Warmonger Obama Murders Seven Innocent Villagers

The blood-drenched legacy of Barack Obama continues unabated. What happened to hope and change, peace and love?

Missiles fired from a suspected U.S. spy plane killed seven people Friday on the Pakistan side of the Afghan border, a lawless region where al-Qaida militants are known to hide out, officials said.

The strike was the first on Pakistani territory since the inauguration of President Barrack Obama.

Pakistani leaders had expressed hope Obama would halt the attacks, more than 30 of which have been launched since the middle of last year, reportedly killing several senior militants.

The pro-U.S. government routinely protests them as a violation of the country's sovereignty, but most observers speculate it has an unwritten agreement allowing them to take place.

One drone fired three missiles into the village of Zharki in North Waziristan, hitting two buildings, the intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

At least seven people were killed, but there identities were not immediately known.

Somehow I suspect the left will now be cheering these attacks. Just a hunch.

'American Politicians Have Used Facebook to Get Votes, Like the House Slave Obama'

Such a charming bunch. Frankly, it wouldn't take much effort for these maniacs to win over a certain segment of Obama voters. They already have most of the nutroots on their side anyway. Why alienate your American base of support by insulting The Messiah?

Online jihadists have already used YouTube, blogs and other social media to spread their propaganda. Now, a group of internet Islamic extremists is putting together a plan for "invading Facebook."

"We can use Facebook to fight the media," notes a recent posting on the extremist al-Faloja forum, translated by Jihadica.com. "We can post media on Facebook that shows the Crusader losses."

"We have already had great success in raiding YouTube," the poster adds. "American politicians have used Facebook to get votes, like the house slave Obama."

Groups like al-Qaida were pioneering users of the internet — to train, share ideas and organize. But some observers, like George Washington University professor Marc Lynch, see a reluctance to embrace Web 2.0 tools like Facebook. "One of the biggest problems for a virtual network like AQ today is that it needs to build connections between its members while protecting itself from its enemies. That's a filtering problem: How do you get your people in, and keep intelligence agents out?" he asks.

Heartbreaking: Taliban 'Mad' Over Airstrike

I figure if they're upset, we ought to really give them something to get mad about. This is a good sign, as it likely means a big fish has been vaporized.

The Taliban are unusually angry about the latest suspected U.S. missile strike in Pakistan, a sign a top militant may have died in the attack, officials and residents said Sunday amid reports the death toll rose by two to 24.

Elsewhere in Pakistan's northwest, an official said some 15,000 Afghans had left a tribal region the military is trying to wrest from insurgents, but that tens of thousands more had yet to meet a government ultimatum to get out by Sunday.

The U.S. has ramped up cross-border strikes on alleged al-Qaida and Taliban targets along Pakistan's side of the border with Afghanistan, straining the two nations' anti-terror alliance.

The U.S. says pockets of Pakistan's border region, especially in its semi-autonomous tribal areas, are bases for militants attacking American and NATO forces in Afghanistan. It has pushed nuclear-armed Pakistan to eliminate the safe havens.

The frontier region is believed to be a possible hiding place for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, and several Arab militants were said to be among the dead in Friday's strike in North Waziristan tribal region.

Two Pakistani intelligence officials said that over the weekend two people wounded in the attack died at a hospital in Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan. The officials sought anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.

Based on information from informants and agents in the field, the intelligence officials said the Taliban appeared extra-perturbed over the latest strike. The anger was a signal that a senior militant may have been killed, but that has yet to be confirmed, the officials said.

The insurgents were moving aggressively in the area while using harsh language against locals, including calling them "saleable commodities" — a reference to people serving as government spies, the officials said.

Two local residents said Taliban fighters had warned people not to discuss the strike, including with the media, or to try inspecting the rubble at the site. The residents asked not to be named for fear of Taliban retaliation.

More here.

'I Felt That My Heart Was About to Explode in My Chest...I Am Powerless'

Apparently, she'd rather explode herself instead of being broken-hearted.

Muslim extremist women are challenging al-Qaida's refusal to include — or at least acknowledge — women in its ranks, in an emotional debate that gives rare insight into the gender conflicts lurking beneath one of the strictest strains of Islam.

In response to a female questioner, al-Qaida No. 2 leader Ayman Al-Zawahri said in April that the terrorist group does not have women. A woman's role, he said on the Internet audio recording, is limited to caring for the homes and children of al-Qaida fighters.

