Pakistan and India On Course For War?

Tensions are certainly high right now between long time rivals, India and Pakistan and this article at DEBKA notes that there are some signs that things could be getting closer to a conflict. Here's some of the details:

DEBKAfile's military sources report that on Sunday, Nov. 30, Asia's two nuclear powers, India and Pakistan, took their first steps towards a conventional war. India, claiming evidence of Pakistan's involvement in the Islamist terrorist assault on Mumbai, placed its air and missile units on war preparedness, while Pakistan, disclaiming the charge, diverted its armed divisions from the Afghan border to its frontier with India.
Military experts fear a full-blown war could spill over into combat with tactical nuclear weapons.
For the Indian government, the last straw was the admission by Azam Amir Kasab, aged 21, the only terrorist known to have been captured by Indian forces, that Lashkar e-Taiba was behind the assault which claimed 174 lives, injured hundreds and devastated India's financial capital.
This Kashmiri group has links to both al Qaeda and the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence agency.

This is really not good news as of course, both of these countries hold nuclear weapons. At the same time, India has been under attacks by the islamist terrorists for quite some time and they have most certainly had it now after the Mumbai attacks. There has to be an outcry from the citizens of India for revenge. Pakistan is going to be hard pressed to dispel the rumors that the Paki intelligence agency was NOT involved in the Mumbai attack - hell, it was just a few months ago that the ISI in Pakistan was linked to the attack on Afghan's President Karzai by the Taliban.

Hopefully, cooler heads are going to prevail as this type of war would play right into the hands that al Qaeda and Lashkar e-Taiba have always wanted, especially for Pakistan.

Indian air and missile forces on war footing, Pakistani armored units diverted from Afghan border

DEBKAfile's military sources report that on Sunday, Nov. 30, Asia's two nuclear powers, India and Pakistan, took their first steps towards a conventional war. India, claiming evidence of Pakistan's involvement in the Islamist terrorist assault on Mumbai, placed its air and missile units on war preparedness, while Pakistan, disclaiming the charge, diverted its armed divisions from the Afghan border to its frontier with India.
Military experts fear a full-blown war could spill over into combat with tactical nuclear weapons.
For the Indian government, the last straw was the admission by Azam Amir Kasab, aged 21, the only terrorist known to have been captured by Indian forces, that Lashkar e-Taiba was behind the assault which claimed 174 lives, injured hundreds and devastated India's financial capital.
This Kashmiri group has links to both al Qaeda and the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence agency.
From its outset on Wednesday, Nov. 26, the scale, coordination and clockwork targeting of the assault clearly betrayed the hand of a major national intelligence agency. Evidence also mounted that the attackers had reached Mumbai by boat from Karachi.
Five months ago, Taliban suicide killers attacked the Indian embassy in Kabul, claiming 60 lives including that of the Indian military attaché. The New Delhi government then found leads to Pakistan's clandestine service as the prime mover behind the outrage. Washington came up with the same proofs.
The Manmohan Singh government sees the Mumbai assault as a second, escalated Pakistani act of war-by-terror and cannot afford to avoid a strong, immediate response - particularly with a general election around the corner next May. If Singh braves the media and public howls for Pakistani blood and shows the same restraint as he did after the Kabul attack, he will lose his seat.
Domestic opinion is goading the New Delhi to act tough after what is perceived as the poor, slow and unprofessional performance of the police and special forces in quelling the terrorists. Indian commandoes were brought in 10 hours after the terrorists took over and it took them 60 hours to finally gain control of the three hostage sites Saturday, Nov. 29. Sunday, home minister Shivraj Patil resigned in response to the clamor followed by national security advisor MK Narayanan.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars and barely avoided a fourth in 2001.
President George Bush and his successor Barack Obama cannot hope for much headway in defusing Indian-Pakistan tension. With only a few weeks left in the White House, Bush does not have much leverage and Obama even less for pulling the two adversaries apart. While campaigning, the president-elect pledged to work to mend the fences between India and Pakistan and broker their Kashmir conflict. In the present climate, neither is looking for a mediator.

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Video: Moderate Muslims Denounce Jihad Attack In Mumbai

We're sorry...there have been NO denunciations of the Mumbai attack by moderate muslims to date.

Just Who Is The Lashkar-e-Taiba ?

With a lot of fingers pointing at the Lashkar-e-Taiba for the operations in Mumbai this past week, I stumbled across this relatively brief article on them and I thought it was chock full of great info on this jihadist group. The full article is found over here at Times Online but I have excerpted the entire spread below:

Bin Laden-inspired group wants Asian caliphate

Lashkar-e-Taiba is a Pakistan-based movement which wants the removal of Indian forces from the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region.
Set up in about 1990 with aid, it is claimed, from the Pakistan authorities, its overall objective is the establishment of an Islamic caliphate throughout India, China and much of southeast Asia.
It is said to have been inspired by Osama Bin Laden and to have maintained close ties with Al-Qaeda to this day.
Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives are understood to have been trained at Al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan until the US invasion in 2001.

Since that time Lashkar-e-Taiba training grounds in Pakistan have reciprocated by hosting Al-Qaeda militants, including, it is said, one of the London bombers, Shehzad Tanweer.
Designated a terrorist group by the US in 2003, Lashkar-e-Taiba’s tactics include the use of suicide bombings, with attacks conducted on both military and civilian targets.
Its emblem is a black AK-47 rifle balanced on an open Koran set against a background of a blue sky and a rising sun.
Other than its activities in the disputed territories, Lashkar-e-Taiba has also carried out a number of atrocities in India.
In December 2001 its members raided the Indian parliament, killing at least 14 people. Ten months later an attack on a Hindu temple in Gujarat left 28 dead and the following year a twin bombing in Mumbai killed 52 and wounded more than three times as many.
One of its most recent confirmed attacks was in October 2005, when co-ordinated suicide bombings were staged in the capital, New Delhi, during the Diwali festival, killing more than 60 people and wounding more than 200.
The group has also been linked to the 2006 train bombings, again in Mumbai, in which 209 died and more than 1,000 were injured.

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Iran Offers To Help Neighboring Arab Countries Get Nuclear

This is another example of the Iranians getting completely "out there" as they have announced that they will help neighboring Arab countries with nuclear "energy" developments. I want to look at how the muslim AP writer of this story here at Breitbart just can't seem to figure out why the Iranians would make such an offer:

The head of Iran's nuclear power agency said Sunday the country is willing to help neighboring Arab countries build joint light-water nuclear power plants if they are interested.
There was no immediate reaction from Arab countries, many of whom are deeply suspicious of the Islamic Republic's intentions regarding its controversial nuclear program.
Several Arab countries have announced plans to develop their own civilian nuclear programs for electricity generation in recent years, motivated in part by a feeling they need to keep up with Iran to blunt its growing regional influence.
It was unclear why Iran made the offer to help, but it may be trying to allay neighbors' concerns.
Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said the country was ready to offer the proposal for joint plants, according to a report carried Sunday by IRNA, the country's official news agency.

Well, since this writer can't come up with any idea for this announcement other than to "allay neighbors' concerns", then let me give it a shot:

1. First off, the Iranians didn't specify WHO they would give the help to - in other words, will they share the technology with Sunni rivals like Saudi Arabia? No.

