Friday - September 26, 2008

Somebody just made their last mistake

Prepare for hell boys and girls. You’re about to see one major reprisal in eastern africa. Little kidnappings and ship hijackings are one thing. This latest bit of piracy is an act of war. Against the Russians. And that is a really big mistake to make.

Russia’s navy ordered a warship to Somalia’s coast, officials said Friday, after pirates seized a Ukrainian vessel loaded with 33 tanks, ammunition, and Russian and Ukrainian crew members.

Russian navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo said in a statement that the frigate Neustrashimy left the Russia’s Baltic port of Baltiisk on Wednesday. The statement did not specifically mention the seizure on Thursday of the Ukrainian ship.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Yury Yekhanurov, meanwhile, said that the ship, the Faina, was carrying 33 Russian T-72 tanks and a substantial quantity of ammunition and spare parts. Yekhanurov said the tanks were sold in accordance with international law, according to Larisa Mudrak, a spokeswoman for Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko.

Ukrainian officials and an anti-piracy watchdog said 21 crew members were aboard the seized ship, and Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said the crew included three Russians.

U.S. ships are in the area and are “monitoring the situation,” Lt. Nate Christensen, spokesman for the U,S, Navy’s 5th Fleet said, but added he could not go further into specifics because of the security issues involved.

This is the 61st attack off Somalia this year, and pirates are now holding 14 ships and more than 300 crew members, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting center based in Malaysia.

Middleton said it was unclear how the pirates might react if confronted by military action, noting that they have fled from authorities in the past. On the other hand, he said, they are usually well-armed and organized and are based in an unstable country — Somalia.

“It could potentially get pretty messy,” he said

Posted by Drew458     on 09/26/2008 at 12:34 PM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! • War On Terror •  
• Comments (9) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Wednesday - September 17, 2008

US embassy blast: 10 die in car bomb attack in Yemen .

I guess this isn’t news anymore but .....

US embassy blast: 10 die in car bomb attack in Yemen

Islamist militants attacked the heavily-guarded US embassy in Yemen with a car bomb and rockets, killing at least ten people.

By Tim Butcher, Middle East Correspondent
Last Updated: 1:57PM BST 17 Sep 2008

The car exploded some distance from the embassy in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, at a checkpoint manned by security personnel, before gunmen in another car started firing.

The attackers wore police uniforms to try to get through the embassy’s perimeter security during a morning shift change.

Four civilians and six members of the police died in the attack, a spokesman for the Yemeni security forces said. The six attackers - one wearing an explosives belt, also died. There were no casualties among US diplomatic staff.

Trevor Mason, a British eye-witness who lives in an apartment block close to the US embassy compound, said the attack began around 8.30 am local time.

“We heard the sounds of a heavy gun battle going on,’’ he said.

“I looked out my window, and we saw the first explosion going off—a massive fireball very close to the US embassy.

“The gun battle went on for a further 10 to 15 minutes, followed by two further loud explosions.

“The situation is quiet now but obviously very tense.’’

A militant group calling itself the Islamic Jihad in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack.

Three days ago it issued a warning it was preparing to attack targets in Yemen including the British and US embassies.

The Yemeni regime’s close links to the West - allowing US soldiers to train its security forces - has prompted numerous recriminatory attacks from the militant groups that enjoy strong support from the country’s deeply conservative, tribal population.

Osama bin Laden was born in Saudi Arabia, but his father was born in Yemen and the bin Laden clan still has deep roots in the country’s arid, lawless hinterland.

The British embassy was attacked with grenades so many times in the 1990s it was moved to a more secure location on a hillside overlooking Sanaa after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The US ordered non-essential staff to leave Yemen in April, a day after an attack on a residential compound.

In December 1998 three British tourists and an Australian were killed after Islamic militants kidnapped a tour group near Aden in the south of Yemen.

And in 2000, 17 US sailors were killed when suicide bombers with alleged links to al-Qaeda blew themselves up on an inflatable raft next to the USS Cole in
Aden.

http://tinyurl.com/5j8tos

Posted by Drew458     on 09/17/2008 at 10:52 AM   
Filed Under: • RoPMA • Terrorists • War On Terror •  
• Comments (0) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Tuesday - September 16, 2008

Reports of shooting between Pakistan and US denied.

Hard to really know what’s going on over there.  The first reports that came in said Pakistani troops did in fact fire on our guys, their military further stated they would not tolerate American troops crossing the border. 

Now we’re told, Never Mind. Didn’t happen.  Except some are saying yes it did and other saying yeah but not that way. ?
Bizarre.

Pakistan and America have denied claims by Pakistani officials near the Afghan border that shots were exchanged between the two.

Last Updated: 8:40AM BST 16 Sep 2008

Firing by Pakistani troops forced US helicopters to turn back to Afghanistan after they crossed into Pakistani territory early on Monday, Pakistani security officials said.

Pakistan’s military spokesman, Major Murad Khan, confirmed that there had been shooting but said the American helicopters had not crossed into Pakistani airspace and that Pakistani troops were not responsible for the firing.

“The US choppers were there at the border, but they did not violate our airspace,” he said.

“We confirm that there was a firing incident at the time when the helicopters were there, but our forces were not involved.”

A spokesman for the U.S. military at Bagram Airbase, north of Kabul, said its forces had not reported any such incident.

But the official denials were contradicted by Pakistani civilian officials and villagers in Angor Adda.

One official said that “the troops stationed at BP-27 post fired at the choppers and they turned away”.

A resident described the tension in the village through the night. “We saw helicopters flying all over the area. We stayed awake the whole night after the incident,” he said.

