| This thread has been locked, it will not receive new replies. |
|
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
NOTE: The following text is a quote:
---
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/May2006/20060531_5300.html
Terrorist Leaders Captured in Iraq; Detainees Released
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 31, 2006 – Iraqi and coalition forces captured eight terrorist leaders in recent operations in Baghdad neighborhoods. Also, the Iraqi-led Combined Review and Release Board released more than 200 detainees.
Yesterday, Iraqi forces raided two targets in the Karada area of Baghdad and detained seven individuals responsible for homemade bomb attacks against Iraqi security forces.
The first target was a dormitory on Baghdad Technical University's campus where two student cells, operating out of dormitory rooms, built bombs and later initiated attacks against Iraqi army and police forces. Four students were detained during this operation.
At the second target, an apartment building near the campus, Iraqi forces detained three cell leaders responsible for emplacing bombs made by their student cells. All three cell leaders are believed to be Palestinians, and they were financed by a local business.
This cell is responsible for at least two attacks against Iraqi security and police forces in the Karada area. The first attack, in December 2005, resulted in no casualties. The second attack, in January of this year, killed several Iraqi police officers riding in a vehicle.
No Iraqi forces were killed or wounded during this operation. On May 29, Iraqi and coalition forces captured a key insurgent leader in Iraq, in the Ameriya neighborhood of Baghdad's Mansour district.
Sheikh Ahmed Hussein Dabash Samir al-Batawi, also known as Ahmed al-Dabash, was a major financier and facilitator of terrorism in Iraq, most notably the bomb attack in the Shiite holy city of Karbala on March 2, 2004. In that attack, several pre-set explosives were detonated near one of the most important Shiite shrines in Iraq - the Golden Dome Mosque.
More than 140 Iraqis were murdered and hundreds were wounded in the attack that occurred during the Shiite observance of Ashoura, a time when thousands of pilgrims gathered in Karbala. It is believed that Dabash also was responsible for the attack on the Shiite al-Tawhid Mosque in Baghdad and for facilitating other terror attacks around Baghdad.
Coalition forces consider Dabash's capture significant for the critical information they believe he will provide on al Qaeda and Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's network. They said he is known to have close ties to these organizations.
The Iraqi Central Investigating Court in Baghdad issued an arrest warrant for Dabash on Jan. 9, 2005, citing his violation of Iraqi Penal Code 194 - committing terrorist acts.
Iraqi and coalition intelligence officials and security forces tracked Dabash in a determined manhunt, and over the last two years have arrested several of his enablers and underlings who followed Dabash's command to commit terrorist crimes, officials said.
In other news, Multinational Force Iraq released 204 male detainees from coalition-run theater internment facilities May 30. The Iraqi-led Combined Review and Release Board reviewed their files and recommended release.
The board was established in August 2004 and consists of members from the ministries of Human Rights, Justice and Interior, as well as officers from the multinational forces.
To date, the board has reviewed the cases of more than 39,000 detainees, recommending the release of more than 19,600 individuals.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq news releases.)
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200605/INT20060531c.html
"Palestinian Rockets Rain on Southern Israel"
By Julie Stahl
CNSNews.com Jerusalem Bureau Chief
May 31, 2006
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Islamic Jihad reportedly is claiming responsibility for Wednesday morning's rocket attack on the southern Israeli town of Sderot."
ON THE NET...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1641393/posts?page=4#4
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1641393/posts?page=5#5
===
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1641393/posts
"The Iranian Challenge"
National Review Online ^ | 05/31/06 | Michael Ledeen
Posted on 05/31/2006 1:55:09 PM PDT by mojito
http://www.officer.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=4&id=30733
"Ohio Sheriffs Use State Powers To Battle Illegals"
Updated: May 31st, 2006 12:04 PM PDT
KELLY LECKER
The Columbus Dispatch
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones can't control what Congress does about the hotly debated immigration-reform issue.
He can't force federal agents to do anything about the illegal immigrants he says are costing taxpayers millions of dollars in his county north of Cincinnati.
But Jones sat at his desk, beneath a portrait of John Wayne, and talked about what he can control.
"I took an oath to uphold all the laws of this state and of this country," he said. "I don't know if it's an activist role. It's an American role, and I'm doing this as an American."
Jones is one of a handful of sheriffs who are using state laws to control illegal immigration in their counties.
His deputies are being trained to spot fake driver's licenses and Social Security cards. Jones is using state tax codes and other laws to go after businesses suspected of hiring illegal immigrants."