What cavemen. Just imagine if a Westerner dared uttered such a contemptuous statement.

His remarks have since prompted an outcry from fundamentalist women, who are fighting or pleading for the right to be terrorists. The statements have also created some confusion, because in fact suicide bombings by women seem to be on the rise, at least within the Iraq branch of al-Qaida.

A'eeda Dahsheh is a Palestinian mother of four in Lebanon who said she supports al-Zawahri and has chosen to raise children at home as her form of jihad. However, she said, she also supports any woman who chooses instead to take part in terror attacks.

Another woman signed a more than 2,000-word essay of protest online as Rabeebat al-Silah, Arabic for "Companion of Weapons."

"How many times have I wished I were a man ... When Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahri said there are no women in al-Qaida, he saddened and hurt me," wrote "Companion of Weapons," who said she listened to the speech 10 times. "I felt that my heart was about to explode in my chest...I am powerless."

Such postings have appeared anonymously on discussion forums of Web sites that host videos from top al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. While the most popular site requires names and passwords, many people use only nicknames, making their identities and locations impossible to verify.

However, groups that monitor such sites say the postings appear credible because of the knowledge and passion they betray. Many appear to represent computer-literate women arguing in the most modern of venues — the Internet — for rights within a feudal version of Islam.

"Women were very disappointed because what al-Zawahri said is not what's happening today in the Middle East, especially in Iraq or in Palestinian groups," said Rita Katz, director of the SITE Intelligence Group, an organization that monitors militant Web sites. "Suicide operations are being carried out by women, who play an important role in jihad."

It's not clear how far women play a role in al-Qaida because of the group's amorphous nature.

Terrorism experts believe there are no women in the core leadership ranks around bin Laden and al-Zawahri. But beyond that core, al-Qaida is really a movement with loosely linked offshoots in various countries and sympathizers who may not play a direct role. Women are clearly among these sympathizers, and some are part of the offshoot groups.

In the Iraq branch, for example, women have carried out or attempted at least 20 suicide bombings since 2003. Al-Qaida members suspected of training women to use suicide belts were captured in Iraq at least three times last year, the U.S. military has said.

Hamas, another militant group, is open about using women fighters and disagrees with al-Qaida's stated stance. At least 11 Palestinian women have launched suicide attacks in recent years.

"A lot of the girls I speak to ... want to carry weapons. They live with this great frustration and oppression," said Huda Naim, a prominent women's leader, Hamas member and Palestinian lawmaker in Gaza. "We don't have a special militant wing for women ... but that doesn't mean that we strip women of the right to go to jihad."

They live with frustration and oppression? Really? Who is it oppressing them?

Thanks to Ace for the link.

A Soulmate For Dhimmi Carter

Top Blair aide: we must talk to al-QaidaFormer No 10 chief says Irish peace process showed link to enemy needed
Western governments must talk to terror groups including al-Qaida and the Taliban if they hope to secure a long-term halt to their campaigns of violence, according to the man who for more than a decade was Tony Blair's most influential aide and adviser.

Jonathan Powell, who served as Blair's chief of staff from 1995 to 2007 and is widely regarded as having been instrumental in negotiating a settlement in Northern Ireland, said his experience in the province convinced him that it was essential to keep a line of communication open even with one's most bitter enemies.

Powell said: "There's nothing to say to al-Qaida and they've got nothing to say to us at the moment, but at some stage you're going to have to come to a political solution as well as a security solution. And that means you need the ability to talk."

In his first major interview, ahead of the publication of his book on the behind the scenes drama leading to the Northern Ireland peace deal, Powell also delivered a remarkably candid assessment of the Blair years, revealing that:

· He did not think Labour had governed boldly enough because it feared losing power.

· Blair had a tendency to change his mind about things and could be "a bit of a flippertygibbet".

· Blair had failed in 10 years of government to sell Europe to the British.

· Relations between the Blair and Brown camps were so toxic that Gordon Brown did not talk to him for 10 years.

Powell, the most senior member of the Blair circle to survive the prime minister's full term in office, said that he had realised, after reviewing government papers and his diaries, that a secret back channel between the British government and the IRA, first opened in the 1970s, was one of the key factors that contributed to a peace deal three decades later.