The alleged incident took place near Angor Adda, a village in the tribal region of South Waziristan where U.S. commandos in helicopters raided a suspected al Qaeda and Taliban camp earlier this month.

“The US choppers came into Pakistan by just 100 to 150 metres at Angor Adda. Even then our troops did not spare them, opened fire on them and they turned away,” said one security official.

The US and Pakistani military both denied that account, but Angor Adda villagers and officials supported it.

Pakistan is a crucial US ally in its war on terrorism, and its support is key to the success of Western forces trying to stabilise Afghanistan. But Washington has become impatient over Islamabad’s response to the threat from al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in Pakistan’s tribal regions on the border.

At least 20 people, including women and children, were killed in the South Waziristan raid earlier this month, sparking outrage in Pakistan and prompting a diplomatic protest.

Pakistani army chief General Ashfaq Kayani said in a strongly worded statement last week that Pakistan would not allow foreign troops onto its soil and Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would be defended at all costs.

Another security official said on Monday that US armoured vehicles were also seen moving on the Afghan side of the border, while US warplanes were seen overhead.

He said Pakistani soldiers sounded a bugle call and fired in the air, forcing the helicopters to return to Afghan territory.

http://tinyurl.com/5mrvws

Posted by Drew458     on 09/16/2008 at 10:48 AM   
Filed Under: • War On Terror • War-Stories •  
• Comments (6) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Sunday - September 14, 2008

Have more babies and Muslims can take over the UK’ hate fanatic says.

Think it can’t or won’t happen?  If so, you’re asleep.

This is something I know we’ve all been aware of for some time.  Of course, when anyone on the right mentions it, the left comes up with the usual ‘R’ word and lectures about diversity and multi culture blather.

Well fine but now they get to hear it from the horse’s own mouth.  Or should that be the donkey’s backside.

So here these scummy bastards are right smack dab in the middle of western civilization, and the west talks about multi-culturism.

btw ... what’s the muzzie population of the USA at the moment?  Growing, most likely.

‘Have more babies and Muslims can take over the UK’ hate fanatic says, as warning comes that ‘next 9/11 will be in UK’

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 6:55 PM on 13th September 2008

Muslim hate fanatics plan to take over Britain by having more babies and forcing a population explosion, it has been revealed.

The swollen Muslim population would be enough to conquer Britain from inside, they claim.

Fanatics told a meeting of young Muslims on the anniversary of the 9/11 atrocity, that it would then be easy to impose Sharia law on the population, the Sun newspaper reported.

Speaking at a meeting in London, Anjem Choudary, right-hand man of exiled preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed, said: “It may be by pure conversion that Britain will become an Islamic state. We may never need to conquer it from the outside.”

Preachers: Ajum Choudhary (left) chairs the meeting with banned Muslim cleric Omar Backri’s webcast on the wall behind

He added: “We do not integrate into Christianity. We will ensure that one day you will integrate into the Sharia Islamic law.”

His comments were made as voice of hate Bakri warned that the next 9/11 would take place in the UK.

Speaking via video link the exiled cleric said Osama bin Laden had taught the Americans a ‘lesson’ seven years ago, but the ‘crusaders’ had not learned.
Anjem Choudary

Anjem Choudary: Have more babies and conquer from the inside

Muslim cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed: The next 9/11 will be in the UK

He said the next ‘9/11 will take place in Britain, the next 7/7 [London bombings] could take place locally’.

Bakri told a 100-strong audience of supporters in Walthamstow, east London this week that he believed the British government was trying to assassinate him and claimed to have foiled a bomb plot.

Technical difficulties meant much of his speech was inaudible, but his appearance was greeted by cheers of ‘faith’ and ‘god is great’ at the community centre.

Bakri’s right-hand man, Anjem Choudary, led the proceedings in person, under the auspices of a group called Association for Islamic Research.

The most incendiary speech was delivered by Saiful Islam, who lauded Bin Laden and al Qaeda for their ‘courage’ in retaliating against the ‘dictatorship and oppression’ of the West.

He said: ‘The blame of 9/11 belongs to no one but the American government. They are the terrorists.

‘Sheikh Osama warned America numerous times, it was because of their own arrogance, because they thought they are a superpower and nobody could match them, that Sheikh Osama taught them a lesson - a lesson they still haven’t learned.’

Mr Islam, who is linked to an organisation called Salafi Youth for Islamic Propagation, warned that unless British and American troops were withdrawn from ‘Muslim lands’ they would be to blame for the consequences, saying the West would ‘never achieve security until our own [Muslim] lands achieve security’.

‘Wake up. Withdraw. Listen to the warnings. Muslims will stand side to side, not just al Qaeda. The actions of the British and Americans have given prominence to al Qaeda.

‘All of us have a part to play in stopping the violence or the next 9/11 will take place in Britain, the next 7/7 could take place locally,’ he added.

Mr Choudary was the last speaker and was more guarded in his address to the young Muslim men that made up most of the audience.

But he criticised the Government for persecuting ‘innocent Muslims’, naming Bakri, Abu Hamza, Abu Qatada and Omar Brooks along with the defendants in the airliner bomb plot trial.

He said: ‘They [the Government] say they are civilised. But they don’t act very civilised. They jailed Sheikh Abu Qatada in Belmarsh prison. Is that the way you treat your guests?’

Mr Choudary then referred to Bakri’s notorious aim of flying the ‘flag of Sharia’ over Downing Street, claiming that this would happen by 2020 as 500 people a day were converting to Islam and laughing that Muslim families in places like Whitechapel and Bethnal Green in east London were having ‘10 or 12 children each’.

