Posted on 12/23/2005 9:33:28 PM PST by Straight Vermonter
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| Soldiers from the 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, search for insurgents along the Euphrates River southwest of Baghdad. U.S. Army Photo By 2nd Lt. Paul Fisher |
Flight deck lights illuminate a Navy SH-60 Seahawk helicopter as it sits on the deck of the USS Tarawa (LHA 1) . The Tarawa and its embarked Expeditionary Strike Group 1 are currently conducting maritime security operations in the Persian Gulf. DoD photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Elena Velazquez, U.S. Navy. |
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| A U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. unloads a wounded Iraqi soldier from a U.S. Army blackhawk air ambulance at the Air Force Theater Hospital in Balad, 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Dec. 23, 2005. (AP Photo/Jacob Silberberg) | An Unidentified Marine stands outside a AH-1W Super Cobra Helicopter belonging to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 369 (HML/A-369) at forward operation base Al Qaim. HML/A- 369 is deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom to conduct counter-insurgency operations to isolate and neutralize anti-Iraqi forces; support Iraqi reconstruction and democratic elections; and to facilitate the creation of a secure environment that enables Iraqi self-reliance and self-governance.(Official Marine Corps Photo by Sgt James P. Aguilar) |
A local national identified a home in east Baghdad that was being used as a factory to make improvised rocket-launchers.
At about 6:30 p.m. elements of 3rd squadron, 7th Cavalry, raided the home and discovered 15 rocket-launchers were in the process of being built and one 57 millimeter rocket was competed and ready to be fired. No one was present in the home at the time of the raid.
“It is encouraging that the Iraqi citizens are continuing to choose the side of the new government over the terrorists. The Iraqi citizens know that providing information against the terrorists to Coalition or Iraqi Security Forces will help to improve the security situation in their neighborhoods,” said Col. Joseph DiSalvo, commander of Coalition Forces in east Baghdad.
All equipment in the home was seized and will be used as evidence against the homeowners when they are caught. Iraqi Security Forces are continuing the search.
Iraqi Security Forces and Task Force Baghdad officials continue to encourage all Iraqi citizens to report suspicious behavior by e-mailing baghdadtipshotline@yahoo.com or calling one of the TIPS hotlines at 07901737723 or 07901737727.
Glory’s Guns in the form of 1st Platoon, Battery A, are making their presence known at Forward Operating Base Speicher near Tikrit. The platoon, from 1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, were stationed at FOB Summerall near Bayji.
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| A 1st Platoon, Battery A M-109A6 Paladin is engulfed in dust, sand and smoke immediately after firing recently on Forward Operating Base Speicher. (photo by Maj. Richard Bartoszuk) |
“They were brought down (to FOB Speicher) because of the increased indirect fire threat,” said Townsend. “Once Danger closed there was a higher indirect fire threat (to the Division Headquarters on Speicher).”
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| Staff Sgt. Donnie Neal, section chief, 1st Platoon, Battery A, 1-41 FA, sits inside a M-109A6 Paladin before firing from Forward Operating Base Speicher. (photo by Maj. Richard Bartoszuk) |
1st Platoon was busy during their tenure at Summerall. While there, Townsend said, they shot the second highest number of rounds in the 1st BCT area of operations. They were also one of only two platoons to conduct artillery raids.
During one raid, said Staff Sgt. Donnie Neal, a Memphis, Tenn. native and the 4th Section chief, the platoon rolled outside the gates of Summerall to the outskirts of Bayji.
“It was fast and furious,” said Neal. “We pulled in, shot and then left.”
Besides the occasional artillery raid Neal admitted that manning the gun day in and day out “gets kind of old.”
“(Operation Iraqi Freedom I) was different,” said Neal. They moved fast and reacted to where the enemy was, he said. “OIF III it was more planned out.”
1st Lt. William Dennison, 1st Platoon platoon leader, said living at Summerall wasn’t bad at all. “We were totally detached (from our battalion),” said Dennison. “It was just me and the platoon sergeant. We were on our own.”