2. I don't know Mr. AP Writer...you think that perhaps if six countries have nuclear weapons plants under construction it might just make it impossible for the West and/or Israel to take out all of those targets and ease the pressure on Iran?

3. Money. Iran is dirt poor right now. If they see that they can rake in some cash by selling some training and technology to a country like Jordan or Yemen, they will do it.

The Iranians are just about ready to pull off one of the greatest acts of defiance in modern times. Luckily for them, the perfect vacuum was created which enabled them to move their nuclear program ahead - first, they had the dhimmification of Europe that took all teeth out of any European objections, second they saw the term of George Bush coming to an end and the inheritance by a spineless U.S. President and third, they saw the upheaval and chaos in Israel that has left the Jewish state with no real leader for many months.

Iran proposes nuclear plants with Arab countries

There was no immediate reaction from Arab countries, many of whom are deeply suspicious of the Islamic Republic's intentions regarding its controversial nuclear program.
Several Arab countries have announced plans to develop their own civilian nuclear programs for electricity generation in recent years, motivated in part by a feeling they need to keep up with Iran to blunt its growing regional influence.
It was unclear why Iran made the offer to help, but it may be trying to allay neighbors' concerns.
Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said the country was ready to offer the proposal for joint plants, according to a report carried Sunday by IRNA, the country's official news agency.
The U.S. and some of its allies claim Iran is secretly seeking to develop nuclear weapons, but Iran says its nuclear program is for civilian and peaceful uses only to generate power.
Iran is building its first nuclear power plant with Russia's help. It is slated to open in 2009.
At least 13 Middle Eastern countries either announced new plans to explore nuclear energy or revived pre-existing nuclear programs between February 2006 and January 2007, the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies said in a report this summer.
The report noted that most of the programs are still immature, and that sustainable new reactor projects in the Middle East are at least 10 or 15 years away.
Countries such as Jordan, Morocco or Tunisia have comparatively few energy reserves and are spurred on at least in part by a desire for energy independence in an age of soaring oil prices.
On the other hand, oil-rich Saudi Arabia, a longtime rival of Shiite Iran, is probably largely driven by the need to maintain its edge as a regional power, the report said.
Still other countries, such as Egypt or Turkey, are likely motivated both by worry over high energy prices and wariness of Iran.
Turkey said in 2006 that it wanted to produce 5,000 megawatts of nuclear energy by 2015, the same year that Egypt announced that its first reactor would be built at El-Dabaa, on the Mediterranean coast.

Germany's Dhimmified Parliament Strikes Down Terror Bill

The blood hasn't even dried on the streets of Mumbai, India and Germany is dealing with the fact that their parliament has decided to side with the islamic terrorists of the world and not grant a bill that would have greatly increased German security to monitor terrorist activity. This bill was similar to ones that President Bush hammered through here in America after the 9/11 attacks and is probably a key reason we haven't seen another attack in over 7 years.

German Chancellor Merkel is not happy about this bill's not passing. Here's the entire article from D-W World:

Merkel disappointed by blocking of anti-terrorism law

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has criticised the upper house of parliament's decision to block a controversial anti-terrorism bill. In an interview with a German newspaper, Merkel said it was irresponsible to task federal police with fighting terrorism without giving them the necessary tools. The bill would grant police sweeping powers to monitor terror suspects. Opponents object to proposals to allow federal police to conduct secret online searches of computers, tap telephones and bug the homes of suspects. The controversial legislation passed through the lower house, where Chancellor Merkel's grand coalition has a large majority. The government is now planning to push through the bill by referring the matter to an arbitration panel.

So, in six months, or one year, or whenever down the line...Germany suffers its first major islamic terror attack and loses a lot of civilian lives, will these German parliamentarians stand up one by one and accept responsibility? Yeah right.

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Attack On Mumbai: The Timeline

This really is a nice piece here at Reuters that goes through the precise timeline of the well-planned and coordinated attack on the Indian city of Mumbai. There are so many different reports on exactly how many died and were injured - this article lists 124 dead as reported by police - I think the more accurate reports are setting the death toll at 195 dead. I've excerpted the entire Reuters timeline below:

* WEDNESDAY:

-- Islamist gunmen attack Mumbai in at least seven places shortly after 10.30 p.m. Around two dozen militants armed with automatic rifles and grenades attack targets including luxury hotels -- the Taj Mahal and the Trident Oberoi -- hospitals, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station and the popular Leopold cafe.
-- Gunmen remain holed up in the hotels and at Chabad House, a popular stop for Israeli visitors. Many are reported killed and the army begins moving into the Trident Oberoi hotel.
-- Police say at least some of the attackers came ashore in a rubber dinghy.
-- The chief of the police anti-terrorist squad in Mumbai is killed in the attack.

* THURSDAY:

-- Commandos fight room-to-room battles in the two hotels to rescue people trapped by the gunmen. Explosions rattle the Taj hotel where some hostages are rescued.
-- Prime Minister Manmohan Singh blames militant groups based in India's neighbours, usually meaning Pakistan.
-- Pakistan condemns the attacks and promises full cooperation in fighting terrorism.

* FRIDAY:

-- India points a finger at Pakistani-linked "elements" for the attacks in Mumbai.
-- At the Trident Oberoi Hotel, commandos kill two militants and free 143 guests.
-- A lone gunmen continues to hold out at the nearby Taj hotel.
-- Five hostages inside the besieged Jewish centre are found dead.
-- At least 12 foreigners -- three Germans, two Americans, one Australian, a Briton, Canadian, two French, an Italian and a Japanese national -- are among the dead.
-- Pakistan says the two countries face a common enemy. Urging India not to play politics, it agrees to send its spy chief to share intelligence on the suicide attacks.
-- Police say 124 people are killed and 284 wounded.

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Wanted Taliban Commander Captured In Burqa, Then Killed When He Attacked

Haha! It's been awhile since we had one of these Taliban "WearABurqa" escape plans but in a huge victory for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, this Taliban commander, Haji Yakub, tried to escape using a woman's burqa and when he was found out, he attacked and was killed. The really great news is that 52 of his Taliban buddies bit the dust in all operations.

Here's some of the details from Breitbart:

Gunbattles and airstrikes by NATO and Afghan troops killed 53 militants in Afghanistan, including a wanted Taliban commander who tried to hide from soldiers under a woman's burqa, officials said Saturday.
The U.S. forces targeting the commander surrounded a house Friday in Ghazni province and ordered everyone inside to leave, a military statement said.
Six women and 12 children left the building, but while soldiers were questioning the women they discovered one was actually a man dressed in a burqa, the traditional all-encompassing dress that most Afghan women wear. The man, later identified as the targeted commander Haji Yakub, tried to attack the soldiers and was killed, the military said.
Yakub allegedly directed roadside bomb and suicide attacks against Afghanistan's government and coalition forces in Ghazni, according to the statement. Three other militants were killed in the operation, it said.

One of the better signs for U.S., NATO and Afghan troops is this from the article:

Residents of Raj, about two miles (three kilometers) north of Farah city, tipped off officials that a convoy of enemy fighters had arrived in the village, provincial police chief Gen. Abdul Ghafar Watandar said.
Afghan army and police attacked the nine-vehicle convoy, killing four insurgents and wounding another three as other insurgents fled, Watandar said. An Afghan police officer was also killed in the gunbattle, he said.

