Al Qaeda Terrorist-Smuggler Killed

From a CENTCOM press release:

BAGHDAD, Iraq – A Saudi-born member of al Qaeda involved in smuggling foreign fighters into Iraq was killed Oct. 29 as he attempted to flee Coalition Forces.

Multiple intelligence sources and tips from concerned citizens led Coalition Forces to a location near Ubaydi where a senior Saudi al Qaeda foreign fighter facilitator known as Sa’ud (aka Abu Sa’ud) would be located. Upon arrival at the location, Coalition Forces attempted to secure the vehicle containing Sa’ud and other terrorists when the driver tried to escape. Coalition Forces shot at the vehicle, killing Abu Sa’ud and three unknown terrorists.

Also:

BAGHDAD -- Task Force Baghdad Soldiers stopped a terrorist Oct. 29 as he tried to emplace an improvised explosive device in an Abu Ghraib neighborhood.

This individual is suspected to have emplaced and detonated other IEDs against Iraqi Army units in eastern Abu Ghraib.

The terrorist was observed by Soldiers from the 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment as he rode up on a bicycle and emplaced what looked like a bag having suspicious wires coming out of it.

The Soldiers, determining the suspicious bag was an IED, shot and killed the individual.

The IED exploded moments after the terrorist was shot, but no damage or injuries were reported.

After sweeping the area, the Soldiers found another IED on the terrorist’s bicycle. An explosives disposal team later destroyed the bomb through a controlled detonation.

I'm reprinting these stories on the off chance that our loyal, unbiased, non-partisan mainstream media completely ignore them.

CIA Pushing Ahead With Coup Attempt?

Clintonista elements within the Central Intelligence Agency would love to see the Bush White House disgraced, regardless of the effects on national security.

From MSNBC:

WASHINGTON - Presidential confidant Karl Rove should be fired for his role in the CIA leak, the husband of the agent whose cover was exposed told NBC’s “Today” show on Monday.

“I think the president should fire him... these are firing offenses,” Joe Wilson, a retired career U.S. diplomat, said of Rove.

So, even though no crime has been determined to have been committed when the press identified Wilson's CIA-analyst wife, and Rove is, to this point, unindicted, Wilson wants him fired. Are these really Wilson's own words, or is he again acting as an irregular attached to the CIA via his wife's influence?

There was also this:

Former CIA agent Jim Marcinkowski, now a city attorney in Royal Oak, Mich., told “60 Minutes” it was “outrageous” that Plame had been exposed.

“CIA people don’t like cameras. We don’t like publicity. We operate in the background as much as possible. So she’s in a very, very uncomfortable spot,” said Marcinkowski, who trained with Plame at the CIA as a new recruit.

Really? So, Valerie Plame was so mortified by her exposure that she mitigated the damage by...appearing in Vanity Fair and the Washington Post? I see.

Personally, I'd like to see a special counselor appointed to investigate nepotism and political dirty tricks at the CIA.

Samuel Alito Nominated To Supreme Court

Now there's gonna be a fight; Democrat leaders have already given notice that they intend to obstruct Alito's confirmation. Perhaps that victory of process over conscience, the filibuster, will finally be abolished.

From MSNBC:

“Judge Alito is one of the most accomplished and respected judges in America,” the president said in announcing Alito’s selection. “He’s got a mastery of the law and a deep commitment to justice.” Bush exhorted the Senate to confirm his choice by the end of the year.

Alito has the reputation of being a strict constructionist, i.e., he believes the Constitution should be followed, not interpreted for phantom nuances. I agree, and point out that such a philosophy cuts both ways - Alito's constructionism is likely to lead him to rulings considered both "conservative" and "liberal".

NBC News Joins NYT in Exploiting Fallen Soldiers

On their "In-depth" segment tonight, NBC News focused on SPC Eric Slebodnik's parents, who were shown in their grief, talking about the son they lost on September 28th, one of five members of the Pennsylvania National Guard's 109th Infantry killed when their Bradley fighting vehicle was blown up.

NBC used these deaths to postulate growing unrest and opposition to the War on Terror. The local mayor expressed his opposition. But nobody at NBC thought that Eric Slebodnik's beliefs were relevant.

From the Charlotte Observer there is this:

In a letter to The New York Times on Sept. 22, 2003, Slebodnik wrote to respond to the notion that the military was asking too much of its soldiers. "Where would we be as a civilization," he wrote, "if at one time or another we decided that dying on the hills of Gettysburg, the shores of Normandy or the mountains of Afghanistan was too much to ask?"

This letter, of course, was not mentioned by NBC.

On Friday, Michelle Malkin wrote about a similar incident involving the New York Times in which a fallen soldier's views on the war were deliberately distorted in order to advance an anti-war message. This is despicable, intolerable behavior. These media outlets need to be brought up short immediately.

Malkin provides contact information for the New York Times in her post. If you'd like to let NBC know how you feel about their selective editing of Eric Slebodnik's story, you can email them here: Nightly@NBC.com , or write them at this address: NBC News 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, N.Y. 10112

6 Terrorist Insurgents Go To Meet Allah in Failed Ambush

Coalition forces killed 6 would-be ambushers and captured 5 who were wounded during a counter-ambush operation near Taji, northwest of Baghdad.

From a CENTCOM press release:

The area was known for multiple ambushes with small-arms and rocket-propelled grenades against local Iraqi citizens, Iraqi security forces and Coalition Forces.

As ground forces from 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division secured the area around site, attack helicopters arrived at the scene and confirmed the individuals hiding in the bushes were enemy forces.

AH-64 Apache helicopters returned fire after being engaged from the ground. The Apaches continued to engage the anti-Iraqi forces as they scattered and tried to hide in vegetation. When multiple terrorists converged in one location, ground forces called in the F-15E air strike.

At least six terrorists were killed and five others were wounded and detained by Coalition Forces. No U.S. or civilian casualties were reported in the incident.

Also:

MOSUL, Iraq – Iraqi security forces and Multi-National Forces from Task Force Freedom killed two terrorists, wounded another, detained 78 suspected terrorists, and seized a number of weapons during operations in Iraq Oct. 24-28.

I'm reprinting these stories on the off chance that our loyal, unbiased, non-partisan mainstream media completely ignore them.

10 Fresh Good Terrorists

From a CENTCOM press release:

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Acting on tips from concerned citizens, Coalition Forces conducted a series of raids on suspected terrorist and foreign fighter safe houses in the town of Husaybah Oct. 29, killing an estimated 10 terrorists.

The houses were used as launch points to conduct attacks against local Iraqi citizens, Iraqi security and Coalition forces.

During the raids, which occurred simultaneously in two separate neighborhoods of Husaybah, Coalition forces were engaged by numerous terrorists. Firefights developed at both locations, during which Coalition forces called in close air support and destroyed both of the terrorist strongholds.

While Coalition Forces were leaving the area, they were alerted to another suspected terrorist house with fortified fighting positions. After further investigation, Coalition Forces called in an air strike, destroying the terrorist stronghold with precision guided munitions.

Also:

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition Forces, using precision air strike capabilities, targeted a senior al Qaeda in Iraq foreign fighter who was believed to be holding a meeting with other senior members of the terror organization in Husaybah Oct. 28.

Sources indicated Abu Mahmud and the other leaders were meeting to discuss an attack on Iraqi security or Coalition forces in the coming days.

Abu Mahmud, believed to be a Saudi, was the commander of several foreign fighter and terrorist cells in Husaybah, and was linked to several al Qaeda in Iraq and foreign fighter facilitators in the al Qaim, Karabilah, and Husaybah areas. Mahmud directed, planned and executed a large amount of the foreign fighter attacks on Iraqi security and Coalition forces, to include most SVBIED and IED attacks. He was also personally active in direct attacks against Iraqi and Coalition forces.

I'm reprinting these stories on the off chance that our loyal, unbiased, non-partisan mainstream media completely ignore them.

Sunday Funny

From the Dry Bones Blog.

France May Be a Target of Islamists

It's hard to tell whether this is a real threat or simply bad intelligence or deliberate misinformation.

From the News.telegraph:

An Islamic terror cell has smuggled two surface-to-air missiles into Europe in a plot to shoot down planes at one of France's main airports, it was claimed yesterday.

French and Algerian extremists with links to al-Qa'eda bought the Russian SA-18 Grouse missiles from Chechens in 2002 and smuggled them via Georgia and Turkey, according to French anti-terror sources quoted in Le Figaro.

If they were smuggled into France in 2002, why haven't they been used already?

Before homing in on a preferred target, most of the group was arrested in a swoop by the French terrorist brigade, the DST, in two Paris suburbs late in 2002. But some escaped.

What will the French do if faced with their own 9/11? Will they fight like Yanks and Brits or cower like Spaniards?

My opinion is that an attack on French soil will goad the Gauls into action. Too many of them view Islamic terrorism in merely academic terms right now, but a plane shot down over Orly, or some ricin in le Métro will expose the bankruptcy of appeasement. They shouldn't need such a ghastly event to nudge them in the right direction, but...the French are the French.

