Posted on 11/22/2004 10:10:55 PM PST by TexKat
The Marine on the left is someone near and dear to our own freeper sdpatriot. I will let her explain.
Marines from the 1st U.S. Marines Expeditionary Force, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines Regiment, Bravo Company hold a suspected insurgent, arrested during the ground offensive Tuesday 11/10/04 in Fallujah.
A U.S. Marine checks seized weapons on the roof-top of a school in the war-torn western city of Falluja, November 22, 2004. U.S. Marines were conducting painstaking weapons searches in Falluja on Monday when they spotted a man with an AK-47 rifle on a nearby rooftop. Armed only with a light weapon, he could never stand up to what they were about to unleash. But he was enough to distract Marines from a task that is key to stabilizing Falluja after a U.S.-led offensive crushed rebels controlling the Sunni Muslim city. (Akram Saleh/Reuters)
Our dudes are so BADASS!!!! I love em. All of em.
God bless our Marines!
BAQUBA, Iraq (Reuters) - Gunmen killed a Sunni Muslim cleric in the city of Miqdadiya Tuesday, the second such killing in Iraq in as many days, witnesses and hospital officials said.
Sheikh Ghaleb al-Zuheir was a member of the Muslim Clerics Association, which aims to speak for the once dominant Sunni minority and which has called for a boycott of January's Iraqi election.
It was not clear whether there was any connection with the drive-by shooting in the northern city of Mosul Monday of Sheikh Feydhi Mohammed al-Feydhi, brother of the association's official spokesman.
Miqdadiya lies 100 km (60 miles) northeast of Baghdad, close to the restive, mostly Sunni, provincial capital of Baquba.
The Muslim Clerics Association was set up with the blessing of the U.S. occupation authorities after the fall of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated administration last year. It says its members have been targeted by U.S. and Iraqi security forces and also by insurgents trying to fuel sectarian unrest.
Many Sunnis, mostly living north and west of Baghdad, fear the election planned for Jan. 30 will hand domination to the long-oppressed Shi'ite Muslim majority in the south.
The purge is on!!
My. my..how does it feel,dear Sunnis?
By David Brunnstrom and Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL (Reuters) - Three foreign U.N. workers held hostage in Afghanistan were freed unharmed Tuesday, almost four weeks after they were abducted at gunpoint on the streets of the capital Kabul, the United Nations said.
"Yes they have been released," said U.N. spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva. "They are in Kabul and they are being taken care of, having medical checkups and talking to our people."
Annetta Flanigan from Northern Ireland, Kosovan Shqipe Hebibi and Filipino diplomat Angelito Nayan were abducted in Kabul on Oct. 28 after helping run a presidential election won by U.S.-backed incumbent Hamid Karzai.
Interior Ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal said he would provide details of the freeing of the hostages at a news conference later Tuesday.
A spokesman for Kabul's NATO-led peacekeeping force said the three were currently at one of its bases in Kabul and had undergone medical checkups.
"They have been positively identified and all three appear to be healthy," Squadron Leader David Bennett said, adding that he understood the hostages were freed at about at 7 a.m.
Habib Noorzad, a member of the Taliban splinter faction that had claimed to be holding the hostages, said an understanding reached with intermediaries was that 24 Taliban prisoners would be freed after the release of the hostages and another two traced. He denied that his group had demanded any ransom.
"We had not done this for the sake of money," he said. "This issue would have been solved long before had we done it for the sake of money."
The group had threatened to kill the hostages if their demand for the release of Taliban prisoners was not met.
DENIAL ON RANSOM
A government official, who did not want to be named, denied any deal had been done, but the government has said in the past that it was considering offering a ransom.
Monday, U.S.-led troops searching for the hostages blasted their way into several compounds in Kabul and detained 12 people, but it was unclear if this operation had helped rescue the U.N. workers.
In the Philippines, friends and relatives of the Filipino diplomat shouted with joy in his hometown south of Manila.
"Praise God. Thank God he is free," Nicole Daniel, president of the Las Pinas neighborhood association, said by phone. "We are so emotional. Everybody's crying here."
Silvestre Afable, the presidential communications director in Manila, added: "There was no ransom paid and also, as far as I know, there was no prisoner exchange. All three of the hostages are safe and well."
Kosovan businessman Behgjet Pacolli, who has spent weeks in Kabul trying to expedite the release of Hebibi, a family friend, expressed delight. "I am very, very happy," he said, adding that he expected the trio to leave Afghanistan later on Tuesday.
There has been confusion over who had held the trio since the government said last week it did not believe they were with the Jaish-e Muslimeen faction and were probably with a criminal gang in Kabul or its vicinity.
The kidnappings had raised fears in the foreign community that militants had begun copying tactics of insurgents in Iraq.
However, the hostage takers repeatedly extended deadlines and also allowed the U.N. workers to make phone calls home, in which they said they were being well treated.
The three workers were snatched from their U.N. vehicle from a busy street a few hundred meters (yards) from their office in Kabul.
Diplomats and security sources have speculated that Jaish may have paid another group to carry out the abduction and have been able to give instructions to those who were holding them.
They said the kidnapping itself could have been the work of militiamen loyal to a rival of Karzai, disgruntled by the outcome of the Oct. 9 election, who tried to profit from the abductions.
Mon Nov 22, 5:10 PM ET
By THOMAS WAGNER, Associated Press Writer
LONDON - Britain is investigating the killing of an Iraqi civilian who died when British soldiers who suspected he was a suicide bomber opened fire on him at a checkpoint in Iraq, the Ministry of Defense said Monday.