This is what we haven't had a lot of in the War in Afghanistan...these tips from the locals. Usually, the Taliban descend upon a village and instantly intimidate to the point that no one would dare tip off their location. Perhaps the tide is turning.

Taliban in dress, 52 others killed in Afghanistan

Meanwhile, Afghan and coalition forces killed 33 militants when their patrol came under attack in southern Helmand province Friday, a military statement said. The troops responded to the attack with gunfire and air support, it said.
In Kandahar province, meanwhile, a three-day NATO-Afghan operation in Zhari district killed 12 militants, said police Chief Matiullah Khan. No police were killed in the operation, which finished on Friday, he said.
Police in western Farah province said they killed four insurgents setting up a makeshift base in a village, apparently aiming to launch strikes on Farah city.
Residents of Raj, about two miles (three kilometers) north of Farah city, tipped off officials that a convoy of enemy fighters had arrived in the village, provincial police chief Gen. Abdul Ghafar Watandar said.
Afghan army and police attacked the nine-vehicle convoy, killing four insurgents and wounding another three as other insurgents fled, Watandar said. An Afghan police officer was also killed in the gunbattle, he said.
Afghanistan has seen a spike in violence over the last two years as more international troops pour into the country to battle a growing militant insurgency. Some 65,000 international forces now operate in Afghanistan.
More than 5,800 people have died in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from Afghan and Western officials.

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Six IDF Soldiers Injured In Jihadist Mortar Attack On Base

Not good. Six Israeli soldiers of the IDF at a base in Nahal Oz were injured, one critically, after Gaza-based jihadists launched a mortar attack on the base.

Here's the complete article from The Jerusalem Post:

6 soldiers hurt in mortar shell attack

Six IDF soldiers were wounded after Palestinian terrorists fired mortar shells at an IDF base in Nachal Oz on Friday evening. The soldiers were taken to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, Israel Radio reported.

One soldier was suffering shrapnel wounds to the head and was in critical condition. The other five were lightly hurt and their lives were not in danger.
One shell landed inside the base, while two others landed in open fields.
Two additional shells landed in the area of a nearby kibbutz, but additional no casualties or damage were reported.

This is further testament that more and more weapons have been flowing into Gaza. Unless I am mistaken, I cannot remember the last time there was word of a "mortar" attack from Gaza - typically it's the home-made crude rockets the palis hoodwink together in the basement of their huts.

This mortar attack is going to be seen as highly effective by Hamas and Islamic Jihad and will ensure more of these types of attacks. In the past few weeks, several Israeli ministers have been calling for an operation into Gaza to clean out some of these scum from near the border - I concur with that idea.

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British Islamist Justifies Targeting Terror Attacks Against Israeli Children

For once in very long time, this article here at MEMRI, has left me speechless. I've excerpted the key filth:

British Islamist Kamal Al-Hilbawi and Liberal Nabil Yassin Debate: Are Israeli Children Legitimate Military Targets?

Dr. Kamal Al-Hilbawi: "I condemn the targeting of any civilian, but incidentally, I believe that every Israeli civilian is a future soldier."
Interviewer: "He is what?"
Dr. Kamal Al-Hilbawi: "A future soldier."
Interviewer: "Even if he is two years old?"
Dr. Kamal Al-Hilbawi: "Even if he is a child. A child born in Israel is raised on the belief that [the Arabs] are like contemptible sheep, and that this is a land without a people, and they are a people without a land. They have very strange concepts. In elementary school, they pose the following math problem: 'In your village, there are 100 Arabs. If you killed 40, how many Arabs would be left for you to kill?' This is taught in the Israeli curriculum. What would you say about that? Should a child studying this be considered a civilian? He is a future soldier."

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Islamic Jihadists Murder Three More In Russia

With all of the news coming out of India and the major terrorist attack that has happened there, this story pales in comparison but it's up here because it's a reminder that islamofascism is rampant and it is everywhere. The Russians have a jihad problem. A very real problem. This attack came just a day after the islamic jihadists in North Ossetia assassinated the mayor of a city there. Here's the entire article from RIA Novosti:

Three killed in South Russia car attack

VLADIKAVKAZ, November 27 (RIA Novosti) - At least three people were killed on Thursday when a car came under fire in central Vladikavkaz, the capital of Russia's North Caucasus republic of North Ossetia, a local police source said.
As a result of the attack, a BMW off-road vehicle lost control and crashed into another car. The incident took place in front of the regional department of the Federal Penitentiary Service.
The source told RIA Novosti that gunmen fired with assault rifles from a car, which was subsequently found burnt out on the city outskirts.
The attack came a day after the assassination of the mayor of Vladikavkaz. Vitaly Karayev was shot while getting into his car outside his home.
The Kataib al-Khoul Islamist group claimed responsibility for the mayor's murder, in a statement on Thursday released by a website believed to have links to Chechen militants.
North Ossetia was the focus of international attention in September 2004, when terrorists seized Beslan's School No.1 killing 331 people including 186 children. The republic neighbors the troubled Chechnya and Georgia, with which Russia fought a brief war in August.

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Rather Die Than Be Your Slave

I do not wish this life to pass awayBut life presents such possibilities - Each and every dayI heard a calling that was right for meI prayed for strength for what’s a head of me - Please show me the wayThe sun rose high and burnt the night awayWho stood before me was my enemy - Don’t tread on meHe’s come to take away my libertiesI’d rather die than be a slave to thee - Don’t treat me this way

CHORUS: I’d rather die than be your slaveI will survive, and you’ll feel my rageIts not a question of being braveI’d just rather die, than be your slave

CHORUS

It didn’t matter who shot first that dayThey killed my brothers, they laid dead by me - I’m covered in their bloodWe hit them hard we made them pay that dayWe hung the traitors from the highest trees - No mercy from meWe lost a lot our pain was heavyWe sacrificed for GOD and country - No more colonyStill held the ground that was in front of meThis was our price to pay for liberty - Still you hear me say

CHORUS

Much time has past, we repeat history Our toys have changed while man has stayed the same - Evil in his waysTribal families rule not over meI will not let them rape our liberties - We’ll die for them today

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An Analysis of the Mumbai Attacks

Bill Roggio, over at The Long War Journal here, has by far, the best overall analysis of the tragic terrorist attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai that has gripped the world the past couple of days. I'm going to excerpt a few of the key parts of Bill's analysis and then excerpt some of the article body, but you oh it to yourself to read the entire article. This was an extremely complex operation and Bill's analysis is very indepth.

One area of analysis that I found fascinating was just how the jihadist teams GOT to Mumbai:

Indian Coast Guard, Navy, Mumbai maritime police, and customs units have scoured the waters off Mumbai in search of a "mother ship" that transported one or more smaller Gemini inflatable boats used by the attackers. A witness saw one of the craft land in Colaba in southern Mumbai and disgorge eight to 10 fighters.
Two ships that have been boarded are strongly suspected of being involved in the attacks: the Kuber, an Indian fishing boat, and the MV Alpha, a Vietnamese cargo ship. Both ships appear to have been directly involved. The Kuber was hijacked on Nov. 13, and its captain was found murdered. Four crewmen are reported to still be missing.
Indian security officials found what they believe is evidence linking the boat to the attack, as well as linking the attackers to Pakistan. "A GPS map of south Mumbai was found along with a satellite phone on the ship, Coast Guard officials confirmed," The Times of India reported.

