Israeli Cabinet Approves Hezbollah/IDF Prisoner Exchange

The Israeli Cabinet voted 22-3 in favor of a deal to swap a top level Lebanese prison for the two Israeli soldiers kidnapped back in 2006. Earlier in the day, the Israeli government declared that the two IDF soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, are dead. So, this is a deal to get back the remains of the two Israeli soldiers.

Here's some of the details from Breitbart:

Israel's Cabinet overwhelmingly voted in favor of a deal Sunday with Hezbollah to swap a notorious Lebanese prisoner for two captured soldiers who were declared dead earlier in the day.
The proposed deal also needs the approval of the Lebanese militant group's secretive, decision-making Shura Council.
The agreement had sparked a fierce public debate over whether Israel would be giving up too much or carrying out its highest commitment to its soldiers to do everything possible to bring them home if they fell into enemy hands.
The Cabinet debated the deal for nearly six hours before voting 22-3 to back the agreement, said Olmert's spokesman, Jacob Galanti. There was no immediate reaction from the soldiers' families or Hezbollah.

I, personally, am in favor of this swap. The Israelis have always been adamant about retrieving their captured soldiers whether they are dead or alive, but at the same time, I take the stance that once the exchange is made, that retribution is back on the table. Not only did Hezbollah kidnap these two soldiers in a cowardly act, they have refused for two years to allow the Red Cross to determine if the prisoners were alive or being well cared for. Once the bodies of those two soldiers are back in Israel, I would propose that Israel takes all measures to take out the Lebanese prisoner they release and also, at least two key Hezbollah leaders be targeted - two dead IDF equals two dead Hezbollah leaders.

The signal needs to be sent that in the future, for any IDF soldier captured, a Hezbollah leader will die.

Israeli Cabinet approves Hezbollah prisoner deal

Hezbollah had offered no sign that Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were alive and the Red Cross was never allowed to see them.
Ahead of the vote, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said for the first time that Israel has concluded the two soldiers were dead—killed during the raid or shortly after.
"We know what happened to them," Olmert said, according to a prepared statement given to the Cabinet and released by his office. "As far as we know, the soldiers Regev and Goldwasser are not alive."
Goldwasser's father, Shlomo, said he was not surprised by the declaration, but wanted proof the soldiers were dead.
"There have been assessments for a long time," he said. "But none of this matters because it is not fact. ... They were alive when they (were) kidnapped and no one has provided us with evidence to the contrary."
In Beirut, Lebanon, Hezbollah said the Israeli decision reflected the guerrilla group's strength.
"What happened in the prisoners issue is a proof that the word of the resistance is the most faithful, strongest and supreme," the group's Al-Manar TV quoted Hezbollah's Executive Council chief Hashem Safieddine as saying.
Israeli media said the soldiers' bodies would be sent to Germany and identified by Israel before Kantar is released. The identification process and swap are expected to take 10 to 14 days, Israeli media reported.
Germany has been trying to mediate a prisoner exchange since Israel's war with Lebanon ended in August 2006.

U.S & Afghan Troops Kill 32 Taliban In Southern Afghanistan

Yesssss! Another big day for U.S. and Afghan troops in Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan with 32 Taliban cold and dead. Let's take a look at the details reported here at Reuters:

Afghan and U.S.-led coalition troops killed 32 Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan, including some who dressed as women in an attempt to escape, the U.S. military said on Saturday.
The Taliban opened fire with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades on a patrol of Afghan security forces and coalition troops in Uruzgan province on Thursday, the U.S. military said in a statement.
The patrol returned fire then moved to higher ground and called in air strikes, killing three militants.
Militants soon attacked the patrol again, the statement said, and 29 more insurgents were killed.
"During this engagement, insurgents attempted to disguise themselves in women's clothing in order to escape," it said.

Can't you just picture these Taliban, seeing over 30 of their fellows shot up and dead start pulling burqas out of their back packs and then scurrying along mountain trails trying to walk like women when .....well, there aren't any women within 100 miles? Hahahaha.