“(The platoon’s deployment to Iraq) was what we expected,” he said, “except maybe not to shoot so much.”
Three Algerians have been arrested in southern Italy as part of an inquiry into international terrorism. The men are suspected of belonging to a terrorist cell of the radical Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat(GSPC) which has links with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
The inquiry, codenamed "Full Moon", began in November 2003 into a group of Algerians resident in the area around Naples who caught police interest because of their close contacts with a known member of the GSPC.
Investigators say the widening of the inquiry to involve police forces in other countries has provided precious information on the current state of the GSPC, its international ties, and the most recent terrorist activity in Algeria.
Italian police last week carried out dawn raids at the homes and offices of an Algerian ring suspected of collecting money and other supplies for Islamist extremists in North Africa. The operation was carried out in the northern regions of Liguria and Lombardy and in Campania in the south. Money donated from Islamists based in Europe was sent to militants operating from the mountaineous regions of Algeria.
(The Europeans seem to be busting up these Algerian cells. Let's hope they are not violating anyone's privacy right to do so.)
 Abdullah Khadr |
Khadr was questioned by the Pakistani intelligence following his arrest there in 2004 after he was spotted driving around Islamabad. Soon after his return to Canada the 24-year-old was arrested in his family home in Toronto.
U.S. diplomats in Ottawa hint that any delays in the Khadr case would be regarded by the U.S. administration as a hostile move.
According to intelligence sources quoted in Canada, Khadr planned to kill American soldiers and is believed to have spent time in al-Qaida and Taliban training camps.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are investigating the detainee and trying to learn more about his North American connections, Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin has learned.
Khadr was denied bail today by Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy, who said he is a flight risk and could be aided by al-Qaida in escaping the jurisdiction.
Yesterday, in a pre-extradition hearing, his grandmother broke down in tears repeatedly as a government lawyer pressed her to reveal anything she knew about allegations Khadr bought weapons for al-Qaida and plotted to kill Americans.
Fatima Elsamnah, 66, wiped away tears as government prosecutors asked her routine questions about her ability to provide bail. Elsamnah said she would risk her $300,000 house if her grandson is released while an extradition hearing proceeds.
Khadr is wanted in the United States on an extradition warrant for charges of possession of a destructive device and conspiracy to murder American nationals outside the United States, which could result in a life sentence if convicted.
Elsamnah said she has a good relationship with her grandson, but cried when asked about allegations that Khadr bought weapons for al-Qaida and was involved in a plot to kill the prime minister of Pakistan.
She changed her story three times as to when she first heard the allegations.
 Ahmed Khadr |
Khadr is the eldest son of Egyptian-born Canadian Ahmed Said Khadr, an accused al-Qaida financier who was killed in a battle with Pakistani forces in 2003. Each of the other four Khadr siblings has been separately jailed and accused of links to terrorism.
Younger brother Abdurahman Khadr quietly watched the hearing yesterday. He has called himself the “black sheep" of this notorious family. He was arrested as a suspected member of al-Qaida in November 2001. He was returned to Canada in October 2003.
"We've been in a war zone, what do you expect?" Abdurahman Khadr told reporters outside a Toronto court. "And we're back now but it seems as though we're still in a war zone because we're not being able to live peacefully – someone is always in, out, jailed, this, that."
 Omar Khadr |
Abdullah's younger brother – Omar – is the only Canadian to be held at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He's accused of killing an American soldier.
Maha Khadr, the mother, was born in Palestine, moved to Canada and then moved with her husband and six children to Afghanistan in the 1980s.
Information from the Taliban released on Feb. 4, 2004, suggested Abdullah Khadr may have been the would-be suicide bomber who killed a Canadian soldier in Kabul in January 2004. In an interview with CBC News Feb. 25, 2004, he said, "If I was the suicide bomber, I wouldn't be doing this interview with you right now."
