Posted on 08/01/2007 10:32:19 PM PDT by nwctwx
Thanks for that update callmejoe.
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=47055
Phantom Strike Operations Target Terrorist Safe Havens in Iraq
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2007 – Iraqi and coalition forces launched combat offensives dubbed “Operation Marne Husky” today and “Operation Lightning Hammer” yesterday to eliminate enemy sanctuaries in Iraq.
Operation Marne Huskey is an aviation-based combat offensive that plays a key part in Multinational Corps Iraq’s overall “Operation Phantom Strike” and will target militant safe havens and weapons smugglers to choke the flow of bombs and weapons reaching the Iraqi capital, military officials said.
“The combination of aviation and ground forces will allow Task Force Marne the ability to target areas that the enemy deems as safe,” said Army Lt. Col. Robert Wilson, executive officer of 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division. “We’re leveraging the ability of the helicopters with the infantry soldiers to take the fight to the enemy and promote security for the people of Iraq.”
The operation is designed to disrupt insurgents who fled the towns of Salman Pak and Arab Jabour in front of earlier U.S. offensives. Marne Husky is a change for troops in central Iraq in that the unit with primary responsibility is the aviation brigade.
Instead of conducting linear maneuver across the battlefield, the operation will consist of a series of sustained air assaults, coordinated from the sky and employing numerous platforms operating in synch. Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters will deliver soldiers to where they’re needed within 30 minutes of identifying a target under constant support from Kiowa and Apache air weapons teams, officials said.
Intelligence has become a huge asset in Task Force Marne’s area of responsibility as both Sunni and Shiia Iraqis come forward with tips and the U.S. positions its own internal assets to gather information. Marne Husky will use combat aviation capabilities to press that advantage, expanding the U.S. reach as it quickens response times to restrict extremists’ maneuverability in the area, officials said.
In operations yesterday, Operation Lightning Hammer kicked off with a powerful barrage of artillery fire and air strikes on carefully selected targets in Diyala province, sending al Qaeda a strong message that they have no safe haven there, officials said.
More than 300 artillery munitions, rockets and bombs were dropped throughout the night and into morning, blocking al Qaeda movement and suppressing suspected al Qaeda targets. This barrage set the stage for subsequent nighttime air and ground assaults into the Diyala River Valley by U.S. aviation units, officials said.
These forces combined with other units already conducting Operation Lightning Hammer missions elsewhere in Diyala and Salah ad Din provinces, totaling about 10,000 coalition forces and 6,000 Iraqi security forces.
“Enemies of Iraq will not get a chance to rest or hide in Diyala province,” said Army Brig. Gen. Mick Bednarek, deputy commander for operations, Task Force Lightning and Multinational Division North. “We are moving forward together for the benefit of the Iraqi people, and this operation proves the growing strength of Iraq’s partnership with the coalition.”
Elsewhere today, coalition forces raided three buildings in Kirkuk while hunting an al Qaeda leader known for extortion, kidnapping, weapons trafficking and directing car bombings. Ground forces detained two suspected terrorists during the operation.
“Whether al Qaeda in Iraq is using Iraqis or foreigners to conduct their brutal attacks, we will target those criminals who terrorize the Iraqi people,” said Army Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. “Our operations are degrading the ability of the terrorists to operate freely.”
In other operations today:
— Coalition forces continued to attack Baghdad’s car-bombing network, targeting an individual who has attempted to coordinate carjackings and use the vehicles and drivers as suicide bombers. As the assault force approached the target building, four armed men maneuvered to fighting positions on a nearby rooftop. Coalition forces engaged the men, killing all four. Inside an associated building, ground forces found a cache of weapons and terrorist media material.
— North of Muqdadiyah, coalition forces raided a suspected safe-house complex while targeting a foreigner who provides weapons to al Qaeda. Coalition forces engaged and killed three armed men when approaching the building. When the ground forces called the remaining people out of the building, one man resisted and made threatening movements toward the assault force. Coalition forces engaged the man in self-defense and killed him, officials said.
— Soldiers from the 8th Iraqi Army with U.S. Special Forces advisors conducted a raid in eastern Najaf and detained a former battalion commander of the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia suspected of leading an independent extremist group. The former commander’s cell is suspected of conducting aggressive insurgent attacks using explosively formed penetrators throughout southern Iraq during late 2005 and early 2006. After leaving the militia group, he allegedly formed an independent cell of more than 150 extremists that is believed to have conducted attacks on Iraqi and coalition forces. Officials also believe his cell took part in an August 2006 battle against coalition forces in Diwaniyah.
Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers uncovered a weapons cache and captured two suspected insurgents during raids in eastern Baghdad yesterday. Soldiers detained two suspects and recovered two large civilian trucks, six rifles, a homemade silencer, 308 sniper rounds, two bolts and a bandoleer of ammunition in an operation in the New Baghdad district of the Iraqi capital.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq, Multinational Corps Iraq and Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force Arabian Peninsula news releases.)
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=47057
Operation Phantom Strike Builds on Security Progress, Intelligence
By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2007
Oh sure, just all in an evenings entertainment. Thanks for the ping and post Cindy.
OPINION:
Well now, I couldn’t pass this up.
It’s a good example of NOT knowing who you are really talking to on the internet.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: If you were chatting online with a terrorist would you know it?
Scary — yep.
Don’t share your personal info online.
It’s the world we live in.
#
Note: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1880511/posts
‘Internet bride’ held sheep farmer hostage
London Daily Telegraph ^ | august 13, 2007 | DancesWithCats
Posted on 08/13/2007 9:44:46 AM PDT by DancesWithCats
An Australian sheep farmer who sought love over the internet was instead kidnapped and held hostage for 12 days after his African “bride” turned out to be a group of machete-wielding gangsters.
Des Gregor, 56, flew to Mali with the promise of a dowry of gold and marriage to “Natacha”, reportedly a Liberian refugee in her twenties, following a whirlwind affair over the world wide web.
But when he stepped off the plane, men claiming to be the woman’s relatives took him to a flat in the capital, Bamako, where he was robbed, bound and threatened with having his limbs hacked off unless he arranged a £42,000 ransom.
The farmer, from South Australia, spent the next 12 days locked up indoors being forced by gang members to contact his family to send him money in exchange for his life.
The scam was foiled after Australian police, pretending to be his relatives, persuaded his captors to briefly release him to collect the ransom.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Yeppers, we’re on the same page.
You’re welcome Oorang.
Fyi Only.
Note: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1881782/posts
Powerful earthquakes hit Peru
reuters.com/ ^ | Thu Aug 16, 2007
Posted on 08/15/2007 5:25:02 PM PDT by Dog
LIMA (Reuters) - Two powerful earthquakes within minutes of each other struck Peru on Wednesday shaking buildings in the capital and cutting power in some areas.
The first quake, with a magnitude of 7.7, hit about 20 miles (33 km) west of Chincha Alta, at a shallow 11.2 miles (18 km) from the earth’s surface, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
It said the second had a magnitude of 7.5.
Office buildings in Lima shook in at least two different bouts that lasted around 20 seconds each, and workers ran out into the streets in fear, witnesses said.
The USGS says earthquakes measuring more than 7 magnitude often result in fatalities.
Since its opening in 1957, the Islamic Center of Washington has been the city’s most prominent mosque—a center of worship for thousands of area Muslims, including many members of the capital’s diplomatic corps. President Bush even made a speech at the mosque earlier this summer.
But now the Islamic Center has become immersed in a nasty court battle marked by charges of embezzlement, abuse of women and an alleged attempt to spread radical messages of hate. The fireworks began earlier this year when federal prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against the recently ousted business manager of the mosque, Farzad Darui. A later five-count indictment charged that Durui, an Iranian native who formerly served as the mosque’s security chief, embezzled more than $430,000 in five years—in part by altering checks and diverting mosque funds to corporate entities he controlled.
Excerpted
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20288239/site/newsweek/
Hanson calls for halt to Aussie Muslim immigration
Thursday, 16 August 2007
Australian senate candidate Pauline Hanson has urged the Australian Parliament to hold a moratorium on the number of Muslims entering Australia.
Excerpted
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4167047a12.html
LONDON: A man accused of possessing an al-Qaida training manual appeared in court Wednesday and was charged with having two other terrorist-related documents. Khalid Khaliq, 34, of Beeston, England, has denied possessing a document useful to a person preparing an act of terrorism.
When he appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates Court Wednesday, prosecutors added charges of possessing two other books — "Zaad-e-Mujahid (Essential Provision of the Mujahid)" and "The Absent Obligation — and Expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula." He was released on bail until his next hearing on Aug. 24. Khaliq was arrested May 9 by police investigating the July 7, 2005 London transit bombings, but the charges against him do not relate to that plot.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/15/europe/EU-GEN-Britain-Terror-Charge.php
NYPD study warns of mounting threat by homegrown terrorists
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
NEW YORK -- They preferred bookstores or hookah bars to mosques. They stopped listening to pop music and instead surfed Web sites promoting radical Islam. They threw away their baseball caps and grew beards.
New York Police Department intelligence analysts have concluded those were some of the telltale signs of homegrown terrorists in the making -- a mounting threat as grave as that from established terrorist groups like al-Qaida. An NYPD report released Wednesday warns of a "radicalization" process in which young men -- otherwise unremarkable legal immigrants from the Middle East -- grow disillusioned with life in America and adopt a philosophy that puts them on the path to jihad.