The Fitzgerald Press Conference - Judgement Reserved For Now

Fitzgerald's press conference made it clear that he is a process-oriented individual who doesn't see philosophical nuances regarding matters of law. This came out in his refusal to discuss any results of the investigation not directly related to the indictments issued against Scooter Libby, and in his reaction when a reporter suggested that some (she said, "Republicans") might consider failure to indict on the original focus of the investigation an indication that Libby has been indicted on "technicalities". Fitzgerald repeated several times that the charges against Libby are "very serious", invoking the name of national security as it applies to unmasking a CIA agent.

This begs the question, "would the best interests of national security have been served better by having Valerie Plame remain covert?", a question clearly outside Fitzgerald's bailiwick.

The evidence suggests that the answer is "probably not". An agent with a politically active husband, who uses her official pull to further that activism, may be doing more harm than good to national security. And having her husband assigned to an investigation in Africa certainly smacks of nepotism, especially when he completes his "mission" by filing "an oral report". The CIA was formed from the World War II OSS, the Office of Strategic Services. It's critics said that OSS stood for "Oh So Social" referring to the rampant cronyism that characterized its early days, when it drew its members from the upper crust of society and their friends and relatives. It doesn't serve the national interest for the CIA to revert to this behavior.

The press conference also raises the question, which, one hopes, will come out during trial, "how were the FBI interrogations of Libby conducted?"

Having once been interrogated by a former FBI agent and his partner regarding suspected union activity while in federal employ (they were on the wrong track, but that's a different story that I'm not at liberty to discuss), I can speak to some of the techniques used. I can't tell you if these are standard FBI interrogation techniques, but people do usually exploit their training, even when in new positions.

First and throughout, they attempted to bring the power of their authority and position to bear. This was not a friendly chat, it was confrontational to the point of being abusive. The object was intimidation; truth through fear. Things like standing while I remained seated and deliberately invading my space. Some "good cop, bad cop", played to the hilt and beyond (I actually believe the "bad cop" had a personal dislike for me, and that he was surprised that I wasn't visibly rattled by it). The questioning was deliberately repetitious and punctuated by interruptions and changes of subject in order to see if my answers changed (they didn't). Some questions were combative, questioning my loyalties. Question:"Oh, now you're trying to put it on (name of another employee). Response: "There isn't anything to 'put' on anyone." The "bad cop" kept telling me that he didn't "...buy it."

As soon as the "interview" began I knew instinctively that showing any fear to these men would be as dangerous as showing it to a snarling dog. My interrogation lasted only about 45 minutes, yet I was shaky and more than ready for a smoke once I'd left that room and those men behind. This was one of the most intense experiences of my life.

The point is this - I didn't come out of that interview unscathed simply because I was innocent. I came out alright because I maintained rigid self control, I was being questioned on events that had occured the previous week (so they were fresh in my mind), I didn't allow the interrogators to rattle me, and...oh yeah, I was innocent.

As I said, I don't know the circumstances of Libby's interviews with FBI agents, but I would not be willing to dismiss out of hand any claims from him that he was confused or misspoke.

Now, the final question that Fitzgerald's press conference raised for me was this, why was it held? Why did Fitzgerald feel the need to justify his actions past the posting of the indictments on the Department of Justice website? Fitzgerald has no duty to the reporters who were sitting in that room. His duty was to investigate, and is now to prosecute. There should be no notation of "public relations" in his job description. The press conference was superfluous, gratuitous and could only have served to prejudice Libby's case.

One last note on process-oriented people. They don't make value judgements about the laws on the books. Libby is facing 30 years for allegedly lying about an alleged crime for which Fitzgerald could not find enough evidence to charge anyone. Fitzgerald finessed this by stating the gravity of testimony before a grand jury. Those who revere the process have an almost pious respect for its details, a sort of tunnel vision that's useful in a prosecutor.

During World War II, if a man in the Naval Service was caught engaging in homosexual relations, he was sentenced to 85 years in Portsmouth Naval Prison while the details of his charges were read publicly, pour encourager les autres. I doubt that many prosecutors lost any sleep over their fates.

Scooter Libby is innocent until proven guilty. Some people aren't really taking that to heart. I'll decide for myself after the trial. I'll also be deciding whether or not the appointment of a special counsel was worth the damage it will cause to national security. And there will be damage, once the partisan hounds get into full throat.

Forbes Attacks Blogs

It appears that Chicken Little is writing for Forbes. In a rather hysterical (in both senses of the word) piece, Attack of the Blogs (requires free registration), writer Daniel Lyons paints an improbable picture: tiny corporate Davids (like Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, and Ford) versus the evil Blogliath.

Blogs started a few years ago as a simple way for people to keep online diaries. Suddenly they are the ultimate vehicle for brand-bashing, personal attacks, political extremism and smear campaigns. It's not easy to fight back: Often a bashing victim can't even figure out who his attacker is.

Oh my God! That's awful! Just who are these powerless victims savaged by evil bloggers?

No target is too mighty, or too obscure, for this new and virulent strain of oratory. Microsoft has been hammered by bloggers; so have CBS, CNN and ABC News...

Indeed, this blog has, at one time or another, singled out CBS, CNN, and ABC for harsh, well-deserved criticism. And NBC, too. As long as there are people in the MSM like Dan Rather, Eason Jordan, Mark Halperin, and Brian Williams, this blog will continue to do so. Deal with it, Lyons.

Lyons chief victim is a man named Gregory Halpern who, as Lyons tells it, was targeted by a single person calling himself "Nick Tracy" who used a blog to destroy the value of Halpern's company. Trouble is, the blog was only one avenue of attack used by "Nick Tracy". He also put out press releases (should we ban public relations firms?), and "...sent letters about Halpern to Nestlé, the American Stock Exchange, the Food & Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission and the Brookhaven National Laboratory (involved in Circle's anthrax deal)." Should we ban the Post Office?

Mr. Lyons, blogs don't slander people, people slander people.

Via The Jawa Report and Micro Persuasion.

No Details in Fitzgerald Website Posting

Fitzgerald Releases a Teaser at Noon
Unless there's more to come, the much-awaited web posting by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is simply an announcement of a 2:00 pm (ET) press conference.

Update: Libby Indictments Posted
Fitzpatrick has posted these indictments against I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Chief of Staff to the Vice President.

20 Terrorist Insurgents Captured

From a CENTCOM press release:

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- While responding to an unexploded improvised explosive device found in the area, Soldiers from 1st Battalion,184th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team heard an explosion about 200 meters from their location shortly before midnight Oct. 26.

The Soldiers moved in to investigate the cause of the blast and found 19 men along with assorted IED making materials in a house. Iraqi security forces from 1st Battalion, 4th Public Order Brigade assisted 1-184 Inf. during the operation and detained the men for further questioning.

The owner of the house was later detained as a suspect involved in the explosion.

I'm reprinting this story on the off chance that our loyal, unbiased, non-partisan mainstream media completely ignores it.

NYT Says Lawyers in Leak Case Have Leaked Word That Rove Will Not Be Charged

The New York Times is reporting that lawyers in the Valerie Plame Leak Case have leaked the news that Karl Rove will not be charged, but will remain under investigation. The Leak Case leakers say that Scooter Libby will be charged with lying to the grand jury.

Via The Drudge Report.

Multinational Force Spokesman: Media Being Manipulated by Terrorists

Stating a blindingly obvious point that has somehow escaped the Western media, Army Major General Rick Lynch today said:

"Half the battle is in the battlefield of the media."

It's a shame that the General has to spoonfeed the press like this, but with the massive egos occupying the brainpans, especially in television news, of reporters there just isn't much room left over for analytic ability and common sense.

Common sense should have told even the dullest newsperson in the Palestine Hotel that it had no intrinsic military value other than as propaganda, yet each network dutifully carried water for the terrorist insurgency by replaying the "spectacular explosions" over and over.

"The terrorists will use the media as a combat multiplier to hide their limited capabilities."

Odd, given the broadcast media's fascination for brilliant flashes of light and shiny things that there has been an embargo of images from the 9/11 attacks for years. The excuse given is that they don't want to "inflame" the American public. Unfortunately, there seems to be no equivalent concern about inflaming the ignorant, bloodthirsty, and illiterate buffoons who make up the bulk of the "Arab street".

The general said terrorists recognize the value of the media. Al Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, expressed this sentiment in a letter to Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, believed to be leading insurgent actions in Iraq. The letter was intercepted by coalition intelligence sources.

Lynch pointed to the Oct. 24 bombing of the Palestine Hotel as an example of planning an operation for media attention. The hotel is host to international journalists and contractors and has security cameras surrounding it. The attack, which was caught on surveillance cameras and aired worldwide, was meant to shift the world's focus to Baghdad and away from the progress that's being made throughout the country, he said, urging the reporters present not to allow that to happen.

Exactly, and there's bound to be more to come with elections scheduled for December 15. And, as usual, we can expect the bulk of our media to miss the significance of each attack.

Complete Remarks of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Note to readers who don't speak Islamopsychotic: "oppressors" refers to Americans.

"The establishment of the Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor against the Islamic world."

"The skirmishes in the occupied land are part of a war of destiny. The outcome of hundreds of years of war will be defined in Palestinian land."

