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By Lance Cpl. Robert C. FrenkeMarine Corps Base Camp Butler OKINAWA, Japan, Sept. 6, 2007 — More than 130 Marines and sailors from 1st Stinger Battery, Marine Air Control Group 18, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, returned here 1 a.m. Sept. 4 following the unit’s first combat deployment since the start of the war on terrorism. During the deployment, the servicemembers helped secure the movement of more than 100,000 vehicles and personnel while ensuring the safe, uninterrupted flow of personnel, supplies and materiel required for sustaining missions and operations at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, according to Capt. Christopher A....

El Paso, Texas, Jun 7 (EFE).- Several Mexican-American private pilots who two years ago began overflights of southwestern U.S. deserts in an effort to save would-be immigrants stranded in the sweltering wastelands have decided to start their patrols a month earlier than usual this year. "Paisanos to the Rescue" director Armando Alarcon told EFE that this year the aerial patrols will begin in June because of the large number of immigrants who have been found dead of dehydration in the desert so far in 2006. In prior years, the group began its flights in July. Paisanos to the Rescue, which...

War brutalizes man, every afghan bears living testimony to this. If the landscape of Afghanistan bears the craters of the endless war, the political and military leadership in Afghanistan also carries war's indelible scars. It is important never to lose sight of this. Ahmed Shah Mas'ud was born to an army family in 1953 in the Panjshir Valley north of the Afghan capital Kabul. His father was a colonel in the Afghan Army and enrolled his son at Kabul's Lycee Istiqlal High School. Upon graduation Mas'ud joined Kabul's Polytechnic Institute. In 1973 King Zahir Shah was deposed and exiled by...

<p>SAN DIEGO (AP) - Two defendants admitted their roles Wednesday in a plot to sell Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to the Taliban and al-Qaida, authorities said.</p> <p>Ilyas Ali, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in India, and Muhamed Abid Afridi of Pakistan pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy to distribute heroin and hashish, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.</p>

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Two defendants admitted their roles Wednesday in a plot to sell Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to the Taliban and al-Qaida, authorities said. Ilyas Ali, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in India, and Muhamed Abid Afridi of Pakistan pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy to distribute heroin and hashish, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. The case against a third defendant, Syed Mustajab Shah of Pakistan, is pending. In a plea bargain, Ali and Afridi admitted they planned to sell 5 tons of hashish and a half-ton of Pakistani heroin in exchange for cash...

IDF ENTERS GAZA TO CLOSE TERROR TUNNELS By INA and AP Jerusalem---October 10......The Israel Defense Forces sent tanks and elite ground units into a Gaza refugee camp early Friday to destroy tunnels used by Palestinian terrorists to smuggle weapons from Egypt. Military officials said they acted on warnings that terrorists were trying to acquire anti-aircraft missiles. The raid followed a day of political uncertainty and sporadic violence in the region. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia suffered a severe blow when legislators failed to vote on his Cabinet, casting doubt on his plan to reach a truce with Israel. And a...

JAKARTA - Captured Jemaah Islamiah (JI) chief Hambali has provided CIA interrogators with details of Al-Qaeda plans to attack two American-managed hotels in Bangkok and commercial airliners using the international airport, said intelligence officials and diplomats. The arrest of Hambali has diminished the risk of any successful attack 'significantly', said a foreign diplomat. The attacks were apparently planned to coincide with the Asia- Pacific Economic Coo- peration summit in Bangkok next month in which 21 world leaders, including United States President George W. Bush, will attend. The two hotels targeted by the Al-Qaeda were the Bangkok Marriott and The Conrad,...

The head of the international security force (Isaf) in Afghanistan has said American-made Stinger missiles and rockets are being offered to them for sale. After almost each incident we have been receiving proposals to buy some rockets or missiles... General Akin Zorlu, Isaf Commander General Akin Zorlu said his troops had been offered Stinger missiles for $200,000 and rockets for $5,000 to $10,000. He said he believed a recent surge in rocket attacks on Kabul could be a tactic by the dealers trying to put pressure on the international peace keepers to buy up the weapons. General Zorlu who heads...

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuania agreed to buy 60 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles from the United States, some of which will be deployed to protect the ex-Soviet republic's sole nuclear plant in case of an attack, officials said Thursday. The sophisticated, hand-held weapons will be the first of their kind sold to the Baltic states, which include Estonia and Latvia. All three former Soviet republics expect to win invitations to join NATO at an alliance summit next week in Prague. The $31 million deal was signed by Lithuania's Defense Minister Linas Linkevicius and U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania John Tefft on Wednesday...