The other aspect of the attack that I think points to the amazing planning as well as scouting for this mission is how the attackers first targeted the police station:

After landing in Colaba, the terrorists moved north and attacked the Colaba police station, possibly as a single unit. The attack on the police command and control node disrupted the police response and pinned down police units.
The Mumbai police paid a heavy price. Early in the fight, the attackers killed the chief of Mumbai's Anti-terrorism Squad and two other senior officials. At least 14 police were reported to have been killed during fighting throughout the city.
From the Colaba police station, the assault force broke up into smaller teams and fanned out to hit secondary targets throughout Mumbai.

The official analysis and investigation of this horrific attack will take probably months but when all of the dust settles, I do believe we will find that this operation was planned totally inside of Pakistan by al Qaeda linked groups and that they had operatives living in Mumbai for a long time. The sophistication of this should send chills down the spine of every country in the world.

Analysis: Mumbai attack differs from past terror strikes

Almost two days after terrorists attacked the Indian financial hub of Mumbai, the military is still working to root out the remnants of the assault teams at two hotels and a Jewish center. More than 125 people, including six foreigners, have been killed and 327 more have been wounded. The number is expected to go up, as Indian commandos have recovered an additional 30 dead at the Taj Mahal hotel as fighting has resumed.
The Mumbai attack is unique from past terror strikes carried out by Islamic terrorists. Instead of one or more bombings at distinct sites, the Mumbai attackers struck throughout the city using military tactics. Instead of one or more bombings carried out over a short period of time, Mumbai I entering its third day of crisis.
An attack of this nature cannot be thrown together overnight. It requires planned, scouting, financing, training, and a support network to aid the fighters. Initial reports indicate the attacks originated from Pakistan, the hub of jihadi activity in South Asia. Few local terror groups have the capacity to pull of an attack such as this.
While it is early to know exactly what happened in Mumbai as the fog of war still blankets the city, multiple press reports from India allow for a general picture to be painted. An estimated 12 to 25 terrorists are believed to have entered Mumbai by sea. After landing, he attack teams initiated a battle at a police station, then fanned across the city to attack the soft underbelly of hotels, cafes, cinemas, and hospitals. Civilians were gunned down and taken hostage, while terrorists looked for people carrying foreign passports.

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Happy Thanksgiving: President Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation (1863)

Full proclamation is here.

President Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the imposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union.

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Taliban Threaten Five Western Countries

In a video found in western Afghanistan, the Taliban have threatened five Western countries who have troops in Afghanistan. The United States, Spain, France, Denmark and Australia are all targeted in the threat. Here's some of the details from the article at Nasdaq:

The Taliban has threatened to stage attacks on five Western nations deploying troops in Afghanistan in a video discovered by Spanish security forces, a local radio station said Wednesday.
The United States, Spain, France, Denmark and Australia are warned in the 42- minute video along with Israel, news radio Cadena Ser said.
It "threatens NATO and U.S. troops with attacks against their interests inside and outside of Afghan territory if they do not withdraw from Afghanistan," the radio said.

Now, the Taliban threatening these countries OUTSIDE of Afghanistan is a bit of a stretch since the Taliban aren't exactly known for their far-reaching networks of jihadists but of course, their threats inside of Afghanistan are fairly realistic.

You may see this as a bit odd in that countries like Spain and France and Denmark are threatened while we see no reference to Canada or Britain who are actually inside of Afghanistan in bigger numbers and who have done a lot more damage to the Taliban, but this video appears to be from a Taliban-linked group out of western Afghanistan which means it really hasn't much contact with the Brits or the Canadians due to their deployment primarily in the southern provinces of Afghanistan.

Taliban Threatens West In Video Message - Spanish Radio

MADRID (AFP)--The Taliban has threatened to stage attacks on five Western nations deploying troops in Afghanistan in a video discovered by Spanish security forces, a local radio station said Wednesday.
The United States, Spain, France, Denmark and Australia are warned in the 42- minute video along with Israel, news radio Cadena Ser said.
It "threatens NATO and U.S. troops with attacks against their interests inside and outside of Afghan territory if they do not withdraw from Afghanistan," the radio said.
Cadena Ser said the video was distributed on Nov. 14, five days after two Spanish soldiers were killed in a suicide bomb attack on their convoy in western Afghanistan.
In the opening minutes of the video, posted on the radio station's Web site, the flags of the six threatened nations and that of the U.N. are suddenly engulfed in flames and then replaced by a solitary Islamic flag.
A man who is thought to be a Taliban leader and surrounded by four armed men, is then shown speaking in Dari, a dialect of Persian widely spoken in Afghanistan. The faces of the five men are covered.
Spanish security forces have given "total credibility" to the video, which is believed to have been produced in northern Afghanistan and then broadcast on a jihadist television channel, the radio station said.
It was not clear when the video was recorded.
The authors of the video belong to an ethnically mixed group that is directed by the leader of the Taliban, Shaikh Abd al-Basit, and are considered "very aggressive and dangerous", Cadena Ser reported.

Laugh of the Day: Five Muslims Try To Illegally Enter Britain...In A Ham Truck!

(Hat tip, http://www.patdollard.com/)

This is absolutely hilarious! Here's the full article from The Mirror:

MUSLIM ILLEGALS IN A HAM LORRY

Five Iraqi Muslims whose religion forbids them from contact with pork were caught trying to sneak illegally into Britain - in a lorryload of ham.
Uk Border Agency officers searched the truck and found the gang hiding inside among tons of the meat.
The Polish-registered lorry, bound for Haverhill in Suffolk, was stopped at the French port of Calais.

The five were detained and handed to the French immigration authorities.
The attempt, last Wednesday, was all the more bizarre because Muslims are banned from eating or touching ham.
A uk Border Agency spokeswoman said: "We use heartbeat and breath detectors, sniffer dogs and visual searches to find illegal immigrants. A million lorries were searched last year"

India Under Siege - Mumbai Attacks Kill 78, Hostages Being Held

This is truly a nightmare going on in India's city of Mumbai. There's a ton of stuff that has happened and is still developing...let's look at the CNN report about the attack:

Gunmen rampaged through a series of targets in the Indian city of Mumbai killing indiscriminately and taking hostages at two luxury hotels.
Gunmen armed with automatic weapons and grenades hit the hotels, a cafe, a train station and other sites in coordinated attacks, police say.
Maharashtra state government spokesman Bhushan Gagri said 78 people killed and about 200 wounded, while police confirmed 26 deaths.
Among the dead is the head of the Maharashtra state's anti-terror squad, who apparently died in the violent aftermath of the attacks rather than being a target for the killers.
The attacks included five shootouts and two grenade attacks, said a police officer at Mumbai's police control room.

The reports are that there are 15 hostages being held in the luxury hotel in Mumbai and that at least half of those hostages are Western - reports from several news agencies are saying that the jihadists were specifically looking for Americans or British to take hostage.