He ranted against mainstream bodies like the Muslim Council of Britain, who condemned 9/11 and 7/7, accusing them of ‘selling their souls to the devil’.

http://tinyurl.com/6m2hb7

Posted by Drew458     on 09/14/2008 at 08:49 AM   
Filed Under: • RoPMA • Terrorists • UK • War On Terror •  
• Comments (1) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Saturday - September 13, 2008

Bomb disposal hero killed in Afghanistan. Battling Brit to the end. RIP, a brave man indeed.

My postings for today might be on the light side, so I hate starting off the morning with news of this nature.  However, I can’t avoid it.

I seem to have taken on a mission of sorts to be a one man reminder to my countrymen and women, that in spite of all the vitriol we get from the left here,
there are Brits dying along side us.  In many cases not even reported, my bet would be some have suffered worse and of course the families will never fully recover.

Since it isn’t the purview of the press back home, even the conservative press, to report on allied casualties, I think BMEWS is as good a place as any to honor and pay our last respects to those allies who have fallen or otherwise been injured in a war that sees no end in my lifetime.

RIP, Warrant Officer Gary O’Donnell.

Bomb disposal hero killed in Afghanistan
A highly decorated bomb disposal specialist described as “unbelievably brave” has been killed while attempting to defuse a device in Afghanistan.

By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent
Last Updated: 6:19PM BST 12 Sep 2008
Warrant Officer Gary O’Donnell GM of the Royal Logistics Corps: Bomb disposal hero killed in Afghanistan

WO2 Gary O’Donnell, who had been awarded the George Medal for exceptional courage, was blown up as he walked towards the device outside the town of Musa Qala.

The soldier was part of a team ordered to clear the way for the infantry during an operation outside the town on Wednesday.

In a five week period earlier this summer he dealt with 22 bombs including eight Taliban landmines in one day.

Warrant Officer Gary O’Donnell GM of the Royal Logistics Corps Photo: PA

Tragically WO2 O’Donnell’s wife Toni had given birth to their second son nine weeks ago and the solider had been able to see the baby during leave last month.

In a statement his wife Toni, mother of their other son Aiden, eight, said: “Gary was living the dream and we are all very proud of who he was and he will be missed greatly.”

The soldier has two teenage children from a previous marriage.

WO2 O’Donnell, one of 17 military recipients of the George Medal in the last 15 years, had defused a terrorist rocket launching system “primed to wreak havoc” on the 4,000 troops at Basra air base in Iraq in 2006.

His citation read that the bomb disposal officer also “showed selflessness and composure” in neutralising radio controlled improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

“He demonstrated persistent bravery on numerous occasions, rendering safe devices that were intended to kill and maim,” the citation said. “He saved lives while risking his own.”

WO2 O’Donnell was seen as an exceptionally gifted bomb disposal officer, passing the IED disposal course as a “high threat operator” first time - a feat achieved by only one in six ammunition technicians.

As part of the Royal Logistics Corps team he undertook two tours of Afghanistan and Northern Ireland as well as Sierra Leone and Iraq.

Lt Col Dave Wilson, his commanding officer, described the soldier as “hugely talented” and “unbelievably brave”.

“He was at the very top of his extremely dangerous and difficult trade. It was his passion and he took immense pride in making places safer for other people, the danger to his own life rarely seemed to affect him. If it did, he kept it to himself.”

A natural leader, his “big smile” gave “reassurance to the less experienced or more anxious”.

“Men of this calibre are extremely rare.”

In June the soldier narrowly escaped being blown up by a landmine by jamming his fingers into a clothes peg that had been used as makeshift trigger.

“I saw the ends of the peg moving. I didn’t have time to think. I had to act straightaway. I just jammed my fingers in,” he said.

The peg was wired to an 82mm mortar and a 107mm Chinese rocket with a total of 2kg of explosives.

“If I hadn’t done it, if it had shut, I wouldn’t be here,” he said at the time after racing to deal with the device left near the camp of soldiers from 2nd Bn The Parachute Regiment.

The bomb would have almost certainly killed a Para if stepped on.

Des Brown, the defence secretary, said WO2 O’Donnell “selflessly put his own life at risk to save the lives of others”.

“I have no doubt that in his extraordinary career he was personally responsible for saving thousands of the family, friends and comrades of others from the anguish that is currently being felt by his own.”

http://tinyurl.com/3l7m75

Posted by Drew458     on 09/13/2008 at 02:14 AM   
Filed Under: • UK • War On Terror •  
• Comments (3) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Thursday - September 11, 2008

9/11 anniversary: we must never forget.  The Telegraph, 9/11/2008

9/11 anniversary: we must never forget

Last Updated: 1:01pm BST 11/09/2008
The Daily Telegraph

Seven years ago today the world watched in horror as one of the worst terrorist outrages imaginable was played out in front of our eyes on television. The images will never be forgotten, and nor should the extraordinary unity of opinion that they provoked.

Many who had been critical of America’s foreign policy or who were sceptical about the threat posed by Islamist fanatics had to accept that their murderous intent knew no bounds. There was a resurgent faith in the value of democracy, liberty and enlightened religion that the west epitomised.

An explosion rips through the South Tower of the World Trade Towers after the hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into it September 11 2001
9/11 proved that a small number of terrorists can cause mass destruction.

Seven years on, and not least because of the way America bungled the post-Saddam development of Iraq, voices are being raised that the terrorist threat is really not so bad and that it is all being exaggerated for political reasons. As the US government prepares to move troops from Iraq to Afghanistan to confront a resurgent al-Qaeda threat, those voices will get louder.