"As the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map."

"The Islamic umma (community) will not allow its historic enemy to live in its heartland."

"We should not settle for a piece of land."

"Anyone who signs a treaty which recognises the entity of Israel means he has signed the surrender of the Muslim world."

"Any leaders in the Islamic umma who recognise Israel face the wrath of their own people."

"One hundred years ago the last trench of Islam fell, when the oppressors went towards the creation the Zionist regime. It is using it as a fort to spread its aims in the heart of the Islamic world."

From al-Jazeera.net.

Shortly after this mentally unbalanced rant, Islamic Jihad, which according to the US Department of State "Receives financial assistance from Iran..." sent a brave jihadi babyhunter into Israel to murder civilians.

Beheading Cell Leader Killed in Raid

From a CENTCOM press release:

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- An al-Qaeda terrorist cell leader who personally assisted in at least three videotaped beheadings and his assistant were killed during a Coalition raid of a suspected safe house in Mosul Oct. 22.

Nashwan Mijhim Muslet (aka Abu Tayir or Abu Zaid) was a senior operational al-Qaeda in Iraq terrorist cell leader who operated specifically in the Mosul area. His cell was known as the primary beheading cell for Abu Talha, the al-Qaeda in Iraq Emir of Mosul who was captured in June, 2005, and Abu Zubayr, second in command to Talha and later Emir of Mosul after Talha was detained. Zubayr was killed in August, 2005.

Another Al Qaeda Smithereen Commando Suffers Premature Evisceration

From the same American Forces Press Service news release that reports the probable death of Abu Dua, we learn that an Al Qaeda suicide bomber managed to blow up his suicide vest while still in the car with his accomplices:

Three people were seen in the vehicle before it exploded, officials said. One bomber was wearing a suicide vest, which apparently detonated early, killing the bomber and another occupant, while a third terrorist jumped from the moving vehicle in time to avoid being killed. Iraqi Police arrested the surviving insurgent. Iraqi explosive ordnance experts later cleared the scene.

It is believed that, because of his incompetence, Allah will not provide him with the traditional 72 raisins:

But Manji says recent research shows all that virgin stuff was based on an erroneous translation of the Koran: what awaits in heaven are 72 raisins. What? Could 54 people really have been blown up for a bag of raisins? “Well in 7th century Arabia raisins were so exalted as to be promoted to paradise.”

Senior Al Qaeda Figure Believed Killed in Airstrike

The American Forces Press Service reports that Abu Dua, who facilitated the infiltration of al Qaeda terrorists into Iraq from Syria, was reprotedly in an Al Qaeda safehouse destroyed today by Coalition aircraft in Ushsh, Iraq:

According to intelligence sources, Dua was connected to the intimidation, torture and murder of local civilians in the Qaim area. Dua held religious courts to try local citizens charged with supporting the Iraqi government and coalition forces. He would kidnap individuals or entire families, accuse them, pronounce sentence and then publicly execute them, U.S. officials said.

Dua's al Qaeda connections extended to Syria and Saudi Arabia, from where most of his foreign fighters were recruited. He set up and ran a system that funneled foreign fighters from Syria into the Qaim area. These fighters were then sent to local terrorist cells, where they attacked innocent Iraqi citizens and Iraqi security and coalition forces.

Abu Dua's body has not yet been recovered, so his death is predicated on intelligence sources who say he was in the building at the time of the attack.

Much Sound and Fury From Galloway

Brit MP George Galloway, accused of accepting filthy lucre from Saddam in the oil-for-food scandal, has flown into a snit, blasting back at his accusers and challenging Senator Norm Coleman to a duel debate.

From the Guardian (UK):

Mr Galloway said that the debate was one of a number of options and a final decision had not been taken. "We want to take the fight to the enemy," he said. He expressed little confidence that Mr Coleman would agree to such a debate.

Finally, one of these anti-war wankers admits that he considers a US Senator, rather than terrorists, the enemy.

Galloway continued:

"If they say they are going to charge me I'll head for the airport and I'm calling for them to do so, begging them to do so," he said. "The charge against me in this sneak attack is that I lied under oath in front of the Senate when I went there in May and trounced this group of lickspittle pro-war Bushites. I am unequivocally stating here and now I'll head for Heathrow now, pausing only to pick up my toothbrush, if they will promise to charge me with perjury. It is very clear what they said, I lied under oath. It is a criminal offence which is what they told me when I swore the oath. It is put up or shut up time. See you in court Senator Coleman."

So there.

Update: Intrepid guerilla blogger Uncle Jimbo - Madison's Favorite Hawk, writes to provide this link to video and transcripts of questions he put to Mr. Galloway, after Uncle Jimbo crashed a press conference with, well, homemade press credentials.

The Battle of Surigao Strait

Sixty-one years ago on this date three American destroyers, Hoel, Heermann and Johnston, hurled themselves at a Japanese force of 4 battleships and 8 cruisers. Terriers attacking a wolfpack. The Hoel and Johnston, along with the destroyer escort Samuel B. Roberts were sunk, but the carriers they had been protecting were saved. October 25th, 1944 was the ninetieth anniversary of the Charge of the Light Brigade.

During the Battle of Leyte Gulf (of which the Battle of Surigao Strait was a part), from 22-27 October, 1944 - six days - the United States suffered 3,000 men killed in action.

Update: Sandy Shanks has written to point out that this engagement is properly called "The Battle of Samar".

IED Reported Found at San Diego Airport

Reuters reports via Yahoo!News that screeners as San Diego airport found th components of and improvised exploive device (IED) in a passenger's carry-on [emphasis added]:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Baggage screeners found bomb components in a carry-on piece of luggage at San Diego International Airport on Tuesday and cleared the area to investigate, Department of Homeland Security spokesmen said.

A department spokesman said the screeners found "all components of an IED" (improvised explosive device) in a piece of luggage at around 7:45 a.m. (10:45 a.m. EDT)

If the "...all components..." statement is correct, that means explosives were present, as the main charge is considered a "component". Other components include some form of timer/switch, detonator, and power source.

Update: Suspected IED reported to be a toy:

Police found a toy and what they called "some organic material," and the terminal was reopened at about 9:15 a.m. (12:15 p.m. EDT/1615 GMT), a Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman added.

Terrorists Using Women and Children as Shields Captured, Killed

Suicide Vest Causes Premature Meeting With Allah

From a CENTCOM press release:

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition forces raided three suspected terrorist safe houses, detained six terrorists, and killed several others in the town of al Ushsh, northwest al Qaim Oct. 25.

Acting on multiple intelligence sources and tips from concerned citizens, Coalition forces raided the safe houses suspected to be a terrorist stronghold used to conduct attacks against local Iraqi citizens, Iraqi security and Coalition forces.

Upon arriving at the suspected terrorist safe house, Coalition forces entered the safe house where armed terrorists were located with women and children. As a result of the ensuing exchange of gunfire between the terrorists and Coalition forces, the suicide vest of one of the terrorists was detonated, causing the building’s roof to collapse.

The women and children were rescued from the rubble and treated by medical personnel. The group was then moved to a safe area.

Coalition forces then moved to two additional suspected safe houses and secured and searched them, detaining six terrorists.

Upon departing the terrorist stronghold, Coalition forces called in close air support and destroyed the three buildings.

I'm reprinting this story on the off chance that our loyal, unbiased, non-partisan mainstream media completely ignores it.

Iraqi Constitution Overwhelmingly Approved

As usual, the Associated Press, (via MSNBC), strives to put as negative a face as possible on the vote:

Results released by the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq showed that Sunni Arabs, who had sharply opposed the draft document, failed to produce the two-thirds “no” vote they would have needed in at least three of Iraq’s 18 provinces to defeat it.

Overall, 78.59 percent of voters backed the charter, while 21.41 percent opposed it, officials said.

But the nearly 8 in 10 Iraqi voters saying "yes" have made the AP's apparent goal of undermining Coalition efforts in Iraq just a bit more difficult.

Was The Fire In His Belly Stoked By Saddam's Oil?

Anti-War MP Accused of Lying About Oil-for-Food Payoffs

Ferociously anti-war British Minister of Parliament George Galloway now stands accused of having profited from the oil-for-food program and lying about his involvement to the US Senate. From the Guardian (UK):

The MP George Galloway angrily rejected fresh allegations last night from a US senate investigation that he lied under oath about Saddam Hussein's multimillion-pound oil-for-food programme.

The allegations made by the Senate committee are serious:

· "Galloway personally solicited and was granted oil allocations from the government of Iraq during the reign of Saddam Hussein. The Hussein regime granted Galloway and the Mariam Appeal (an organisation he set up to help Iraqis suffering from sanctions) eight allocations totalling 23m barrels from 1999 through to 2003."

· "Galloway's wife, Dr Amineh Abu-Zayyad, received approximately $150,000 in connection with one of those oil allocations."

· "Galloway's political campaign, the Mariam Appeal, received at least $446,000 in connection with the oil allocations granted to Galloway and the Mariam Appeal under the oil-for-food programme."

· "The Hussein regime received improper 'surcharge' payments amounting to $1,642,000 in connection with the oil allocations granted to Galloway and the Mariam Appeal."

