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Locked on 06/01/2006 7:13:39 PM PDT by Admin Moderator, reason:
New thread here. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1642083/posts |
Posted on 04/18/2006 11:09:45 PM PDT by nwctwx
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Note: The following text (minus the photos/caption) is a quote:
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http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/9BFC711479A43CE28525715C0037389D?opendocument
Iraqi soldiers capture four insurgents, steady in progress toward relieving Coalition Forces by year’s end
Submitted by: Regimental Combat Team7
Story Identification #: 2006426639
Story by Sgt. Roe F. Seigle
BANI DA HAR, Iraq (April 26, 2006) -- It was pitch dark when four insurgents were captured in this town of 3,000 nestled along the Euphrates River in Iraq’s Al Anbar Province.
With the prisoners secured and on their way to a detention facility; Iraqi soldiers celebrated the achievement with stoic professionalism.
They’re proud of the fact more insurgents are off the streets of this small town, and that they captured the bandits without the assistance of the U.S. Marines – which has been an uncommon occurrence in the few years since the end of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003.
“We are sending a message to the insurgents,” said “Ahmed,” one of the Iraqi soldiers involved in the capture of the four insurgents. “There is a new sheriff in town.”
In recent months, the soldiers – all from 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division – have demonstrated their ability to operate without the assistance of Coalition Forces, said Staff Sgt. Mike Wear, intelligence chief assigned to the Military Transition Team here.
Moreover, Coalition Forces here say the Iraqis’ latest successful counterinsurgency operation is indicative of their overall progress in recent months.
They have independently raided insurgent hideouts, located weapons caches and set up traffic control points to catch insurgents transporting weapons in the past few months.
“I believe that with the progress they are making with us and the (Marines) in the province, these soldiers will be ready to take over their battle space in six to eight months,” said Lt. Col. Owen Lovejoy, senior advisor for 2/2/7’s military transition team.
Most importantly, the soldiers have given a sense of security to local residents, according to “Mohamed,” who enlisted in the Iraqi Army just recently.
Moreover, residents feel the Iraqi soldiers from “2/2/7” are providing that security, instead of relying solely on Coalition Forces for such protection, said Mohamed.
The recent successful counterinsurgency operation by the Iraqi soldiers, dubbed Operation Bani Da Har, was the fourth fully independent operation Iraqi soldiers have conducted since February, according to the Military Transition Team responsible for mentoring the fledgling Iraqi Army unit.
The soldiers’ recent accomplishments has led Lt. Col. Owen Lovejoy, 42, the senior advisor assigned on the Transition Team, to believe the Iraqi soldiers here will be capable of independent operations in western Al Anbar province on schedule.
While all of the Iraqi soldiers here say they are glad they are keeping the peace here, some have a more personal interest of ensuring insurgents are kept off the streets, and unable to intimidate residents.
Some, like Ahmed, grew up amid violence stemmed from Saddam’s dictatorship, he said.
The young Iraqi soldier said he looks forward to any chance he gets to fight insurgents like those who terrorized his family when he was growing up.
Before Coalition Forces ousted Saddam Hussein from power, theft and vandalism was commonplace, said Ahmed. Growing up, gun fights were a regular occurrence in his neighborhood, and would often keep him awake at night, he said.
“There are a lot of children that will not have to grow up in fear of insurgents and criminals who have no respect for others and human rights,” said Ahmed, through an interpreter. “When the Marines leave here we are going to be the ones responsible for protecting the innocent people.”
At the Iraqi soldiers’ camp here, Ahmed said he will never forget the day Hussein was captured by Coalition Forces.
“I will take pride in assuring no child ever has to go through what I did when I was a kid,” said Ahmed.
But now, Iraqi Security Forces are beginning to take the lead in operations such as the one Ahmed and other soldiers from 2/2/7 conducted to find and detain insurgents hiding among the local populace, according to Lovejoy.
During the raid, the Iraqi soldiers demonstrated not only their ability to conduct a successful counterinsurgency mission, but also to plan and support such an operation.