At Mahalo, they are reporting about a claim of responsibility:

A group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the coordinated terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, on November 26, 2008. Although the group is unknown, a group known as the Indian Mujahideen threatened to carry out an attack on Mumbai in September 2008

This is going to be a story throughout the day and into the night but it underlines just how big of a target India is and has been for quite some time. Al Qaeda has made no bones about the fact that they have targeted India and there are dozens of terrorist groups in the country from every sect imaginable.

With nearly 80 dead here and an even more disturbing picture of hostages taken, this could bode very badly for the Indians.

Scores killed in Mumbai rampage

CNN correspondent Andrew Stevens said: "We do not know if this has reached its peak or if more attacks to come."
A local journalist told CNN he had seen evidence of an attack at the city's domestic airport, which is on the outskirts of the Mumbai.
IBN reported explosions at a gas station and inside a taxi on a dockside road.
Attacks were reported at the Taj and Oberoi hotels, the popular Café Leopold, and Cama Hospital, and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station.
India has suffered a number of attacks in recent years, including a string of bombs that ripped through packed Mumbai commuter trains and platforms during rush hour in July 2006. About 209 people were killed in that attack.
Last July, a series of synchronized bomb blasts in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad left 49 dead and more than 100 wounded, police said.
But Paresh Parihar, a businessman in Mumbai, described Wednesday's attacks as unlike anything he had seen.

"They really don't fear for their lives or any other activity that could put them in danger," he told CNN. "This is really a very unusual situation."
U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said: "We are monitoring the situation very closely and stand ready to support the Indian authorities as they deal with this horrific series of attacks."

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U.N. Assembly President Accuses Israel Of ' crucifying our Palestinian brothers and sisters'

Unbelievable. This is a Nicaraguan Assembly President of the U.N., more specifically his name is Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, and according to this story at CNSNews, this is what he said yesterday while the puke-like U.N. observed " International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People":

Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, a Nicaraguan diplomat who is presiding over the assembly’s 2008-2009 session, on Monday labeled Israel an “apartheid state,” and called for a campaign of “boycott, sanctions and divestment” against it. He also accused Israel of “crucifying our Palestinian brothers and sisters.”

By the way, just in case you don't know the caliber of people the United Nations puts at the head of their organization, look at a couple of tidbits about this moron they have at the head of the Assembly:
D’Escoto is a controversial figure to be presiding over the 192-member assembly’s 63rd session. A foreign minister in the left-wing Sandinista government in Nicaragua in the 1980s, he has a record of criticism of the United States and Israel. In a 2004 interview, he called President Ronald Reagan “the butcher of my people” and said both Reagan and President George W. Bush were “possessed by the demons of manifest destiny.”

But back to his comments on the Israelis and the Palestinians. The only marketing effort of the islamists in this world that has been more effective than this lie of the palestinian oppression is the one that allah is a god and that mohammed was a prophet.

To put it into perspective, the United Nations have a day of solidarity for the Palestinians would be like the United States have a day to show support of Charles Manson and Ted Bundy. Hell, why doesn't the U.N. just have a solidarity day to honor the memories of the 9/11 hijackers, the London bus bombers and the Madrid train bombers?

I just got done blogging a day ago about how the United Nations has a terrorist in charge of their nuclear weapon watchdog agency and now, we see that they have installed an anti-semite, Palestinian terror supporter as head of the general assembly.

Can anyone give me ONE reason why the United States should continue to sit in attendance at the United Nations or allow these flea bags to meet on our soil?

U.N. Assembly President Should be Sacked for Slamming Israel, Critics Say

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) – The president of the United Nations General Assembly should be fired for his verbal attacks on Israel this week, a Jewish human rights group said Tuesday. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, a Nicaraguan diplomat who is presiding over the assembly’s 2008-2009 session, on Monday labeled Israel an “apartheid state,” and called for a campaign of “boycott, sanctions and divestment” against it. He also accused Israel of “crucifying our Palestinian brothers and sisters.” The language is deeply provocative: Perpetrators of persecution and pogroms against Jews over the centuries have frequently cited Jesus’ crucifixion as “justification” for their acts. D’Escoto’s use of the term was not lost on critics. Anne Bayefsky of Eye on the UN, a project of the Hudson Institute, said d’Escoto had come close to using an anti-Semitic slur. The Simon Wiesenthal Center went further: “As a Catholic priest, d’Escoto Brockmann should well know the connection between his words and the charges of deicide against the Jewish people, which were finally refuted by Vatican II,” said Dr. Shimon Samuels, the organization’s international director. (The Second Vatican Council in the 1960s officially refuted the charge that the Jews of Jesus’ day and ever since were collectively responsible for Jesus’ death and deserving of human and divine punishment. “The Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God,” stated the council’s Nostra Aetate document, promulgated in 1965 by Pope Paul VI.)

Iran Launches Kavosh 2 Missile Just To Piss The World Off More

Yep, the Iranians have launched yet another advanced missile under the guise of a satellite launch missile all during a time when the world is demanding they back down from their nuclear aggression. It's gotten to the point where if you looked up the word "defiance" in the dictionary, you'd see a picture of the mullahs there.

Here's some of the details from Reuters:

Iran has successfully launched a rocket called "Kavosh 2," Iran's state media reported on Wednesday, displaying the Islamic state's advances in ballistics at a time when the West is worried about its nuclear ambitions.
The launch follows an announcement earlier this month that Iran had test-fired a new generation of surface-to-surface missile, saying the Islamic Republic was ready to defend itself against any attacker.
Tensions between Iran and Israel have been running high in recent months amid speculation of possible U.S. or Israeli strikes against Tehran's nuclear facilities, which the West suspects form part of a covert weapons program.

This is all approaching the state where the list of reasons NOT to attack Iran is shorter than the list for the action. Yesterday, I looked at how the U.N. is in the bag for Iran on the whole nuclear and missile issue and there has been little new sanctions talk among any of the western nations that have imposed sanctions on the Persians over the past couple of years. I get the impression that the world has given up - that the feeling is that Persian nukes are inevitable. Only Israel appears willing to confront this beast but as I've said before, an Israeli attack on Iran will in no way resemble the ease in which they took out the Iraqi nuke site years ago.

Iran reports rocket launch amid nuclear tension

Tehran insists its nuclear work is aimed at generating electricity to meet Iran's booming demand.
State television did not give any further details about "Kavosh 2," which means "Explorer 2," saying details about the home-made rocket will be announced later. "The rocket was launched to register and send correct environmental data and (to test) separation of the engine from the body," state radio said.
The long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into space can also be used for launching weapons.
Iran caused international concern in February by testing a domestically made Explorer 1 rocket as part of its satellite program. Tehran said it needed two more similar tests before putting a domestically made satellite into orbit.
The United States, the Islamic Republic's arch foe, called the February rocket test "unfortunate" and said it would only further isolate Tehran from the international community.
On August 17, Iran said it had put a dummy satellite into orbit on a domestically made rocket for the first time. U.S. officials said the attempted launch was a failure.

U.N. Atomic Watchdogs Investigate Syrian Nukes, Decide To Award Them $350,000 For New Nuke Plant

You know, if you didn't actually see this in type, you simply wouldn't believe it. The article is here at UPI but let me sum it up in a nutshell. While the dust hasn't even settled on the United Nations' investigation of the illegal nuclear weapons facility in Syria that was bombed by Israel, the SAME AGENCY, the IAEA, has recommended a $350,000 grant for Syria to build....wait for it....a nuclear energy plant! Good grief. Here's some of the lunacy:

The United States says a decision by the International Atomic Energy Agency to help Syria build a civilian nuclear power plant is "inappropriate."
IAEA head Mohammed ElBaradei says there's no legal reason to prevent Syria from receiving a $350,000 assistance package from the U.N. agency, making the comments after an investigation of a Syrian site bombed by Israel as a suspected nuclear reactor revealed traces of uranium, the Voice of America reported Tuesday.
"(The IAEA decision) is wholly inappropriate, we believe, given the fact that Syria is under investigation by the IAEA for building a nuclear reactor, outside the bounds of its international commitments," U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told VOA. "And for the IAEA to be involved in providing technical information concerning nuclear activities would seem to be contradictory, if not ironic."

This head of the IAEA, Mohammed ElBaradei, once investigated...we will find that this man's mission is to arm the muslim world with nuclear weapons. This is the asshat that has allowed Iran free reign to construct and perfect nuclear weapons. And now, he is saying there is no reason why the Syrians can't join the club.

It's my contention that ElBaradei is a terrorist. He has infiltrated the U.N. with a plan to arm the nations of Iran, Syria, Yemen and Saudi Arabia with nuclear weapons. The U.S. officials have to be at a breaking point at this place and time on this whole issue - and it has become apparent that the only way to stop ElBaradei's operations in the U.N. is to take out Iran's nuclear facilities immediately and warn the Syrians of the same fate. And I'm not talking about just an Israeli strike on Iran - I'm talking about a joint operation between Israel, the U.S. and Britain. The time is probably too late to be 100% effective but there simply is nothing left to do. With Iran armed with nukes and Syrians in preparatory stages, the IAEA will simply roll over for more and more islamist countries to join the party.

U.S. blasts IAEA's Syria funding move

WASHINGTON, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- The United States says a decision by the International Atomic Energy Agency to help Syria build a civilian nuclear power plant is "inappropriate."
IAEA head Mohammed ElBaradei says there's no legal reason to prevent Syria from receiving a $350,000 assistance package from the U.N. agency, making the comments after an investigation of a Syrian site bombed by Israel as a suspected nuclear reactor revealed traces of uranium, the Voice of America reported Tuesday.
"(The IAEA decision) is wholly inappropriate, we believe, given the fact that Syria is under investigation by the IAEA for building a nuclear reactor, outside the bounds of its international commitments," U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told VOA. "And for the IAEA to be involved in providing technical information concerning nuclear activities would seem to be contradictory, if not ironic."
Syria denies concealing nuclear activities but a IAEA report released last week said Syria had ignored requests for documentation on the building destroyed by the Israelis and wouldn't allow inspectors to visit three other sites believed linked to the alleged reactor, VOA reported.

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Israel's Barak: Hezbollah Has 42,000 Missiles, Is Three Times Stronger Than 2006

My first question after reading this article at Nasdaq was, "How the hell did you let this happen, Barak?!" The report on the firepower buildup of Hezbollah by Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak is ominous, to say the least. Here's the details of what Barak revealed:

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told parliament Monday that the Shiite militant group Hezbollah is three times stronger now than it was during the 2006 Lebanon war.
"The firepower of Hezbollah has grown threefold since the second Lebanon War," he told lawmakers.
"It has missiles that can reach the towns of Ashkelon, Beersheba and Dimona ( in southern Israel more than 200 kilometers from the Lebanese border). Today Hezbollah has 42,000 missiles."
Hezbollah fired nearly 4,000 rockets at communities across northern Israel during the 34-day war in the summer of 2006, killing more than 40 civilians and sending another million fleeing south.

As to my question of Barak, I guess you could say he more or less hinted to the answer by this admission from the article:

Barak rejected calls by cabinet colleagues, including Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon and Trade and Industry Minister Eli Yishai, for a major ground offensive into Gaza to topple the Hamas administration there.
"To all the warmongerers I say: you have nothing to teach me about war or peace or my duties," said Barak, a reserve general and former army chief.

In other words, Barak is admonishing those that want to finally take an action against Hamas in Gaza but Barak is sitting on his hands. Just like he has sat on his hands for two years and let Hezbollah rearm to this degree.

I mean, seriously, this is no different than Western world leaders having to report to their peoples in a year or two that Iran now possesses a half doze nuclear warhead missiles. Won't there be millions, like me, who will ask again...."what the hell were you doing a year or two ago to stop this?!"

It's my contention that this all stems from the way that Olmert and Barak let the world media get to them concerning the 2006 War in Lebanon. The world media painted a despicably erroneous picture of Israeli operations against Hezbollah in that war and Olmert was so worried about his place in history, that he has decided to sit back and let all of the rearming of Hezbollah commence since then. And now, Israel is looking at the biggest regional threat to its welfare ever.

Hezbollah Now Three Times Stronger Than In 2006 War - Israel

JERUSALEM (AFP)--Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told parliament Monday that the Shiite militant group Hezbollah is three times stronger now than it was during the 2006 Lebanon war.
"The firepower of Hezbollah has grown threefold since the second Lebanon War," he told lawmakers.
"It has missiles that can reach the towns of Ashkelon, Beersheba and Dimona ( in southern Israel more than 200 kilometers from the Lebanese border). Today Hezbollah has 42,000 missiles."
Hezbollah fired nearly 4,000 rockets at communities across northern Israel during the 34-day war in the summer of 2006, killing more than 40 civilians and sending another million fleeing south.
Barak renewed warnings issued by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert earlier this year that in any new war Israel would take tougher action against civilian infrastructure than it did in 2006, when a power station and Beirut airport were hit and more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed.
"The integration of Hezbollah into the Lebanese state exposes Lebanon and its infrastructure to in-depth attacks in the event of a new conflict," he said, referring to the formation earlier this year of a national unity government in Beirut that includes Hezbollah and its allies.
The Israeli defense minister also renewed his support for an extension of the six-month Gaza truce with the Islamist Hamas movement that went into force on June 19.
"I do not regret any of the months of calm," he told lawmakers.
"In the months preceding the entry into the force of the truce, we were recording as many as 500 mortar or rocket attacks a month in southern Israel against just a dozen in the months since the truce."
Barak rejected calls by cabinet colleagues, including Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon and Trade and Industry Minister Eli Yishai, for a major ground offensive into Gaza to topple the Hamas administration there.
"To all the warmongerers I say: you have nothing to teach me about war or peace or my duties," said Barak, a reserve general and former army chief.

Iraqi Forces Capture Iranian-Linked Shia Militia Leader

We don't have a name here to go with this capture but it all falls in line with the captures that I blogged about yesterday. Here's the details of this operation from Breitbart:

The U.S. military says U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have arrested a suspected Shiite militia leader who has been linked to Iran.
A statement says the purported "special groups" leader has allegedly been working with Iranian intelligence for three years and helped smuggle weapons, money and information into Iraq.

The statement issued Tuesday says the militia leader and two other suspected extremists were arrested Friday in the southern Iraqi city of Qurna.