Most certainly Washington is aware of these statistics and most assuredly nothing is being done to prevent it. The newspaper headlines yesterday said it all "It's every man for himself..."
Snip: 86.7% of the United States population growth per year (and nearly 100% in California, Maryland, New Jersey, and Illinois) results from mass immigration and children born to immigrants.
Snip: The U.S. government, which is sworn to protect American citizens, is in reality, aiding and abetting this health care crisis. Quoting a Fox News Report from April 4, 2003, Miguel, who worked construction on a subway renovation project for months, was able to change his status to legal permanent alien. Unfortunately, Miguel was infected with tuberculosis. This did not stop the federal government from issuing Miguel a health waiver under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a waiver that permits him a green card, even though his disease made him inadmissible for the waiver. Miguel is now legally free to move about the country-and is, at this moment.
ON THE NET...
http://www.minutemanhq.com
===
===
http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=22693
"On the Border's Frontlines"
By Bill Steigerwald
FrontPageMagazine.com | May 31, 2006
CORRECTING POST NO. 2987:
ON THE NET...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=aclu
---
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1641367/posts
"ACLU's Conditional Defense of Free-Speech"
RealClearPolitics ^ | May 31, 2006 | John Leo
Posted on 05/31/2006 12:55:59 PM PDT by RWR8189
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Many people believe that the American Civil Liberties Union no longer cares much about free-speech cases. Now, the organization is thinking of curbing the speech of its own officers. It has drawn up standards, not yet promulgated, that would discourage public dissent on ACLU policies and forbid open criticism of anyone on the board or the staff. Nat Hentoff, a former board member who writes frequently about the ACLU, called it a "gag order."
The organization said it feared that internal criticism might harm its fund-raising and public support. Yes, dissent can affect a group's reputation, but not as much as the squelching of dissent by alleged advocates of free speech."
Thanks to a Special Freeper for pointing (via freepamail) to this article:
http://blog.lauramansfield.com/2006/05/31/grandma-accused-terrorists-and-a-mosque--what-do-they-have-in-common.aspx
"Grandma, accused terrorists, and a mosque"
This entry was posted on 5/31/2006 5:10 PM
>>>'Youths' at it again in Paris
Thanks, Cindy.
Makes sense, I hear there are a few cars left in France which have not yet been torched.
Tehran, 31 May (AKI) - Shortly after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced on Wednesday that her country is ready to join multilateral talks with Iran on its nuclear program once the country "fully and verifiably" stops enriching uranium, a top Iranian diplomat announced that Tehran's atomic plans are irreversible. "The United States, Europe and the international community must resign themselves and accept that the nuclear activities of the Islamic Republic, starting with uranium enrichment, are irreversible," said Mohammad Saiidi, the deputy chief of Iran's delegation to the Vienna-based UN atomic watchdog.
"We will not take part in any negotiation which has as a precondition the suspension of uranium enrichment, not even a temporary one," said the Iranian representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Rice's offer comes on the eve of a crucial meeting of UN Security Council members plus Germany on Thursday.
Excerpted
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Politics&loid=8.0.305134145&par=0
Iran's military plans for invasion by U.S.
By Iason Athanasiadis
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
May 31, 2006
TEHRAN -- Iran, apparently anticipating an American invasion, has quietly been restructuring its military and testing a new military doctrine that calls for a decentralized, Iraqi-style guerrilla campaign against an invading force.
Excerpted
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060531-121559-6573r.htm
MILF to hunt down Islamic militants in Mindanao
COTABATO -- Muslim separatists holding peace talks with the Philippine government have agreed to hunt down 53 Islamic militants as a sign of their sincerity to end a 30-year-old conflict.
A list containing the names was recently handed over to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) by the government, MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said.
Under a "cooperation framework" signed with the government in 2002 the MILF said it would help Manila "interdict or arrest terrorist elements" operating in its areas, Kabalu said.
"We have a list of criminal elements the government has submitted to us to be apprehended," he told reporters late Sunday in Cotabato on the insurgency-wracked island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines.
MILF officials were now "validating" the list, which includes the names of renegade Muslim rebels with possible links to Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) as well as Khadaffy Janjalani, leader of the Abu Sayyaf.
Paris, 31 May (AKI) - Four policemen were injured, seven people arrested and vehicles set alight in fresh rioting mainly by French youths of Arab and African origin that broke out overnight in several high-rise suburbs of the French capital, Paris, news reports said on Wednesday.