· "Galloway knowingly made false or misleading statements under oath before the sub-committee.

Galloway's Mariam Appeal was established in 1998 to campaign for the lifting of sanctions against the Saddam Hussein regime. Interesting.

Palestine and Sheraton Hotel Attacks: AP Uses "T" Word When THEIR People Are Attacked

Two Versions of the Same Event

The Associated Press version [emphasis added]:

AGHDAD, Iraq - Three massive vehicle bombs exploded Monday near the Palestine Hotel, home to many Western journalists, killing at least 20 people. Dramatic TV pictures showed one of the bombers driving a cement truck through the concrete blast walls that guard the hotel, then blowing up his vehicle.

Iraq's national security adviser, Mouwafak al-Rubaie, said the attack — which appeared well-planned — was a "very clear" effort to take over the hotel and seize journalists as hostages.

One of the car bombs exploded near the police position on the northeast side of Firdous Square, where a statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled in April 2003 shortly after the fall of Baghdad, and more than 100 yards east of the hotel. Security officials said a third bomb struck the area around the same time. All three were believed to be suicide attacks.

"Three cars came from three different roads in succession to create security breaches for terrorists," al-Rubaie told The Associated Press in a telephone interview, adding that they were armed with rocket-propelled grenades and light arms.

"The plan was very clear to us, which was to take security control over the two hotels, and to take the foreign and Arab journalists as hostages to use them as a bargain."

Note that the AP's embargo on using or quoting the "T" word (terrorist) has been lifted now that their people have been directly attacked. I have very grave doubts about the accuracy of reports from the Associated Press (see this and this).

What actually happened, from a CENTCOM press release:

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Three car bombs detonated near the Palestine and Sheraton hotels in central Baghdad early Oct. 24.

The first car bomb caused a breach in an outer barrier wall of the Palestine and Sheraton hotels at Firdos Square traffic circle.

About five minutes later a second car bomb approached the square and tried to maneuver through the breach but was engaged by civilian security forces and detonated near the 14th Ramadan Mosque.

Thirty seconds later, a Task Force Baghdad Soldier engaged a cement truck that was moving through the breached wall. The truck exploded near a coalition vehicle causing moderate damage.

This dry, non-dramatized account stands in contrast to the words of the AP folks. And AP shows their gratitude to the military people who probably prevented some of them from being kidnapped by, quite gratuitously, lumping them in with the terrorists later in the AP story:

The hotel has been attacked several times since the war started in March 2003. On April 8, 2003 — the day before Saddam's regime fell — U.S. tank fire killed two TV cameramen — a Spaniard and a Ukrainian — at the hotel.

In the Never-Never Land of the AP, There Are No "Terrorists"

The Associated Press has gone to ridiculous lengths in the following story to avoid use of the word "terrorist". In these excerpts, I've highlghted the places where the word "insurgents" is used improperly, i.e., when terrorist attacks against civilians have occurred. From the Associated Press via Yahoo!News [emphasis added]:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Stepped-up attacks by insurgents over the last two days have killed at least 44 Iraqis, including 12 laborers, five of them brothers, who were gunned down by insurgents at a construction site outside the city of Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad, police said.

Monday's worst attack occurred in southwestern Baghdad when suspected insurgents opened fire at two civilian cars, killing three of the municipal workers they were carrying and a passer-by, said police Capt. Talib Thamir.

A suicide car bomber killed two Iraqis and wounded five in an attack on a police patrol in the northeastern neighborhood of Shaab, where insurgents had kidnapped and murdered a defense lawyer in Saddam Hussein's trial last week, said police Lt. Malik Sultan.

Some of these uses of "insurgents" seem gratuitous and repetitive. Is it possible that AP writer Thomas Wagner was trying to make a point with his bosses?

Terrorists Caught Red-Handed

From a CENTCOM press release:

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Task Force Baghdad Soldiers and Iraqi security forces detained three terror suspects and found two improvised explosive devices during combat operations Oct. 22-23.

Responding to a mortar attack north of Baghdad Oct. 22, a U.S. patrol stopped a suspicious vehicle in the area. The occupants had been seen retrieving an object from a bush along the road. Upon searching the vehicle, the Soldiers found a video camera and footage recording the mortar impacts. Two individuals were detained for further questioning.

Earlier in the day, another Task Force Baghdad unit patrolling the Al Bayaa district of south Baghdad detained a suspected terrorist who was carrying a loaded rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

I'm reprinting these stories because our loyal, unbiased, non-partisan mainstream media will no doubt be busy preparing coverage of "peace activist" celebrations of the 2000th US military death in Iraq, which people like the American Friends Service Committee and Cindy Sheehan are hoping will occur sometime today.

Quakers Planning Death Parties to Celebrate 2,000th American Killed in Iraq

Thanks to little green footballs for providing this link to Quaker Death Parties planned across the country to celebrate the 2,000th American service death in Iraq, which is being anticipated in the mainstream media the way children wait for Santa's sleigh.

Reality Doesn't Matter to This Associated Press "Reporter"

This astounding headline appears today on an Associated Press story:

Iraq Insurgency Shows No Signs of Slowdown

BAGHDAD, Iraq - With the grim milestone of the 2,000th U.S. military death looming in Iraq, many wonder about the direction of the insurgency that killed most of them.

Somebody pinch me. Did the terrorist insurgency in Iraq not vow to completely disrupt the constitutional referendum? And did they not utterly fail to achieve that objective?

Then how to account for this AP story? Well, there is one way. You could look at the byline, "By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer". Then you could Google "Hamza Hendawi", read some of what he passes off as "journalism", and draw your own conclusions as to whether the AP has hired a jihadi sympathizer.

Hurricane Wilma, Will the MSM Get it Right This Time?

With Hurricane Wilma bearing down on Florida, some are pointing out the shamefully incompetent coverage the MSM provided of Hurricane Katrina. Coverage that continues to "inform" the most gullible of our politically active citizens.

Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters writes about the little-known fact that rich areas of New Orleans also suffered; and that affluent people were among the dead.

"South Park" takes a vicious swipe at network coverage of Katrina. NewsBusters highlights the latest episode with a partial transcript of the show:

Mitch: “We’re not sure what’s exactly is going on inside the town of Beaverton, Tom, but we’re reporting that there’s looting, raping and, yes, even acts of cannibalism.”

Tom: “My God, you’ve actually seen people looting, raping and eating each other?!”

Mitch: “No, no we’ve haven’t actually seen it, Tom. We’re just reporting it.”

And J.J. at OhMyLaundry! rolls Katrina coverage into a larger discussion of hyperbole in journalism (the post is dated 9/30, but Technorati swears it's only 11 hours old).

Sunday Funny

From the Dry Bones blog.

Morphic Resonance and Global Warming

Writing in the November issue of Scientific American, Michael Shermer dismisses Rupert Sheldrake's "theory of morphic resonance", which espouses a "universal life force" that, Sheldrake says, creates species-specific racial memories.

As Scientific American's resident skeptic, Shermer makes a compelling case (particularly in his closing paragraph, which we will get to in a minute) by exposing poor research methods and researcher bias in Sheldrake's thesis. Good work on Shermer's part, and clearly explicated for a lay audience.

Now, the editorial staff of Scientific American in particular and the environmental movement in general has embraced the theory of global warming with religious fervor, to the point of savagely ostracizing heretics and apostates. in fact, the proponents of global warming don't really consider it a theory at all, but proven fact, as evidenced by numerous articles about Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and now Wilma that blame the storm's fury on global warming (despite the fact that violent hurricane cycles seem to run on a seventy year cycle).

So how does the global warming crowd deal with contradictory data?

From a San Francisco Chronicle article discussing the reporting of Antarctic cooling:

One study showed that while other continents are warming, major parts of Antarctica are cooling. The other demonstrated that the glacial "ice streams" that feed the Ross Ice Shelf in West Antarctica appear to be growing, not shrinking.

To the scientists involved, the studies suggest that the effects of global warming on Antarctica may prove harder to forecast than anticipated. But to their dismay, some newspaper editorial writers interpreted the reports as evidence that the global warming theory itself is in trouble -- even though that was the furthest thing from the scientists' minds.

There you have it. Both positive and negative data can be accommodated by the theory of global warming, which brings us back to Shermer's closing paragraph:

If both positive and negative results are interpreted as supporting a theory, how can we test its validity? Skepticism is the default position because the burden of proof is on the believer, not the skeptic.

Maybe the editorial staff of Scientific American should start reading their own magazine.

Egyptian Riot Kills 1, Injures 90

CNN reports that one person was killed and ninety were injured clashing with police in Alexandria, Egypt.

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (AP) -- One person died and more than 90 were injured as thousands of Muslims rioted outside a Coptic Christian church Friday to denounce a play deemed offensive to Islam. Police responded by beating protesters and firing tear gas into the crowd, officials said.

Egypt's Interior Ministry described the rioters as "fanatic elements". Indeed, 5,000 "fanatic elements". And what caused this outbreak of violence?

The riot was sparked by the distribution of a DVD of a play that was performed at the church two years ago. The play, "I Was Blind But Now I Can See," tells the story of a young Christian who converts to Islam and becomes disillusioned.

