The Terrorist Round-up for 5/12/06

5/12/06

[Straight Vermonter]

Allies in Afghanistan

Italy	Netherlands
Italian soldiers from the 9th Alpine Regiment, aboard a 'Puma' armored vehicle, patrol the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Tomas Munita)	Helicopters, engineers and armoured infantry are helping make the commander of Dutch troops in southern Afghanistan confident of success in their mission in Uruzgan, where now only an handful of special forces are taking on the Taliban.(AFP/File/Shah Marai)
Australia	United Kingdom
Australian Special Forces task group soldiers take part in live-fire range practice in the Bagram region of Afghanistan. (REUTERS/The Australian Defence Force/Handout)	British troops are seen at Camp Bastion, in the southern province of Helmand, Afghanistan (REUTERS/Robert Birsel )
Canada	United States
A soldier from 1st Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry test fires weapons on a Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) at a Forward Operating Base in Northern Kandahar. (AFP/File/John D McHugh)	US soldiers in Afghanistan. NATO realises that its expansion of peacekeeping forces in southern Afghanistan will be tough with its troops certain to face violent opposition.(AFP/File/Shah Marai)

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First In The Door: Local Soldier Hunting Iraqi Insurgents Shares Sights And Sounds
Reported by Morgan Palmer. morganpalmer@kltv.com

This week's CNN/Gallup poll shows 58 percent of Americans now think our troops should have never gone to war in Iraq.

22-year-old Private First Class Ryan Krumblis, whose family lives in Tyler, has been there serving in Iraq since last year. He is often the first in the door when homes are raided, and insurgents rooted out. He is back in Iraq now, but on a two-week leave late last month, he spoke with KLTV 7's Morgan Palmer, and gives us a look through pictures and video of his life at war.

Private First Class Ryan Krumblis

"There were a lot of infantry units over in Iraq. I joined the infantry knowing that I would see action within the first years."

Ryan Krumblis has all the look and sound of a war veteran. Getting shot at is all in a normal day.

"Generally, it's a small rate of fire. Nothing too substantial," he says. But when you see the photos and hear the stories, it's hard to believe Ryan's just been in Iraq since August -- in the army a bit over a year. He's a radio-telephone-operator, and takes photos to document his life working in the third largest city in Iraq.

"Mosul used to be old Nineveh, so there's a lot of history there," he says, though there's little time for sightseeing. There are so many streets, and Ryan and his buddies of the First Platoon Regulators, Charlie Company of the 172nd Strike Brigade patrol each one. In their mission, there are no front lines.

"We're generally on sector 12 to 18 hours a day and we have a platoon covering a sector 24 hours."

It means stopping cars, searching homes, and being shot at a lot. Life and death are a step or an instant apart, like last October.

"As we were loading up [in a vehicle], we had a white four door sedan pull around the rear of our security, and when he did, he opened up with an RPK, which is a fully automatic machine gun. When this happened, he put about 30 rounds in the back of our vehicle. Seven of them that we know of actually came into our vehicle. We had one of our riflemen hit in the back of the next. Fortunately, he was wearing his interceptor body armor and it was deflected," Ryan says.

"It's very loud. It's very confusing. Because on the streets, it's hard to hear where it's coming from because it's echoing on the buildings around you."

Ryan says to breathe a sigh of relief is an understatement.

The platoon searches homes looking for any enemy activity, and when they find something, suspect there might be a target, they get ready to move in.

A buddy will open the door and Ryan will be first inside.

"I just filter in and take the path of least resistance. At that point, I'm in charge of yelling out what we see. If I see civilians or hostiles. If we enter a long room or a short room, whether I've got doors to my right, whether they're closed or not," he describes.

More often than not, the building is clear. Life for these soldiers has it's terrifying moments, though there's always the chance to get to know the people of Iraq on their daily patrols. The kids are everywhere.