Court documents say Khadr, who was arrested in Toronto on Dec. 17 on the request of U.S. authorities, is wanted in Massachusetts on charges of possession of a destructive device to further a crime of violence and conspiracy to murder Americans outside the United States. He is accused of purchasing about $20,000 in mortar rounds, landmine materials, grenades and ammunition for AK-47s for al-Qaida terrorists in eastern Afghanistan.
WorldNetDaily first reported exclusively that Omar Khadr, suspected of having direct ties to Osama bin Laden, was accused of killing a U.S. Special Forces medic.
Omar Khadr was released from the prison for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, because the U.S. had no charges and believed he no longer was an intelligence asset.
Experts say a mystery mass illness in Russia's conflict-torn republic of Chechnya was caused by ethyl glycol - a toxic chemical found in anti-freeze.
Blood samples from five affected girls showed traces of ethyl glycol, medical experts in neighbouring Dagestan said.
But their findings were rejected by a separate team of doctors from Moscow and army medics working in Chechnya.
Eighty-five people are suffering from the mystery illness - most of them girls, Russian media report.
In the past week the victims have suffered breathing problems, headaches, irrational fear and panic attacks.
Conflicting theories
The symptoms prompted speculation that they might have been targeted by chemical weapons.
Muminat Khadzhayeva, a doctor in Dagestan, dismissed such speculation, saying traces of ethyl glycol had been found in blood samples.
Another doctor in Dagestan, quoted by Reuters, said the victims had probably ingested the chemical through a contaminated water supply.
Separatist fighters have waged a bitter war against Russian federal forces for a decade, with attacks taking place both inside the republic and elsewhere in Russia.
Earlier, some Chechen officials said they believed the illness to be psychological "trauma".
Chechnya's infrastructure was left devastated by the war and the healthcare system is short of funds and equipment.
(Good news if this turns out not to be a chemical attack but still bad news for those involved)
A top al-Qaida official close to Osama bin Laden wanted to kill President George W. Bush at the White House, according to a report in the N.Y. Daily News.
Abu Faraj Al-Libi - al-Qaida’s number three leader who was captured in Pakistan last May – also had plans to assassinate Pakistan’s President Gen. Pervez Musharaff.
The information has reportedly been corroborated by two senior U.S. counterterrorism officials.
"Al-Libi had one mission: Kill Bush and Musharraf," the Pakistani official told The News. "He wanted to kill Bush in the White House, preferably."
(al-Libi was reported to have said, "I would have succeeded if it wasn't for those meddling kids and their NSA wiretaps".)
Elements of 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry, working with the 3rd Public Order Brigade (POB) of Iraq’s Ministry of Interior, engaged and killed four terrorists in two separate incidents in Salman Pak, Dec. 14.
At about 3 p.m. a patrol from C. Troop, 3-7 CAV, was visiting a POB headquarters building to share information when small arms fire was heard outside.
“One of the POB Soldiers came down from the roof of the building and told us they were receiving small arms fire from across the Tigris River, about 800 meters,” said Sgt. 1st Class Dillard Johnson, a platoon sergeant in C Troop.
Johnson immediately deployed his Soldiers to see if the threat was still present. He placed his Soldiers on the roof tops. While positioning his Soldiers, they started to receive small arms fire from across the river.
“I used my laser rangefinder to give me the distance to the enemy location, it was 852 meters exactly, a long shot,” he said. Johnson, directed his Soldiers to orient on the location of the enemy.
They observed two terrorists in the prone position. The enemy had a truck with what looked like a two person observation team to help them identify their targets and probably to provide emergency egress, he said.
The enemy shooters hit pretty close to them, “some rounds landed within six inches of us as we moved to our own firing positions,” said Staff Sgt. Jared Kennedy a Bradley commander.
The enemy proved no match for the well trained marksmen of 3-7 CAV.
“I engaged one enemy shooter with my own rifle. My first round fell short but it must have scared him because he stood up to run away. The next round I fired, hit him and he went down,” Johnson said.
At that point the other enemy shooter stood up. It looked like he was going to make a dash for his truck, Kennedy said.