"It's very difficult for democratic governments to do - talk to a terrorist movement that's killing your people," he said. "[But] if I was in government now I would want to have been talking to Hamas, I would be wanting to communicate with the Taliban; and I would want to find a channel to al-Qaida."

Powell's remarks will be highly controversial, as all western governments have insisted any contact with al-Qaida would be immoral and pointless. A spokesman for the Foreign Office said last night: "It is inconceivable that HMG would ever seek to reach a mutually acceptable accommodation with a terrorist organisation like al-Qaida."

[....]

Read it all at The Guardian

Pakis Turn on bin Laden, Poll Numbers Approaching Reid-Pelosi Levels

More devastating news for Harry Reid and the forces of anti-Americanism.

We're the good guys, not the terrorists.

Sympathy for al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden and the Taliban has dropped sharply in Pakistan amid a wave of deadly violence, according to the results of a recent opinion poll.

The survey, conducted last month for the U.S.-based Terror Free Tomorrow organization, also identified the party of assassinated opposition leader Benazir Bhutto as the country's most popular ahead of Feb. 18 elections, and said most Pakistanis want President Pervez Musharraf to quit.

The poll suggests Pakistanis are looking to peaceful opposition groups after months of political turmoil and a wave of suicide attacks.

In the latest bloodshed, a bomber blew himself up at an opposition rally in the northwestern town of Charsadda on Saturday, killing 27 people and injuring 50.

According to the poll results only 24 percent of Pakistanis approved of bin Laden when the survey was conducted last month, compared with 46 percent during a similar survey in August.

Backing for al-Qaida, whose senior leaders are believed to be hiding along the Pakistani-Afghan border, fell to 18 percent from 33 percent.

Support for the Taliban, whose Pakistani offshoots have seized control of much of the lawless border area and have been engaged in a growing war against security forces, dropped by half to 19 percent from 38 percent, the results said.

So only 19% approve? Why, those are exactly the same numbers Dingy Harry was pulling in during 2007. Meanwhile, the Pelosi-led Congress is now at a mere 22%.

I believe this calls for change.

Former GOP Congressman in Terror Conspiracy Rap

At least we don't have to play guess the party affiliation.

A former congressman and delegate to the United Nations was indicted Wednesday as part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida and Taliban supporter who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan.

The former Republican congressman from Michigan, Mark Deli Siljander, was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists.

A 42-count indictment, unsealed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., accuses the Islamic American Relief Agency of paying Siljander $50,000 for the lobbying — money that turned out to be stolen from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Here's a bio.

If found guilty, I hope no mercy is shown.

UPDATE: Debbie Schlussel used to work for him. Her reaction. H/T Lawhawk.

I notice he hasn't made any individual campaign contributions in many years.

UPDATE II: More reaction from The Jawa Report, Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, Suitably Flip, LGF.

Al-Qaida Goes Nutroots: Fatwa on Al-Jazeera!

This ought to be fun.

Reminds me of when the nutroots scold the networks for not being as insane as they are.

Al-Qaida anger at Jazeera on Laden tape

CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida sympathizers have unleashed a torrent of anger against Al-Jazeera television, accusing it of misrepresenting Osama bin Laden's latest audiotape by airing excerpts in which he criticizes mistakes by insurgents in Iraq.

Users of a leading Islamic militant Web forum posted thousands of insults against the pan-Arab station for focusing on excerpts in which bin Laden criticizes insurgents, including his followers.

Analysts said the reaction highlighted militants' surprise at bin Laden's words, and their dismay at the deep divisions among al-Qaida and other Iraqi militants that he appeared to be trying to heal.

"It's not about Al-Jazeera, it's about their shock from bin Laden," said Diaa Rashwan, an Egyptian expert on Islamic militant groups. "For the first time, bin Laden, who used to be the spiritual leader who gives guidance, became a critic of al-Qaida and is confessing mistakes. This is unusual."

"God fight Al-Jazeera," railed one militant Web poster, calling the station a "collaborator with the Crusaders" for suggesting the tape showed weakness in al-Qaida and featuring discussions of how the tape reflected weaknesses and divisions among insurgents in Iraq.

The recording aired Monday contained unusually strong criticism of insurgents in Iraq from bin Laden, who urges them to admit mistakes and unify. Bin Laden even aknowledges [sic] that he advises himself not to be "fanatical" in his stances.

