11 AM on Thursday by Islamic Jihad terrorists in Gaza towards Ashkelon landed further north than ever before - 16.5 kilometers (10 miles) from Gaza. No one was hurt in the attack, though the missile landed only some 50 meters (55...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21, 2007 – Iraqi and coalition forces killed one suspected terrorist and detained 24 others in Iraq over the past two days, military officials said. During operations to disrupt criminal networks this morning, coalition forces captured two suspected “special groups” leaders and detained three other suspects near Baghdad in the Mashru and Kadhimiya areas. Intelligence led ground forces to the target area south of Baghdad in Mashru, where they captured one criminal group leader and detained another suspected criminal. The targeted individual reportedly trained criminal splinter group members to attack coalition and Iraqi forces with explosively formed penetrators...

<p>COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — At least four people were shot outside of a Colorado Springs church on Sunday, but it was not immediately known whether the shootings were related to an earlier shooting about 70 miles away, authorities said.</p>

Dismal returns for politically themed films in 2007 won’t stop the genre from continuing well into next year. Expect to see (or not see, as the case may be) more flicks about the Middle East, more Nixon-era biopics and more spy thrillers ripped from today’s headlines. While documentary filmmakers will continue to deal with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, expect fewer studio movies to get the green light for 2009 because of the box-office backlash. Film-reviewer-turned-director Rod Lurie — whose projects frequently involve political overtones: “The Contender,” the TV series “Commander in Chief” and next year’s movie “Nothing but...

Men behind Madrid bombs laugh in court By Fiona Govan in Madrid Last Updated: 2:33am GMT 01/11/2007 A Spanish court yesterday convicted three men of murder over the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 passengers. The three received symbolic sentences of more than 40,000 years each but under Spanish law they will serve a maximum of 40 years. Two Moroccans, Jamal Zougam, 33, and Otman el Gnaoui, 32, were convicted of carrying out the attacks on four commuter trains. A Spaniard, Jose Emilio Suarez Trashorras, 30, was found guilty of supplying the explosives. Eighteen other people were convicted of lesser...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Citing an "urgent operational need," the Pentagon is seeking funds to modify B-2 stealth bombers to deliver an experimental 30,000 pound (13.6 tonne), satellite-guided bunker busting bomb, officials said Wednesday. The likely purpose of the new weapon is to strike Iran's underground nuclear facilities, experts said. "It raises a red flag," said Representative Jim Moran, a Democrat from Virginia who called for hearings on the request. "My immediate assumption is that it is a target in Iran, rather than Iraq or Afghanistan." The air force has asked Congress for nearly 88 million dollars to complete development of...

Taiwan to develop 'blackout bomb' TAIPEI - TAIWAN is to develop a non-lethal graphite bomb designed to disable rival China's power supplies, it was reported. Should war break out, the so-called 'blackout bombs' would be carried by Hsiungfeng 2E cruise missiles to paralyse the power systems of China's south-eastern coastal cities, the United Daily News said on Sunday. The bombs work by sprinkling a cloud of chemically treated carbon fibres over power supplies, causing them to short-circuit, but without killing people. If approved by Parliament, the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology - Taiwan's top arms research unit - would...

Twin bombs strike at Benazir Bhutto's parade By Isambard Wilkinson in Karachi Last Updated: 9:13pm BST 18/10/2007 Bombers targeting a homecoming parade for former prime minister Benazir Bhutto have killed at least 30 of her supporters in Pakistan. Paramilitary soldiers stand guard as supporters await the former PM's arrival in Karachi Ms Bhutto was not harmed but dozens of her followers were hurt when two blasts ripped through a procession of tens of thousands celebrating her return. The devices appear to have exploded just feet in front of a truck which had been transporting the triumphant Ms Bhutto through the...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11, 2007 – U.S. soldiers are sweeping through a Baghdad neighborhood to clear out explosives and extremists, a coalition commander said today. “We've been working in the East Rashid district going after the bad guys and doing very, very well and trying to give a little hope to the Iraqis … so they don't have to live in fear any more,” Army Col. John RisCassi told online journalists and “bloggers” during a conference call from Iraq. RisCassi commands 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, a rapid response mobile force deployed from Vilseck, Germany, and assigned to Multinational Division Baghdad. He...