Now, the article says "U.S.-backed Iraqi forces..." so I'm certain that this is another operation that was spearheaded by the U.S. Task Force 88 teams I blogged about yesterday. And it is clear that these Shia leaders, these remnants of the Sadr militia that broke away from Mookie Sadr to continue the fight against the Americans and the government are being hunted down like dogs.

US-backed Iraqi troops arrest Shiite militant

BAGHDAD (AP) - The U.S. military says U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have arrested a suspected Shiite militia leader who has been linked to Iran.
A statement says the purported "special groups" leader has allegedly been working with Iranian intelligence for three years and helped smuggle weapons, money and information into Iraq.
The U.S. military uses the term "special groups" to refer to violent Shiite militia factions.
The statement issued Tuesday says the militia leader and two other suspected extremists were arrested Friday in the southern Iraqi city of Qurna.
The U.S. military has accused Iran of stoking violence in Iraq. Tehran denies the charges.

Holy Land Verdict Is In: Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty!

Yes !!!!!!!!!!!! Great, great news out of Dallas, Texas as a jury has found the Holy Land Foundation and five jihadists from that organization guilty on all counts of illegally funneling "charitable contributions" to Hamas. This is of course the second trial for the Holy Land Foundation since the first trial was declared a mistrial with the U.S. government being ill-prepared in that trial and also, a couple of questionable jurors holding out. But this time they all got it right and these scum have been exposed and will pay dearly.

Instead of looking at all of the details of the case, let's look at the poor whining by those connected with the HLF - let's look at these terrorists and how they cry like babies at the hammer landing on their asses...from The Dallas News:

"My dad is not a criminal!" sobbed one courtroom observer after the verdicts were read. "He's a human!"
"It's a sad day," said Mohammed Wafa Yaish, Holy Land's former accountant and himself a witness of the trial. "It looks like helping the needy Palestinians is a crime these days."

One supporter of the defendants who identified himself as Adel said, "It's politicized. I don't think there is justice. I know these guys. I think everything is lies."
John Wolf, a friend and member of the Hungry for Justice coalition, said he'd known the defendants for 12 years.
"I'm not surprised," he said of the verdicts. "I think the government had their do-over and they learned from their mistakes. It's hard to accept because I don't believe the gentlemen are guilty. These guys are the sweetest, clean-hearted people."

And my favorite whine of the whole group of idjits, is this one:

Mr. Yaish, the Holy Land accountant, said Monday that he was angry that the prosecution brought up the Taliban and al Qaeda during the trial. He called that a fear tactic.
"What does giving charity to the Palestinians in the refugee camps have to do with this?"
"They scared the jurors," he said. "Fear is the No. 1 government tactic."

Hahahaha! This clown has the gall to say "giving charity to the Palestinians in the refugee camps"?????? Well moron, your boys were found guilty of giving money TO HAMAS, you moron! This is why I put up all of this whining - these Americans, yes...American muslims absolutely see NOTHING wrong with giving money to Hamas so Hamas can kill innocent Israelie women and children. They could care less that they broke U.S. law because they only live by the law of the golden calf boy, mohammed.

This trial, this verdict is critical in that it sends a real message to the islamists in America, and yes, to CAIR that the U.S. has laws and if you don't want to follow them...then hop on the next camel train to Yemen or Saudi Arabia or Gaza and get the fuck out of our country.

Holy Land Foundation defendants guilty on all counts

A jury on Monday determined that the Holy Land Foundation and five men who worked with the Muslim charity were guilty of three dozen counts related to the illegal funneling of at least $12 million to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

The unanimous verdicts are a complete victory for the government, which streamlined its case after a mistrial last year, and worked hard to carefully educate jurors on the complex, massive evidence presented in the trial. Guilty verdicts were read on 108 separate charges.
The prosecution victory is also a major one for the lame duck administration of President George Bush, whose efforts at fighting terrorism financing in court have been troubled, even though the flow of funds seems to be effectively shut down.
"The jury has handed the government a huge victory and a loud and clear message has been sent – if any group funnels money to a terrorist organization, the government will hunt you down and turn off the money spigot," said Robert Hirschhorn, a nationally known jury consultant based in Lewisville. His partner, Dallas attorney Lisa Blue, was hired by the government to help pick the jury.
It was the second trial where the government attempted to convict the men and the now defunct Richardson-based Holy Land Foundation itself. It took the jury eight days of deliberations to reach its decisions – less than half the time it took jurors to end up with an almost complete mistrial last year on the first go-around.

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Task Force 88 Teams Capture Iranian-backed Shia Jihadists In Baghdad

Two separate operations in and around Baghdad have yielded the capture of eight members of the League of the Righteous and six members of the Hezbollah Brigades. This is great news and here are some of the details from Bill Roggio's The Long War Journal:

US forces have stepped up operations against the Iranian-backed Shia terror groups operating in Baghdad after a relative lull in November. Fourteen operatives from the League of the Righteous and the Hezbollah Brigades were captured in Baghdad during raids today.
Coalition forces - likely the hunter-killer teams from Task Force 88 - captured eight members of the League of the Righteous (Asaib Ahl al Haq) during two operations in Baghdad's Adhamiyah and New Baghdad districts early Sunday morning. Six Hezbollah Brigades operatives were captured during two operations inside Adhamiyah.
Raids targeting the two Iranian-backed terror groups have been infrequent during the month of November. Only two other Hezbollah Brigades fighters were captured during a Nov. 11 operation in Baghdad. Twenty-eight Hezbollah Brigades operatives were captured during multiple raids in October.

With fewer and fewer al Qaeda in Iraq leaders left to hunt down, the Task Force 88 teams have been freed up to concentrate more on these Iranian-backed groups like the League of the Righeous and the Hezbollah Brigades. Do yourself a favor and read the entire article from The Long War Journal as it does an excellent job of detailing who and what these two groups are all about.

The concern about what this operation yielded is the fact that these jihadists were in Baghdad and that shows just how volatile the city can still be. When the Iraqi Army and the coalition forces cleared out Sadr City, it was hoped that it would end these pockets of terrorists in the Baghdad area but a number of these splinter groups either hid or came back and set up shop again.

At the same time, a number of bloggers have recognized Victory in Iraq Day just this past week and while I agree with that premise, I am not ready to make that call yet. And a big reason for that is what this operation just yielded. Al Qaeda in Iraq has been dismantled - their leaders have more or less been hunted down and killed and captured but the Iranian-backed groups still have a presence in the country and with their Iranian weaponry, they can still inflict some heavy casualties on U.S. troops. At the same time, al Qaeda in Iraq cells are still being somewhat effective in using female suicide bombers and roadside bombs. I'm just being cautious - I don't feel it is good to declare this victory in Iraq only to see an attack take out a large number of casualties and I see that possibility as still being there.