The disturbances followed clashes on Monday and Tuesday between scores of hooded youngsters and police in the Montefermeil and Clichy-sous-Bois areas, protesting the introduction last month of "anti-deliquency measures" by Montefermeil's major, Xavier Lemoine. Seven policemen were reported injured in the face-offs.
Excerpted
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Politics&loid=8.0.304933564&par=0
Troops told Geneva rules don't apply to Taliban
WASHINGTON — Canadian troops in Afghanistan have been told the Geneva Conventions and Canadian regulations regarding the rights of prisoners of war don't apply to Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters captured on the battlefield.
Excerpted
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060530.wxdetainee30/BNStory/Afghanistan/home
Militant trained by al-Qaeda
Wednesday May 31, 2006
KUALA LUMPUR: One of the 12 members of the new terror group Darul Islam arrested by the Malaysian police was trained by Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda movement in Afghanistan, investigations revealed.
The Indonesian, who was trained to handle arms and make bombs, is said to have conducted similar training for members of the group in Indonesia and in the southern Philippines.
Excerpted
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/5/31/nation/14395622&sec=nation
I've been really busy with work lately.. but, I wanted to let you all know that I will put up a new TM for the month of June tomorrow evening (while it is still June 1!). I think it's worth testing it out month by month... see how it goes. If it's a problem, we can revert back to the current way.
Michael Chertoff is coming tomorrow to talk about Homeland Security... I will post links to transcripts/etc., as soon as I get them.
"Makes sense, I hear there are a few cars left in France which have not yet been torched."
OPINION: Mass transit will soon be all the rage, (pardon the pun); and one can only imagine what "the youths" will do there.
Great set of links Oorang.
I appreciate it.
Thank you nw and don't work too hard.
TRIAL UPDATE...
Note: The following post is a quote:
---
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1641536/posts
Lodi man pleads guilty to lesser charge in terror case, avoids jail
AP ^ | 5/31/6 | DON THOMPSON
Posted on 05/31/2006 7:33:37 PM PDT by SmithL
SACRAMENTO -- A Lodi ice cream vendor pleaded guilty Wednesday to a lesser charge of trying to smuggle cash to Pakistan rather than be retried on allegations that he lied to the FBI about his son's attendance at a terrorist training camp.
Umer Hayat, 48, was convicted of lying to customs agents about more than $28,000 he and family members were trying to carry on a flight out of the country three years ago. In exchange, prosecutors dropped charges that he lied to the FBI and he will serve no more jail time after spending nearly a year behind bars.
"This outcome was not, of course, the one most desired
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Note: The following text is a quote:
---
http://www.dea.gov/pubs/states/newsrel/nyc053106.html
News Release [print-friendly version]
May 31, 2006
Contact: DEA Public Affairs
Violent Colombian Heroin Kingpin Sentenced to 40 Years in Federal Prison
Leader Of South American Heroin Cartel Smuggled An Estimated $200 Million Worth Of Heroin Into The U.S. And Used Torture and Intimidation to Control Criminal Enterprise
MAY 31 -- JOHN P. GILBRIDE, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division, DEA and MICHAEL J. GARCIA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that United States District Judge ROBERT P. PATTERSON sentenced RAMIRO LOPEZ IMITOLA, the head of an international heroin trafficking organization based in Cucuta, Colombia, and Caracas, Venezuela, to a sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment.
LOPEZ-IMITOLA had previously pleaded guilty on March 15, 2005, to a two-count Indictment. Since 1997, the Lopez-Imitola Organization imported more than 2,000 kilograms of heroin -- worth an estimated $200 million on the streets -- into the United States. To date, 17 members of the Lopez-Imitola Organization have been arrested, and more than 50 kilograms of heroin has been seized by United States authorities.
LOPEZ-IMITOLA was extradited from Colombia on February 26, 2004, and is one of the most prolific heroin traffickers ever prosecuted in the United States. According to the Indictment and the formal request for extradition (the "Extradition Package"), and based on evidence presented at the sentencing hearing (the "Hearing"), LOPEZ-IMITOLA used more than 250 human couriers recruited in both Venezuela and the United States to smuggle heroin into the U.S. from Venezuela on a daily basis by either ingesting pellets of heroin or transporting suitcases in which heroin had been secreted. The heroin was initially imported into Venezuela from Colombia, and then transported by the couriers to various locations in the United States, including Florida, Puerto Rico and New York City. LOPEZIMITOLA sent as many as 20 couriers on a single flight from Venezuela to Miami, each of whom had ingested as much as one kilogram of heroin. LOPEZ-IMITOLA ran a highly structured Organization, employing a large number of "Managers"who accompanied the fleets of couriers on their trips, collected the drugs once they were passed by the couriers, delivered the heroin to local distributors, and then repatriated the proceeds to LOPEZIMITOLA in Venezuela.