Prior to the raid, Iraqi soldiers established a central command and control structure – an essential piece of the puzzle to effect military operations here, according to Wear, 28.
In less than 30 minutes, the soldiers established a combat operations center, complete with communications equipment, supplies and maps. Moreover, they completed the task in near-total darkness, using minimal light to prevent attracting enemy attention, said Wear.
The feat impressed Wear, who added that such a task would be difficult even for a well-seasoned U.S. Marine unit due to the limited visibility at night.
The soldiers also planned for any emergency situations which may have arisen, said Wear. They formed a quick reaction force – a team of soldiers designated to respond to emergencies, such as medical evacuations and providing extra firepower in the even of an enemy attack.
Just six months ago, the Marines were in the driver’s seat of such operations, while Iraqi soldiers simply “shadowed” them to learn tactics and procedures for conducting security operations in Al Anbar Province, said Wear, a native of Port St. Joe, Fla.
Now, they are doing it themselves, said Wear.
“A few months ago, the Marines were running the operations and we were their just to watch and learn,” said “Hasim,” another 2/2/7 soldier. “Now, we are running the show and the Marines are just observing our progress.”
The soldiers’ steady progress has laid the ground work for future multi-company-level Iraqi Army operations in the region, according to the Marines.
“We have learned not just how to conduct operations, but how to conduct them with limited resources, such as sunlight,” boasted Hasim.
Since the Transition Team arrived in Iraq three months ago, the Iraqi soldiers have also demonstrated an improvement in their ability to collect their own intelligence, a key factor to counterinsurgency operations, according to 1st. Lt. Jesse Cope, the Transition Team’s logistics officer.
“One key success the soldiers had this mission is they developed the intelligence and it led to the capture of a highly sought after insurgent,” said Cope.
Another factor contributing to the Iraqi soldiers’ steady progress is the experience they’ve gained while working hand-in-hand with the Hawaii-based 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment – the U.S. military unit assigned to provide security here until Iraqi Security Forces are ready to take over operations later this year.
The Marine battalion arrived here more than a month ago, and has worked side-by-side with their Iraqi counterparts nearly daily to quell insurgent activity in the region.
“All the rifle companies continue to give capabilities to the Iraqi soldiers when they train with them daily,” said Lovejoy, a 23-year Marine Corps veteran and Brookville, Fla., native. “The rifle companies are ultimately building them for success.”
Contact Sgt. Seigle at: seigemf@gcemnf-wiraq.usmc.mil.
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Beautiful day today, so let's RECAP this one:
http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2369974
Terrorism Focus
"Fears of Intelligence Penetration of the GIMF"
By Stephen Ulph
April 25, 2006
We have another Darwin Award contender:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1622066/posts
"'Artwork' sparks major bomb alert"
BBC News ^ | 26 April 2006 | Staff
Posted on 04/26/2006 2:12:58 PM PDT by FreedomCalls
http://www.kusa.com
BREAKING NEWS:
Wednesday, April 26, 2006 - 3:18 PM....... Currently 73 °
"A school bus with up to 30 students on board crashed into a home at 5th and Albion, according to Denver Public Schools. Extent of injuries unknown at this point. Developing."
The video released Tuesday, the first by al-Zarqawi that shows his face, features scenes of the black-garbed terrorist firing a gun and hunkered over a map plotting strategy. The Sunni Muslim extremist, 39, looks youthful and healthy in the springtime desert.
“It’s a departure from the past. There’s no strident anti-Shiite rhetoric and no beheadings,” said Joost Hiltermann, Middle East project director at the International Crisis Group, based in Amman, Jordan.
“He wants to be a ‘good’ insurgent in a more moderate sense — an Iraqi sense — to appeal to Iraqis,” Hiltermann said.
What a load of steaming, fresh horse manure.
ON THE NET...