"You have as little inteaction as possible because you've got to pull security, but at the same time, you want to say 'Hi' and give them some candy and that's what we do," he says.

With every person and around every corner they must watch and sometimes act. On November 19th, there was a possible sighting of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, the rumored leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq. The First Platoon Regulators were supposed to be first in, but another platoon got the call.

So Ryan went to the house as backup.

"When [the other platoon] went in, they sent their first squad in, and you have to bottleneck. And what you do is called the 'Fatal Funnel,' you come from outside and push in. When they did, the Syrians were ready with three mortar rounds, and they had been modified with grenade pins."

Thursday night at 10pm, more stories from the front line, including the shock of losing one of his buddies in battle. Despite the pain of war and of loss, Ryan tells us he supports the war effort, and that troops should not be pulled out before Iraq is stabilized.

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ISF, coalition forces discover caches, nab 24 insurgents
By Sgt. Zach Mott, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office

Caches consisting of money and munitions were discovered near Baqubah, Iraq, May 9 by members of the 5th Iraqi Army Division and the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers. Additionally, 24 detainees were apprehended by coalition and Iraqi security forces.

The 2nd Brigade, 5th IAD as well as 1-68 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd HBCT conducted joint operations in villages around Baqubah to limit the insurgents’ abilities to harm the Iraqi security and coalition forces.

"We’re working to establish conditions to get more control of the region," said Maj. John DiGiambattista, operations officer, 1-68 CAB. "The ISF is working the lead to provide security in the Baqubah area."

The force, which conducted simultaneous cordon, knock and search operations, confiscated 12-120 mm rounds, eight 60 mm rounds, 20-82 mm rockets, 22 mortar fuses, three Katusha rockets, four launcher pipes for Katusha rockets, 12-57 mm surface-to-air rockets, one 60 mm mortar system, one 82 mm mortar system, 100 meters of detonation cord, 600 meters of copper wire, $4,000 in U.S. currency and Russian literature during the early morning mission.

Removing munitions and insurgents, no matter how many or how few, affords the force a feeling of accomplishment and a bit more safety in this region.

"When you can take them out it disrupts operations," DiGiambattista said. "We want to bring them to justice for trying to kill ISF."

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SAYYAF MEMBER SUSPECTED IN KIDNAPPING U.S. TOURISTS ARRESTED (more info than yesterday's story)
By Roel Pareño

The military presented to the media yesterday a captured Abu Sayyaf terrorist suspect who had allegedly taken part in the kidnapping of three American tourists and the massacre of civilians in two barangays in Basilan five years ago.

Brig. Gen. Francisco Callelero, right, presents to the media captured member of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group. Komoni Pael, also known as Abu Bara, was captured Tuesday in Basilan allegedly after being tipped off by residents. (AP Photo)

Brig. Gen. Reymundo Ferrer, Basilan Army commander, said Komoni Pael, alias Abu Bara, was arrested by military intelligence agents in Barangay Kumalarang in Isabela City last Monday. "Surveillance had been conducted by our combined Army and naval intelligence groups that led to the arrest of the suspect who was laying low from the military hunt for years until his arrest Monday," he said.

Brig. Gen. Francisco Callelero, Armed Forces Southern Command deputy chief, said Pael was subjected to tactical interrogation by military intelligence before being presented to reporters. "The investigation led to the discovery of other terroristic activities he was involved," he said.

Callelero said Pael, who carries a P150,000 bounty, was one of the Abu Sayyaf terrorists in the wanted list of the Department of National Defense and Department of the Interior and Local Government. "We are expecting more to fall into the long arms of the law in the coming days," he said.

Pael was indicted for the massacre of 10 men in Barangay Balobo in Lamitan, Basilan and the beheading of five farmers in Tairan, Lantawan at the height of the Dos Palmas hostage taking incident in 2001. The Abu Sayyaf had snatched three American and 17 Filipino tourists from a posh resort off Palawan.