The evidence demonstrated that LOPEZ-IMITOLA controlled nearly every move made by his Managers, as well as couriers who worked directly for him, during their trips to the United States. In order to permit the couriers to travel to the United States, LOPEZ-IMITOLA illegally obtained over 100 United States travel visas by bribing employees at the United States Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, according to evidence presented at the Hearing and in the Extradition Package.
Further, LOPEZ-IMITOLA admitted that he paid thousands of dollars to a law enforcement officer who worked at the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Caracas, Venezuela, for every courier for each trip made on behalf of the Lopez-Imitola Organization. In return, the law enforcement officer made sure that the couriers cleared through security checks at the airport, and interceded if any other law enforcement officer detained one of the couriers.
To ensure that these couriers did not attempt to steal from the Lopez-Imitola Organization or later cooperate against members of the Lopez-Imitola Organization, LOPEZ-IMITOLA and other members of the Organization used torture and intimidation to control the criminal enterprise. For example, LOPEZ-IMITOLA or one of his representatives met with the couriers at the time they were recruited and compelled them to provide the Lopez-Imitola Organization with information regarding the couriers' families, and, on occasion, visited the courier’s families to make sure the couriers were telling the truth. LOPEZ-IMITOLA threatened harm to his couriers and their families if they did not comply with the directives of the Lopez-Imitola Organization.
When LOPEZ-IMITOLA believed that one of the couriers stole approximately $100,000 of the proceeds from the sale of the Organization's heroin, LOPEZIMITOLA arranged for the courier and his boyfriend to be taken by armed kidnappers to a city outside of Caracas, Venezuela, where LOPEZ-IMITOLA and his henchman violently tortured them. LOPEZIMITOLA personally burned one of the couriers with an iron after tying a plastic bag over his neck with wire and filling it with bug spray. The courier was left with brutal scars on his lower back and neck. While he was being tortured, LOPEZ-IMITOLA’s henchman pulled the fingernails out of the courier’s boyfriend. After LOPEZ-IMITOLA realized that the courier and his boyfriend were innocent, he shrugged it off as being "the nature of our business."
LOPEZ-IMITOLA bragged about how he tortured the men, and senior members of the Organization told other couriers about the torture in order to instill fear and to ensure their compliance with the orders of the Organization.
According to the evidence presented at the Hearing, at least one of the couriers who ingested heroin died in Miami, Florida, of a heroin overdose after one of the pellets that he had ingested burst open. LOPEZ-IMITOLA directed others in the Organization to go to a hardware store in Miami to buy supplies, including a bucket, scissors and gloves, to use to cut open the corpse and retrieve the heroin from the courier's body. When they refused to do so, LOPEZ-IMITOLA directed them to bring the body to individuals that LOPEZ-IMITOLA knew in Florida who specialized in cutting open the bodies of couriers who died of overdoses. The Organization members refused, and dumped the body (which still contained 88 pellets of heroin) into Biscayne Bay, Miami Beach, Florida, where it was recovered by the Miami Beach Police Department.
The charges were the result of a joint investigation
involving cooperation between the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force ("OCDETF"), the Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA"), the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE"), the New York City Police Department ("NYPD"), and the New York State Police, together with the Venezuelan Judicial Police, the Colombian National Police, the Miami Beach Police Department and the Coral Gables Police Department. Mr. GARCIA praised the cooperative investigative efforts of these agencies.
Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration JOHN P. GILBRIDE stated: "This is an example of Justice served. This drug smuggler went to gruesome extremes to further his drug empire. He tortured and threatened those who worked for him. He bribed officials to ensure prompt drug deliveries. He ordered his employees to desecrate a human courier who had overdosed on a heroin pellet that had opened in his stomach. This the extent to which a monster would go in order to make millions from the drug trade."
MR. GARCIA stated: "RAMIRO LOPEZ-IMITOLA is not only one of the biggest heroin traffickers ever extradited to the United States, but he maintained his empire through brutality and corruption. Federal, state, local and international law enforcement will work together to ensure that even traffickers who operate from abroad will face severe sentences for the harm they inflict in our country and in their own."
The case is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office’s International Narcotics Trafficking Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys NEIL M. BAROFSKY and MARC P. BERGER are in charge of the prosecution.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.