UPDATE...
http://www.kusa.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=d81027fd-0abe-421a-019d-53ce4b86b6d4&TEMPLATEID=0c76dce6-ac1f-02d8-0047-c589c01ca7bf
"School bus crashes into house"
Dan Viens Web Producer
Created: 4/26/2006 3:17 PM MST - Updated: 4/26/2006 3:44 PM MST
DENVER -
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "A triage area was set up for students near the scene. Thirteen students and the driver of the bus were transported to area hospitals with minor injuries.
Witnesses said the bus went out of control while driving north on Albion. No one was inside the house at the time of the crash.
Uninjured students can be picked up by their parents at Steck Elementary located at 425 Ash.
9NEWS has crews at the scene and there will be more information on 9NEWS and 9NEWS.com throughout the afternoon."
Snip: IDF soldiers Monday night arrested 18 wanted terrorists throughout Judea and Samaria. Nine men were arrested in Shechem in central Samaria. Seven of them belong to the Fatah party's terrorist wing and two are members of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.
Most reputed institutes of Islamic study are in the West
Snip: He said, the School of Oriental Studies at the University of London, and the Islamic and Arabic studies department at Princeton University are so prestigious that even Arabs and Muslims prefer to study there.
Invasive species harms native hardwoods
Snip: An invasive weed that has spread across much of the U.S. harms native maples, ashes, and other hardwood trees by releasing chemicals harmful to a soil fungus the trees depend on for growth and survival, scientists report this week in the Public Library of Science. The tree-stifling alien, garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), first introduced into the U.S. in the 1860s, has since spread to Canada and 30 states in the East and Midwest, with recent sightings as far west as Oregon.
Snip: "The skinhead movement is growing," the report says. "It now numbers up to 50,000 people and is spreading from major regional centres into small towns and villages."
That is an enormous increase from the skinheads' first appearance in Russia around 1992, when a handful of young punks in Moscow and St. Petersburg started copying European neo-Nazis. One expert says Russia is now home to half of the world's skinheads.
Russia delivers nuclear fuel to India
Snip: RUSSIA has delivered fresh nuclear fuel for two Indian reactors, ignoring a US request for a delay until rules are formally changed to allow such transfers, American officials said in recent interviews.
Lawmakers would ban universities from Cuba trips
Snippets: ''It is important because I don't believe Florida's taxpayers support the use of taxpayer money funding trips to terrorist nations -- particularly when America is fighting a war on terror,'' he said.
Under the plan, colleges and universities would be barred from using state funds, private donations and grants to ''implement, organize, direct, coordinate, or administer activities related to or involving travel to a terrorist state.'' The countries that fall under that category, as designated by the State Department, are: Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria.
Off Topic:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1622077/posts
"Gym agrees to changes after complaints by Muslims about privacy"
mlive.com | AP ^ | 4/26/06
Posted on 04/26/2006 2:33:31 PM PDT by LibWhacker
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "LINCOLN PARK, Mich. (AP) — A chain of fitness centers has put up partitions in response to complaints by Muslim women about a lack of privacy while they work out.
Fitness USA agreed to the changes at its Lincoln Park gym after meeting with a concerned Muslim member of the gym and Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations."
interesting set of links MamaDearest.
THANKS.
The following post is a quote:
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1622088/posts
I'm right about guns (John Lott)
The News & Observer ^ | Apr 24, 2006 | John Lott
Posted on 04/26/2006 2:56:00 PM PDT by neverdem
An April 15 People's Forum letter attacking my research was filled with inaccurate claims. It said that my research showing that concealed carry gun laws lead to a drop in violent crime has been "entirely discredited" and "failed to stand up when examined by more objective researchers." In fact, a large number of refereed academic studies have confirmed my results, some finding drops in crime even larger than I did. For a list of papers see:
http://johnrlott.tripod.com/postsbyday/RTCResearch.html.
As renowned criminologist James Q. Wilson pointed out in the National Academy report that the letter-writerreferenced, all the regressions estimated by the committee on murder rates showed that murder rates declined significantly after right-to-carry laws were adopted.
Interestingly, there are no refereed academic journal publications that claim that right-to-carry laws increase any type of violent crime rate.