Pael was also tagged in the kidnapping of teachers, students and Catholic priest Fr. Rhoel Gallardo in Punoh Mahaji, Sumisip in March 2000. Gallardo was killed by the Abu Sayyaf, along with with three other male teachers.

During the presentation, Pael did not comment on media queries regarding his involvement in the massacre of villagers and the kidnapping of three Americans.

Pael was the eighth Abu Sayyaf terrorist to fall after a three-week military crackdown in Western Mindanao following the fall of Abu Sayyaf bomber Amil Hamja Ajijul and the arrest of four other suspects.

Top Abu Sayyaf commander Al-Sharie Amirrudin Mohammad Nur, alias Abu Omar, was arrested recently in his beachfront hideout in Zamboanga City, while another wanted terrorist, Abdusalih Dimah, was captured in Basilan.

The military said about 100 Abu Sayyaf terrorists involved in the Palawan kidnapping and other terroristic activities in Basilan have remained at large.

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Officials claim killing three Taliban in Helmand
Saeed Zabuli

Officials claimed Wednesday killing three Taliban fighters in Sangin district of the lawless province of southern Helmand, also called a centre of poppy cultivation, while Taliban purported spokesman declined the claim.

Spokesman for Provincial Governor Haji Mohayuddin told Pajhwok Afghan News the shootout erupted after a number of armed militants attacked a checkpost in this district.

He said three suspected Taliban fighters were killed in the incident and other militants made their escape good. They had begun hunt operations in the area to track down the fleeing miscreants, he added.

However, Taliban purported spokesman Qari Yousif Ahmadi rejected government's claim about killing three Taliban. Speaking to this news agency from an undisclosed location he said their fighters had killed five policemen, but they had lost no man in the firefight.

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Police arrest 3 suspected Kashmiri militants, recover arms and explosives

Islamic rebels have shot dead two policemen at point-blank range in Indian Kashmir's main city while a soldier and two rebels died in gunbattles.(AFP/File/Sajjad Hussain)

Police arrested three suspected Kashmiri insurgents and seized large quantities of arms, ammunition and RDX explosives after a long highway chase in western India, a news report said Thursday.

Apart from 30 kilograms (66 pounds) of RDX explosives, police recovered 10 AK-47 assault rifles and 2,000 bullets from the suspects'' jeep Wednesday in Maharashtra state's Aurangabad district, 350 kilometers (220 miles) northeast of Bombay, The Times of India newspaper quoted police as saying.

The suspects allegedly intended to take the explosives and weapons to Jammu, the winter capital of India's Jammu-Kashmir state, for use in terrorist attacks, the daily quoted an unidentified police officer as saying.

Police said the suspects belonged to the Lashkar-e-Tayabba, one of the most feared of the more than a dozen rebel groups fighting for Kashmir's independence or its merger with Pakistan.

More than 66,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the conflict.

A second group of suspected Islamic militants escaped in a separate car during a long police chase in Aurangabad district, the daily reported.

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Taliban may have anti-aircraft guns: Pakistani general

The Taliban, fighting the Hamid Karzai regime in Kabul and the US-led forces in Afghanistan, may have acquired anti-aircraft guns, judging by the attacks, an influential Pakistani general has said.

But these guns could have come from "elsewhere", not the Pakistan Army, Lt. Gen. (retired) Hamid Gul, who masterminded the operations in Afghanistan during the 1980s as director general of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), told a private TV channel.

On Iran acquiring Stinger missiles, a subject of much controversy between Pakistan, Iran and the US, Gul said most of the missiles would have been exhausted and their batteries redundant. "Only a few of them might be operational," Gul said.

More..

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Coalition commander sees Taliban on last legs
By WILLIAM KATES

Maj. Gen. Benjamin Freakley

An increase in attacks by insurgents is a final gasp by the Taliban as they are squeezed out of their last strongholds in Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Freakley, commander of the multinational military force in Afghanistan, said Thursday.