I see.

Security Tip

This just in from a friend serving in the War Zone:

And with that, I'm off to oppress the masses by playing golf with my son.

Time for CENTCOM PR to Get Off the Dime

The latest press release from CENTCOM doesn't exactly fill me with confidence that they are on top of events regarding the burning of Taliban bodies in Afghanistan:

UPDATE: ALLEGED MISCONDUCT BY U.S. FORCES

KABUL , Afghanistan – The Army Criminal Investigation Division continues its investigation into alleged misconduct by U.S. service members, including the burning of two dead enemy combatant bodies under inappropriate circumstances.

“The inflammatory nature of this allegation raises two pertinent concerns that the command is investigating,” said Army Colonel Jim Yonts, Combined Forces Command – Afghanistan , Public Affairs Officer. “First, the command does not advocate, nor does the command tolerate, the wrongful desecration of anyone’s remains. Second, the use of broadcast messages in conjunction with an act such as this does not represent the values and beliefs of this command therefore necessitating a procedural and policy review.”

“These are very serious allegations and if true, they are reprehensible. If the investigation reveals misconduct those responsible will be held accountable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” he said

Now, this release was dated yesterday, and Colonel Yonts may be unaware of recent developments in the incident, which are only now coming to light (through the efforts of bloggers; MSM reporters are, as usual, only too happy to screw US troops). Specifically, this release reads as though CENTCOM thinks the incident was a planned PsyOps mission. We now know that the bodies were burned for hygiene reasons, that they were not facing west, and that the PsyOps unit simply used their own initiative to use the disposal of the bodies to provoke Taliban terrorists, cowering amongst a civilian population, to come out and be killed or captured.

Once CENTCOM becomes aware of these facts, one hopes that they will stand up for their boots on the ground. Doing otherwise will cost CENTCOM a huge amount of goodwill that has been built up recently among pro-American bloggers and citizens. The bloggers and citizens on the Left will continue to hate CENTCOM regardless of what action CENTCOM takes in this matter.

Check out JasonColeman.com and The Anti-idiotarian Rottweiler for analyses of the incident.

Truth Begins to come Out in the "Taliban Body Burning" Incident

Jason Coleman does an excellent job of laying out the problems with Australian reporter Stephen Dupont and his tale of an out-of-control American PsyOps unit deliberately desecrating Taliban bodies. Coleman's analysis points out not only gaping holes in Dupont's story, but a revealing photo of Dupont (from Dupont's website) showing the freelancer seemingly dressed as a Talibani for a Halloween party. Make sure you go to JasonColeman.com and read the whole thing.

Coleman makes a good case that Dupont contrived the incident as a media event by falsely linking two separate incidents: the legitimate burning of the decaying Taliban bodies for sanitary reasons, and a PsyOps unit taking advantage of this in an effort to provoke Taliban terrorists into an open fight. Photographic evidence only adds to Coleman's interpretation, as The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler points out. Dupont claimed that the bodies were deliberately placed facing west toward Mecca to heighten the insult. But photos of the burning clearly show shadows indicating that the bodies were laid out in a north-south orientation. It appears that Dupont has been caught guilding the lily.

Leading By (Bad) Example: Fake NYT "News Story" Has Libs All Atwitter

An Op-Ed by Thomas Friedman published yesterday in the New York Times entitled "Leading By (Bad) Example" has liberal websites all agog about the "delegation of Iraqi judges and journalists" who left the US, disgusted with American hypocrisy. Apparently, though, the story is a fake, a fact exacerbated by Freidman's editorial being inaccessible online without purchasing premium access from the NYT.

The blog fbihop posts the editorial in its entirety, including this last line: "(Yes, all of this is a fake news story. I just wish that it weren't so true.)", which seems to have escaped the notice of most liberal bloggers gleefully citing this latest attempt by the tattered Gray Lady to recapture some relevance.

The NYT should leave this sort of thing to The Onion, especially if they're going to make the story unavailable on the web.

Senior Al Qaeda in Iraq Terrorist Killed

CENTCOM reports that a senior al Zarqawi lieutenant and al Qaeda in Iraq leader was killed on October 15 during Coalition raids near Ramadi. Captured terrorist insurgents identified the man as Sa’ad Ali Firas Muntar al Dulaymi (aka Abu Abdullah).

From the CENTCOM press release:

Sa’ad Ali Firas facilitated high-level meetings in Ramadi and Fallujah, where senior-level terrorists gathered to discuss strategy and ongoing operations. Zarqawi was said to have attended some of these meetings.

Sa’ad Ali Firas was chiefly responsible for planning and executing all terrorist attacks on Iraqi and Coalition forces in the Ramadi and Fallujah areas.

Another Soldier Disputes NBC's Depiction of "Staged" Presidential Conversation, But With an Ironic Twist

They Call Us, "Doc", the blog by SGT Ron Long, one of the soldiers who participated in the conversation with President Bush that NBC mischaracterized as "staged" (soldiers were coached by a staffer before the President began talking to them) links to an article in the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The article is an interview with another soldier who was present for the Presidential conversation and who backs up SGT Long's account:

A Chattanooga soldier now in Iraq with the 278th Regimental Combat Team said soldiers used their own words during comments made last week in a satellite discussion with President Bush.
"We wanted to give President Bush a no-kidding assessment of what we have all been working 14- (to) 18-hour days on for the last 11 months," said Lt. Gregg Murphy, of Chattanooga. "We gave him the God’s honest truth as we know it."
The dialogue was among President Bush and 10 U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq last Thursday on the eve of Iraq’s constitutional referendum. Media outlets have called the event staged because the solders went through a rehearsal before talking live with President Bush.
"Staged infers that we were given scripts and that we followed those scripts," Lt. Murphy wrote in an e-mail to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. "This is not true. None of the members on the panel used any words that were not their own."

The ironic twist is that the article was written by Edward Lee Pitts, the reporter who tried to trip up Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld by planting a question during a meeting that was supposedly for soldiers' questions only.

CENTCOM Responds to Report of Taliban Bodies Being Burnt

A story on Australian website smh.com.au alleges that US troops burned the bodies of dead Taliban terrorists, then taunted others over the act:

US soldiers in Afghanistan burnt the bodies of dead Taliban and taunted their opponents about the corpses, in an act deeply offensive to Muslims and in breach of the Geneva conventions.

An investigation by SBS's Dateline program, to be aired tonight, filmed the burning of the bodies.

It also filmed a US Army psychological operations unit broadcasting a message boasting of the burnt corpses into a village believed to be harbouring Taliban.

According to an SBS translation of the message, delivered in the local language, the soldiers accused Taliban fighters near Kandahar of being "cowardly dogs". "You allowed your fighters to be laid down facing west and burnt. You are too scared to retrieve their bodies. This just proves you are the lady boys we always believed you to be," the message reportedly said.

"You attack and run away like women. You call yourself Taliban but you are a disgrace to the Muslim religion, and you bring shame upon your family. Come and fight like men instead of the cowardly dogs you are."

CENTCOM has responded with this news release:

U.S. Investigates Allegation of Law of War Violation

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - The Army Criminal Investigation Division has initiated an investigation into alleged misconduct by U.S. service members, including the burning of dead enemy combatant bodies under inappropriate circumstances.

"This command takes all allegations of misconduct or inappropriate behavior seriously and has directed an investigation into circumstances surrounding this allegation," said Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya, Combined Joint Task Force-76 Commander. "If the allegation is substantiated, the appropriate course of action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and corrective action will be taken."

Service members are expected to abide by the highest standards of behavior and the law, he said.

"This command does not condone the mistreatment of enemy combatants or the desecration of their religious and cultural beliefs," Kamiya said.

"This alleged action is repugnant to our common values, is contrary to our commands approved tactical operating procedures, and is not sanctioned by this command. Our efforts to thoroughly investigate this allegation are a reflection of our commitment to the Government of Afghanistan and the Afghan people."

I understand the need to maintain good relations with innocent Afghanis. Someone should ask them if they were offended by the burning of terrorist bodies and loudspeakers insulting terrorists. Any who say that they were offended should be questioned on suspicion of being terrorists.

As for the Taliban dead. Terrorists are not covered by the Geneva Conventions. The only pragmatic reason to treat their prisoners and dead with respect is to elicit the same treatment from them. This is unrealistic. Islamic terrorists are psychopathic barbarians who will torture and abuse captured soldiers and civilians for propaganda value and to amuse themselves. The proper way to dispose of Taliban and al Qaeda carcasses is to feed them to hogs.

What NBC News Won't Tell You

NBC, the network of Brian (the Founding Fathers were terrorists) Williams didn't report the whole story when they accused the White House of staging a conversation between President Bush and soldiers in Iraq. For a different perspective, check out the blog, They Call Us, "Doc" from of one of the soldiers who participated, which includes this post directly addressing the NBC story:

...we were told that we would be speaking with the President of the United States, our Commander-in-Chief, President Bush, so I believe that it would have been totally irresponsible for us NOT to prepare some ideas, facts or comments that we wanted to share with the President.
We were given an idea as to what topics he may discuss with us, but it's the President of the United States; He will choose which way his conversation with us may go.
We practiced passing the microphone around to one another, so we wouldn't choke someone on live TV.

