I guess all 50 of the Senate Democrats (did Tim Johnson actually sign this?) are supporters of Ari Fleisher's oft-quoted-out-of-context statement that in these troubling times, public figures must "watch what they say."
Veteran political columnist David Broder set off a firestorm recently when he called Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid an "embarrassment'' for declaring the Iraq War "lost.''
From the assault subsequently directed at Broder -- from other journalists, political operatives, left-wing bloggers and even the entire 50-member Senate Democratic Caucus -- you'd have thought Broder had had an intimate encounter with an intern.
...
In a letter to The Washington Post that had the unmistakable whiff of a powder room manifesto, otherwise known as a hissy fit -- as opposed to a "bed-wetting tantrum,'' as Paul Begala described Broder's column -- the senators asserted that their leader is a "good listener,'' who has an "amazing ability to synthesize views and bring people together,'' and who also demonstrates a "mastery of procedure.''
It is perhaps admirable, and certainly reassuring to Reid, that his fellow senators came to his defense. But this kind of overreaction to a columnist is rare, if not unprecedented, and betrays a disturbing hostility to legitimate criticism.
...
Outrage has become such a predictable response to any difference of opinion that it's lost its heat. When everything is outrageous, nothing is.
...
Part of this devolution in discourse has been brought about, no doubt, by the volcanic explosion of the blogosphere, which has democratized free speech in a way that is not always positive or pretty. Everybody can type, but not everyone can write. Everyone has an opinion, but not everyone comes equipped with the same skills and experience.
The disinhibiting effect of anonymity, meanwhile, has unleashed something dark in the human spirit that seems to have infected the broader culture. It isn't enough to say that Broder is all wet; instead he's "foaming at the mouth,'' a "gasbag" and a "venomous'' bloviator, borrowing again from Begala.
The absence of fairness and respectful dissension -- and the decline of civility wrought by our nation's unhinged narcissism -- now there's something worthy of outrage.
The translator depicted in these images is an like us all: Hopeful, idealistic and ambitious. He's never been to America, but he's the most "american" Iraqi I met.
He shared the day to day risks of life in a rifle company, but with one big difference: he could've quit anytime. It's been four years now and he's assisted hundreds of U.S. Army soldiers in accomplishing their missions. Whether it's gaining the trust of locals to ask about IEDs or using his local knowledge to reveal the deceit of foreign fighters determined to derail democracy, he never faltered.
In the year I worked with him we were attacked, ambushed and blown up several times. Every time I or one of my men were wounded, he was there. Always.
Now, I need your help. Please view this quick movie or the longer Discovery Channel version on My War Diary and decide whether this young man deserves to have a chance to become an American. Ask yourself "Has he earned the chance?" If you answer yes, please write his visa packet sponsor kenneth.miller@us.army.mil and tell him that you support Alaa's dream to come to America.
The Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW) provides an enhanced capability for the 21st century infantryman, with the potential to selectively replace the M16 rifle, M203 grenade launcher, and M4 carbine. When fielded, the OICW dual munition system will provide superior firepower to the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, Special Operations Command, Navy, and Coast Guard.
Program guidelines were derived from the Small Arms Master Plan (SAMP) and Joint Service Small Arms Master Plan (JSSAMP). OICW was managed by JSSAP during the Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) phase. For the PDRR/EMD phase, OICW management will transition to PM Small Arms with support provided by ARDEC.
Effective range to 1,000 meters
Full defilade target capability
Moving target tracking capability
KE semi two-round burst; HE semi automatic
Recoil level 1/3 that of the M14
Ruggedized composite weapon housing
Separable HE/KE weapons
Precise target range, automatically communicated to 20mm HE bursting ammo
Five times more lethal than the M16/M203, at > twice the range
Rate of fire with KE ammo >850 rounds/min, with HE >10 rounds/minute
Easily field strippable in under two minutes
Day/night fire control; weapon interface, iron sight backup
HE ammo functional modes: airburst, MOUT short arm, point detonation, point detonation delay, and self-destruct
Laser ranging accuracy ±1/2m out to 500m, ±1m out to 1000m
Weapon Operation
The fire control system (FCS), using a laser range finder, pinpoints the precise target range at which the HE round will burst and relays this information to the 20mm ammunition fuzing system. Fragments from the bursting munition will defeat PASGT body armor and incapacitate the target. The sighting system provides full 24-hour capability by employing uncooled IR sensor technology for night vision.