Iran 'arming Taliban with roadside bombs' By Tom Coghlan in Kabul Last Updated: 2:03am BST 04/10/2007 Iran is supplying the Taliban in Afghanistan with the same bomb-making equipment it provides to insurgents in Iraq, according to British military intelligence officers. US Army General Dan McNeill, the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, said that the discovery of more than 50 roadside bombs and timers in lorries crossing the border from Iran last month proves that Iran's Quds Revolutionary Guards are actively supporting the Taliban. The allegation will add to fears that the escalating war of words between Iran and the...

The plot thickens. Read the St. Petersburg Times: (Hat tip - reader Lynne) Well, well, well: PVC pipe filled with homemade “low-grade explosive mixture” and a videotape instruction for turning a remote-controlled toy car into a detonator were among the items found in the car driven by two University of South Florida students arrested in South Carolina and now facing federal explosives charges, according to a federal prosecutor. An assistant U.S Attorney outlined the evidence confiscated from the car driven by two suspended USF students — describing a container and three pipes filled with a low grade explosive mixture. The...

Three men have been arrested for planning attacks on Frankfurt's international airport and the U.S. military base in Ramstein, the German Defense Minister said Wednesday. "There was an imminent threat," Franz Josef Jung told Germany's ARD broadcaster. He declined to elaborate. Two of the suspects had German citizenship while the third was Pakistani, Germany's Sudwestrundfunk public broadcaster said. German federal prosecutors said they had arrested three suspected members of "an Islamic motivated terrorist organization." It was not immediately clear whether the three were suspected of having links to al Qaeda. Sudwestrundfunk said the men were arrested Tuesday evening and were...

Global Security: The Air Force is busy modifying its B-2 stealth bomber fleet so it can carry deep-penetrating bunker-buster bombs, according to recent reports. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, call your office. The Massive Ordnance Penetrator, known as the bunker buster, is a GPS-guided weapon that carries more than 5,300 pounds of conventional explosives inside a 20.5-foot hardened steel shell. Sounds formidable. It is. The Boeing-made bombs, which weigh 30,000 pounds each, are built to bore through dirt, rock and reinforced concrete at supersonic speeds to reach their targets: deep bunkers and tunnels. Once the steel has pierced the outer layers of the...

U.S. Outfitting B-2's with Monster Bunker Buster Bombs - Iran May Be Target NewsMax.com Wires Friday, July 27, 2007 The U.S. is retrofitting its B-2 Stealth bombers with massive bunker-buster bombs - a move that could be a prelude to an attack on Iran and its nuclear facilities. Iran has refused to comply with international demands that it stop its nuclear weapons programs. Experts have noted that a U.S. or Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear program could be difficult due to the large number of installations - some of which are buried deep underground in hardened bunkers.

US Air Force B-2 Stealth Bombers Will Soon Be Fitted With Newly-Developed 15-Tonne Massive Ordnance July 23, 2007 DEBKAfile Reports American military sources say the gigantic new bunker-blaster is designed to hit fortified underground targets such as Iran’s uranium-enrichment facility at Natanz. It will be capable of drilling through many meters of earth or concrete. When it falls from a high altitude, the MOP – composed of 20% explosives, 80% hardened metal - will punch a hole in the toughest protective casing before exploding in depth. It is GPS guided. DEBKAfile’s military sources reveal that Israel’s RAFAEL has upgraded its...

July 11, 2007: Special Forces troops and infantry unit commanders are finally getting a handheld device that will show them real-time video taken by UAVs or aircraft overhead. The handheld (about the size of a PDA, or a 1990s era cell phone), part of the ROVER (Remote Operations Video Enhanced Receiver) series, will arrive next year. This ROVER devices use a satellite data link to get the video from overhead UAVs or aircraft. The the original ROVER system, as well as the current one, was developed and sent to the troops in record time. So don't let anyone tell you...

A GIFTED brain surgeon is believed to be the mastermind of a ring of foreign doctors behind the London and Glasgow car bomb plots. British police suspect Jordan-trained neurologist Mohammed Jamil Abdelqadar Asha, 26, headed a network of medics intent on unleashing terror. Three doctors and two trainees are among seven people being quizzed in the UK over the car bomb plots. Several people arrested in connection with the terror attacks were traced via call logs from two mobile phones that failed to detonate in the nightclub car bombs. Suspected plot ringleader Dr Asha is a neurologist who was born...