As 9/11 showed, it does not take a lot of people, or a great deal of sophistication, to cause carnage on a devastating scale. The destruction of four aircraft, two of the world’s iconic buildings and part of the Pentagon required fewer than 20 zealots, all prepared to kill themselves in the name of their religion, several months of flying lessons and some airline tickets. The terrorists did not even disguise their own identities and had conspired for months below the radar of western intelligence.

As reported in this newspaper on Monday, Western security sources believe Islamists based in northern Pakistan, in the lawless tribal areas of Waziristan, are using the political chaos there to continue plotting against the West. Their aim is to obtain a nuclear device or make a radioactive ‘dirty’ bomb for use against a Western target. Those who believe such warnings are scaremongering must consider the events in this country in recent years – not just the suicide bombers on July 7, but other conspiracies that were intent on mass murder.

Dihren Barot, an al-Qaeda ‘sleeper’ living in north London, last year admitted planning to use a low-level radioactive dirty bomb in the UK that would have caused widespread panic and chaos, even if it had not been particularly large.

The Islamists’ hatred of the West and its values encourages them to pursue ever more dramatic attacks. Sept 11, unfortunately, is not for them the apogee of terrorist achievement but a benchmark for greater destruction. The fanatics may be small in number, but it only takes a few to get through to cause death, misery and mayhem.

If anyone still doubts that, let them imagine what it must have been like starting work on the upper floors of the World Trade Centre,

http://tinyurl.com/5c6buy

Posted by Drew458     on 09/11/2008 at 08:33 AM   
Filed Under: • RoPMA • Terrorists • War On Terror •  
• Comments (3) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

9/11

CHAMPION, Pennsylvania — The seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks is supposed to bring the heated presidential race to a screeching halt. But just for a day.

Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama were appearing together twice Thursday and agreed to suspend all TV ads critical of each other in honor of the day terrorists forced four airplanes to crash [; two] into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, [one in] a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and [the fourth into] the Pentagon in Washington, killing nearly 3,000 people.

Neither candidate had any political events scheduled for the day. The 2001 attacks transformed the nation in many ways, and one is that every anniversary since has found those holding or seeking office struggling for ways to appropriately pay homage.

McCain was briefly speaking at a ceremony near the Shanksville crash site, alongside other dignitaries and relatives of the 40 passengers and crew who were killed there. Investigators believe passengers rushed the cockpit of United Airlines Flight 93 to thwart terrorists’ plans to use that plane as a weapon like the others.

In the afternoon, in New York, Obama and McCain were to visit ground zero together for a somber, silent wreath-laying in the pit that marks the largest loss of life in the attacks.

That appearance is to be followed by another in the evening at a Columbia University forum to discuss their views on public service. Obama’s only other planned outing Thursday was lunch in New York with former President Clinton.

A joint statement from the campaigns announcing their decision to visit ground zero together said they wanted to do so in thanks for all emergency responders who served during and after the attacks as well as the military troops still defending the nation.

“We will put aside politics and come together to renew that unity, to honor the memory of each and every American who died, and to grieve with the families and friends who lost loved ones,” the statement said.

Posted by Drew458     on 09/11/2008 at 07:42 AM   
Filed Under: • War On Terror •  
• Comments (0) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

Next US terror attack ‘could be by white Americans or Europeans’, says US intel.

I see this story arrived after I shut down yesterday, so by now it might not be news to you folks back home.  But it’s in this morning’s paper so I’m posting it.
The idea of course isn’t new and I had heard of this worry ever since that American kid (John Walker Lind?) was brought to book some years ago.

It is a very scary thought, and there has been some shock here seeing a few western looking terrorists and many black Brit born muslims who simply blend into the black community. It is a serious problem and I guess it’s just gonna get worse.

Next US terror attack ‘could be by white Americans or Europeans’
US intelligence officials increasingly fear that the next terror attack on the United States will be carried out by white Americans or Europeans.

By Tom Leonard in New York
Last Updated: 7:38PM BST 10 Sep 2008

As Barack Obama and John McCain head to New York’s Ground Zero seven years after 19 Middle-Eastern hijackers brought devastation to the US mainland, counter-terrorism experts believe that any future attack will be made by terrorists with an “American face”.

They point to reports of white faces in terrorism training camps in Pakistan - the so-called “white men of Waziristan”, a reference to the remote tribal area where both al-Qaeda and the Taliban have bases.

Experts believe that dozens of westerners have undergone such training as their leaders try to recruit non-Middle Eastern Asians, particularly ethnic Caucasians, who are less likely to attract the attention of security and law enforcement agencies.

Al-Qaeda’s recent decision to put out videos in English and a similar change on extremist “jihadi” websites have also been cited of evidence of a new strategy to find recruits who are less likely to attract the attention of security and law enforcement agencies.

Such concerns were sharpened last week after the arrest of three Germans over an alleged plot to destroy a club used by US servicemen.

Two of the three were white, ethnic Germans and all had allegedly been trained in camps in Waziristan.

“There is no bigger worry for the US counter-terrorism community than young Caucasian men who have turned to al-Qaeda,” Roger Cressey, a former National Security Council official in the Clinton and Bush administrations, told the US news network MSNBC.

Terrorism experts say such a threat has been known about even before the arrest of Richard Reid, the British shoe bomber. However, it was not until three weeks ago that a US official explicitly admitted that the government knew of such people being trained in significant numbers.

In a little reported speech, Ted Gistaro, the US national intelligence officer for transnational threats, said that al-Qaeda was training and “positioning” its operatives for attacks in the West, probably including the US.

He added: “These operatives include North American and European citizens, and legal residents with passports that allow them to travel to the United States without a US visa.”