Accurate OICW 20mm HE airburst at 2.5 meters above ground, using turns-count fuzing precision.
World-Class Team
For the ATD program, ATK served as system integrator, fuze developer and 20mm HE developer. ATK formed a strong international team, including Heckler & Koch (weapon), Contraves-Brashear Systems (fire control), Octec (video tracker), and Dynamit Nobel (KE and propellant support). For the PDRR/EMD program, the ATK team remains intact and will evolve a combat ready system.
By TODD PITMAN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 51 minutes ago
BAQOUBA, Iraq - Across the walls of the villas they seized in the name of their shadow government, black-masked al-Qaida militants spray-painted the words: "Property of the Islamic State of Iraq
They manned checkpoints and buried an elaborate network of bombs in the streets. They issued austere edicts ordering women not to work. They filmed themselves attacking Americans and slaughtered those who did not believe in their cause.
For months, al-Qaida turned a part of one Baqouba neighborhood into an insurgent fiefdom that American and Iraqi forces were too undermanned to tackle — a startling example of the terror group's ability to thrive openly in some places outside Baghdad even as U.S.-led forces struggle to regain control in the capital.
U.S. forces took back the entire Tahrir neighborhood during a weeklong operation that wrapped up Sunday in Baqouba, a city 35 miles northeast of Baghdad that al-Qaida declared last year the capital of its self-styled Islamic caliphate.
Though the operation was a success — it forced the guerrillas to either flee or melt into the population — soldiers say the extremists are likely to pop up anywhere else that's short on American firepower.
Indeed, even as the Tahrir operation took place, insurgents stepped up attacks on a new police post in the adjacent Old Baqouba district — which was also cleared recently — pounding it daily and killing Baqouba's police chief in a suicide car bombing.
Insurgent teams, meanwhile, have tried to infiltrate back into Tahrir, U.S. Capt. Huber Parsons said Tuesday.
When U.S. forces began pouring into the embattled district last week, residents said it was the first time they'd seen significant numbers of coalition troops since last fall. U.S. troops set up a combat outpost in northern Tahrir several months ago.
But to the south, residents recounted watching helplessly as masked fighters came and went freely in past months, piling weapons into the back of vehicles and taking over the homes of Shiites who had either fled or been killed.
"We were terrorized," said one man. "We wondered, Where is the government? Why have they forgotten us? Why does nobody come here to help?"
Baqouba has been wracked by violence for years. But insecurity has skyrocketed since late last year, partly because Sunni militants fleeing Baghdad's security crackdown have sought refuge here.
An estimated 60,000 people have fled the city of 300,000, most of them Shiites driven out by Sunni hit squads. Meanwhile, vital government subsidized food and fuel shipments, which normally flow in from Baghdad, ceased arriving because of political corruption in the capital, said Col. David W. Sutherland, whose 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, is responsible for security in Diyala province.
"In an insurgency, if you don't have faith in the government or security forces ... you turn to those who will offer you a better way," Sutherland said. "The terrorists were able to drive a wedge between the government and the people. But we're reversing that."
The battle for Baqouba picked up in mid-March.
U.S. commanders rushed in Stryker infantry battalion which helped clear, and eventually calm, the southern district of Buhriz, once the city's most violent area. While American forces fought there and in Old Baqouba, they watched neighboring Tahrir spin out of control.
Parsons said video from an unmanned aerial drone last month showed suspected al-Qaida militants searching vehicles at a checkpoint. They held back from destroying it, choosing to "track them to see where they were going, where they lived," Parsons said.
Then, for eight days in early April, al-Qaida battled fellow insurgents from the nationalist 1920 Revolution Brigades, who residents said were trying to resist the terror group's bid for control. The nationalist fighters ran out of ammunition and fled.
With the district firmly in al-Qaida's hands, local leaders and sheiks called on American and Iraqi soldiers for help.
U.S. forces first sent road-clearing teams into southern Tahrir April 22. Insurgents fired mortars and popped out of windows with rocket launchers, destroying three de-mining robots. Tanks and infantry blasted surrounding buildings, killing more than a dozen attackers.