Hong Kong plays down terror threat after al-Qaeda missile plot Wednesday, 06-Nov-2002 1:50AM      Story from AFP Copyright 2002 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) </CLARI-ITEM HEADER>HONG KONG, Nov 6 (AFP) - Hong Kong on Wednesday played down the threat of terrorist attacks in the territory after three men appeared in court accused of trying to buy Stinger missiles for the al-Qaeda network."There is no known terrorist infrastructure or support base in Hong Kong," a spokesman for the security bureau said in a statement."The risk of Hong Kong becoming a target of terrorist attacks is low."However, the spokesman declined to comment...

05 Nov 2002 11:52Three held in HK for alleged al Qaeda missile deal HONG KONG, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Three men have been arrested in Hong Kong over an alleged attempt to buy four Stinger anti-aircraft missiles for al Qaeda from undercover U.S. FBI officers, the Hong Kong government said on Tuesday. The three, two Pakistanis and a U.S. citizen of Indian origin, appeared in a Hong Kong court on Tuesday to fight an extradition request from the United States. They were arrested on September 20 for trying to sell 600 kg of heroin and five tonnes of hashish to fund the...

VILNIUS -- NATO aspirant Lithuania has decided to purchase anti-aircraft missile 'Stinger' systems from the United States, a top military officials said Tuesday. "We have made a decision to buy Stingers for our military forces, but all the details still have to be set out," Lithuania's Defense Minister Linas Linkevcius told AFP. He refused to comment on the number of Stinger systems to be bought or the cost of the contract. "I can only say that we have chosen the system, which we needed and which opens the gates for training under NATO standards," added Linkevicius. The minister also refused...

Series of EmergencyNet News Reports Concerning the Threat of Usage of Shoulder-fired Anti-aircraft Missiles: 31 May 2002 to 01 June 2002 From: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-ERRI Risk Assessment Services-Saturday, June 1, 2002-Vol. 8 - 152U.S. COUNTERTERRORISM OPERATIONS:U.S. Forces Capture Cache Of Portable Missiles In AfghanistanAFGHANISTAN: The Washington Times was reporting on Saturday that U.S. military forces in Afghanistan confiscated a cache of 30 anti-aircraft missiles as a new general took control of the U.S.- led campaign there. A Pentagon official said that the missiles were described as a Chinese-made version of the SA-7 surface-to-air missile. Disclosure of the missile...

News reports say that al-Qaeda terrorists may have smuggled shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles into the United States. We give you the full rundown on what these weapons can do, how they work, where they may come from, and how they might be used. It's all here for you, on Winds of Change!

Two U.S. Soldiers Die in Baghdad Grenade Accident Mon April 14, 2003 02:07 PM ET BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two U.S. soldiers were killed and two wounded in a grenade accident at a checkpoint south of Baghdad on Monday, military officials said. "We're not sure how it happened but there was some kind of an accident with a grenade. Two guys were killed and two wounded," a senior officer said. The soldiers were part of the Air Defense Artillery unit manning the Avenger anti-aircraft stinger systems mounted on Humvees. Because there is no longer an air threat from Iraq, U.S. forces...

WASHINGTON, March 28 — Federal authorities will order major security improvements at several of the nation's largest airports after inspections showed that passenger planes taking off or landing at those airports would be vulnerable to attack by terrorists using shoulder-fired missiles, senior Bush administration officials said. The inspections, which began several weeks ago, are being conducted by a federal task force created by the White House late last year after terrorists linked to Al Qaeda tried to shoot down an Israeli passenger plane on takeoff from an airport in Kenya in November. The two small, shoulder-fired missiles barely missed the...

Three men held in Hong Kong for nearly four months agreed on Monday to be extradited to the United States, where they are wanted for allegedly trying to buy anti-aircraft missiles for al Qaeda. The three -- two Pakistanis and a U.S. citizen of Indian origin -- were arrested on September 20 in Hong Kong for allegedly trying to sell a huge haul of heroin and hashish to undercover FBI agents in exchange for four Stinger missiles. "I have no objection to be handed over to the United States...as soon as possible," one of the suspects, Syed Saadat Ali Faraz,...