The Doc's blog is currently fronting a photo of NBC correspondent Michelle Kosinski in her canoe during the flood coverage faked by NBC. Ironic.

Via a Michelle Malkin column in townhall.com.

Rush is Wrong, Sheehan is on Hillary's Side

Rush Limbaugh is usually right, but this time he's underestimating the underhandedness of Hillary Clinton's campaign for President. Citing this open letter from peace lunatic Cindy Sheehan on Michael Moore's website, Rush determines that Sheehan has made a serious mistake.:

I would love to support Hillary for President if she would come out against the travesty in Iraq. But I don't think she can speak out against the occupation, because she supports it.

I will not make the mistake of supporting another pro-war Democrat for president again: As I won't support a pro-war Republican.

Rush says that now Hillary's goons will bury Sheehan. Maybe, but my own take is that Cindy is doing exactly what Hillary wants her to do. This is Hillary's route to the center. No one on the Left is going to abandon Hillary because Cindy says so, but now Hillary's campaign (and the Clintons are about nothing other than campaigns) can point to Cindy Sheehan's letter as evidence that Hillary represents the "mainstream". Sheehan may be a loon, but she certainly realizes that the election isn't for another three years - Hillary's position on troops in Iraq today will have no relevance to the situation in 2008.

Rush has underestimated the inbred sneakiness of the Left in general, and Hillary Clinton in particular. This is a setup; time will reveal Sheehan's quid pro quo for this little bit of political theater.

Al Qaeda in Iraq Suicide Bombing Cell Captured

From a CENTCOM press release:

Marine Regimental Combat Team 2 captured the three cell members, later identified as Muhammad ‘Abd-al-Razaq Muhammad‘ Abd-al-Tariq (aka Abu Jassim), Ali Tariq Muhammad Salih (aka Abu Husayn), and Walid ’Ali Dhiyab Muhanna, and detained them for further questioning as reported Oct. 10.

Husayn told investigators, they were traveling in a vehicle accompanying a vehicle borne improvised explosive device driven by a foreign suicide bomber named Abu Turab, a Saudi national assigned to drive his vehicle bomb into a Coalition convoy and detonate it.

The mission of the terrorists in the second vehicle was to ensure that Abu Turab carried out his attack and to videotape it. They were then to give the footage of the attack to their cell leader, who would in turn give it to the local media cell to be used as terrorist propaganda.

Abu Husayn admitted that after many hours of looking for a target, they had to stop Abu Turab to give him additional guidance on how to complete his mission. The terrorists decided to take him back to a central location in the Anah area and told Turab to follow them. It was at this point that both terrorist vehicles encountered an Iraqi security forces and Coalition checkpoint.

As the first vehicle approached the checkpoint it was stopped and its three occupants searched by Iraqi and Coalition forces. Coalition forces found a video recorder with a recording of Abu Turab’s VBIED, which was recorded earlier that morning with Turab and Abu Jassim on tape.

Immediately afterward, a vehicle resembling the car on the tape moved toward the checkpoint. The driver started to maneuver erratically and accelerated toward the checkpoint. Coalition forces used hand and arm signals to attempt to stop the vehicle. They then fired warning shots to attempt to stop the vehicle. Finally, they shot at the vehicle, attempting to disable it, and the VBIED detonated and killed the driver.

Husayn admitted he and his cell members were each given $100 for each attack they carried out. They were given the vehicle and bomb-making materials, which they took to a central assembly point the night prior. The next morning, they picked up the vehicle with the foreign suicide bomber ready to carry out his mission.

I'm reprinting this story on the off chance that our loyal, unbiased, non-partisan mainstream media completely ignores it.

Premature Evisceration Suffered By Jihadi Smithereen Corps Terrorist

The American Forces Press Service reports that another brave jihadi babyhunter managed to blow himself up prematurely:

In Fallujah, a terrorist attempting to blow up an Iraqi security forces convoy ended up killing himself instead Oct. 17.

A three-vehicle convoy from the 2nd Public Order Brigade was on a food run when a taxi pulled up to the convoy and a man got out carrying a trash bag. He was placing the bag containing an improvised explosive device on the back of a convoy truck when it exploded.

There were no reports of injuries among the Iraqi security force. However, two passersby were injured and later transported to a medical facility for treatment by Iraqi police.

The bomber was identified by his remains.

Also:

Iraqi army and coalition forces captured 15 suspected terrorists in a series of pre-dawn combat operations conducted in and around Baghdad.

Three of the suspects are thought to be bombers. Another is believed to be a weapons dealer and a terror cell financier.

The largest operation was carried out by Iraqi soldiers from 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division. Shortly after midnight, the Iraqi soldiers captured five suspected insurgents during a raid against a terrorist safe house in the Adhamiyah district of central Baghdad.

About the same time, Task Force Baghdad soldiers from the 70th Engineer Brigade, acting on a local citizen's tip, seized three terror suspects during a cordon-and-search operation in northern Baghdad. The men are suspected of placing roadside bombs targeting Iraqi security forces, coalition forces and civilians in the area.

Another citizen's tip helped Task Force Baghdad soldiers capture a suspected weapons dealer and terrorist financier. The suspect was captured during a cordon-and-search operation involving two houses in northern Baghdad.

I'm reprinting these stories on the off chance that our loyal, unbiased, non-partisan mainstream media completely ignore them.

Rating Ranting Ragers of the Left

Everyone likes a good freak show, and nothing quite compares to the abject, foaming-at-the-mouth, hatred of President Bush (and everyone else to the left of Michael Moore) by your average loon of the Lefty fringe. Hell, these folks hate the red states more than Osama does. You can find them by searching Technorati for "shrub".

I'm using the five squirrel ranking system. Five squirrels would be a full on Kos rant, while one squirrel means that the attitude is there, but the rage hasn't been cranked up to full volume.

Here's a ranter who either can't make up her mind, or is simply confused about how socio-economic classes are ranked:

Bend Over Again Middle Class Poor Folk!!

Don't you shrub supporters think it's a little strange to take away from the poor and people trying to recover from a devastating event by taking away the very social programs which help them?...

One extra squirrel for getting so far into the rant that she messed up her HTML (see link). Two squirrels.

There are evil Republican conspiracies everywhere!:

He won’t be able to prove Cheney’s complicity in the conspiracy, because the front men and women will refuse to rat on Cheney. But there doesn’t seem to be much question that the outing of a CIA NOC was orchestrated by the Veep, in part to cover his own behind for his pre-war lies, and in part because he despised the CIA for not being sufficiently pliable and war-like (read, “interested in Halliburton’s profit margin”).

This is rather run-of-the-mill Bushitlerburton ranting, and would normally rate only one, at most, two, squirrels. But then the writer added this gem:

I’m going to hazard a guess — that Judy Miller was involved in the conspiracy to cover-up the crime of outing Plame.
I suppose that means my speculation isn’t too far out in front of the CW. My claim is that Judy was involved in a much bigger conspiracy, to convince the American public to send their children to war on what the conspirators knew were false pretenses.

Bringing the rating up to four squirrels (bonus squirrel added for mentioning Halliburton).

This one is a junior capitalist exploiting, while sharing, the rage of the Left:

So I set up my anti-Bush message in a good corner location and attract a crowd. If my experience is based on reality, there are many many people who hate Bush’s guts. I am selling to people who want the art for themselves and as gifts for relatives who hate Bush.

I give him three squirrels for inspired artistic hypocrisy.

The "Shrub" reference here is a gratuitous non-sequitur seemingly uttered as a form of political Tourette's Syndrome:

1) Shrub - Whenever I see Bush jr. speak on tv, I weep for America.

Unremarkable other than as an amusing example of Bush-hating as an uncontrollable impulse, much like a wet beer fart. I'm feeling generous; one squirrel.

Marines Make a Few More "Good" Terrorists

The Devil Dogs have been busy. From a CENTCOM press release:

CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, AR RAMADI, Iraq – Marines destroyed a terrorist cave complex used as a weapons cache and bomb-making factory early Oct. 17 near Haqlaniyah.

Marines assigned to Regimental Combat Team - 2 observed three men place a roadside bomb and then return to a cave complex nearby.

The terrorists were killed by small arms fire from the Marines. An investigation of the first chamber of the cave complex revealed a small cache, bomb-making tools and equipment, black uniforms and ski masks.

Coalition aircraft destroyed the complex using precision-guided munitions.

During Operation River Gate, Marines, Soldiers and Sailors and their counterparts in the Iraqi Army have discovered numerous caves in the Haditha, Haqlaniyah and Barwana areas.

Also:

In the Al Qa’im region Oct. 16, an estimated 12 insurgents were killed in a failed attack against Marines at Camp Gannon located in the town of Husaybah, 3.6 kilometers from the Iraqi-Syrian border.

Marines responded to the attack with machine-gun fire, mortars and more than 30 rounds from 40mm grenade launchers. There were no Marine casualties reported.