Mr Cressey, the council’s director for transnational threats at the time of 9/11, said that President Bush last month hosted a joint meeting of the NSC and the Homeland Security Council to discuss current threats.

The training of the type of people identified by Mr Gistaro was “the single biggest concern” at the meeting because “they can’t be tracked and they’re not in anyone’s database,” said Mr Cressey.

Prof Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University, said that the Western al-Qaeda recruits probably “run into the dozens” and did not need to be white to be useful to the terrorist group.

“Europe provides a potentially large pool from which al-Qaeda can draw. It’s hard to put a figure on them but it’s certainly beyond the ones and twos,” he said.

“The group’s having to find new ways to penetrate our defences. So, in a sense, this is a consequence of our own success.”

Last month, the Homeland Security Department announced a plan to require visitors from 27 friendly countries, including Britain, to register online at least three days before flying to the US to allow more time for terrorism checks.

In Manhattan today, Mr McCain and Mr Obama have agreed to help keep the focus on remembering 9/11 rather than the election when they attend the ceremonial reading of victims’ names.

Detailed designs for a 47,500-sq ft pavilion for a Sept 11 museum at the World Trade Centre site were unveiled yesterday. The three-storey glass and steel building was inspired by the Twin Towers.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, Michael Bloomberg, New York’s mayor, said there should be “no more excuses, no more delays” on completing a memorial by the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

Progress on redeveloping the WTC site had been “frustratingly slow”, in large part because of administrative bureaucracy, he said.

http://tinyurl.com/67or6r

Posted by Drew458     on 09/11/2008 at 07:20 AM   
Filed Under: • RoPMA • Terrorists • War On Terror •  
• Comments (5) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Wednesday - September 10, 2008

No Title Needed

Posted by Drew458     on 09/10/2008 at 11:31 PM   
Filed Under: • War On Terror •  
• Comments (2) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

What hope is there if we can’t bring to justice those accused of wanting to destroy us.

What hope is there if we can’t bring to justice those accused of wanting to destroy us
By Max Hastings
Last updated at 2:10 AM on 10th September 2008

If you or I were arrested tomorrow, in possession of a video in which we announced an intention to kill for Jesus and with a bomb-making kit in the living room at home, we would not expect to fare well in the dock by shrugging that we were not really serious.

Yet the jury at Woolwich Crown Court on Monday failed to convict eight defendants of charges against them of conspiring to blow up airliners.

Despite the discovery of seven ‘martyrdom videos’, a bomb-making factory and detailed airline flight lists, the jury found only three men guilty of conspiracy to murder, and failed to agree on charges of conspiracy to detonate explosives on aircraft against any of those accused.
Abdulla Ahmed Ali

Rant: Abdulla Ahmed Ali pledged ‘revenge’ on the British people in a video found by police.

Yesterday, the police and security authorities were stunned by the half-cock outcome of a prosecution for which they believed the evidence was overwhelming.

It has important implications for the struggle against terrorism; for the credibility of Britain’s anti-terrorist operations; for airline security; and maybe also for our faith in the jury system.

We must say ‘maybe’ about juries, because unless one was present in court, heard every scrap of evidence and saw what sort of people were sitting in the jury box, it is impossible to be certain about the justice of the findings.

But what is plain is that at least some of the 12 men and women rejected the judgments of the police and Security Service about the threat which the defendants posed to public safety.

Since the issue at stake was one of life and death, this is frightening.

The verdicts may leave us to assume either that those responsible for protecting us do not know what they are doing; or that some jury members are stunningly indifferent to the activities of allegedly would-be mass-murderers.

Recent controversy about anti-terrorist legislation, criticism of allegedly intrusive surveillance methods, and attacks on the credibility of police evidence, have damaged the image of the security authorities.

More than a few British Muslims believe the police to be prejudiced against them. Polls show that hundreds of thousands publicly or privately sympathise with young jihadis who want to wage war on the West.

It is three years since the London bombings which caused 52 deaths. Some otherwise sensible people would like to believe that the terrorist threat is not now so grave; that some of the young Muslims scrutinised by the police and MI5 are not really serious about their plots.

However, the truth is that the Security Service believes there are more young jihadis in Britain than ever before. Many are committed to killing innocent people in the name of their religion, using airliners if they can, because 9/11 showed these to be the most effective weapons.

Read a book like Ed Husain’s The Islamist, a memoir by someone reared in Britain who became an Islamic fundamentalist and which tells of the murderous groups he met during his years of commitment.

Ed Husain recanted. Today, he cannot understand why the British government and people are so absurdly laid-back about militants who preach hate and death in British cities.

Husain writes that he still cannot understand why the Government gave a knighthood to Iqbal Sacranie of the Muslim Council of Britain, who applauded the 1989 Iranian fatwa on Salman Rushdie, and refused to renege on his view in 2006.

Husain writes that he still cannot understand why the Government gave a knighthood to Iqbal Sacranie of the Muslim Council of Britain, who applauded the 1989 Iranian fatwa on Salman Rushdie, and refused to renege on his view in 2006.

Listen to any policeman involved in monitoring the traffic of young men between Britain and Pakistan. Hear accounts, supported by first-hand evidence, about the training camps and indoctrination sessions which recruits attend, the murderous ambitions they bring back to London.

Intelligence officers acknowledge that there have always been wild young zealots out there, of all races and promoting many causes, who wanted to vent their rage upon society.

In the past, however, such people lacked means. Even getting a gun was hard, because they seldom lived among criminals.