I've said it before that the Taliban just cannot resist this type of ambush on convoys - it's like a gambling addict trying to walk by a blackjack table where the winners are whooping it up. The problem the Taliban are having is they are running into convoys of U.S. and Afghan troops that have the training on how to react to these ambushes and they also have a ton of air support simply a call away.

Anyway, a world with 32 less Taliban in it is a better world.

Afghan, U.S. troops kill 32 Taliban in clashes

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan and U.S.-led coalition troops killed 32 Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan, including some who dressed as women in an attempt to escape, the U.S. military said on Saturday.
The Taliban opened fire with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades on a patrol of Afghan security forces and coalition troops in Uruzgan province on Thursday, the U.S. military said in a statement.
The patrol returned fire then moved to higher ground and called in air strikes, killing three militants.
Militants soon attacked the patrol again, the statement said, and 29 more insurgents were killed.
"During this engagement, insurgents attempted to disguise themselves in women's clothing in order to escape," it said.
The number of NATO and coalition troops in Afghanistan has been increased and more Afghan soldiers and policemen are on duty, but there has been no let-up in the violence and the Taliban insurgency shows few if any signs of weakening.
More than 6,000 people were killed in Afghanistan last year and there are signs that this year the toll could be higher, with neither side able to gain the upper hand.

Italy Expels 38 Illegal Egyptian Immigrants

Ahhhhh...it's good to have Berlusconi back at the helm of Italy! Egypt gets to welcome home 38 dredges of society who tried to move into Italy and bring their vision of hate and insubordination to that land. Here's some of the details from Breitbart:

Italy said on Saturday it had expelled 38 Egyptians as part of a crackdown ordered by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government on illegal immigration.
In a statement, Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, of the anti-immigrant Northern League party, said he was pleased at the expulsion of the Egyptian immigrants, who were flown to Cairo aboard a chartered plane.
Maroni also defended his plans to fingerprint Roma children. Roma people, known in Italy as "nomads", are blamed for much of the crime in Italian cities.

Berlusconi is not gonna fuck around - he watched on the sideline for too long how the socialists of Italy caved to every terrorist threat in the world and began welcoming into Italy these scourges from islamic land. A month or so ago, the majority of Italians participating in a poll said they oppose ANY new mosques being built in Italy. Well, that kind of sentiment is rolling over Italy and if you are an illegal islamic immigrant, you better look for a new home.

This outcry over the Italians beginning to fingerprint the children is a farce. Italy is experiencing the same kind of crime waves from its "youths" that France has had to deal with for quite some time but Berlusconi, like I said, doesn't fuck around. There is no wonder why this man was put back in power - the land of Italy was falling apart at the seams and this man isn't going to let that happen.

Italy expels 38 Egyptians in immigration crackdown

ROME (Reuters) - Italy said on Saturday it had expelled 38 Egyptians as part of a crackdown ordered by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government on illegal immigration.
In a statement, Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, of the anti-immigrant Northern League party, said he was pleased at the expulsion of the Egyptian immigrants, who were flown to Cairo aboard a chartered plane.
Maroni also defended his plans to fingerprint Roma children. Roma people, known in Italy as "nomads", are blamed for much of the crime in Italian cities.
"We don't know who lives in legal (nomadic) camps let alone the illegal ones. We don't know the nationalities of the residents so we have to do a census," Maroni told the newspaper Corriere della Sera.
Berlusconi took office in May pledging tough measures to stem illegal immigration, including legislation to make the act of crossing into Italy illegally itself an offence punishable by imprisonment.
Some immigrants seeking residency in Italy are fingerprinted already, but not usually children or European Union citizens.
The Catholic charity Fondazione Migrantes, which is linked to the Italian bishops' conference, questioned why Roma people were being singled out.
"It incomprehensible why fingerprints are being taken solely from minors from this tiny ethnic minority," it was quoted as saying by Italian news agencies.
"All of this will not reduce fear and give peace to our people, but set the stage for unearthing a type of xenophobia, or worse, of racial discrimination."

