U.S. and Iraqi Forces Capture 16 Al Qaeda in Diyala Province

This is a very brief report here from Aswat Aliraq but oh so important - 16 al Qaeda jihadists were captured in Diyala. Here's the full article for you:

16 al-Qaeda gunmen detained in Diala

Baaquba, Jun 26, (VOI)- Joint Iraqi-U.S. forces on Thursday arrested 16 al-Qaeda gunmen, including four wanted men, during a military operation in northeast of Baaquba, a security source said."A joint force of Iraqi and U.S. personnel waged a military operation targeting al-Qaeda in Blour village in Muqdadiya, northeast of Baaquba," the source, who wished to be unnamed, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq (VOI)."16 al-Qaeda gunmen, including four wanted men, were arrested in the operation," he added.Baaquba, the capital of Diala, is 57 km northeast of Baghdad.

While the capture of 16 al Qaeda in Iraq jihadists is significant in its own right, the key to this is the intel that we will get out of these prisoners. Diyala province remains one of the strongest holds of al Qaeda - some might say it is their last stand so any intelligence that comes out of these captives will be worth its weight in gold.

There has been a significant spike in successful al Qaeda attacks recently and this operation shows the continued determination of U.S. and Iraqi forces. I have argued against some of the commentary that al Qaeda in Iraq is all but finished - that would be like saying the Taliban were destroyed when the U.S. and Coalition forces kicked them out of Afghanistan - these enemies are more resilient than that and quite frankly, with the fact that al Qaeda in Iraq is still successful in recruiting Iraqi women as suicide bombers, the threat will continue for a long, long time.

Palis Fire More Mortars Into Israel, Gaza Border Crossings Tightened

Oh well...it's not like I didn't tell them so. Pali jihadists fired two more mortars into Israel today with no casualties reported while Israel backed off on further openings of crossings into Gaza. Currently, Israel isn't allowing food items into Gaza due to the mortar and rocket attacks. Here's some of the newest details from Breitbart in the crumbling of the Egyptian-brokered truce between Hamas and Israel:

For the third day in a row, Israel prevented food trucks from entering Gaza by closing crossings in retaliation for repeated Palestinian rocket attacks, Israeli army spokesman Peter Lerner said. Later in the day, Palestinian militants fired two mortar shells toward Israel, Israeli police said, but no injuries or damage were reported. It was not immediately clear which militant faction fired the shells.
The six-month truce worked out during months of Egyptian mediation began June 19. But only five days into the cease-fire, the Islamic Jihad group fired three rockets toward Israel, injuring two Israelis, and prompting Israel to close the crossings beginning Wednesday. Since then, Israel has not allowed food into Gaza, Lerner said.

Probably the most encouraging comment made from anyone in Israel, was this:

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni called for retaliation for the attacks.
"I am not interested who fired and who didn't fire at Israel," she told reporters Thursday. "It is a violation, and Israel needs to respond immediately, militarily, for every violation."

Livni is absolutely right and I would add that Israel should just "respond immediate, militarily" but that it should respond militarily agains HAMAS LEADERSHIP. The key to subduing Hamas and Islamic Jihad is to target their mid level and upper level leadership - when a Hamas commander knows there's a bullseye on his back if a mortar or rocket is fired into Israel, the mortar or rocket isn't fired.

It really is that simple.

Israel closes Gaza, Palestinians fire mortars

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel refused on Friday to fully open crossings with the Gaza Strip and Palestinian militants attacked Israel with mortars, further testing an already fragile truce.
For the third day in a row, Israel prevented food trucks from entering Gaza by closing crossings in retaliation for repeated Palestinian rocket attacks, Israeli army spokesman Peter Lerner said. Later in the day, Palestinian militants fired two mortar shells toward Israel, Israeli police said, but no injuries or damage were reported. It was not immediately clear which militant faction fired the shells.
The six-month truce worked out during months of Egyptian mediation began June 19. But only five days into the cease-fire, the Islamic Jihad group fired three rockets toward Israel, injuring two Israelis, and prompting Israel to close the crossings beginning Wednesday. Since then, Israel has not allowed food into Gaza, Lerner said.
Israel has said it will not let a humanitarian crisis develop in the territory of 1.4 million Palestinians.
As part of the cease-fire, Israel had begun easing the closure Sunday, letting in shoes and other goods in addition to the basic foods that were allowed in before the truce. Israel imposed the blockade when the Islamic Hamas seized power in Gaza a year ago, and intensified it in response to ongoing rocket attacks on Israeli communities.