"Hopefully, the better we're informed about this process, the more likely we'll be to detect and disrupt it," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said while presenting the findings at a briefing of private security executives at police headquarters. The findings drew swift criticism from an Arab anti-discrimination group, which accused the NYPD of stereotyping and of contradicting recent federal warnings that the chief terrorism threat remains foreign.
Excerpted
http://www.nypdshield.org/public/
QUOTE:
Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threa
8/15/2007 12:00:00 AM
While terrorism has been with us for centuries, the destructive power and global reach of modern terrorism is unprecedented. The entire world witnessed the attacks of September 11, 2001, but most of the attacks and attempted attacks since then have shown 9/11 to be an anomaly rather than the standard pattern for terrorism in the homeland. Read the full report.
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http://www.nypdshield.org/public/SiteFiles/documents/NYPD_Report-Radicalization_in_the_West.pdf
#
THANKS to bd476 for pointing to this thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1881789/posts
#
http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/pdf/dcpi/NYPD_Report-Radicalization_in_the_West.pdf
“Radicalization in the West:
The Homegrown Threat “
Prepared by:
Mitchell D. Silber and Arvin Bhatt
Senior Intelligence Analysts
NYPD Intelligence Division
sp - The Homegrown Threat
LAHORE: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said on Wednesday that Pakistan was doing enough to counter terrorism and had lost 700 soldiers while playing its role in the “war on terror,” and complained that the Western media was not portraying Pakistan’s role or sacrifices fairly.
In an interview on BBC’s ‘Hard Talk’ programme, Kasuri said: “I completely and emphatically reject that Pakistan has ‘safe heavens’ for Al Qaeada.” Pakistan is facing problems but these problems have to be viewed in the right context. “The problem we have in the tribal areas goes back to its origin in the 80s when the West glorified jihad. We are reaping the consequences of that.”
Excerpted
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\08\16\story_16-8-2007_pg7_11
Foreigners quitting Maghreb al Qaeda, says ex-rebel
Wed 15 Aug 2007
ALGIERS - Dozens of foreigners who joined al Qaeda's Algeria-based north Africa wing have been leaving because they are disillusioned, a recent deserter from the group said in remarks published on Wednesday.
Benmessaoud Abdelkader gave himself up last month after disagreements with other leaders of the Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, which claimed responsibility for a triple suicide bombing that killed 33 people in Algiers on April 11. El Watan newspaper quoted Benmessaoud as saying about 50 foreign recruits had joined the group, but many had either left already or now sought to leave.
"Most of those who operated in the Sahara have gone back home after discovering that the situation they had hoped for was just a delusion," El Watan said. Liberte newspaper quoted him as saying "The rare foreign recruits are still present in Algeria because they do not have another choice, or did not find the means yet of regaining their countries of origin." Benmessaoud spoke at a news conference for local media. The papers did not say where it was held.
Excerpted
Thanks to a special emailer for pointing to this link:
“How to be a jihadi: Taliban’s training secrets”
The Telegraph - Aug 16, 2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/16/wtaliban116.xml
The fugitive former director of a defunct Islamic charity was arrested Wednesday by federal agents as he arrived in Oregon to face tax and money laundering charges, his attorney said.
Pirouz Sedaghaty, 50, an Iranian native also known as Pete Seda, was detained at customs after arriving at Portland International Airport from Germany. Sedaghaty, a US citizen, decided it was time to return confront the charges, attorney Tom Nelson told The Associated Press. "He is voluntarily returning home to clear his name," Nelson said. "He always said he would return and is now looking forward to working again in the community."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1186557458492&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
placemark
Things seem to be happening quickly lately.
THANK YOU Oorang.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=dulmatin
#
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1881895/posts
“Philippines - Armed Forces confirm report Dulmatin hurt in clash (Bali bombing mastermind)”
abs-cbnnews.com ^ | August 16, 2007
Posted on 08/15/2007 10:39:36 PM PDT by HAL9000
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. on Thursday confirmed reports that a Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) operative wanted for the 2002 deadly bombing in Bali, Indonesia was injured in an encounter with Army troops last August 9 in Sulu province.
Esperon said the military has received reliable information confirming that Indonesian terror suspect Dulmatin sustained injuries after fighting alongside Abu Sayyaf members against government troops in Maimbung town.
Aside from Dulmatin, the military also believes that Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Doc Abu was wounded while his son was killed in the encounter.”
