ping to new TM -- if you want on or off the list, let me know!
Here!
Thanks.
Thanks.
Thanks for the new thread. I'll be lurking.
THANK YOU! Thanks to all contributors / linkers. Education / survival BUMP!
Thanks, Ian. I was thinking about you the other evening and wondering how your Arabic studies were going or if you decided to pursue a different course now.
Thank you!
Thanx, Ian. This is the best ongoing thread in all Freep-land.
Thanks much, Ian!
Are you able to keep up with all the wicked weather?
Bookmarking new thread.
As always, thanks!
Standing applause once again!
This was posted a couple hours ago on another thread. ABC ran the story tonight but did not mention UBL.
They don't want to get too far ahead of themselves too soon since they don't yet know who the target is.
Let's hold out hope they just broke one of the biggest stories ever. (But we've been disappointed before.)
Of course, if this turn out to be true, there would likely be massive retaliation. So it would be "good news-bad news" in the extreme.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/03/afghanistan_us_.html
Afghanistan: US forces attack suspected al Qaeda hideout
March 03, 2007 3:12 PM
Christopher Isham and Gretchen Peters Report:
For the past two days, U.S. and NATO forces have been conducting a major attack against a compound in a remote area of Eastern Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden or another senior al Qaeda leader may be hiding, ABC News has learned.
According to eyewitnesses and local reporters in Kunar province, Coalition forces launched a fierce attack on a small enclave in the village of Mandaghel, approximately 17 miles from the border with Pakistan, on Friday afternoon. Warplanes pounded the positions ; U.S. special forces and Afghan National Army soldiers moved in shortly afterwards.
The assault appeared to meet stiff resistance from militants at the compound. Heavy artillery and gunfire could be heard for hours, local witnesses said . A handful of civilians were reportedly wounded in the strike. Though sealed off from outside access, the area now appears to be under coalition control.
U.S. officials declined to identify who the operation was targeting, but indicated they were after a "High Value Target" (HVT) . Official sources would not rule out that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden himself was the intended victim. Afghan officials said the target could be another senior ranking al Qaeda leader.
The Coalition, which generally refuses to discuss ongoing operations, declined to make an official comment.
According to a local official, the compound under attack belongs to an Islamic militant and suspected drug trafficker named Haji Aminullah. The area of Kunar province is known as a stronghold of Wahabbists—followers of the strict sect of Sunni Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia, according to Barnett Rubin, senior fellow at New York University. Since the 1980's, the area has been a haven for Arab militants, including Osama bin Laden.
As always, many thanks, Ian.
Hi all, I'm still lurking here when I can.
I think about you all so often, 3rd small recurrence, weekly chemo, feeling strong!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1796886/posts
Arrest mars gang success story [Los Angeles, drugs, gangs, illegals]
By Richard Winton and Amanda Covarrubias, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
March 6, 2007
Mario Corona was lauded as one of Los Angeles' top gang success stories.
Newspaper articles told of how Corona spent his youth on the streets as a gangster dubbed "Spider" for a Pacoima gang before going straight and rising in the ranks of gang intervention specialists. He spoke on panels and to students.
(snip)
But Corona was arrested last week on suspicion of possessing a pound of methamphetamine, and now could face deportation. His arrest has saddened and shocked people who are involved in gang prevention in the San Fernando Valley and elsewhere.
"I am blown away. I didn't see this coming," said Bobby Arias, president of Communities in Schools, where Corona is director of the job development program, which finds jobs for former gang members.
(snip)
Arias said Corona trained a group of youths in the program to work as stagehands at the recent Academy Awards show. LAPD Capt. Joe Curreri said that Foothill Division narcotics detectives stopped Corona on Wednesday in Panorama City, and that the drug was found in his car. He said the stop was part of a larger investigation.
Corona's arrest is the third to involve employees of the L.A. Bridges anti-gang program in the last two years, raising questions among some elected officials about giving city taxpayer dollars to former gang members.
"If we investigated others, I think we would probably find more problems," Councilman Dennis Zine said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-corona6mar06,1,6798885.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california
[3/7/07] FOR THE RECORD:
Mario Corona: An article in Tuesday's California section about the arrest of gang-intervention worker Mario Corona stated that he was the third person employed through the L.A. Bridges anti-gang project to be arrested in the last two years. The organization Corona works for —Communities in Schools -- receives funds from L.A. Bridges, but Corona's salary was paid by a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.