Citizens of D.C. Get Their Right To Bear Arms Back!

This is fucking HUGE! Yessssss! The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that the ban on handguns in the nation's capital of Washington, D.C. violated the 2nd Amendment rights of people in the city and the hand gun ban is over. It's done. It's history! This is awesome and makes the current score: Constitution of the United States 1 Socialist Oppressors of America 0. Here's how the court voted on this:

Voting AGAINST the ban on handguns:

Chief Justice Roberts
Justice Scalia
Justice Thomas
Justice Alito
Justice Kennedy

Those voting to keep the unconstitutional ban and defy U.S. citizens of their rights:

Justice Ginsburg
Justice Souter
Justice Stevens
Justice Breyer

Here's some of the recap from the article here at CNN:

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a sweeping ban on handguns in the nation's capital violated the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

The justices struck down the ban in a 5-4 decision, with Justice Antonin Scalia writing the opinion for the majority.
Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty said he was disappointed in the ruling but will give the district's police department 21 days to implement a process for registering handguns. It still will be illegal to carry handguns outside the home, and all pistols must be registered with police.

Let's look at what the two opposing views were, first this is from the majority opinion written by Justice Scalia:

"The Constitution leaves the District of Columbia a variety of tools for combating that problem, including some measures regulating handguns," Scalia wrote. "But the enshrinement of constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy choices off the table. These include the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home."

And now, let's look at how Justice Breyer viewed this from his chair (adorned with a hammer and sickle):

"The self-defense interest in maintaining loaded handguns in the home to shoot intruders is not the primary interest, but at most a subsidiary interest," he wrote. "The Second Amendment's language, while speaking of a 'militia,' says nothing of 'self-defense.' "

So, in other words, Breyer is arguing that a "subsidiary" interest doesn't qualify for protection? Okay, so in other words...what part of Free Speech is considered a "subsidiary"??? If I am a blogger and want to put out to the world that Barack Obama is lying to the American people, could that be viewed by Stephen Breyer as not necessarily covered by the Constitution? Perhaps he thinks that free speech only applies to what I say about ordinary citizens. How far does Breyer and these left wingers want to take their liberal interpretations?

The 2nd amendment is clear as spring water. The citizens have a right to bear arms. The ban in D.C. violated that right. The Truth won here but believe me, if you listen real closely, you can hear the heads of moonbats and Dems and Leftists from coast to coast exploding over this one and I, personally, would like to say this to each and every one of them: Go fuck yourself and don't EVER try to take our guns away, again.

High court strikes down gun ban

Officials said a hot line would be set up to handle questions about the new regulations.
"It is important to respect the court's authority and to act quickly," Fenty said.
The case's lead plaintiff, Dick Heller, applauded the decision, saying, "I'm very happy that I am now able to defend myself and my household in my own home."
Paul Helmke of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence said his group had a mixed reaction to the decision.
Helmke said the group disagrees with the court's interpretation of the Second Amendment but that the ruling "still allows common-sense gun control laws, restrictions to make us all safer."

The National Rifle Association said the high court had given it the ammunition to challenge other cities' gun-control measures.
At issue in District of Columbia v. Heller was whether Washington's ban violated the right to "keep and bear arms" by preventing individuals -- as opposed to state militias -- from having guns in their homes.
"Undoubtedly some think that the Second Amendment is outmoded in a society where our standing army is the pride of our nation, where well-trained police forces provide personal security and where gun violence is a serious problem," Scalia wrote. "That is perhaps debatable, but what is not debatable is that it is not the role of this court to pronounce the Second Amendment extinct."
Scalia was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, all of whom are considered conservative voices on the court. Justice Anthony Kennedy, often seen as a swing vote, also joined the majority.
Justices John Paul Stevens and Stephen Breyer delivered dissenting opinions and were joined by their liberal counterparts Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter.
District of Columbia officials argued they had the responsibility to impose "reasonable" weapons restrictions to reduce violent crime, but several Washingtonians challenged the 32-year-old law. Some said they had been constant victims of crimes and needed guns for protection.