FALLUJAH – Iraqi Army Forces discovered and destroyed an al Qaeda improvised explosive device factory during an early morning operation northeast of Fallujah July 2. Iraqi Soldiers located the factory, which contained homemade explosives, nitric acid containers and numerous other hidden explosives, on a remote compound in the vicinity of Karmah.  Ground forces destroyed the homemade explosives in place and, after clearing the area, utilized close air support to destroy the complex.The destruction of the terrorist IED factory will greatly inhibit al Qaeda in Iraq attacks in the Fallujah and Karmah areas leading into Baghdad.  Coalition Forces were present as...

BRITAIN will not yield to acts of "evil", Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Sunday after three botched car bomb attacks in two days in London and Glasgow. "We will not yield, we will not be intimidated,'' he said in an interview with BBC television, after his government raised the national security level to "critical'' following the attacks. He said terrorism "can never be justified as an act of faith'',

Paramedics have told how they saved the lives of scores of people after spotting one of the car bombs in central London. A Mercedes packed with petrol, gas and nails was found abandoned outside Tiger, Tiger nightclub in Haymarket in the early hours of Friday morning. A two-man ambulance crew, one aged 27 and the other 37, alerted police after smelling gas coming from the vehicle. The 37-year-old, who was not named, said: "As we pulled up outside Tiger Tiger, we came to a stop behind a Mercedes car, which was parked rather badly, about three feet from the kerb....

BAGHDAD, IRAQ — U.S. soldiers working the streets of the capital fear one Iraqi weapon more than others — copper-plated explosives that can penetrate armor and have proved devastating to Humvees and are even capable of severely damaging tanks. The power of EFPs, explosively formed penetrators or projectiles, to spray molten metal balls that punch through the armor on vehicles has some American soldiers rethinking their tactics. Some are asking whether the U.S. should give up its reliance on constant improvements to vehicle defenses.

WASHINGTON, June 8, 2007 – Coalition and Iraqi forces have killed 21 insurgents, detained 20 suspects, and discovered several weapons caches over the past few days in Iraq, military officials reported. Also, two car bombs detonated near Abu Ghraib yesterday, causing major damage to two mosques. Coalition forces killed one terrorist and detained 12 suspected terrorists during operations targeting the al Qaeda in Iraq network today in Anbar province. Based on information gained from an operation May 27, coalition forces raided several buildings northeast of Fallujah. After the coalition forces announced their presence through an interpreter, one terrorist outside the...

WASHINGTON, June 7, 2007 – Coalition forces today captured 32 suspected terrorists during a series of raids that targeted al Qaeda operations in Baghdad and western Iraq, officials said. Coalition forces in central Iraq today detained 16 suspected terrorists during operations that targeted al Qaeda in Iraq leaders. -- In three coordinated raids southeast of Fallujah, coalition forces detained 11 suspected terrorists with al Qaeda ties. Officials believed two of them are responsible for recruiting and facilitating terrorist cells in the area. -- Coalition forces also captured a suspected al Qaeda in Iraq terrorist leader during a raid on two...

WASHINGTON, June 6, 2007 – Anyone who doubts that al Qaeda would use chemical, nuclear or biological weapons need only look at the terror group’s attacks in Iraq, Defense officials said. Al Qaeda and affiliated groups have used chlorine gas in attacks against civilians, Iraqi forces and coalition forces at least 15 times since October, according to U.S. officials in Baghdad. “Chlorine is used by terrorists with the intent to harm or kill large numbers of civilians,” an official said. “The attacks show that the terrorists are adaptable, but it reflects more on their maliciousness than their sophistication.” The...

RIYADH (Reuters) - Gulf Arab states began working on feasibility studies for a joint nuclear program on Monday and a leading Gulf official said they were set on pursuing atomic energy for peaceful purposes only. "The promising future of nuclear energy in electricity generation and desalination can make it a source for meeting increasing needs," Gulf Cooperation Council head Abdul-Rahman al-Attiya told the first meeting of Gulf nuclear experts. The GCC, a major energy producing group that includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, agreed with the U.N. atomic watchdog in February to cooperate in...

WASHINGTON, May 18, 2007 – Iraqi and coalition forces prevented two car bomb attacks but were unable to stop eight others May 16 in Iraq, military officials reported. Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division, and an Iraqi army explosive ordnance disposal team stopped extremists from detonating a car bomb in the southern Baghdad neighborhood of Bayaa. Acting on a report about a suspicious vehicle, Iraqi troops cordoned off the area and took precautions to secure residents before calling in explosives specialists for support. Working alongside Multinational Division Baghdad troops from the 1st "Black Lions"...