During a video teleconference from the U.S. air base in Bagram, Freakley acknowledged his coalition forces are seeing more insurgent activity, particularly in Afghanistan's southern provinces — but that's not an indication that the Taliban are staging a resurgence. To the contrary, said Freakley.

"They aren't attacking us. Our army is attacking them," said Freakley, who commands the U.S. Army's10th Mountain Division.

There have been more bombings and attacks because of the buildup of coalition forces in the region and because coalition forces and the government of Afghanistan are extending their authority into mountains and valleys historically ruled by the Taliban, Freakley said.

Additionally, local poppy farmers have reacted violently to the Afghan government's eradication program and attempts to curb drug trafficking.

"It's not so much that the Taliban are growing stronger," Freakley said. "The Taliban is lashing out against an increased presence going into their areas ... the Taliban is pushing back against that. Do I believe the Taliban can be decisive, I do not."

Freakley said his troops will shift their focus to the southern region this summer as coalition forces turn over security operations in the eastern provinces to the Afghan police and military.

Freakley said the military's current Operation Mountain Lion, an offensive to root out Taliban and al-Qaida militants in Afghanistan's northeastern Kunar Province, has been successful in bringing stability to the area.

Since the crackdown began last month, Freakley said 277 ex-Taliban fighters have surrendered to tribal elders. Soldiers have seized 79 major caches of weapons while 30 other large caches were turned in by Afghan citizens.

But the operation also has a humanitarian component, Freakley said. The Army has airdropped more than 100,000 pounds of food and supplies, including 100 children's bicycles.

Most importantly, Freakley said, as part of the campaign, nearly 10,500 Afghan women and children were given medical care, many for the first time in their lives.

It was during an Operation Mountain Lion mission Friday that 10 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division were killed when their CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter fell into a ravine during a mountaintop landing.

More..

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In poetry-loving Yemen, tribal bard takes on Al Qaeda - with his verse
By James Brandon

As the dusk call to prayer fades, Amin al-Mashreqi glances at the expectant faces surrounding him and begins to read from his slim, handwritten book of verse that is helping to bring a measure of peace to this mountainous Arab country.

O, you who kidnap our guests,
Your house will refuse you,
These violations are against Islam

Crammed into a mud-brick shop, his audience, some with their hands resting on their gold-trimmed daggers, listen to his verse denouncing violence and Islamic militancy. When he finishes, there is silence. Then the room erupts in applause.

"Other countries fight terrorism with guns and bombs, but in Yemen we use poetry," says Mr. Mashreqi later. "Through my poetry I can convince people of the need for peace who would never be convinced by laws or by force."

Amin al-Mashreqi takes his anti-Islamic militant poetry throughout rugged Yemen.

For years Yemen has been known as a breeding ground for extremism. It is the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden and where Al Qaeda bombed the USS Cole in 2000.

But today this country is quietly winning a reputation for using unorthodox tactics to take on Islamic militancy.

"Yemen has turned to poets because they are able to speak to diverse groups of people who the literati and the elite cannot reach," explains W. Flagg Miller, professor of Anthropology and Religious Studies at the University of Wisconsin who has studied Yemeni poetry for about 20 years.

For centuries, Yemen's rulers have relied on poets like Mashreqi to take the government's message into remote areas where regular soldiers and officials feared to tread - and where using force could create more, and angrier, enemies.

"There is a long tradition of leaders turning to poets right across the Arab world," explains Dr. Miller. "The prophet Muhammad himself worked with a poet, Hassan ibn Thabit, to spread the word and compose poetry against other poets and tribes who refused to acknowledge Islam."

More..

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Battle takes place in Novye Atagi
By Umalt Chadayev

Last night a group of guerrillas and law enforcement officials exchanged fire on the outskirts of the village of Novye Atagi, about 20 kilometers southeast of Grozny. Local residents say the battle lasted not less than two hours.