US forces capture 14 Iraqi Shia terrorists in Baghdad

The League of the Righteous is splinter groups that broke away from Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army after Sadr announced he would disband the Mahdi Army and form a small, secretive military arm to fight Coalition forces in June. Sadr's moves caused shockwaves in the Mahdi Army, as some of the militia's leaders wished to continue the fight against US forces in Baghdad and in southern and central Iraq.
The League of the Righteous receives funding, training, weapons, and direction from Iran's Qods Force, the country's secretive special operations group that backs terror groups such as Lebanese Hezbollah. The League of the Righteous conducts attacks with the deadly, armor-piercing explosively formed projectiles, or EFPs, as well as the more conventional roads bombs.
The size of the League of the Righteous is unknown, but hundreds of members of the group were killed, captured, or fled to Iran during the Iraqi government offensive against the Mahdi Army from March to July of this year, according to the US military.
Sadr is looking to pull the rank and file of the League back into the fold of the Sadr's political movement. In a recent message issued by Sadr where he rejected the US-Iraqi security agreement, he said he "extends his hand to the mujahideen in the so-called Asaib but not their leaderships who have been distracted by politics and mortal life from the [two late] Sadrs and the interests of Iraq and Iraqis."
The Hezbollah Brigades or the Kata'ib Hezbollah, has been active for more than a year and has increased its profile by conducting attacks against US and Iraqi forces using the deadly explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, and improvised rocket-assisted mortars, which have been described as flying improvised explosive devices. The Hezbollah Brigades has posted videos of these attacks on the Internet.
The terror group is an offshoot of Iranian-trained Special Groups, the US military said last summer. Hezbollah Brigades receives funding, training, logistics, guidance, and material support from Iran's Qods Force.

Pakistani Troops Secure Peshawar Area, 25 Taliban Killed

Good news out of Pakistan as paramilitary troops have concluded most of their two week operation to secure the area around Peshawar with 22 out of 25 villages purged of Taliban and 25 Taliban killed. Peshawar is of significance to the U.S. and NATO as much of the supply convoys going into Afghanistan goes by Peshawar.

Here's some of the details from Breitbart:

A two-week operation to secure the frontier city of Peshawar, which sits on a key supply route for U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, killed 25 suspected militants, a Pakistani official said Monday.
Security forces backed by warplanes and artillery swept through an area between the city and Pakistan's wild tribal belt, where Taliban and al-Qaida militants have found refuge.
Zafrullah Khan, commander of paramilitary Frontier Constabulary troops in the area, said his force and police have taken control of 22 of 25 targeted villages and would clear the others within a week.
"The militants in these areas have been a big threat to the writ of the government," Khan said. "They have been a main source and origin of the crimes in Peshawar and other cities of the province."
Some 25 suspects have been killed and another 35 arrested during the operation, he said. He said those detained included foreigners, but provided no details.

I said it a couple of weeks ago here that I am finding fewer and fewer articles about major battles in Afghanistan between NATO forces and the Taliban and I am convinced that most of that is due to the pressures that have been applied in Pakistan - both from the government forces of Pakistan and the wave of predator bombings strikes by the U.S. there. I haven't seen any kind of explanation of this from any expert, but it's my contention that the Taliban simply are not moving into Afghanistan like they used to for fear of being hit by predator drones and also because their movements have been disrupted by the operations of the Pakistani army.

Up until about four months ago, the Taliban could simply move into Afghanistan without a second thought about any pressure on their flanks and they certainly didn't have to worry about their return to Pakistan - that, for the moment, is not the case anymore.

Pakistan says militants pushed back from Peshawar

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - A two-week operation to secure the frontier city of Peshawar, which sits on a key supply route for U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, killed 25 suspected militants, a Pakistani official said Monday.
Security forces backed by warplanes and artillery swept through an area between the city and Pakistan's wild tribal belt, where Taliban and al-Qaida militants have found refuge.
Zafrullah Khan, commander of paramilitary Frontier Constabulary troops in the area, said his force and police have taken control of 22 of 25 targeted villages and would clear the others within a week.
"The militants in these areas have been a big threat to the writ of the government," Khan said. "They have been a main source and origin of the crimes in Peshawar and other cities of the province."
Some 25 suspects have been killed and another 35 arrested during the operation, he said. He said those detained included foreigners, but provided no details.
Four suicide jackets and weapons, including guns, rockets and grenades were seized, he said.
Rising violence in the northwest, including the shooting death of an American aid worker in Peshawar, have heightened concern that the city itself is under threat.
Pakistani troops have been battling Taliban militants in Bajur, a nearby tribal region, since August. The fighting has spread to neighboring Mohmand, which borders the villages targeted in the sweep near Peshawar.
The city is a vital hub for military and relief efforts in Pakistan's northwest as well as lying on a supply route for foreign troops fighting in Afghanistan.

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Advice To Obama: STAY OFF THE BLOODY PHONE!

President-elect Barack Hussein Obama apparently can't keep his ass off the phone with world leaders until he actually IS President of the United States. For the second time in less than two weeks, Obama has made a fool of himself and has had to rely upon his aides to come to the rescue to downplay his conversations and promises.

The latest gaffe is a call that Obama made to Afghan President Karzai in which Obama is said to have offered more aid to Afghanistan. Look at the article excerpts here from CNN that show what Mr. I'veGotMyFootInMyMouth has done now:

President-elect Barack Obama has assured Afghan President Hamid Karzai the U.S. will send more aid and pay more attention to his war-torn country, according to Karzai's office.
However, Obama aides said the Saturday call did not include specific promises.

But two aides in Obama's transition office downplayed the significance of the call.
Obama told Karzai he "looked forward to working together on Afghan security after January 20," according to one aide, but the incoming president stressed that "until then there is one president, and it is President Bush."

Ridiculous. It was just two weeks ago that Obama's big mouth created the controversy after his conversation with the Polish President. Here's what came from that from the article at the Washington Times:

President-elect Barack Obama's private conversation with Poland's president created an international disagreement Saturday, with President Lech Kaczynski saying Mr. Obama promised to continue a missile-defense system and the transition office saying the Democrat made no such commitment.

And many were worried about the moronic things that Vice President-elect Biden would say? First off, Obama needs to come to grips that HE ISN'T PRESIDENT YET. Secondly, he has to get some schooling that he, as President, isn't in charge of approving further aid to Afghanistan - that is the Congress' role. And finally, someone needs to rope this buffoon in before he pisses off another world leader before he's even in office.

This is the guy that ran on the idea that he would make all of the world love the U.S.A. again and in the span of two weeks, he's already pissed off two major allies of our country.

Karzai: Obama promises Afghanistan more aid

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama has assured Afghan President Hamid Karzai the U.S. will send more aid and pay more attention to his war-torn country, according to Karzai's office.

However, Obama aides said the Saturday call did not include specific promises.
Karzai's office said Obama told him the United States was committed to helping the people of Afghanistan and bringing peace and stability to the country.
The Afghan president again congratulated Obama on his election and told him that he hoped his presidency would lead to prosperity for the American people, his office said.
But two aides in Obama's transition office downplayed the significance of the call.
Obama told Karzai he "looked forward to working together on Afghan security after January 20," according to one aide, but the incoming president stressed that "until then there is one president, and it is President Bush."

Obama takes office on January 20.
The incoming administration continues to be careful to show they are not stepping on the White House's toes or making any promises to world leaders.
The transition aide also noted that Obama was returning a congratulatory call from Karazi, so the incoming president did not initiate the call.

In an interview with CNN last July, Obama criticized Karzai's government, saying it "has not gotten out of the bunker and helped organize Afghanistan and (the) government, the judiciary, police forces, in ways that would give people confidence."
A week after that interview, Obama met with Karzai in Kabul.