The next day, Parsons moved three of his platoons into central Tahrir on foot. All three came under fire. The day ended with a 30-minute firefight at dusk in which rounds ripped through palm groves. Apache helicopters shot Hellfire missiles at a house insurgents had fled to, lighting the sky in thunderous blasts.
Fighting eased afterward. Soon, previously empty streets were teeming with crowds of people who shook soldiers' hands as they passed.
Residents recounted watching groups of masked men dig into roads with jackhammers in recent weeks, planting bombs and stringing copper wire to trigger them from houses and schools.
The militants mostly kept to themselves, but they distributed puritanical leaflets commanding women to cover themselves in black from head to toe, and stay home from work. They ordered tea shops shut and warned men not to smoke water-pipes.
"No one dared ask them why," said one father. Those who did drew unwanted scrutiny — and a possible death sentence, he said.
Families told of Shiites who went shopping and never returned. One man said his brother had been kept and beaten in a makeshift prison with two dozen others.
At night, masked men stormed homes, robbing and carrying out extra-judicial killings. "Nobody knew whether they were al-Qaida or the police or just common criminals," said a baker named Ali. "It was total lawlessness."
Like other residents interviewed, Ali declined to give his full name in fear of reprisals from insurgents.
Insurgents blocked roads with concrete barriers taken from coalition forces. One checkpoint was so permanent that U.S. troops found a schedule naming those who manned it daily.
In some empty homes, guerrillas knocked small holes in the walls to use them as sniper positions. Below some, bullet casings littered the floor.
Half a dozen of houses containing weapon stashes, as well as one booby-trapped villa with a 155mm artillery shell rigged to blow behind its front door, were leveled. Many stashes were pointed out by residents.
One cache of rocket launchers and Kalashnikovs was found simply leaning against a wall in the back room of an abandoned home, along with handcuffs, ski masks, radio handsets and a video camera. A tape inside it showed a "Husky" American bomb disposal vehicle trying to de-mine a road in Baqouba.
Parsons eyes widened when he saw it: the driver and the vehicle work with his Stryker unit.
On the video, machine-gun fire erupted amid cries of "Allahu Akbar," God is Great, targeting the vehicle and a de-mining robot.
The footage cut abruptly to an unrelated, final scene: A closeup of a blood-splattered corpse whose blindfold had been pulled from his face. The man looked Iraqi and appeared to have been tortured.
Soldiers said they believed al-Qaida operatives had lived in Tahrir, using homes there as a kind of rear base. In the living room of one home residents said served as a medical aid station for wounded fighters were empty beds, neck braces and x-rays scattered across the floor.
Although insurgents claimed many houses in the name of the Islamic State of Iraq, they tried to erase their work with splotches of white paint two months ago — realizing the proclamations might be too conspicuous. On some gates and walls, the paint was too thin to cover the black Arabic lettering.
The Islamic State is a coalition of eight insurgent groups. Late last month, it named a 10-member "Cabinet" complete with a "war minister," an apparent attempt to present the Sunni coalition as an alternative to the U.S.-backed, Shiite-led administration of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Parsons assured each family that U.S. troops and police would stay behind to keep insurgents out after he left, and establish a new police station.
Al-Qaida "had months and months to run rampant because we didn't have the forces available to come in here until now," Parsons said. "They controlled this neighborhood, but they don't anymore."
By THOMAS WAGNER, Associated Press Writer 39 minutes ago
BAGHDAD - U.S.-led forces killed a senior al-Qaida in
Iraq operative believed responsible for the kidnappings of Westerners, including a Christian Science Monitor reporter and a slain peace worker from Virginia, a military spokesman said Thursday.
The U.S. Embassy, meanwhile, said a rocket attack on Iraq's Green Zone on Wednesday killed four foreign contractors _one from the Philippines, one from Nepal and two from India — who were working for a U.S. government contractor. It was the third straight day that extremists used rockets or mortars to hit the area where Iraq's parliament meets.
U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the killing of Muharib Abdul-Latif al-Jubouri, described as al-Qaida's information minister, had apparently led to confused reports that al-Qaida's top leader or the head of an umbrella group of Sunni insurgents had been killed.
Caldwell said the military had conducted numerous operations against al-Qaida in Iraq in the last six days but does not have the bodies of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri and did not know "of anybody that does."
U.S. and Iraqi forces have stepped up operations against the terrorist network following a series of car bombings and suicide attacks that have killed hundreds in recent weeks despite a security crackdown in Baghdad and surrounding areas.
Al-Jubouri was killed while trying to resist detention in an operation about four miles west of the Taji, a town near an air base north of Baghdad early Tuesday, and the body was initially identified by photos, then confirmed by DNA testing Wednesday, he said.
Al-Jubouri was believed to have been deeply involved with the kidnapping of Jill Carroll, the Christian Science Monitor reporter who was released unharmed, and Tom Fox of Clear Brook, Va., one of four men from the Chicago-based peace group Christian Peacemaker Teams who was found shot to death in Baghdad on March 10, 2006, he said. He was also involved in the kidnapping of two Germans in January 2006, Caldwell said.
In a statement, Christian Science Monitor Editor Richard Bergenheim said the development "reminds us of the enormous efforts made by everyone over 82 days to secure Jill's safe release."
"While much remains to be done to improve conditions in Iraq, we appreciate the continuing efforts by the U.S. military and the Iraqi government to make the country a safer place for journalists and citizens alike," Bergenheim said.
On Thursday, mourners gathered at al-Jubouri's house in Duluiyah, 45 miles north of Baghdad, as a huge funeral tent went up in the street, police said.
The Interior Ministry said earlier that al-Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State of Iraq, had been killed and released photos of what it said was the body of the leader of the umbrella group, which includes al-Qaida.
But Caldwell said al-Baghdadi's death could not be confirmed.
"If that person even exists, again, we have nobody in our possession or know of anybody that does, alive or dead, that is going through any kind of testing or analysis at this point with respect to those two individuals," he said.
On Tuesday, officials said al-Masri, the head of al-Qaida in Iraq, had been killed by rivals north of Baghdad, but the body had not been recovered.
Regarding al-Masri, Caldwell said "we in fact do not have in our possession nor do we know of anybody that has anybody or person at this time that we think is him."
"His overall status whether he is dead or alive is actually unknown to us at this point," he added.
The U.S. Embassy statement gave no other details about Wednesday's attack that killed the four contractors in the Green Zone, which is home to the U.S. and British embassies and thousands of American troops as well as key Iraqi government offices.
Insurgents routinely fire rockets and mortar rounds into the sprawling Green Zone.
The attacks seldom cause casualties or damage because they are poorly aimed and there is a lot of open space in the zone, but two Americans — a contractor and a soldier — were killed in March in a rocket attack on the area and two suicide vests were found unexploded less than a week after that.
The adequacy of security in the area also came into question after the April 12 suicide bombing in the parliament building's dining hall. One lawmaker was killed in the blast, which was claimed by an al-Qaida-led amalgam of Sunni insurgents.
On Wednesday, Rear Adm. Mark Fox, a U.S. military spokesman, said the latest round of Green Zone attacks appears to be part of a strategy by extremists "to score a spectacular hit or try to obtain some sort of a headline-grabbing direct hit."
___
Associated Press writers Sinan Salaheddin and Sameer N. Yacoub in Baghdad contributed to this report.
** UPDATE: I seem to remember Cronkite's admission from an interview some years ago, but damned if I can find any reference to it online. So consider this unconfirmed, please, as my memory may be foggy.
Our Boy kicking ass from the air in Afghanistan. The Taliban can sneak in, but it's a bit tougher to sneak out after their lame ambushes.
Via The Telegraph: Caught in the middle of the Helmand river, the fleeing Taliban were paddling their boat back to shore for dear life.
Smoke from the ambush they had just sprung on American special forces still hung in the air, but their attention was fixed on the two helicopter gunships that had appeared above them as their leader, the tallest man in the group, struggled to pull what appeared to be a burqa over his head...
...By the time the gunships had finished, 21 minutes later, military officials say 14 Taliban were confirmed dead, including one of their key commanders in Helmand...
"Some of them were trying to get the heavy machine-gun up a small hill to engage us," Lt Denton said. "Capt Staley used the 30mm gun to take out the two guys who had taken off, and then we fixed on the ones with the heavy machine-gun. They were huddled around a large boulder and we shot them. We put as many rounds around it as we could, because if they got to it they could cause us trouble. But they never had a chance to set it up."
Using its cannon and then its rockets, the Apache finished off all the Taliban fighters it could find, then launched nail-filled rockets and dropped white phosphorous to destroy the motorcycles and the machine guns. After the shooting stopped, 12 Taliban were confirmed dead...
.....for now, the American airmen are not losing any sleep over it. "When you are on top of the enemy you look, shoot and it's, 'You die, you die, you die..."
If you are a Taliban fighter, get your affairs in order post haste.
Although Ill take every opportunity to point out the lack of washing both hands in dealing with the terrorists in their midst, i will give kudos to this nugget of 172 jihadie carats gettin rounded up before they can share their "Love" of Islam with the rest of the civiled earth... welcome to the stone age again mental monkeys of Allah.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Saudi Arabia announced Friday that an anti-terrorism sweep netted 172 Islamic extremists and stopped plans to mount air attacks on the kingdom's oil refineries, break militants out of jail and send suicide attackers to kill government officials.
An official said the plotters had completed preparations for their attacks, and all that remained to put the plot in motion "was to set the zero hour."
It was one of the biggest roundups since Saudi leaders began cracking down on religious extremists four years ago after militants attacked foreigners and others involved in the country's oil industry seeking to topple the monarchy for its alliance with the U.S.
But while the monthslong police operation provided a high-profile victory for the royal family, the large number of people arrested highlighted the extremism threat in the world's leading oil exporter.
(AP) This image made from footage broadcast by Al-Arabiya, Friday, April 27, 2007, is said by them to... Full Image
The Interior Ministry said the plotters were organized into seven cells and planned to stage suicide attacks on "public figures, oil facilities, refineries ... and military zones," including some outside the kingdom. It did not identify any of the targets.
The militants also planned to storm Saudi prisons to free jailed militants, the ministry's statement said.
"They had reached an advance stage of readiness, and what remained only was to set the zero hour for their attacks," the ministry's spokesman, Brig. Mansour al-Turki, told The Associated Press in a phone call. "They had the personnel, the money, the arms. Almost all the elements for terror attacks were complete except for setting the zero hour for the attacks."
The Saudi statement said some of the detainees had been "sent to other countries to study flying in preparation for using them to carry out terrorist attacks inside the kingdom."
Al-Turki said he didn't know whether the militants who trained as pilots planned to fly suicide missions like those in the Sept. 11 attack on the United States or whether they intended to strike oil targets in some other way with the aircraft.
(AP) This image made from footage broadcast by Al-Arabiya, Friday, April 27, 2007, is said by them to... Full Image
"I have no information on what they were planning to do with the airplanes, but I assume, based on the possible use of airplanes in attacks, that they planned to fly the airplanes into specific targets," he said.
The militants were detained in successive waves, with one group confessing and leading security officials to another group as well as caches of weapons, al-Turki said. He told the privately owned Al-Arabiya television channel that some of those arrested were not Saudis.
The Interior Ministry said police seized large quantities of weapons and explosives and more than $5.3 million in currency during the sweep. State TV showed video of one cache dug up in the desert that included explosives, assault rifles, handguns and ammunition wrapped in plastic.
U.S. officials praised the sweep as a blow to international terrorism.
"Certainly anytime the Saudis or anyone else takes action against those involved in terrorism it's a good thing," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said. "It's something that makes the world safer and makes America safer."
(AP) This image made from footage broadcast by the Saudi state TV channel Al-Ekhbariah, Friday, April... Full Image
Saudi Arabia's long alliance with the United States angers Saudi extremists who object to Western ways, such al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
An austere strain of Islam known as Wahhabism is followed by the country's predominantly Sunni Muslim population, and militant groups have attracted recruits from Saudis with extremist leanings. Fifteen of the 19 airline hijackers in the Sept. 11 attack were from here.
Militants have struck at foreigners living in Saudi Arabia and the country's oil industry, which has more than 260 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, a quarter of the world's total. Bin Laden also has urged such attacks to hurt the flow of oil to the West.
In May 2004, attackers stormed the offices of a Houston-based oil company in the western Saudi oil hub of Yanbu. The fighting killed six Westerners, a Saudi and several militants.
Several weeks later, al-Qaida-linked gunmen attacked oil company compounds in Khobar on the eastern coast, killing killed 22 people, including 19 foreigners.
(AP) Police stop vehicles at a checkpoint near an oil refinery in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, in this June 1,... Full Image
During the most recent attack, in February 2006, two explosives-laden vehicles tried to enter the Abqaiq oil complex, the world's largest oil processing facility, in eastern Saudi Arabia. But guards opened fire and the vehicles exploded without damaging the facility.
The ruling family has pursued an aggressive campaign against militants the past four years, and its security forces have managed to kill or capture most of those on its list of most-wanted al-Qaida loyalists in the country.
The Interior Ministry did not say whether any of the militants rounded up in the latest sweep were members of al-Qaida, referring to them only as a "deviant group" - Saudi Arabia's term for Islamic terrorist.
The kingdom earmarked one-sixth of its $12 billion defense budget last year for protecting oil facilities and is considering creation of special military units devoted to guarding the industry, Nawaf Obaid, a petroleum adviser with close ties to the government, has said.
Previous reports have said attack helicopters and F-15 jet fighters are in the air 24 hours a day over Saudi oil export terminals, while as many as 30,000 soldiers guard oil facilities.
---
Associated Press writers Abdullah Shihri reported from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Donna Abu-Nasr from Beirut, Lebanon.
The al-Qaeda leader who is thought to have devised the plan for the July 7 suicide bombings in London and an array of terrorist plots against Britain has been captured by the Americans.
Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, a former major in Saddam Hussein’s army, was apprehended as he tried to enter Iraq from Iran and was transferred this week to the “high-value detainee programme” at Guantanamo Bay.
Abd al-Hadi was taken into CIA custody last year, it emerged from US intelligence sources yesterday, in a move which suggests that he was interrogated for months in a “ghost prison” before being transferred to the internment camp in Cuba.
Abd al-Hadi, 45, was regarded as one of al-Qaeda’s most experienced, most intelligent and most ruthless commanders. Senior counter-terrorism sources told The Times that he was the man who, in 2003, identified Britain as the key battleground for exporting al-Qaeda’s holy war to Europe.
Abd al-Hadi recognised the potential for turning young Muslim radicals from Britain who wanted to become mujahidin in Afghanistan or Iraq into terrorists who could carry out attacks in their home country. He realised that their knowledge of Britain, possession of British passports and natural command of English made them ideal recruits. After al-Qaeda restructured its operations in Pakistan’s tribal areas he sought out young Britons for instruction at training camps. In late 2004 Abd al-Hadi met Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer, from Leeds, at a militant camp in Pakistan and, in the words of a senior investigator, “retasked them” to become suicide bombers.
They were sent back to Britain where they led the terrorist cell that carried out the 7/7 bombings, killing 52 Tube and bus passengers.
Pakistani intelligence sources said that Abd al-Hadi was also in contact with Rachid Rauf, a Birmingham man now in prison in Pakistan and alleged to be a key figure in last summer’s alleged plot to blow up transatlantic airliners in mid-flight.
Abd al-Hadi has also been linked to a number of other foiled al-Qaeda plots to carry out attacks in Britain. But the Security Service, which has previously sent officials to question detainees at Guantanamo Bay, may not have the opportunity to question him directly.
The Government’s recently adopted position in favour of closing Guantanamo Bay is likely to act as a bar on agents travelling there. British Intelligence would have to rely on relaying questions it would like asked by American interrogators.
Security sources said they assessed Abd al-Hadi as a key operational commander, high up the chain in the al-Qaeda structure who was behind many key plots in the UK.
He had a close link with another arrested al-Qaeda figure and, the sources said, would have “a wealth of information”. He is thought to have been in contact with Osama bin Laden before his capture and might be able to provide information about his leader’s whereabouts.
Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said that Abd al-Hadi had been classified as a “high-value detainee” at Guantanamo, and joined 14 others, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the 9/11 mastermind, as the most senior terror suspects at the Cuba prison.
Mr Whitman refused to say when or where he was captured, or by whom. “Abd al-Hadi was trying to return to his native country, Iraq, to manage al-Qaeda's affairs and possibly focus on operations outside Iraq against Western targets,” Mr Whitman said.
He added that he was a key al-Qaeda paramilitary leader in Afghanistan in the late 1990s, and between 2002 and 2004 led efforts to attack US forces in Afghanistan with terrorist units based in Pakistan.
In a lecture this week Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, commander of Sctoland Yard’s Counter-Terrorism Command, said that the central al-Qaeda leadership was behind a spate of terror plots against Britain.
He said: “We have seen how al-Qaeda has been able to survive a prolonged multinational assault on its structures, personnel and logistics. It has certainly retained its ability to deliver centrally directed attacks here in the UK. In case after case, the hand of core al-Qaeda can be clearly seen.”
Sources said last night that few figures had been more important at the centre of the revived al-Qaeda. Abd al-Hadi is credited with forming its alliance with the insurgency in Iraq.
US officials said he was associated with leaders of other extremist groups allied with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including the Taleban.
Michael Scheuer, former head of the CIA’s bin Laden unit, told The Times that catching Abd al-Hadi was important but that it did not spell the end of al-Qaeda.
He said Abd al-Hadi had been an important figure in developing al-Qaeda’s strategy in the insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan and also helped to redirect its terrorist strategy in Europe.
Mr Scheuer, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation in Washington, said: “It is a blow for al-Qaeda, especially in Iraq, where it will have consequences.
“But al-Qaeda always plans for succession, and there will have been someone lined up to take his place. It is nonsense to think that al-Qaeda is dead.”
(I think that might be a rhetorical question on his part.)
A Taliban commander was among 16 people killed in Afghanistan, as Afghan and NATO forces surrounded around 200 Taliban fighters in southern Uruzgan province, officials said on Tuesday.
Eleven Taliban were killed when Afghan and NATO forces attacked their hideout in the Seuri district of southern Zabul province Monday night, General Rahmatullah Raoufi, army commander for regional south said.
He said joint forces acting on a tip-off surrounded the Taliban compound and asked them to surrender, adding that the joint forces opened fire after being fired on by the insurgents from inside the compound. The ensuing battle left eleven Taliban dead. None of the Afghan or NATO troops was wounded.
...
Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said the militants came under siege when they gathered for a meeting in the Chora district of the province and were warned to surrender or face attack.
He said the surrounded militants included some top Taliban commanders, but did not name any. However, Deputy Interior Minister Abdul Hadi Khalid told the security commission of the upper house of parliament Monday that it was possible that Mullah Dadullah, the top rebel commander for the southern region, could be among the fighters under siege.
Dadullah is believed to have been responsible for the recent beheading of an Afghan journalist and his driver.
The Taliban rejected the claim that their fighters, including Mullah Dadullah, are surrounded by Afghan forces, saying there was no need for such a large number of their fighters to gather in one place.
Note the "commander" killed is apparently not Dadullah, or at least there's no positive indication it's him.
Correction: The first sentence's linkage of the 200 surrounded Taliban and this attack made me believe they were in fact related -- which they appear not to be. Sorry for passing that erroroneous reading on to you.
A mother asked President Bush, "Why did my son have to die in Iraq?"
Another mother asked President Kennedy, "Why did my son have to die in Viet Nam?"
Another mother asked President Truman, "Why did my son have to die in Korea?
Another mother asked President F.D. Roosevelt, "Why did my son have to die at Iwo Jima?" Another mother asked President W. Wilson, "Why did my son have to die on the battlefield of France?"
Yet another mother asked President Lincoln, "Why did my son have to die at Gettysburg?"
And yet another mother asked President G. Washington, "Why did my son have to die near Valley Forge?"
Then long, long ago, a mother asked... "Heavenly Father, why did my Son have to die on a cross outside of Jerusalem?"
The answers to all these are similar -- "So that others may have life and dwell in peace, happiness and freedom." ***
This was emailed to me with no author, and I thought the magnitude and the simplicity were awesome.
IF YOU DON'T STAND BEHIND OUR TROOPS, PLEASE, FEEL FREE...TO STAND IN FRONT OF THEM!
THe Bobblehead exploding ALlah does not approve of Jerry Steele
".... 9 out of 10 Jihadies agree to issue fatwah on Jerry...
UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
Frontline News From the Real Source and Not Commander Piglosi, Kommandant Traitor Harry Reid nor Blue Helmet Chickie Schumer" http://www.centcom.mil/sites/uscentcom2/default.aspx
Our Boy kicking ass from the air in Afghanistan. The Taliban can sneak in, but it's a bit tougher to sneak out after their lame ambushes.