"At around 1:00 am concentrated fire from sub-machine guns, machine guns and other weapons began,” says Mansur, a 33-year-old resident of Novye Atagi. "People were extremely frightened, but were afraid to come out to the street because it was impossible to tell who was firing at whom, and why.

"The shoot-out lasted for about two hours. No one is able to say exactly what happened there. People say that Russian soldiers and local police tried to arrest a group of guerrillas on the outskirts of the village, and the guerrillas put up resistance,” he said. "Then heavy armour was brought in. There is information that one guerrilla was killed. It’s also not known exactly how many of them there were, but it seems that several were able to get away.”

According to Mansur it is also not known whether there were any losses among the forces who carried out the operation. The area where the armed clash took place is at present cordoned off by soldiers and police.

In the morning Chechen police refused to make any comment on what was happening in Novye Atagi. In the afternoon the Interior Ministry of the Chechen Republic announced that local guerrilla leader Timur Maayev was killed in the battle.

While the Ministry claims that Maayev was alone and put up armed resistance to an offer to surrender, local people insist that there were several guerrillas and Maayev stayed in the place to provide covering fire that would help his fighters break through the encirclement.

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Israeli troops arrest Islamic Jihad leader in West Bank town

Israeli troops today arrested a leader of the militant Islamic Jihad group in the West Bank town of Jenin, the army and Palestinians said.

The Islamic Jihad leader, Saleh al-Sabi, surrendered to the soldiers after they surrounded his hideout for several hours and shot in the air, witnesses and gunmen said. One of his assistants also surrendered, they said.

Heavy exchanges of fire were heard in the area between soldiers and Islamic Jihad gunmen, but no injuries were reported, witnesses and medical officials said.

Palestinian youths threw stones at the more than 15 army jeeps involved in the operation, witnesses said. The army responded by firing rubber-coated steel bullets, wounding five Palestinians, the witnesses and medical officials said.

Islamic Jihad, a violent group backed by Syria and Iran, has carried out several deadly attacks in Israel, including a suicide bombing last month that killed nine people.

Israel conducts arrest operations almost nightly in West Bank towns.

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Cdn soldiers capture suspected Taliban fighters

Soldiers from Reconnaissance Platoon, 1st Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry prepare to go on patrol at dusk from a Forward Operating Base in Northern Kandahar. (AFP/File/John D. McHugh)

Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan have captured their largest group yet of suspected Taliban fighters in a volatile area north of Kandahar. The 10 prisoners were apprehended earlier this week in a compound near Gumbad, a tiny village about 70 kilometres north of Kandahar where Canada maintains a forward operating base.

Canadian soldiers have been part of larger operations with the Afghan National Police and army in the past that have netted more insurgents, including a high-ranking Taliban commander last week. But Monday's capture was the most significant so far by an all-Canadian unit, reported CTV's Janis Mackey Frayer in Kandahar Thursday.

The prisoners were questioned by Canadian authorities and given medical examinations before they were turned over to the Afghan intelligence service.

Members of A Company, 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry were escorting a compound to Gumbad when they noticed two groups they suspected were conducting reconnaissance of the area. Acting on coalition intelligence, the company conducted a raid on a compound housing the suspects. There, soldiers found large sums of money and equipment for "military operations" -- including batteries, wires and communications devices used to make improvised explosive devices (IEDs), according to military spokesman Maj. Marc Theriault.

"In summary, we've taken some bad guys off the streets, and Afghans are safer because of it," said Theriault

The nationalities of the detainees have not been released. "But (military officials) believe that all of them are Taliban fighters," said Mackey Frayer, adding that three of the prisoners were known to authorities.

"This is particularly good timing for Canadians because the Kandahar area has seen ramped up Taliban activity, a number of roadside bombs and suicide attacks over the past few weeks. The hope at this point is that if they now have 10 people who are perhaps integral to the operations in the area, that the arrests could curb Taliban activity," said Mackey Frayer.