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Pakistan Launches Offensive In Peshawar Against Taliban

Ever heard the expression....too little, too late? Well, the Taliban OWN Peshawar and only then, does the Pakistan government react with a military offensive. I have clamored over here at Holger Awakens for months for the Pakistani government to wake the hell up and stop this policy of appeasement and ass kissing with the Taliban. The Taliban are sons of Satan and I warned it was all a ruse. Well, I have just found the most intuitive, correct paragraph EVER in a news article on the Pakistani/Taliban situation. Look at this from the article at Breitbart:

Security experts said the appearance of the Taliban in Peshawar, just two hours drive west of the capital Islamabad, reflected the military and political failure to halt an Islamist tide rolling in from tribal areas that have become strongholds for the Taliban and al Qaida.

That says it all - the Taliban HAVE been like a tide rolling in and instead of the Pakistani government throwing some force at them, they've let them roll while they've sat at bargaining tables with the likes of the pig, Baitullah Mehsud. It's my prediction that within the next two months, the new government of Pakistan will reach out to NATO for help because the Taliban will have the capital of Islamabad in sight.

Pakistan launches offensive against Taliban near Peshawar+

ISLAMABAD, June 28 (AP) - (Kyodo)—The Pakistani military on Saturday launched a large-scale offensive against Taliban fighters near the northwestern city of Peshawar which is effectively under their control.
By Saturday afternoon, the paramilitary Frontier Corps began shelling suspected militant hideouts in the mountains in Khyber, local official Muhammad Siddiq Khan said, according to the Associated Press.
"There has been no resistance, so far. No casualties, so far," Malik Naveed Khan, the police chief of North West Frontier Province told Reuters news service.
Security experts said the appearance of the Taliban in Peshawar, just two hours drive west of the capital Islamabad, reflected the military and political failure to halt an Islamist tide rolling in from tribal areas that have become strongholds for the Taliban and al Qaida.
Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, based in the most remote tribal region, South Waziristan, telephoned a Reuters correspondent to declare that he was suspending peace talks.
"The talks will remain suspended until the government stops talking about operations and attacks against us," he was quoted as saying by satellite phone from an undisclosed location.

Al Qaeda in Iraq's Top Leader In Mosul Killed By U.S. Troops

Hooray for the troops in Iraq! This is a big fish they took down, for sure. Here's the full story out of the International Herald Tribune:

US says "emir" of al-Qaida in northern city of Mosul killed in raid

BAGHDAD: Al-Qaida's top leader in Mosul was killed during a raid this week in that northern city, the U.S. military said Thursday.
The "emir" of the terror movement in Mosul, known by his nickname Abu Khalaf, was killed along with two other extremists in a gunbattle Tuesday, the U.S. said.
One of those killed was a woman who was shot as she tried to detonate the explosive belt of one of her dead comrades, the statement said.
Associates identified one of the dead as Abu Khalaf, the statement added. It said the third extremist was a Syrian known by his nickname Abu Khalud.
According to the U.S., Abu Khalaf had been a deputy of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaida in Iraq who was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Diyala province in June 2006.
U.S. officials say Mosul is the last major Iraqi city where al-Qaida has a significant presence.

So there you have it, yet ANOTHER key top leader of al Qaeda in Iraq busy trying to find the 72 virgins and I gotta believe this guy left behind a treasure trove of intel on his computer and in his belongings. Won't that come in handy?!!

As you noticed in the article, a woman was killed trying to detonate a suicide belt and this just goes to show that al Qaeda in Iraq continues to successfully recruit these Iraqi women. Most reports are that these are often Sunni women who have lost their husbands or male relatives in the insurgency and apparently feel they can attain some revenge this way.