The man was shot as he drove a car at high speed toward a checkpoint near the Black Watch's base at Camp Dogwood in central Iraq, a military spokesman in Iraq said.
Details about the Nov. 7 shooting emerged for the first time in Monday's announcement of the investigation.
The killing took place on a road near the Euphrates river after the British soldiers ordered traffic to stop about 100 yards from the checkpoint, the military spokesman said.
Traffic had built up, and a driver suddenly pulled out of the line and sped toward the checkpoint, the spokesman said on condition of anonymity. Warning shots were fired, but the car continued to accelerate, apparently passing a stop sign in Arabic at the side of the road, the spokesman said.
A British Warrior armored fighting vehicle at the checkpoint opened fire, killing the driver, the spokesman said. The soldiers then destroyed the vehicle, which did not explode.
"They were convinced it was a suicide bomber," the spokesman said of the British soldiers involved.
The investigation of the shooting will determine whether the soldiers followed correct procedures, the spokesman said.
The killing occurred on the same day that two British soldiers based at Camp Dogwood had their legs blown off by a suicide bomber in a separate incident.
A few days before that, three Black Watch soldiers and their interpreter were killed in a suicide bombing at another checkpoint.
TexKat, thanks for the awesome pings. You are so considerate and mind-reading. I'm off to the arms of Morpheus now, but will get right to this in the morning, and comment on it as only a Peanut Gallery member can. Nighty-night, TexKat, and THANK YOU SO MUCH.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States warned terrorist attacks on US interests may be imminent in the Indian cities of New Delhi and Bombay and said it would temporarily close some diplomatic offices in Bombay as a precaution.
"Based on information received by the US government, terrorists may be planning attacks on US interests in India in the near future," the US embassy in New Delhi and consulate in Bombay said in a notice to Americans.
"Although not specific, the information suggests that an attack could be aimed at US interests in the cities of New Delhi or Mumbai (Bombay)," the missions said.
A copy of the notice was provided to AFP in Washington by the State Department and posted to the website of the US consulate in Bombay which said it would close its consular section and the Information Resource Center at the American Center there on Tuesday because of the potential threat.
No closures of US government buildings in the Indian capital were mentioned in the notice which was titled "Threat to US interests in New Delhi and Mumbai."
The notice offered few details about the threat information but said targets could include areas where foreigners are known to congregate and urged US citizens in India to boost their security precautions.
"Facilities associated with the United States or locations where US citizens and other foreigners congregate or visit, including residential areas, business offices, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, schools, hotels and public areas, could be targeted," it said.
"US citizens are encouraged to maintain a high level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to increase their security," the notice said.
It said Americans requiring consular services in Bombay should call the consulate or check the website to confirm when the facility would re-open.
It added that applicants for US visas with interviews scheduled for Tuesday at the consulate would not be required to make new appointments and that the mission would "make very effort to see them as soon as resources permit."
Nighty nite Miss Behave.
Good shoot, Black Watch..
USA!
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Bartel, of Dallas, Ore., from the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry, watches from his Stryker combat vehicle as troops search an alley for insurgents in Mosul, Iraq Sunday, Nov. 21, 2004. U.S. and Iraqi forces in Mosul have been working to put down an uprising launched by guerrillas who seized police stations and other sites. The uprising was part of a wave of violence across the country coinciding with the U.S. offensive against the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah. (AP Photo/Jim MacMillan)
Stryker Brigade Returns From Iraq
By MELANTHIA MITCHELL, Associated Press Writer
FORT LEWIS, Wash. - Clad in desert camouflage and standing at attention, members of the first Stryker Brigade sent to Iraq were honored Monday at a homecoming ceremony after a yearlong deployment.
Hundreds of friends and family sat in the bleachers at Watkins Field snapping photos and talking excitedly. Though brigade members have slowly been trickling home since October, Monday's ceremony was the first to honor the entire unit.
The hour-long ceremony included comments from Col. Michael Rounds, commander of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. He read the names of the 20 Stryker Brigade soldiers killed in Iraq.
"They have earned a special place in the history of the brigade. We will never forget them," he said.
The infantry brigade is anchored by the Stryker, the Army's newest medium-weight combat vehicle. The eight-wheeled Stryker is widely viewed as a visible symbol of efforts to transform the Army into a faster, more agile fighting force.
The brigade was stationed in Mosul, Balad, Samarra and Duluiya. It conducted raids, reconnaissance and established security operations incorporating Iraqi security forces.
The post's commander, Lt. Gen. James Dubik, presented awards of valor to three soldiers, including Spc. Joshua Miller, who received a Silver Star for helping free a commander who became caught in debris when the squad was attacked in Mosul. Miller also is credited with single-handedly repelling a 20-man assault and killing four insurgents.
At a round-table discussion following the homecoming, Rounds and other senior leaders and soldiers echoed sentiments of national commanders that the Strykers were a key to keeping the brigade's casualties to a minimum.
"It would be significantly higher if not for the equipment," said Lt. Col. Jay Flowers, commander of 3rd Brigade's 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment.
Before coming home, members of the 3rd Brigade helped train their replacements, the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, a second Stryker unit from Fort Lewis, just south of Tacoma.
The 1st Brigade began deploying in October for a one-year mission. It includes more than 4,000 soldiers and 300 Strykers.
Sho nuff!!!
Two down and more to go.
TexKat,
Please add me to your ping list. I catch many of your threads and posts already and would enjoy getting a ping when you post articles.
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