More..

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Three armed men arrested during Operation Cool Spring in Mosul

Up to three armed men were arrested in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul during Operation Cool Spring, the Multi-National Forces said.

A statement for the Multi-National Forces said Thursday that Iraqi army troops along with soldiers from Task Force Band of Brothers carried out Operation Cool Spring in south Mosul.

It added that the three insurgents arrested are on the Iraqi government's wanted list and are all "previously identified by the unit as possibly being in the area and having connections with known terrorist organizations." According to the statement, "The Iraqi brigade demonstrated their military planning skills by formulating the mission, issuing appropriate orders to its subordinate units, and over watching the conduct of the operation."

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Yemeni forces capture Al-Qaeda militant

Yemen

Yemeni security forces captured suspected Al-Qaeda member, one of inmates who escaped from a detention facility of the secret service, security sources said Thursday.

The defense ministry's SeptemberNet website quoted the sources as saying the security forces captured Ali Abdullah Al-Rimi, who was condemned for four years on terrorism chrages.

Al-Rimi was captured in Ma'reb governorate, 180 kilometers East of Sanaa, after the security forces received information from the intelligence about his whereabout, said the sources.

Al-Rimi is "one of the most dangerous of the 23 Al-Qaeda militants who escaped from the political security prison in Sanaa last February," they added. The militants escaped through a tunnel they dug between the prison and a nearby mosque. The tunnel is 44-meter long and three-meter deep.

With Al-Rimi now under custody, the number of Al-Qaeda arrestees rises to nine.

The government of Yemen set a bounty of USD 600,000 for information leading to the capture of those escaped.

[Straight Vermonter]

Give us a bump!

Let me know if you want on/off the terrorist roundup ping list

[Straight Vermonter]

Ping

[Thunder90]

Ping

[Khurkris]

bump

[Coop]

Very nice work recognizing all our allies laying it on the line out in Afghanistan! God bless 'em all!

[csvset]

Yemeni security forces captured suspected Al-Qaeda member, Ali Abdullah Al-Rimi,one of inmates who escaped from a detention facility of the secret service, security sources said Thursday.

Glad to hear that they've captured this guy.

[Coop]

Thanks for including that E-mail. I was only too happy to send the following E-mail to Morgan:

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Title: Very Impressive

I just read your article on PFC Ryan Krumbliss. Thank God for amazing men and women like him, fighting to defend our freedom!

I just think it's a shame he's being shot at daily by terrorists... and by low-lifes like you. The CNN/Gallup poll had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR ARTICLE. But not only did you force it in there, you made sure it was the very first sentence. Talk about pathetic. The only thing is, you forgot to include the obligatory running death total REQUIRED by your media cohorts in each and every article about Iraq. You may well lose your job over that careless omission! Serves you right.

I'm not old enough to remember, but I wonder what it was like during World War II, when the American media was actually hoping OUR side would win?

Coop
Springfield VA

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Hey Buford, if you have a few minutes, how about sending ol' Morgan your wonderful graphic of the soldier saying "How about rooting for our side for a change, you liberal moron?" :-D

[Coop]

Just wanted to extract this little gem, in case anyone missed it. :-)

During a video teleconference from the U.S. air base in Bagram, Freakley acknowledged his coalition forces are seeing more insurgent activity, particularly in Afghanistan's southern provinces — but that's not an indication that the Taliban are staging a resurgence. To the contrary, said Freakley.

"They aren't attacking us. Our army is attacking them," said Freakley, who commands the U.S. Army's10th Mountain Division.

Hooooah!

[PGalt]

Great Roundup SV. Outstanding Coop! BTTT

[Coop]

Ahhh, here it is! :-D

The Butcher's Commentary:

"Root for US!" -----------------------------------------------
This parody was done almost entirely out of frustration with all the mealy-mouthed moral equivocators who refer to terrorists as "freedom fighters" and then do nothing but badmouth our troops who risk their own necks to keep those moronic ingrates free.