Also:

Marines killed three insurgents in the nearby town of Karabilah yesterday. The trio engaged the Marines with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire. Attack helicopters from the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing returned fire with missiles, rockets and heavy machineguns. No Marines were injured in the attack.

I'm reprinting these stories on the off chance that our loyal, unbiased, non-partisan mainstream media completely ignore them.

"Able Danger" Still Simmers

In an October 11th story about The first annual National Security Whistleblowers Conference, U.S. News & World Report mentions, in a rather offhand way, that Able Danger whistleblower Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer is in danger of losing his job at the DIA.

One of the biggest names of the conference never even uttered a word. Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer is the military intelligence operative who recently went public with a controversial claim that a year before September 11, his top-secret task force "Able Danger" was able to identify the man who later turned out to be the lead hijacker as being connected to al Qaeda. Shaffer is a veteran of top-secret operations against terrorists, including some in Afghanistan, and several of his DIA colleagues have come out publicly to confirm that they remember Mohamed Atta being identified in 2000 as part of a project that combed through public databases looking for hidden links. But these allegations have been vigorously denied by the Pentagon and the White House, while several members of Congress are investigating. Shaffer was slated to speak but instead sat quietly by as his lawyer, Mark Zaid, spoke for him.

"Tony is not allowed to talk," Zaid said. "He is effectively gagged from talking. He is gagged from talking to Congress."

Indeed, while Shaffer's case is being championed by Republican Rep. Curt Weldon, the Pentagon has prohibited him from speaking further to members of Congress without prior approval. He has already watched the Pentagon revoke his security clearance. Zaid says that the Pentagon cited a series of old, unsubstantiated claims that had been addressed during his routine security screenings earlier in his career. "When he was 15, he took some pens from the U.S. Embassy where he was doing an internship," Zaid said. "This is one of the reasons" Shaffer was given for the revocation. Officials also brought up several newer allegations, including two small claims of unauthorized expenses, as well as an allegation that he accepted an award to which he was not entitled. Zaid says that Shaffer disputes all the allegations and can offer evidence in his defense.

Still, several lawyers agreed that there is not much room for appeal when a security clearance is revoked. Now, Zaid says, Shaffer– who is still employed by the DIA –is worried about getting fired from his job.

Personal experience has shown me that blowing the whistle while working for the Feds is definitely not...career-enhancing. But sometimes a career is a worthy sacrifice to make, if only for one's own peace of mind.

For a large (though thankfully, shrinking) proportion of Americans, a story isn't news unless it's been spoken on the air by one or more of the big three network anchors. Only Shaffer can decide if being fired is a price worth paying to force the words "Able Danger" past the lips of the network anchors. But even that sacrifice might not be enough to make ABC, CBS, and NBC stop suppressing the story.

CENTCOM Vs. the Associated Press

Updated: How propaganda gets from the ground in Iraq to the nightly news in America

In the previous story I referred to this CENTCOM news release. Let's see how Thomas Wagner of the Associated Press chose to report the same story.

Baghdad, Oct. 17: US helicopters and warplanes bombed two villages near the city of Ramadi, a hotbed of Sunni-Arab insurgents west of Baghdad, killing around 70 Iraqis, the military said on Monday.

The military said all the dead were militants, though witnesses said at least 39 were civilians.

On Sunday, a group of around two dozen Iraqis gathered around the wreckage of the US vehicle and were hit by the airstrikes by US warplanes, both the military and witnesses said.

The military said in a statement that the crowd was setting another roadside bomb in the location of the blast that killed the Americans. F-15 warplanes hit them with a precision-guided bomb, killing around 20 people, described by the statement as "terrorists."

But several witnesses and one local leader said the people were civilians who had gathered to gawk at the wreckage of the US vehicle or pick pieces off of it — as often occurs after an American vehicle is hit.

The airstrike hit the crowd, killing 25 people, said tribal leader Chiad Saad and several witnesses who refused to give their names.

Gee, sounds like Wagner is really doing his job, sticking it to the man. Let's compare the CENTCOM version to Wagner's tale.

While conducting a combat air patrol, crewmembers from an F -15 observed 20 men arrive in four vehicles at the crater site of a previously-detonated IED which had killed five U.S. and two Iraqi Soldiers on Oct. 15. The terrorists were in the process of emplacing another IED in the same spot when the F- 15 engaged them with a precision-guided bomb, resulting in the death of terrorists on the ground.

Let's see, we can believe the detailed, precise account of a US servicemember, or we can accept Wagner's tale based on unnamed witnesses and a "tribal leader" from an area that Wagner admits is "a hotbed of Sunni-Arab insurgents".

Guess which version the terrorist sympathizers at The Guardian and al-Jazeera chose to run with? You remember al-Jazeera, don't you, the organization that recently had its reporter, Tayssir Alouny convicted by a Spanish court of aiding terrorists? And the Guardian, wasn't that the paper that employed a terrorist sympathizer, then had to fire him after he wrote an editorial justifying the London bombings?

For some reason, Thomas Wagner's reports are highly popular with ultra-leftwing bloggers.

Update: Brian Williams repeats a portion of Wagner's story on the NBC Nightly News, referring to the conflicting report as coming from "Iraqi civilians" - omitting the fact that even Wagner acknowledged, that the area is "a hotbed of Sunni-Arab insurgents". You remember Brian Williams, he's the one who speculated that there's not really much difference between al Qaeda terrorist insurgents and America's Founding Fathers.

70 New "Good" Terrorists, More or Less

From a CENTCOM press release:

While conducting a combat air patrol, crewmembers from an F -15 observed 20 men arrive in four vehicles at the crater site of a previously-detonated IED which had killed five U.S. and two Iraqi Soldiers on Oct. 15. The terrorists were in the process of emplacing another IED in the same spot when the F- 15 engaged them with a precision-guided bomb, resulting in the death of terrorists on the ground.

At approximately 7:30 p.m., a UH-1N Huey and AH-1W Cobra helicopter team on patrol north of Ramadi had been observing a group of military age males gathered at a suspected terrorist safe house. After realizing their position had been compromised, the terrorists fled the scene and engaged the Cobra with small arms fire. The Cobra returned fire with 20 mm. munitions, resulting in the death of an estimated 10 terrorists. At approximately 7:50 p.m., a team of F/A-18’s resumed observation at the suspected safe house where they found an additional 35-40 terrorists loading their vehicles with weapons and driving to another location to unload the weapons. The F/A-18 targeted the terrorists with a precision-guided bomb, killing terrorists on the ground. The combined strikes resulted in approximately 50 terrorists killed.

Also:

At approximately 8:00 p.m., Coalition forces guarding the Government Center in Ramadi were attacked by a small-arms fire attack from multiple locations within an adjacent building. After requesting air support to neutralize the increasing volume of fire, an F/A-18 engaged the target with a maverick missile at approximately 8:50 p.m. When the small arms fire continued, Coalition forces engaged the targets with two shoulder mounted multipurpose assault weapons (SMAWs), resulting in the cessation of all movement from within the structure. An estimated 1-3 terrorists were killed in the strike.

I'm reprinting these stories on the off chance that our loyal, unbiased, non-partisan mainstream media completely ignore them.

Iran Accuses UK of Terrorist Bombings

The Daily Star (Lebanon) reports that the Iranian government is accusing the British of being behind the bombs that exploded near a market in Ahvaz:

"Since there are British troops present alongside our border, there is a concern over their involvement in the explosions in Ahvaz," Aalaeddine Borujerdi, the head of the Iranian Parliament's foreign policy commission, told the student news agency ISNA.

"We have information on their previous involvement in the unrest in Khuzestan," he was quoted as saying, even though the British Embassy in Tehran had swiftly condemned the attacks and denied any involvement.

"The explosions in Ahvaz had a British accent," the head of Iran's Basij volunteer militia, Brigadier General Mohammad Hejazi, was quoted as saying by ISNA. "It's a conspiracy," Hejazi alleged.

Iran's Interior Minister Mustafa Pour-Mohammadi also told ISNA that "usually this kind of insecurity comes from the other side of the border and is guided from there."

If the Brits really have commandos capable of such a stealth mission - slipping unseen into a hostile country, repeatedly approaching a crowded market undetected, then escaping without leaving a shred of evidence - one hopes that they soon will be put to use in other venues; slipping into Cuba to get rid of Castro, perhaps, or taking out that inconvenient maniac in Venezuela.

After the accusations, an Iranian spokesman added:

"Unlike the British, we are not going to express our views without the necessary investigations," spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said at a weekly news conference.

"We don't talk without proof and documentation," he said, in reference to Tehran's complaints that London had not provided evidence to support its accusations about Iran's alleged involvement in Iraq.

Oh, really?

Sunday Funny

From the Dry Bones blog.

I wonder. Wouldn't the Left urge us to look at things from the Martian perspective and complain about conditions for captured Martians?

24 Terrorists Captured, 12 Killed

The American Forces Press Service reports that Coalition forces captured 24 terrorists and killed 12 others in raids near Ramadi. From the news release:

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2005 - Acting on intelligence sources and tips from concerned citizens, coalition forces detained 24 terrorists and killed at least 12 others in a series of raids near Ramadi on Oct. 14, officials said.