He hit the other shooter in the chest as he started to run away, said Kennedy. ‘I positioned a team of Bradley’s to observe the other side of the river,” he said.
About 11 p.m. a Toyota pickup truck was observed moving into the location where the small arms fire had originated, Johnson said.
“The truck was suspicious and it looked like it had a mortar tube in the back of it,” he said.
Shortly after the truck stopped the suspected terrorists fired two mortar rounds in the direction of the U.S. Forces.
“As soon as they fired at us, I had our Bradley’s open up on them. The enemy fired one more round before two of them were killed. The truck was able to drive away but I was able to direct an Army helicopter to track it down. I could see where the truck stopped, in front of a farm, but it was too far away to engage; without risking injury to innocent civilians,” he said.
“Shortly after the helicopter arrived on station it located the enemy vehicle and destroyed it without damaging the homes around it,” Johnson said.
“My platoon performed very well. We outgunned and outperformed the terrorists in every phase of this engagement,” he said.
(Kennedy and Johnson shoot it out with terrorists!)
Three terrorists were captured as they were caught emplacing a hoax roadside bomb in east Baghdad Dec. 21.
At about 6 p.m. a patrol from 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry observed a civilian vehicle dropping cement blocks in the median of a major thoroughfare. The patrol intercepted the suspicious vehicle and detained three suspected terrorists.
Additional elements of 3-7 CAV secured the site surrounding the suspicious items and an explosive ordnance disposal team investigated the objects and found them to be hoax roadside bombs.
"These suspected terrorists were not placing cement blocks in the road for any other reason then to terrorize and intimidate the population. They are currently being detained at a military detention facility," said Maj. Paul Reese, operations officer for 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.
"Anyone found guilty of emplacing a hoax roadside bomb is a terrorist -- make no mistake about it; the good people of Iraq are disgusted by these types of games."
Hoax roadside bombs are commonly used by terrorists to check how Iraqi Security and Coalition Forces will react.
Roadside bombs are a deadly threat, anyone found planting roadside bombs, either real or hoax, will be treated as a terrorist.
A top commander of Harkat-Ul-Jehadi-Islami (HUJI) was among two militants killed in the north Kashmir today, official sources said. The Sources said security forces on a tip off, cordoned off Gujjar Pati Bandipora to nab militants. However, when the troops were sealing the area, militants opened fire which was returned.
Sources said two militants were killed in the encounter.
A spokesman of the HUJI told local mediapersons that they lost District commander for Baramulla Fayaz Ahmad Dar alias Qazi Usman who was active in the area for the past six years.
He said a militant of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen Usman Bhai was also killed in the encounter.
Spokesman claimed that six security personnel were killed or wounded in the encounter which continued for several years.
According to the ministry, the gunman, who was detained on Thursday, underwent terrorist training in the camps under the leadership of Arab mercenary Hattab and headed a special battalion in his time.
“In 2001, he was amnestied, however, he continued to participate in the subversive ideological activity. According to the law enforcement bodies, the gunman, an ardent supporter of Wahhabism, was actively engaged in popularising ideas of radical Islam and recruiting young people for combat actions against authorities,” a representative of the ministry said in conclusion.
Merry Christmas!
He is born!
He is risen!
Thank you Straight Vermonter for posting all the Terrorist Roundups.
I appreciate it.
Christmas blessings to you.
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CHRISTMAS
http://www.truthusa.com/CHRISTmas.html
Merry Christmas indeed! Hope Mahomet's wearin' Kevlar!
Hope Mahomet's wearin' Kevlar!
i hope mahomet's wearing donkeydung body armour .
“We have been rescued from our enemies, so we can serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness forever.” Luke 1:73-74
Merry Christmas to you!
Merry Christmas !!! S V & Family !!! .
We Three Kings of Orient are.. bearing gifts we traverse afar!
For unto us a child is born...
Merry Christmas!
God is Good!
S.V., Merry Christmas and a safe & Happy New Year.
And He will prevail.
Merry Christmas Straight Vermonter. Thanks for your work and all who contribute.
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