It irks the living crap out of me when these Leftist chumps refer to genocidal human-rights violators like Saddam Hussein, the Taliban and al Qaeda in the romantic frame of "freedom fighters" and then bitch and whine at every accidental civilian casualty inadvertently caused by our troops!

I for one would like to see what "freedoms" those terrorists are championing. To date, the only thing they champion is theocratic dictatorships governed not by laws of liberty or justice, but by a creed of brutality that holds all who don't share their fundamentalist Islamic faith as second-class infidels.

This parody was originally done for the now-defunct 9-11justice.org domain which I founded shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11th.

http://www.sacredcowburgers.com/mystery/commentary.cgi?root_for_us

[StarCMC]

Very well put Coop!! I've had a lot of stuff sidetracking me lately and I need to get my head back in the game. Our men and women of the military don't have that luxury.

[Coop]

Life does tend to get in the way, doesn't it? Keep up the great work supporting those defending our freedoms!

[StarCMC]

Yeah -- darn the luck that I actually have a REAL life. LOL!!

Seriously, I could not be more proud to say I am from the USA than when I consider the folks out there doing the real stuff. God bless every last one of them.

[csvset]

Re: How About Rooting For Our Side For A Change?

You'll enjoy this.

Victor Davis Hanson: In the Eye of the Beholder. Imagine if we’d reported on WWII the way we do now

[Coop]

Too funny. I was just reading his piece and wishing I'd sent it to that jerk author above. Maybe you or someone else could do it for me?

[csvset]

I sent an e-mail with the link to Morgan. I asked why he included the CNN poll in his article. I'll let you know if he responds.

[Valin]

In poetry-loving Yemen, tribal bard takes on Al Qaeda - with his verse
By James Brandon
(snip)


Leading Yemenis in Sanaa had gathered to chew khat, a narcotic shrub, talk politics, and listen to poetry, Mr. Sanabani recalls. Suddenly, one guest turned to Yemen's most popular tribal poet, Mashreqi, and asked him if he could recite any poetry about terrorism, he says.

Mashreqi rose eagerly to the challenge. He stood up, adjusted the broad, curving dagger hanging at his waist and proudly declaimed a handful of verses glorifying suicide bombers.

As the applause faded, the man who had asked him to recite the verses, Sanabani himself, took him aside and quietly invited him to visit his office.

The next day at the office of the Yemen Observer, Sanabani asked Mashreqi to watch a video made after Al Qaeda's 2002 suicide boat-attack on the French oil tanker SS Limburg off the Yemeni coast.

"I showed him footage of the environmental damage caused by the oil spill and of Yemeni fishermen and their families whose livelihood had been destroyed because their fishing grounds were polluted," recalls Sanabani.

Chastened by the images of oil-stained beaches, dead fish, and seabirds and sobbing, destitute Yemeni fishermen, Mashreqi left Sanabani's office appearing troubled and lost in thought. When Sanabani next saw him he seemed a man transformed.

"Three days later he came back with the most beautiful poetry I have ever seen," says Sanabani, recalling his amazement at the poet's new verses that now condemned violence and promoted peace and tolerance.

[Valin]

I'm not old enough to remember, but I wonder what it was like during World War II, when the American media was actually hoping OUR side would win?

Victor Davis Hanson: In the Eye of the Beholder. Imagine if we’d reported on WWII the way we do now
NRO ^ | May 12, 2006 | Victor Davis Hanson


Posted on 05/12/2006 6:41:46 AM CDT by Tolik

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1630981/posts

Imagine if we’d reported and opined on WWII the way we do now.

[Coop]

I'll let you know if he responds.

I'll do the same. And thanks for sending Victor's article to the lowlife.

[TomServo]

LOL!! Great graphic!