#
Previously...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1773744/posts
“Bali bomber hurt in Filipino gunfight”
The Australian ^ | January 25 2007 | Emma-Kate Symons
Posted on 01/25/2007 1:57:46 PM PST by knighthawk
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “SOUTHEAST Asia’s most wanted terrorist, Bali bomb mastermind Dulmatin, has been wounded in a fierce gunfight on remote Jolo Island in a significant win for US-backed Philippines forces battling to “eliminate” the Jemaah Islamiah kingpin and his Abu Sayyaf cronies.
The Australian, in a series of interviews with the top Philippines and US commanders in the southern Philippines, has also learned that Dulmatin, along with his JI Bali bomber partner Patek, are on the run for their lives on Jolo. The pair spend no longer than six hours in one place on the jungle-covered volcanic island.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=bus
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=hamas
http://memritv.org/subject/en/95.htm
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=suicidebombers
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=homicidebombers
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=humanbombs
http://www.memritv.org/subject/en/215.htm
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1880491/posts?page=6#6
###
http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=subjects&Area=jihad&ID=SP168207
Special Dispatch Series - No. 1682
August 16, 2007 No.1682
“Hamas Representative in Lebanon Osama Hamdan Justifies Suicide Bombings in Buses: Israeli Soldiers Ride Those Buses”
SNIPPET: “The following are excerpts from an interview with Hamas representative in Lebanon Osama Hamdan, which aired on Al-Kawthar TV on August 6, 2007.
To view a webpage devoted to Hamas, please visit: http://memritv.org/subject/en/95.htm .
To view this clip visit: http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1527.htm .”
###
Previously...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1881762/posts
DEA.GOV
http://www.dea.gov
http://www.treasury.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/reports/narco_impact_report_05042007.pdf
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/reports/0815%20chupeta%20designation%20chart.pdf
#
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp535.htm
August 15, 2007
HP-535
Treasury Targets Financial Network of Ramierz Abadia
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today added to its list of Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers 23 Colombian individuals and 23 Colombian companies tied to Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia (a.k.a. Chupeta), a leader of Colombia’s North Valle drug cartel.
“At the peak of his career, Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia was one of the wealthiest and most elusive drug traffickers in Colombia,” said OFAC Director Adam J. Szubin. “Today he is under arrest and his assets are under attack. OFAC will continue its assault on Chupeta’s ill-gotten gains until his empire collapses.”
Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia was named as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker (SDNT) by OFAC in August 2000 and was arrested in Brazil on August 7, 2007. He was indicted on federal drug trafficking charges in Colorado in 1994 and the Eastern District of New York in 1995. In 2004, the District Court for the District of Columbia indicted the North Valle drug cartel under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and named Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia as one of its leaders. OFAC has worked closely with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on this investigation.
Among the 23 individuals designated today, Hernan Felipe Ramirez Garcia, Jhon Jairo Ramirez Lenis, Sergio Alberto Ramirez Rivera, and German Rosero Angulo help form the leadership of the criminal organization headed by Ramirez Abadia. Other individuals named as SDNTs today include Alvaro Barrera Marin and his son Alvaro Enrique Barrera Rios, who act as key front persons by holding companies and real estate on behalf of Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia.
Companies designated today include: APVA S.A., a real estate company located in Cali, Colombia; Campo a la Diversion E.U. (a.k.a. Parque Yaku), an amusement park located in Yumbo, Valle, Colombia; Criadero Santa Gertrudis S.A., a horse breeding farm in Jamundi, Valle, Colombia; and Ensambladora Colombiana Automotriz S.A., an automotive assembly company located in Barranquilla, Colombia.
SDNTs are subject to the economic sanctions imposed against Colombian drug cartels in Executive Order 12978. Today’s designation action freezes any assets the designees may have subject to U.S. jurisdiction, and prohibits all financial and commercial transactions by any U.S. person with the designated companies and individuals.
The assets of a total of 1,521 business and individuals in Aruba, Barbados, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Spain, Vanuatu, Venezuela, the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, and the United States have been blocked pursuant to E.O. 12978. The 597 businesses that have been named as SDNTs include agricultural, aviation, consulting, construction, distribution, financial, hotel, investment, manufacturing, maritime, mining, offshore, pharmaceutical, real estate, retail, service, sporting, telecommunication, and textile companies. The SDNT list includes 22 kingpins from the Cali, Medellin, North Valle, and North Coast drug trafficking organizations in Colombia.
A detailed look at the program against Colombian drug organizations is provided in OFAC’s March 2007 Impact Report on Economic Sanctions Against Colombian Drug Cartels. http://www.treasury.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/reports/narco_impact_report_05042007.pdf
REPORTS
Chart of the Individuals and Entities Included in Today’s Designation
IN THE NEWS...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=answer
#
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1221117
“Anti-War Group Cited for Signs”
August 15, 2007 - 8:57am
Neal Augenstein, WTOP Radio
WASHINGTON
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