John Lott
Burke, Va.
You know Murasel, all bad things come to an end -- eventually.
PROPAGANDA links ON THE NET...
http://albayanat.blogspot.com/
http://press-release.blogspot.com/
A few more details update...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1622128/posts
"Egypt Bombing Linked To Earlier Attacks"
The Guardian (UK) ^ | 4-26-2006 | Willa Thayer
Posted on 04/26/2006 4:15:24 PM PDT by blam
Egypt Bombings Linked to Earlier Attacks
Wednesday April 26, 2006 11:31 PM
By WILLA THAYER
Associated Press Writer
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Two suicide attackers targeting international peacekeepers and police blew themselves up Wednesday, two days after nearly simultaneous bombings killed at least 21 people at a resort in the Sinai Peninula.
Egyptian Interior Minister Habib el-Adly said all the blasts this week were linked to terror attacks against Sinai resorts last year and in 2004."
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Authorities have rounded up dozens of suspects and are studying the dismembered remains of three men to learn if they were suicide bombers in the Dahab attacks. Three detainees were released after questioning Wednesday."
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
THANKS to Jet Jaguar for starting this thread.
Note: The following post is a quote:
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1622151/posts
A real threat
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner ^ | April 26, 2006 | Opinion
Posted on 04/26/2006 5:03:49 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
How's this for a headline:
"U.S. OIL THIRST A GROWING THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY"
That's the headline that accompanied a story that arrived over the wire on Tuesday and that should be a hard slap to any member of Congress who opposes opening a small part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil development.
What the story noted was that Iran, the nation that raises the U.S. national ire more than Iraq does, is receiving more than $68 billion a year in oil revenue, which it no doubt is using to fund the nuclear development program aggravating Western leaders and to supply terrorist organizations with support.
If Iran does act against the West and curbs its exports, the effect would be significant. Iran supplies 2.5 million barrels a day to the global oil market, and the ripples would reach this country, according to an account of a former State Department official, through the loss of perhaps a million jobs.
That's just one estimate, and estimates surely vary depending on which an alyst you talk to.
But it shows the headline about the threat to national security can't be overestimated.
The U.S. already finds itself buffeted by oil problems associated with a wacky leader in Venezuela, which is a leading ex porter to the United States, and attacks in oil-producing na tions in Africa.
Iraq, meanwhile, hasn't seen its rich oil fields re turn to pre-war production levels and is constantly having to protect them from terrorist disruption.
Let's make it clear right away--opening ANWR will not by it self reduce the threat to national security. No one should be sug gesting it will.
But opening the refuge as part of a comprehensive energy package that includes increased mileage standards for vehicles, increased spending on alternative energy sources, a heightened use of nuclear energy and a commitment to energy conservation makes sense.
And opening the refuge isn't a wild idea, either; Congress back in 1980 said it might be allowable when it set aside the refuge's coastal plain as a development candidate when it was passing the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.
Slowly, eventually, reluctant members of Congress will come to see this and will change their view. The question, however, is one of time: Do we have time to wait?
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/4/24/124228.shtml
"PLA SUV on Sale Here"
Charles R. Smith
Monday, April 24, 2006
COLUMN SNIPPET:
"The Rodedawg is the brainchild of Luis Pallais, the commercial attaché to the Nicaraguan Consul General's Office in San Francisco. Of course, Luis has some help from pals inside Beijing.
The Rodedawg is made by Beijing Jeep Automotive Works and is known to the People's Liberation Army as the BJ5022XZHE, a variation on the BJ2020 series. The BJ2020 series is used by the Chinese army as an armed troop carrier; several versions carry missiles and machine guns.
"The Rodedawg is probably the only mass-produced amphibious, off-road 4x4 vehicle to enter the market. The Rodedawg's tremendous adaptability makes its usefulness almost unlimited in both work and recreational activities. In a work environment, the Rodedawg could be anything from a security vehicle patrolling and cruising the Rio Grande River bordering Mexico and the U.S., or a simple land and water rescue vehicle. The Rodedawg fills a unique niche in the emergency rescue land and water applications," states the official press release from Pallais and his company.