Today, by contrast, the internet empowers fanatics. Information is out there, and can never be suppressed, to show men like those in court at Woolwich how to build almost undetectable bombs. Liquid explosives remain a threat — and thus restrictions will continue upon millions of airline passengers.

Of course, the airport security process exasperates us all. My stepdaughter left her baby’s suncream in his pushchair as she boarded the plane for a summer holiday. It went smartly into the trash can, as do tens of thousands of such items every day. This is the way things are going to stay.

The experts say neither scanners nor passenger ‘profiling’ are discerning enough to offer any option. Airport screening is the relatively easy part. It is much harder to sustain surveillance of embittered young Muslims who wish us harm, some of them born and brought up in Britain.

The confusion of their objectives would invite mockery, if their purposes were not so terrible. Some attend training camps run by Kashmiri separatists, who are waging a war against India which they are happy to promote by killing British people.

Abdulla Ahmed Ali, one of the men convicted on Monday, accused the British people in his suicide video of caring more about foxes than Muslims, because they attend anti-hunting demonstrations.

Optimists say that many Muslim militants eventually come to their senses, grow out of their rage, as did Ed Husain. They discover better purposes in life. They decide that, perhaps, Britain and the West are not quite as evil and decadent as they were led to suppose.

But what happens meanwhile? What is to be done about the alarmingly large number of twenty-something-year-old would-be martyrs who want to kill us in the name of Allah?

The only possible answer is that they must be identified, arrested, charged — and convicted. If they are not, if British society shows itself incapable of defending itself against mass killers, however half-baked their ideas and methods, then we are all at risk. The Woolwich verdicts, or rather lack of them, suggest that something is badly wrong somewhere.

Some claim that premature American-inspired action in Pakistan, to arrest a local militant involved in the London plot, forced the hand of British anti-terrorist forces before their evidence against the Walthamstow group was complete.

Whatever the case, it is plain that public confidence in the Government’s judgment — for instance, about the need for 28-day detention of terror suspects and ID cards — and in police evidence is badly shaken.

We live in a world in which many people, especially the young, are reluctant to believe what they are told by anyone in authority. They are unconvinced that anything, save perhaps climate change, is really serious.

They half-expect jihadis staring madly out of police identification photographs to turn out to be Rory Bremner or John Fortune doing a turn for a comedy programme. Maybe there were some people who think like that among the Woolwich jury.

No responsible person wants innocents convicted of terrible crimes, nor an exaggerated climate of public fear. But if half the evidence produced against the defendants in the Walthamstow bomb plot was true, then we have reason to be deeply dismayed by the inconclusive outcome.

The prosecuting authorities must demand a retrial. We have got to do better than this, if we are to protect ourselves from the real and present danger of Islamic terror.

http://tinyurl.com/57f26u

Posted by Drew458     on 09/10/2008 at 12:30 PM   
Filed Under: • RoPMA • Terrorists • UK • War On Terror •  
• Comments (3) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

Thanks Chris!

Two very worthwhile posts up this morning at cmblake6’s blog.

The first is a link to a newspaper article. From the Telegraph, “Britain’s No.1 quality newspaper website”, the author writes about Our Sarah. And the amazing thing is ... he gets it!

It is clear that few in America, let alone Britain, have any idea what to make of Sarah Palin. The Republicans’ vice-presidential candidate confounds the commentators because they don’t understand the forces that shaped her in the remote state of Alaska.

...

But, having worked with Alaskans, I know something of the challenge she has faced, and why - contrary to what Democrats think - it could make her a powerful figure in the White House.

...

Her rise from parent-teacher association to city council gave her a natural political base in her home town of Wasilla. Going on to become mayor was a natural progression. Wasilla’s population of 9,000 would be a small town in Britain, and even in most American states.  But Wasilla is the fifth-largest city in Alaska, which meant that Palin was an important player in state politics.

The second one is for this video:

My hope is that neither of these are voices in the wilderness. The first one probably is. The second one is not, but I wish a couple hundred million folks on the left would watch it and actually understand. I don’t have high hopes for that.

Posted by Drew458     on 09/10/2008 at 11:24 AM   
Filed Under: • Patriotism • Politics • War On Terror •  
• Comments (4) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Monday - September 08, 2008

Airliner bomb trial: ‘Suicide’ videos promised body parts on the streets .

These scum will win unless the west starts fighting fire with same.  They will use the freedom of the west against the west while the appeasers and hand wringers make nice on the sidelines.  Authorities have the evidence, why the trial?  A cheap rope will work quite nicely.

Suicide’ videos promised body parts on the streets
In what the prosecution claimed were six “suicide videos” lasting a total of more than an hour, the defendants threatened to scatter “body parts” on the streets in revenge for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

By Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent
Last Updated: 6:16PM BST 08 Sep 2008

The videos appeared to be choreographed by Abdulla Ahmed Ali, who called himself the leader of “this blessed operation”.

During a 16-minute rant, Ali pointed his finger and mopped his brow as he made his point.

He accused his targets of caring more about fox hunting than Muslims and added: “I don’t consider anybody innocent who supports the slaughter of my people. What have you done to stop this oppression?

“You have shown more concern for animals than for the Muslim ummah [world]. When foxes are being killed you hold massive demonstrations.

“Any sensible person knows we are not targeting innocent people. We have made it absolutely clear to stay away from military, economic and government targets. If you do this you will be safe.”

Referring to Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Ali told his audience: “Sheikh Osama warned you many times to leave our lands or you will be destroyed and now the time has come for you to be destroyed and you have nothing to expect than floods of martyr operations, volcanoes of anger and revenge erupting among your capital.”