Taliban 101: U.S. JDAM's Even Shock And Awe The Brits

Insurgent 101: You Won't Be Firing Mortars Anymore

Pakistan In Jeopardy Of Losing Entire NWFP To The Taliban

Pakistani security forces are backed up against the proverbial wall in the violent North West Frontier Provinces of Pakistan and it really doesn't look good. The Taliban have made more and more inroads in the region and as usual, the Pakistani security forces have begun fighting with the hearts of mice.

Here's some details from the article at TimesOnline:

Pakistan’s battle against the Taleban threatened to spiral out of control yesterday after Islamic militants extended their grip in the lawless North West Frontier region.
Emboldened by an increasingly weakened and demoralised security force, Taleban fighters moved in to the outskirts of the provincial capital. Peshawar, surrounding the city and placing it virtually under siege.

With Peshawar under siege, it's apparent that the Pakistani security forces will probably cave in totally and the consequences of all of this are immense. With the North West Frontier areas in total control of the Taliban, we will almost see a new autonomous country set up in this area of Pakistan.

One might argue that this was precipitated by the peace talks and agreements brought forward by the Pakistani government. Many experts warned the Pakistani government against those talks and giving in to the Taliban and Mehsud but of course, they didn't listen and now they are going to pay a steep, steep price.

Taleban 'siege' of Peshawar threatens Pakistan's grip

Army troops have increased patrols in the garrison areas and paramilitary soldiers carrying machineguns are posted at government buildings. But senior security officials said that militants, who now control the region’s main arterial roads, were in a position to cut off communications at will.
Police on the city’s outskirts have long given up patrolling at night for fear of attacks by militants, who are organised under the banner of Tehrik-e-Taleban, the group led by the notorious commander Baitullah Mehsud. Several officers have been killed in rocket attacks on police posts in recent months. “It is a highly alarming situation,” said a senior provincial government official.

The Taleban raided the main government hospital in the heart of the city last week, kidnapping 16 Christians and taking them to the Khyber Agency tribal region outside Peshawar. Although they were freed after a few hours, the incident heightened fears among non-Muslims.
The Khyber Agency, the supply route for Nato forces in Afghanistan, has emerged as the new centre of Taleban activity. Ambushes on convoys have become more frequent.
Yesterday security forces said that they had found the bodies of 22 men who were captured by militants this week and executed after summary trial. Taleban fighters also abducted and killed six thieves and kidnappers in the Orakzai area near Peshawar.
On Sunday militants kidnapped 15 paramilitary soldiers after raiding a checkpoint in the tribal belt only a few miles from the city. The attack occurred hours after security forces in the area foiled a suicide attack involving a teenager.
Tehrik-e-Taleban has virtually established control not only in the tribal areas, but also in several key cities of the North West Frontier Province.
Mr Mehsud, the Tehrik-e-Taleban leader described by Western intelligence agencies as one of the world’s most dangerous terrorists, has been blamed by Pakistan for masterminding most of the country’s suicide attacks last year.

Iraq Integrates 9,000 Awakening Council Members Into Police Force

This is absolutely a brilliant idea on the part of the Iraqis. There have been reports lately that the U.S. was going to be stopping or at least cutting back on payments to most of the Awakening Councils, so the Iraqi government has jumped at the opportunity to blend these valued allies into the police force. Here's some of the report over at Aswat Aliraq:

A spokesman for Baghdad security plan on Wednesday said around 9000 awakening council members were appointed as Baghdad police personnels.“The number of awakening council members(Sons of Iraq) appointed as policemen has come to 9000,” Brig, Gen. Qassem Atta, spokesman for Baghdad security plan, told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq(VOI).

Not only does this ensure that the Awakening Council members stay in the fight and aligned with the goals of the Iraqi government, but it will bring some excellent leadership and expertise to the police forces.

I'm not sure if the U.S. commanders in Iraq were behind this strategy, but it really is brilliant. At the same time, the links that the Awakening members have to the civilian population will keep a good flow of intel coming into the police departments on the movements and activities of al Qaeda in Iraq. Good, good news.