Even better - Hollywood has joined the Red banner wagon, promoting the PLA-made vehicle for sale in America."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1622142/posts
"Montreal Family Seeks Sister's Missing Head"
Toronto Star ^ | April 26, 2005 | Canadian Press
Posted on 04/26/2006 4:44:17 PM PDT by Loyalist
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "LONGUEUIL, Que. — A distraught family is offering $10,000 for clues to help solve a gruesome mystery involving a 68-year-old woman whose body was decapitated in a funeral home last July.
“Every morning we wake up and we say `Where is the head?’ ” said 63-year-old Ghyslaine Lemay, a sister of Cecile Lemay whose family has lived in torment ever since the bizarre incident.
Several of Lemay’s relatives held a news conference Wednesday to appeal for help after police admitted their investigation is no further advanced than it was last summer when the funeral home was vandalized.
While the family wants the head returned, a nephew of the deceased woman says it doesn’t want any surprises either.
“The police told us the head can be kept in the freezer for a lifetime,” said Alain Ouellette, 38, Ghyslaine’s son.
“We don’t want the head back (just) for the head. We just want to make sure we won’t, especially my mom at her age, find it in front of her door in the morning.”
Ouellette said the family can’t understand why someone would have committed such a horrible act.
“She was always smiling, always helping and loving everybody . . . she was such a good person,” Ouellette said of his aunt.
“Everybody loved her. So that’s something unimaginable. You cannot think that something like this would happen to a lady like this.”
Ouellette also said police had ruled out the possibility that a cult committed the mutilation, which occurred in Boucherville, south of Montreal."
Note: The following text is a quote:
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http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_2491.html
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
This information is current as of today, Wed Apr 26 2006 17:30:39 GMT-0700.
Central Asia
April 26, 2006
This Public Announcement is being reissued to remind Americans of ongoing security concerns and the potential for terrorist actions in Central Asia. U.S. citizens are advised to maintain a high level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness. This supersedes the Public Announcement of October 31, 2005 and expires on October 20, 2006.
The U.S. Government has received information that terrorist groups in Central Asia may be planning attacks in the region, possibly against U.S. Government facilities, Americans, or American interests. Elements and supporters of extremist groups present in Central Asia, including the Islamic Jihad Union, Al-Qaida, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), and the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, have expressed anti-U.S. sentiments in the past and have the capability to conduct terrorist operations in multiple countries. Previous terrorist attacks conducted in Central Asia have involved the use of improvised explosive devices and suicide bombers and have targeted public areas, such as markets, local government facilities, and the U.S. and Israeli Embassies in Uzbekistan. In addition, hostage-takings and skirmishes have occurred near the Uzbek-Tajik-Kyrgyz border areas.
U.S. Embassy personnel in Central Asia continue to observe heightened security precautions at work, as well as in public places, such as markets and bazaars. Terrorists do not distinguish between official and civilian targets. As security is increased at official U.S. facilities, terrorists and their sympathizers seek softer targets. These targets may include facilities where Americans and other foreigners congregate and visit, such as residential areas, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, hotels, schools, outdoor recreation events, resorts, beaches, maritime facilities, and airports.
U.S. citizens in Central Asia are urged to register and update their contact information at the nearest U.S. Embassy or through the Department of State's travel registration website at https://travelregistration.state.gov.
For more country-specific security information, U.S. citizens planning to travel to or remaining in Central Asia despite this Public Announcement should consult the Department of State's country-specific Travel Warnings, Public Announcements, including the Worldwide Caution Public Announcement, and Consular Information Sheets, available on the Department of State's website at http://travel.state.gov.
Updated information on travel and security in Central Asia may also be obtained from the Department of State by calling 1-888-407-4747 within the United States and Canada or, outside the United States and Canada, 1-202-501-4444.
Fascinating article. Thanks for the heads up.
You're welcome.
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