He went on: “Expect floods of martyr operations against you and we will take our revenge and anger, ripping amongst your people and scattering the people and your body parts and your people’s body parts responsible for these wars and oppression decorating the streets.”

Ali accused western leaders of paedophilia, pornography and fornication and said he was “fed up with living in a kuffar [heathen] land”.

“I’m no one’s slave, I’m a free man,” he added. “Those that know me know that I was over the moon that Allah has given me this opportunity to lead this blessed operation.”

He said he had wanted to seek martyrdom since the age of 15 or 16 and said his aim was the “big rewards that Allah has promised those who step on his path and inshaallah [god willing] become martyr and the best of amongst those to me is the guarantee of jannah [paradise] for myself and my family and those that are close to me.

“On top of this is to punish and to humiliate the kuffar [non-believers], to teach them a lesson that they will never forget.”

In his 18-minute video, Umar Islam, said he was on a mission of “revenge for the actions of the USA in the Muslim lands and their accomplices such as the British and the Jews”

Dressed in a black and white checked head scarf and sitting in front of a black banner with the words “There is no god but Allah” written in Arabic he told his audience: “There are many more like us ready to strike until the law of Allah is established on this earth.”

Islam, a convert of Jamaican origin whose real name is Brian Young, appeared to be reading from a pre-prepared script as he proclaimed: “Martyrdom operations upon martyrdom operations will keep on raining on these Kuffar until they release you and leave our lands.”

Off-screen Ali said non-believers would accuse them off being “brainwashed youths who are fed up with life and who are oppressed and angry and following a backward version of Islam.”

Islam replied: “I would say that yes my brain has been washed in the clean and cleansing waters of Islam and the Koran and the Sunnah [the path of the Prophet].

“You call us terrorists but you can see we don’t mind that because we will keep on terrorising you until you learn your lesson.”

Ali asked Islam what he would say to non-believers who accused them of being “barbarians” killing “so-called innocent people” and Islam said he did not consider anyone innocent who paid taxes for an army “pillaging the Muslim lands.”

“Most of you are too busy, you know, watching Home and Away and Eastenders, complaining about the World Cup, drinking your alcohol, to even care anything.

“That’s all you seem to care about, and I know because I’ve come from that. This society is crumbling socially, economically and everything and yet you keep supporting your government.”

Ibrahim Savant warned his fellow Muslims: “Remove yourselves from the grasp of the kuffar [non-believers] before you are counted as one of them. Do not be contented with your council houses and businesses and western lifestyle.”

In his video, college student Waheed Zaman said he was fed up of “campaigning, big conferences, peaceful negotiations with the disbelievers.”

“I have not been brainwashed,” he added: “I have been educated to a high standard. I am old enough to make my own decisions.”

Despite their claims in court that they never planned to kill anyone the bombers mentioned “so-called innocent people” over and over again.

Tanvir Hussain said: “You’ve got to blame yourself, and collateral damage is going to be inevitable and people are going to die, besides, you know, it’s worth the price.”

The men had pleaded guilty to causing a public nuisance, claiming the videos were simply part of a propaganda stunt, and the jury was unable to agree on whether Savant, Khan, Zaman and Islam had intended to carry out their threats.

http://tinyurl.com/5c6ddg

Posted by Drew458     on 09/08/2008 at 02:32 PM   
Filed Under: • RoPMA • Terrorists • UK • War On Terror •  
• Comments (7) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

Terror groups developing ‘dirty bomb’, say security chiefs.

You ppl who regularly comment here @ BMEWS can speak for me as well.  So I’m off to breakfast and hope these bastards don’t build this while I’m out and about.
T’aint funny.  Why can’t the west simply nuke the damn country?  Yeah, yeah. Collateral damage. blah,blah. Like we should care?  We’re talking survival here.
The west should do whatever it takes to insure that.  The enemy sure will do whatever it takes to undo us.  You can count on that.

Terror groups developing ‘dirty bomb’, say security chiefs
Islamist terrorists have stepped up their efforts to develop a ‘dirty’ bomb for use against Western targets, senior Western security sources have told The Daily Telegraph.

By Con Coughlin

They are exploiting the political chaos in Pakistan in a bid to acquire nuclear material for a ‘spectacular’ attack.

At least one plot has been uncovered involving Pakistani-based terrorists planning to use nuclear material against a major European target.

Osama bin Laden’s al-Qa’eda terror group, whose terrorist infrastructure is based in the province of Waziristan in northwest Pakistan, is known to be trying to acquire nuclear technology to use in terror attacks against the West.

Other militant Islamist groups in Pakistan, such as the newly formed Pakistani Taliban, have also shown an interest in developing weapons with a nuclear capability, according to Western security officials.

Security chiefs fear the mounting political instability in Pakistan will make it easier for militant Islamist groups to develop a primitive nuclear device.

Pakistan is the world’s only Muslim country with a nuclear weapons arsenal, which was developed during the 1990s by the rogue Pakistani nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadir (AQ) Khan.

Dr Khan was placed under house arrest after he was accused of selling the blueprint for Pakistan’s atom bomb to rogue states such as Libya, North Korea and Iran. But the restrictions on Dr Khan’s detention have been eased since President Pervez Musharraf was forced from power.

Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is subject to stringent security safeguards put in place with the help of the American military when Mr Musharraf was in office. But there is mounting concern within Western security circles that Islamic terror groups will gain access to Pakistan’s expertise in developing terrorist weapons containing nuclear material.

“Islamist militant groups want to carry out terror attacks on a massive scale, and there is no better way for them to achieve that objective than to develop some form of primitive nuclear device,” said a senior U.S. security official.