In the first raid, coalition forces attacked a suspected terrorist safe house. They found a weapons cache with mortar rounds, small arms and ammunition.

Coalition forces then raided two additional suspected terrorist safe houses. There they found 10 mortar rounds buried in the road, all designed to protect the safe house entrance, officials said. Coalition forces bypassed these improvised explosive devices and moved to two nearby houses where numerous armed terrorists were seen entering.

As coalition forces closed in on the terrorists, they took fire. They called in close air support and returned fire. When they entered the safe houses they found six dead terrorists and a weapons cache with small arms and ammunition, officials said.

That weapons cache and the previously discovered weapons cache were destroyed. Moreover, while these raids were occurring, coalition forces simultaneously raided four other suspected terrorist safe houses.

Terrorists in the first of these suspected four safe houses engaged coalition forces before fleeing into a nearby tree line. They returned fire and killed one terrorist. They then used close air support to kill at least five more fleeing terrorists, officials said.

Coalition forces then raided the three other suspected terrorist safe houses, where they detained 22 suspects without incident. Coalition forces also stopped a suspicious looking vehicle with four males who had been seen roaming in the area. Two of these individuals were detained, officials said.

By Petty Officer 3rd Class John R. Guardiano, USN

I'm publishing this story on the off-chance that our loyal, unbiased, non-partisan mainstream media completely ignore it.

Two Al Qaeda Terrorists Captured in Iraq

From a CENTCOM press release:

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Acting on reliable intelligence and information provided by concerned citizens, Multi-National Forces captured two senior al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists during raids in Baghdad Sept. 24.

Captured were Walid Muhammad Farhan Juwar al Zubaydi (aka Firas), (aka Abu Ziyad), (aka “The Barber”); and Ibrahim Muhammad Subhi Khayri al Rihawi (aka Abu Khalil).

“The Barber’s” duties included altering senior al Qaeda in Iraq member’s appearances by dying hair color, altering hairstyles and changing facial hair in their efforts to evade capture.

Abu Khalil, a close associate of Abu Azzam, served as an executive assistant for the terrorist emir. He also acted as a banker for Azzam and stored the terrorist organizations funds so they would not be confiscated should Abu Azzam be killed or captured.

Abu Azzam, second only to Zarqawi in al Qaeda in Iraq, was killed in a Coalition raid in September.

I'm reprinting this story on the off chance that our loyal, unbiased, non-partisan mainstream media completely ignores it.

Iraqi Vote Completed Without Major Terrorist Attacks

The polls are now closed in Iraq. The constitutional vote was completed without a major attack, despite vows from terrorist insurgents to disrupt it.

From the Associated Press via Yahoo!News:

As polls closed at 5 p.m. (10 a.m. EDT), people in Baghdad fired guns into the air in celebration. Some Iraqis passed out sweets in the street, just ahead of the end of the day's Ramadan fast.

Insurgents attacked five of Baghdad's 1,200 polling stations with shootings and bombs, wounding seven voters, but there were no major attacks reported as U.S. and Iraqi forces clamped down with major security measures around balloting sites.

Iraqi Constitutional Vote Underway

About midnight Eastern Time, Iraqis began voting on a new Constitution.

"Today, I came to vote because
I am tired of terrorists..."
- Zeinab Sahib

From the Associated Press via Yahoo!News:

The polls opened at 7 a.m., just hours after insurgents sabotaged power lines in the northern part of the country, plunging the Iraqi capital into darkness and cutting off water supplies.

The capital was eerily quiet under clear blue skies Saturday morning. Iraqi soldiers and police ringed polling stations at schools, and driving was banned to stop suicide car bombings by Sunni-led insurgents determined to wreck the vote. Only a few citizens were seen walking to the schools, which were protected by concrete barriers and barbed wire.

Minor violence was reported. A roadside bomb exploded near a polling station in western Baghdad as it opened, injuring two policemen, officials said. U.S. troops exchanged fire with insurgents in Ramadi; it wasn't immediately clear if anyone was injured. South of Basra, three armed men attacked an empty polling station at 3 a.m.; the three were arrested, police said.

It will be a long day, with terrorist insurgents in Iraq determined to sabotage the vote, and terrorist sympathizers in America determined to minimize its importance. Rule of thumb: if you refer to the terrorist insurgency in Iraq as "The Resistance", you are probably a terrorist sympathizer.

The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend

Anti-Bush Partisans For Terrorists, Zawahiri Letter Edition

It's not surprising that al Qaeda claims that the recently released letter from Ayman al-Zawahiri to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is a fake. The information in the letter is so damaging that it would be surprising if they didn't try to question its authenticity.

What's truly disturbing is that many left wing Americans are hoping the letter is fake, simply because they hate President Bush.

Take this post from a popular liberal blog, the Whiskey Bar:

Even without the tip offs, I'd have my own suspicions about the letter's authenticity, if only because of the timing. The thing was leaked to the media last Thursday -- the same day as Shrub's big speech on terrorism, which by some strange coincidence, happened to be the exact same day that Hizzonor the Mayor announced the alleged New York subway plot, which has since been revealed as a hoax.

Partisan politics is one thing. Cheering on terrorists in the hope of raising your party's political future is something else. Something awfully close to treason.

Dutch Arrest, and Re-Arrest, Seven Accused of Plotting Terror

From Agence France Presse via Yahoo!News:

THE HAGUE (AFP) - Dutch police arrested seven new suspected members of the Hofstad group terrorist cell and eliminated "an acute threat" to several politicians and the intelligence services, the interior minister said.

Interior Minister Johan Remkes told a press conference that the seven suspects were members of the Hofstad group. Thirteen people are already in custody awaiting trial on charges of belonging to the group, including the convicted murderer of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh.

Van Gogh's murder was what finally caused the Netherlands to get serious, sort of, about Islamist terrorists operating in their country. The Dutch began to make it less comfortable for terrorist sympathizers in Holland. 357Hosting, the ISP of choice for jihadis everywhere, purportedly relocated to Gaza soon after the murder.

At least two of those arrested had been in custody earlier, then released:

The main suspect according to the authorities is 19-year-old Samir Azzouz, who was acquitted of charges of planning terrorist attacks because of insufficient evidence in April.

A second suspect arrested Friday was Jermaine Walters, his lawyer told Dutch national public Radio 1. Walters had also been arrested in the first Hofstad group case but was released later after prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to hold him.

A 24 year-old woman was also arrested, but has not been identified. Coincidentally, notorious terrorist mouthpiece Nada al-Rubaiee, who operates out of the Netherlands, is 24 years-old.

Sunni Terrorists Attack...Fellow Sunnis

From the Associated Press via Yahoo!News:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Sunni insurgents determined to derail this weekend's constitutional referendum attacked the largest Sunni Arab political party Friday, bombing and burning offices and the home of one of its leaders after the group dropped its opposition to the draft charter.

These are Michael Moore's "Minutemen". It's hard to interpret this as anything other than the desperation of barbarians, but I'm sure that there are plenty of loyal, unbiased, non-partisan mainstream American journalists who will seek a way to interpret it as something else. Failing that, they'll ignore the incident.

Iraqis Stop Carbomb Attack by Shooting Bomb

The American Forces Press Service reports that a car bomber was stopped by Iraqi Public Order Brigade personnel when they shot the car bomb. The bomb was constructed from two 130 mm artillery rounds, which exploded when shot, killing the terrorist.

Also:

An Iraqi army unit independently tracked down and captured three individuals suspected of detonating an IED southwest of Baghdad on Oct. 12.

The IED detonated on an Iraqi army convoy around mid-afternoon, slightly wounding several Iraqi soldiers, who were evacuated for medical treatment.

Soldiers from 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, tracked the suspected bomb triggermen to a nearby mosque. After receiving permission, they searched the premises and found and detained three individuals with a remote detonator.

Also:

Iraqi police joined forces with members of Task Force Baghdad to capture five suspected terrorists in eastern Baghdad Oct. 11.

This is the second mission in the last few days where intelligence from the community directly led to the capture of suspected terrorists, officials said. On Oct. 8, the same unit detained five other terror suspects.

I'm reprinting these stories on the off-chance that our loyal, unbiased, non-partisan mainstream media completely ignore them.

Media Battlefield

"I say to you: that we are in a battle, and that more than half of this battle is taking place in the battlefield of the media."
- Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a letter to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi intercepted by Coalition forces on July 9, 2005

Reuters reporting on Iraq has been overwhelmingly anti-Coalition, anti-American, and Anti-Bush. Coincidentally, Reuters has an incredibly large number of people with Arab and/or Muslim surnames corresponding for them from Iraq.

By Mariam Karouny
Reuters

By Waleed Ibrahim
Reuters

By Aseel Kami
Reuters

By Aref Mohamed
Reuters

U.S. sniper kills Reuters man in Iraq
...killed Waleed Khaled, who was shot in the head, and wounded Haider Kadhem...
aljazeera.com

By ROBEN FARZAD
...Assem Abdel-Mohsen, an Egyptian and veteran Reuters correspondent...
Reuters

...Reuters correspondent Samia Nakhoul...
Common Dreams

...Reuters correspondent Khaled Oweis reported.
NewshourExtra