Iraqi Gov’t integrates 9000 awakening council members into Baghdad police-spokesman

Baghdad, June24, (VOI)-A spokesman for Baghdad security plan on Wednesday said around 9000 awakening council members were appointed as Baghdad police personnels.“The number of awakening council members(Sons of Iraq) appointed as policemen has come to 9000,” Brig, Gen. Qassem Atta, spokesman for Baghdad security plan, told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq(VOI).The spokesman noted “integrating Sons of Iraq into police personnels is ongoing”, but he did not elaborate the whole number of awakening council across Baghdad areas.Awakening councils are mostly Sunni groups that turned against al-Qaeda network in Iraq(AQI)and have helped US-Iraq forces to wrestle power from the AQI in many western and central Iraqi areas.AM

U.S. Military Chief Due In Israel - Hmmm...Wonder What Is On The Agenda?

Haha. I hope the Iranians are watching this and shitting their pants or robes or burqas or whatever it is they wear. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is headed to Israel and while some of his staff are trying to downplay the timing, it's pretty plain to see (at least from my view) that Iran is going to be topic one and in fact, I wouldn't doubt if an Israeli powerpoint presentation isn't going to be the main topic of discussion - I can imagine some slides of locations in Iran with little red "x's" on em and maybe even some flight routes?

Here's some of the details of the story from Breitbart:

US military chief Admiral Michael Mullen was expected in Israel this week for discussions including Iran, the Pentagon said Wednesday, amid speculation Israel is seeking Washington's tacit approval to strike Tehran's nuclear program.
The press office of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed that Mullen left the United States on Tuesday "to go overseas to visit counterparts as well as combatant commands, and Israel is not his only stop."

"The Israelis have been assured by the Bush administration that the Bush administration will not allow Iran to nuclearize," CBS consultant Michael Oren said.

I don't care what anyone says, the Iranians have to be nervous. The talk of attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities has been all of the talk the past week and a half and I'm not really sure if the Iranians are going to rush their schedule or if they are going to plan to hide it better (or protect it better). Either way, this is a good situation because the more talk there is of attack, the greater the chance of it occurring are.

Some of us have been calling for the destruction of Iranian facilities for many, many months - and it would have been a helluva lot easier back then.

Top US military officer heads to Israel with Iran on the agenda

US military chief Admiral Michael Mullen was expected in Israel this week for discussions including Iran, the Pentagon said Wednesday, amid speculation Israel is seeking Washington's tacit approval to strike Tehran's nuclear program.
The press office of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed that Mullen left the United States on Tuesday "to go overseas to visit counterparts as well as combatant commands, and Israel is not his only stop."
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters the trip had been on the schedule for "months."
"I believe this is a routine opportunity for Chairman Mullen to engage his counterpart in Israel on military-to-military matters, as he does in much of his travels around the world," Morrell said.
"I will say this, though: Obviously, when Chairman Mullen goes to Israel and speaks with the Israelis, they will no doubt discuss the threat posed by Iran, as we discuss it in this building, in other buildings in this town."
Morrell recalled that Washington was committed to resolving the nuclear threat posed by Iran through diplomacy and international sanctions, "while at the same time holding out the option of a military strike, if necessary."
"But the military strike is not our first choice," he said. "Never has been. And we continue to pursue economic and diplomatic pressures as the policy of this government."
US media have reported that more than 100 Israeli fighter jets participated in a training exercise with Greece earlier this month to prepare for a possible long-distance strike -- a maneuver seen as a warning against Iran.
Iran has defied UN sanctions and international demands by pressing on with its disputed uranium enrichment program, which Washington and Israel fear would be used to build a nuclear weapon.
Israeli Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, a former defense chief, said in an interview published in the Russian press Wednesday that Iran would be "annihilated" if it tried to attack Israel.
But, he said, "we are not planning any attack against Iran."
According to the US television network CBS, Israel does not want to wait until the new administration that will succeed US President George W. Bush in January to strike Iranian nuclear sites.

Insurgent 101: I Have Bad News For You - There's An M1A1 In Front Of Your House

Insurgent 101: We'll Just Call Your Safe House...Rubble Now, Okay?