The most likely terror device using nuclear material is a “dirty bomb”, where conventional explosives are fitted with radioactive material.

Security experts believe the detonation of such a device in a city like London would provoke widespread panic and chaos, even though the area of contamination would be relatively small.

Western security officials say they have uncovered evidence that a Pakistani based group was planning to attack a European target with such a device, although details of the planned attack have not been made public.

The sweeping victory of Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of murdered Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto, in the presidential election at the weekend, has done little to reassure Western diplomats that the security situation in Pakistan is about to improve. Mr Zardari was jailed for nine years on corruption charges, and Western diplomats have little confidence in his ability to provide strong leadership.

“Pakistan is in danger of becoming a failed state, and Mr Zardari’s election victory is unlikely to improve the situation,” said a Western diplomat.

Tensions grew last week when American special forces staged a cross-border incursion from Afghanistan into Pakistan’s lawless tribal regions.

They were targeting suspected al-Qaeda operatives, signalling a possible intensification of US efforts to disrupt militant safe havens in Pakistan.

Despite fury in Pakistan, US defence officials have said that the number of cross-border missions might grow in coming months in response to the growing militancy.

But there are fears this could but this could provoke an Islamist backlash throughout Pakistam that could play into the terrorists’ hands.

Most of the recent Islamist terror plots against Britain – including the July 7 attacks in London in 2005 – had links with Pakistan, and British security officials say groups based in Pakistan continue to pose the greatest terrorist threat to Britain.

British security officials recently confirmed that they were investigating at least 30 terror plots that originated in Pakistan. “In the past many of the plots have been fairly primitive, but we are seeing a growing level of sophistication. We fear it is only a question of time before the groups based in Pakistan develop some form of nuclear capability.”

http://tinyurl.com/6gt8w6

Posted by Drew458     on 09/08/2008 at 02:03 AM   
Filed Under: • RoPMA • Terrorists • War On Terror •  
• Comments (2) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Wednesday - September 03, 2008

WHOO-HOO!  GIVEM HELL!  MORE BATTLING BRITS AS 200 TALIBAN PAY PRICE FOR BEING EARTH’S SCUM.

British soldiers kill 200 Taliban in Afghan dam operation

A major secret British operation to boost the economy in Afghanistan’s Helmand province has been completed after a force of 5,000 troops fought for a week to drive a huge dam turbine through Taliban lines.
By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent
Last Updated: 7:11AM BST 03 Sep 2008

Escorted by attack helicopters, armoured vehicles and men of the Parachute Regiment, the trucks trundled into Kajaki Photo: PA / REUTERS

British commanders estimate that more than 200 Taliban were killed as they tried to prevent the convoy of 100 vehicles from getting the machinery to Kajaki hydroelectric dam where it will provide a significant increase in energy for up to two million Afghans.

The operation has been described as the biggest of its kind since the Second World War.

For the last five days the force has fought through the heart of Taliban territory to push through the 220 tonne turbine and other equipment that included a 90 tonne crane to lift it into place.

With a third turbine fixed at Kajaki it will mean that the extra electricity could double the irrigation output allowing farmers to plant two crops of wheat a year. With a dramatic rise in world wheat prices this could crucially mean that it becomes more profitable than producing opium which would deprive the Taliban of a major source of revenue.

Escorted by attack helicopters, armoured vehicles and men of the Parachute Regiment, the trucks trundled into Kajaki.

For the first 50 miles of its journey from the southern city of Kandahar the convoy was protected by American and Canadian troops. But for the second 50 mile leg through Taliban strongholds more than 3,000 British troops were needed to fight off the insurgents.

Lt Col Dave Wilson, of 23 Engineer Regiment, said the operation was the most significant “route clearance” operation since the Second World War with the sappers freeing the route of mines and improvised bombs.

“It was a huge achievement,” said Lt Col Wilson. “It was carried out through some of the most heavily mined areas of Afghanistan.”

While medics had prepared for casualties, commanders said there was only one wounded among the British, American, Canadian and Australian troops who took part in the operation - a British soldier was crushed when a trailer collapsed on him.

“As a template for the rest of this country, it’s shown that when we want to, at a time and a place of our choosing, we can overmatch the Taliban, no question,” said Lt Col James Learmont of 7 Para Royal Horse Artillery.

In order to win over villagers in some areas, British forces held meetings with locals to negotiate the convoy’s passage, and paid $25,000 in compensation to one community for disruption.

The Taliban had agreed to maintain a ceasefire in some areas but violated the deal, British commanders said.

The Chinese-made turbine will be installed as part of a project funded by the American development agency USAID to increase the output of the Kajaki power plant.

Chinese engineers already on the ground will install the equipment, which will boost the capacity of the plant, built in 1975, to three turbines with an output of 51 MegaWatts. Around 1.8 million Afghans are expected to benefit from the project.

“The opposition said it would never happen but it did,” said Lt Col Rufus MacNeil. “If you want a mark in the sand for Afghan reconstruction, then this is it.”

The scale and complexity of the operation has given those serving under the 75,000-strong, NATO-led force in Afghanistan an opportunity to boast about cooperation at a time when critics say the coalition lacks strength and coherence.

The turbine, split into seven sections each weighing between 22 and 30 tonnes, was flown on Russian transport aircraft into Kandahar, once a Taliban stronghold in the south and now the headquarters for Canadian operations.

It was then put on giant trucks and began its voyage last Wednesday, travelling at barely 3 km an hour.

http://tinyurl.com/5wwaql

Posted by Drew458     on 09/03/2008 at 01:41 AM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous • Terrorists • War On Terror • War-Stories •  
• Comments (1) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner