This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Terror War

  • UN Says Taliban Cause Rise in Civilian Deaths

    A good read from the AP that doesn’t for once blame unmanned drones for all the death and carnage in Afghanistan.

    I found this part most interesting:

    A survey released this week found that 42 percent of the 1,534 Afghan respondents now blame the violence on the Taliban — up from 27 percent a year ago. Seventeen percent blame the U.S., NATO or the Afghan security forces, down from 36 percent a year ago. But 66 percent said airstrikes by the U.S. and international forces were unacceptable because they endangered too many innocent civilians, even though they might help defeat militants.

  • Tale of two Baghdads?

    For those that have not heard yet there was a large attack planned on the Iraqi Government in Baghdad. The Iraqi police and local law enforcement where able to prevent the attack in several raids across the city.

    During raids on houses and warehouses in Baghdad that lasted throughout the day, the authorities arrested 25 people and recovered more than 440 pounds each of TNT and C4, about 66 gallons of ammonium nitrate solution and 60 mortar shells, according to a statement from Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, a spokesman for Baghdad Operations Command, which is responsible for security in Baghdad, the capital.

    To me this is a example that Iraq can function on it’s own given the chance, training and time. but the
    stories from theNew York Times against the Los Angles Times differ to the point where I wonder if there are talking about the same place. For example.

    NY Times

    A wide-ranging plot to bomb government ministries and other public places, to be followed by a wave of political assassinations, was uncovered by Iraqi officials, who responded Tuesday by bringing much of Baghdad to a virtual standstill while security forces conducted raids that netted large quantities of explosives, officials said.

    LA Times

    When Baghdadis awoke this morning to find their streets sealed off and the city under virtual lockdown, the rumors began to fly.

    Army officers had staged a coup in the Green Zone, one version said. No, it was Baathists loyal to the former regime who had taken over, according to another.

    Mostly, the rumors concerned the Sunni lawmaker Saleh Mutlak, who has been recommended for disbarment from the upcoming March elections by the former De-Baathification Committee, now known as the Accountability and Justice Committee.

    It may be just me, but one seems to try to keep the rumors down while the other is all about spreading them.

    Speaking of rumors, there seem to be plenty coming out of Afghanistan from destroying Korans to killing protesters by US/NATO forces.

    Haji Abdul Manan, one of the protesters, told the German Press Agency, DPA: “The people came out of their homes today to protest this action of foreign forces in a peaceful way, but the Afghan and international forces opened fire on us.”

    Covered by none other then al jazeera, but I am sure that there is not shock there.

  • Trouble in my old AO

    I was very saddened to see that a series of bombings in the city of Hit in Iraq killed eight including the family of Lt. Col Suleiman (the BBC says he was a major but he wasn’t), the leader of a counter-terrorism unit in Hit. After my battalion left Ninawa province, my company was assigned an AO that stretched from the western outskirts of Ramadi all the way up to the city of Haditha. In the middle of that AO was the city of Hit, which was about six klicks south of the COP we were posted at. During my time in Hit, there wasn’t a lot of insurgent activity. There were weak attempts at placing IEDs that targeted convoys moving from Al Asad Airbase along MSR Bronze and of course the occasional pot-shot at our posts and helos flying into our COP. RKG-3s, like everywhere else in the country at the time, were also a problem. One of the reasons why Hit, which at one point was literally controlled by insurgents, was so quiet during my time there was because an effective Iraqi police and counter-terrorist force had been trained and deployed in the city, which was led by Lt. Col Suleiman. The Iraqis were able to do most operations on their own and almost never requested our help. Iraqi forces even had an EOD capability in our AO, and on one occasion were able to defuse a complex magnetic IED on their own, without any assistance from our Navy EOD attachment. Of course, it wasn’t perfect in Hit. The mayor was extremely corrupt and used money the Americans gave him to hold parties that resembled something out of Miami Vice at his home along the Euphrates River. Some of the local IPs were related to known insurgents and were helping them elude American and Iraqi forces. But the progress made in just a short time is amazing and shouldn’t be ignored.

    When most media outlets report these incidents, they seem to relish in the carnage they cause. For years most of the chattering class in the media predicted and even cheered on complete failure in Iraq. When the surge worked and violence subsided, many media outlets turned to magnifying isolated attacks or political failures in an attempt to show that Iraq was on the verge of coming apart. I remember when I was in Iraq on several occasions reading New York Times and Washington Post articles about bombings in Baghdad, Mosul or up the road in Ramadi and the writers implying that the whole country was on the verge of coming apart. There were was a lot of this type of hysteria in the lead up to the June 30th deadline to withdraw from the cities, with many predicting that once the Americans left these cities would explode. Of course this never happened, and for the most part, Iraqis were able to fill the void left by departing American forces.

    The bombings in Hit do not mean that the city will come apart and explode into violence, as some people predict and secretly want. The Iraqi Security Forces (most likely with little or no American help) will attempt to track down the savages who committed these acts of violence down and if they catch them, well, lets just say that the Iraqis’ version of GITMO is a hole in the desert. Take that last part however you want…

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    Iraqi Army rehearsing for a raid in Hit

  • Rupert Hamer, RIP

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    I know that many people here have a dislike of the media when it comes to reporting conflicts, but I thought that deserves a post.

    A British journalist has been killed in an explosion while covering the war in Afghanistan. Rupert Hamer, 39, the defense correspondent of the Sunday Mirror newspaper, was with the US Marines in Helmand province when he was killed by a roadside bomb.

    Because sometimes we forget that some of the reporters go through the same risks and hardships many of our troops see every day. But sometimes to do not get seen in the same light as our service-members.

    Tina Weaver, Editor of the Sunday Mirror, said: “Rupert believed that the only place to report a war was from the front line and, as our defense correspondent, he wanted to be embedded with the US Marines at the start of their vital surge into southern Afghanistan. He left on New Year’s Eve with photographer Phil Coburn, determined to be there from the start. It was his fifth trip to Afghanistan.”

    So in closing leave you with this;

    David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said: “Rupert Hamer died in the course of important work informing the world about the situation in Afghanistan. I pay tribute to his efforts, and those of Philip Coburn, undertaken in the most dangerous of circumstances.” Jim McLean, a Times journalist and friend of Hamer since childhood, said: “Rupert was a born reporter. There was never another job he would have wanted to do.”

    He leaves a wife and three children aged 6, 5 and 19 months.

    Video added.

  • Our WTH moment

    at-war-with-al-qaeda

    I’ve been catching snippets of Obama’s speech yesterday about our engagement in the war against terrorists, and actually I’m pretty amazed. I’m not amazed that the President has decided that the war against terrorists is important, I’m amazed that he acts like it just started on Christmas Day.

    We all know how history and events revolve around him, but apparently, he doesn’t plan on engaging in anything unless he starts being criticized about something. The “connect-the-dots” moment, the “buck stops here” moment – it all contributes to our “What the Hell?” moment.

    In his speech, he mentioned 9-11 and reported on the events of that day like none of us had ever heard of it or the extent of the casualties. Like he’s giving us permission to be outraged about it now. From Fox News;

    Obama announced about a dozen changes designed to fix that, including new terror watch list guidelines, wider and quicker distribution of intelligence reports, stronger analysis of those reports, international partnerships and an interagency effort to develop next-generation airport screening technologies.

    How much of that is new? Um, none.

    Idiot revelations like we heard yesterday should be followed by a string of firings – all the way down to the knucklehead who wrote his speech. The “buck stops here” speech should have been given on the day of the attempted attack, if not right after the Hasan attack at Fort Hood. Two weeks later makes it lame and stale.

    Of course dicksmith disagrees with me;

    It’s funny that after eight years of a President who refused to intellectually analyze a problem and simply made “gut” decisions that often turned out badly, there are still talking heads out there who consider deliberation a bad thing.

    It’s funny that there’s no evidence that Bush made “gut decisions” or that any of them turned out badly, for that matter, but dicksmith will take every opportunity to swipe at Bush, even though he’s been gone almost a year. But Bush didn’t bother doing focus groups for a month before he arrived at a conclusion and a policy – like this president apparently.

  • Is it any wonder that Egypt wants to keep Hamas sealed up?

    This seems like the weirdest continuing thing going yet. After the split between the Fatah and Hamas, the Fatah is all but forgotten compared to Hamas. Not only that but the continued stories in the Gaza and all the support for the Hamas at home and overseas.

    Yet the Egypt has closed off border again after a firefight with Hamas that left one Egyptian solider dead. The reason for the shooting was interesting to say the least.

    At some point, Hamas police fired shots to disperse the crowd and shots were also heard from the Egyptian side of the border. It was not clear who fired first.

    But that did not stop the attempt to open the border.

    Hamas is trying to rally Arab and Muslim public opinion against the barrier it has dubbed the “death wall.” Hamas-allied Muslim clerics have denounced the wall as “haram,” or forbidden by Islam, and protesters picketed Egyptian embassies in Lebanon and Jordan this week.

    Really? We are now getting lectures about how Muslims should act from a group that has regularly used suicide bombers and attacks civilian targets?

    Also there was a protest in Cairo over not having a open border with Gaza where some of the protesters got roughed up. But considering the shootings today that this quote seemed very ironic.

    The Gaza Freedom March represents people from 43 countries with a diversity of backgrounds. They include peoples of all faiths, community leaders, peace activists, doctors, artists, students, politicians, authors and many others. They share a commitment to nonviolence and a determination to break the siege of Gaza.

    Yep and we have seen just how well that worked today. I still believe that Hamas is causing the majority of all the problems that people face in the Gaza strip. With several groups willing to all but bend backwards to support Hamas, this terror group will have no reason not to continue their activities at the expense of the local population in and outside of Gaza.

  • Slovakia Travel Warning

    WARNING WARNING WARNING

    Slovakian airport security is so boneheaded incompetent lax that they actually put explosives in your luggage. 

    “Following contact … from the Slovakian authorities with the Airport Police at Dublin Airport, members of the Garda Síochána (Irish National Police) have recovered a small quantity of explosive material from the luggage of a passenger who had flown into Dublin from that country on Saturday last,” a statement from the Department of Justice said.

    Okay, so it only took them four days, but the stuff was recovered.  Nevermind that it was enough to bring down the plane.  But, no harm done.  The Times of London has a slightly different story.

    They immediately raided the man’s flat in an apartment block in central Dublin, the area was sealed off and residents and businesses were evacuated. The Slovak, who was still unaware of what was hidden in his luggage, was arrested and charged under the anti-terrorist Offences Against the State Act. The electrician’s own Government was eventually able to persuade the Irish authorities that his protestations of innocence were genuine.

    Well thank God Slovakian Diplomats are more effective than Slovakian Airport Security.  The Times piece also has this gem:

    Eight pieces of contraband were planted … in the baggage of innocent passengers … Seven were detected, but the eighth — 90 grams (3oz) of the plastic explosive RDX hidden among the Slovak’s personal effects — was not.

    Well, I guess seven out of eight ain’t bad. What’s a little terrorist activity between friends right?

  • The Left and their irrational babbling

    Now, I’m no expert on national security planning, but I’m pretty sure I’m smarter than Crooks and Liars’ John Amato and FireDogLake’s Eli based on today’s readings. Amato is upset that Cokie Roberts said what has been known about Democrats since the Korean War – when it comes to national defense, Democrats are idiots;

    ROBERTS: Well, it’s always politically difficult for Democrats when they are dealing with an issue like terrorism. It remained the Republican’s only winning issue through most of President Bush’s second term, and it’s a particular problem for a Democrat who hasn’t served in the military. But the policy problem is that it takes up a great deal of the administration’s time, and will from here on out – particularly when the Senate Intelligence Committee starts hearings in a couple of weeks.

    Here you have it. So sayeth Cokie, queen of the gasbags. All Democrats are weak, weak, weak on national security. It’s fine with Cokie and the Villagers that most of the Bush and Cheney team refused to serve in the military when they had the chance, but during the Bush years the Villagers never questioned Republicans over their military experience or commitment to national security. Yet, it’s just Jim Dandy to question a Dem’s military creds.

    Nevermind the fact that Bush was a fighter pilot in the National Guard and that Cheney was too old to be drafted for combat service in Vietnam. But no one ever questioned the Bush administration’s military experience or commitment? Really?

    Did I dream the 2004 election campaign? The whole misinterpretation of Bush’s DD214 and his performance evaluations which were read and commented upon by obviously illiterate baboons every night? The flocks of Democrats who tried to tell us that John Kerry’s Vietnam service trumped Bush TXNG service? The same dorks who placed such a high value on Cheney’s pre-Vietnam draft deferments who won’t even mention Biden’s deferments during Vietnam?

    So Eli from FDL explains to us how Obama can become a national defense expert;

    …what really makes someone a Serious Qualified Expert on national security is a little voice in their head screaming “AAAAAHHHH!!! The scary brown people are coming to kill us we have to kill them first OMG OMG OMG!!!” 24 hours a day, and the ability to bedwet on command.

    If Obama can develop an appropriately irrational fear and hatred of Muslims, then no one will care that he’s never served in the military. I suggest that he pretend that all Muslims are, alternately, health industry CEOs and progressive bloggers – that should make him a respected national security expert in no time.

    An irrational fear of Muslims? Really? The scary brown people? How naive and immature. Just days after an attempt on the lives of hundreds of folks peacefully flying into Detroit from Amsterdam, and countless others beneath their flight path. Weeks after one of those “brown people” shot scores of his comrades at Fort Hood. Months after a Muslim shot two Army privates catching a smoke break in Little Rock.

    Here’s my advice for those two if they want to be national defense experts; abandon the childish baby crap and act your freakin’ age.