Osama bin Laden must be so proud to see that his mighty al Qaeda has been reduced to an army of widows. /sarc off

Crowd Of Thousands Of Pakistanis Cheer Taliban Execution Of Two Afghans

Believe me, this is not going to go over well in Afghanistan. Let's look at the details of this disgusting act by the Taliban, from the article at Breitbart:

gang of Pakistani militants executed two Afghan prisoners in front of thousands of cheering supporters Friday, beheading one man and shooting the other after accusing them of aiding a U.S. missile strike.
The executions in the Bajur region highlighted the power of local Taliban forces in lawless tribal areas near the Afghan border.
Militants calling from the loudspeakers of mosques summoned people to the banks of a stream outside the town of Khar, about 120 miles northwest of Islamabad. At least 5,000 people gathered to watch the executions
Gunmen with daggers then pounced on one of the men—identified as Jan Wali, 36—decapitated him and waved his bloody head to the cheering crowd, according to an Associated Press reporter and AP Television News footage from the scene.

Now, I know I don't have to remind any of you about the monster status of the Taliban but look at the reaction of the crowd of Pakistani citizens:

The militants then argued over how to kill the other man because he may have been a teenager, before one lost patience and shot him with an assault rifle.
The crowd erupted in cheers of "God is great!" and gunmen fired in the air in jubilation.

And finally, even in this dark display of barbarism, with the crowd smiling up and cheering to their false prophet mo, JUSTICE was served. Yes, sweet justice was dealt to these pigs who cheered this cold blooded execution:

The celebratory gunfire killed two bystanders and wounded six, local official Fazal Rabbi said.

As a side note, how would you like to be a Pakistani muslim with the last name of "Rabbi"? : )

Crowd watches Pakistan militants kill 2 Afghans

KHAR, Pakistan (AP) - A gang of Pakistani militants executed two Afghan prisoners in front of thousands of cheering supporters Friday, beheading one man and shooting the other after accusing them of aiding a U.S. missile strike.
The executions in the Bajur region highlighted the power of local Taliban forces in lawless tribal areas near the Afghan border.
Also Friday, a top U.N. official expressed fears that Pakistan's peace deals with militants were sparking a wave of similar abuses.
Militants calling from the loudspeakers of mosques summoned people to the banks of a stream outside the town of Khar, about 120 miles northwest of Islamabad. At least 5,000 people gathered to watch the executions.
Masked militants pulled the two blindfolded Afghans from a car and forced them to kneel on the ground.
Waliur Rehman, a local Taliban commander, told the crowd that the two men had confessed to aiding in the strike on a house in the border town of Damadola that killed 14 people last month. The men disclosed the names of others accused of involvement, who would be killed as well, Rehman said. Pakistan's army lodged a formal protest to "allied forces" in Afghanistan after saying Pakistan had concluded the attack was launched by drones from across the border. The U.S. did not comment on the incident.
"Whoever, for the sake of money, for the sake of America, harms the interest of the Islamic world will meet the same fate," Rehman said.
Gunmen with daggers then pounced on one of the men—identified as Jan Wali, 36—decapitated him and waved his bloody head to the cheering crowd, according to an Associated Press reporter and AP Television News footage from the scene.
The militants then argued over how to kill the other man because he may have been a teenager, before one lost patience and shot him with an assault rifle.
The crowd erupted in cheers of "God is great!" and gunmen fired in the air in jubilation. The celebratory gunfire killed two bystanders and wounded six, local official Fazal Rabbi said.
There was no immediate reaction to the killings from U.S. or Pakistani officials.
The recently elected Pakistani government has supported negotiations that would give local tribes and militants broad authority over some tribal areas. The U.S. says those deals will only give Taliban and al-Qaida forces in the border region more freedom to attack Afghanistan.
A deal has not yet been reached over Bajur, but the militants are clearly able to operate freely in the area.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said Friday she was concerned that the peace deals undermined state authority and left residents vulnerable to a range of human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings.

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