"Some of you have been lax in one duty, which is to unite your ranks," bin Laden said. "Beware of division ... Muslims are waiting for you to gather under a single banner to champion righteousness. Be keen to oblige with this duty."

"I advise myself, Muslims in general and brothers in al-Qaida everywhere to avoid extremism among men and groups," he said.

The tape was met with a cautiously positive response from at least one insurgent coalition that has been opposed to al-Qaida.

But the Al-Fajr Media Center, which usually posts al-Qaida video and audio tapes on the Web, accused Al-Jazeera of "counterfeiting the facts" by making the speech appear as exclusively critical of insurgents.

"Al-Jazeera directors have shamefully chosen to back the Crusaders' side, and the defenders of hypocrites and the thugs and traitors of Iraq," Al-Fajr said in a statement posted on several Islamic Web sites.

Another Web contributor even rattled off a five-stanza poem of rhymed couplets, comparing the station to a "miserable fly in the garbage" and concluding, "Your day will come, vile one. As long as we live, you won't be safe, Jazeera."

Meanwhile, did we have Osama in our sights a couple months ago?

Hmmm.

UPDATE: More from Michelle Malkin, Jules Crittenden.

al-Qaida Cells In North Jersey?

Well, they were supposedly dancing on the rooftops in Paterson on 9/11, so this shouldn't be a shock to anyone.

One of the major problems we have in this state is the huge influx of illegals, so it sure is inviting for terror activities.

Al-Qaida associates in N.J.

Osama bin Laden may be hiding in the impenetrable mountains near the Afghanistan border, but FBI counterterror officials say they have identified several of his associates in a far more accessible spot -- northern New Jersey.

The FBI's elite Joint Terrorism Task Force in Newark says it is not only monitoring a number of North Jersey residents with ties to al-Qaida, but that agents have quietly "disrupted" their activities and even deported a few.

These glimpses into North Jersey's war on terrorism, from a series of interviews with task force leaders, come on the heels of revelations last summer that Bin Laden's terror network had regained strength. But that rebuilding was thought to have taken place overseas.

This is the first time since the 9/11 attacks that FBI counterterror officials have revealed an al-Qaida presence in North Jersey.

"There are definitely facilitators in this state," said Kevin Cruise, the veteran FBI counterterror agent who directs Newark's 100-member terrorism task force of FBI and CIA agents as well as state police and even local beat cops.

"There are people in your county who are affiliated with known al-Qaida members overseas," said Jack Jupin, the FBI agent who heads the counterterror squad for Bergen County.

Read the rest.

UPDATE: More from Allahpundit, who has a good question.

Exit question: What possible purpose does it serve to tell jihadis that they’re being monitored? They’re not going to give up the cause because they’ve been found out. They’ll simply look for alternate means of communication. Either arrest them or keep spying on them; telling them you’re watching seems totally counterproductive.

Al-Qaida Targeting European Recruits

It makes perfect sense, obviously, when your borders are so vulnerable and entry to the country so easy to gain. And why not, since it's already happening.

Al-Qaida Taps Europe for New Recruits

WASHINGTON (AP) — Al-Qaida continues to recruit Europeans for explosives training in Pakistan because Europeans can more easily enter the United States without a visa, the nation's top intelligence officer said Tuesday.

Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said European al-Qaida recruits in the border region of Pakistan are being trained to use commercially available substances to make explosives, and they may be able to carry out an attack on U.S. territory.

McConnell also said he worried that Osama bin Laden's recent video and audio releases may be a signal to terrorist cells to carry out operations, he told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"That's unusual. He had been absent from airwaves over the last year. Our concern is that's a signal," McConnell said. "It just causes us to be concerned and vigilant."

Europeans are being recruited specifically because they generally do not need visas to enter the United States, he said.

"Purposely recruiting an operative from Europe gives them an extra edge into getting an operative, or two or three, into the country with the ability to carry out an attack that might be reminiscent of 9/11," he said.

Doing a search of "al-Qaida European," I came across this chilling warning from August 11, 1998, one obviously that wasn't taken seriously. And it serves as a stark reminder how long we've been dealing with this monster bin Laden and how it was all going on well before 9/11.

One name keeps popping up as investigators search for suspects in the two African embassy bombings -- Osama bin Laden, the terrorist financier who has vowed to wage a "jihad" on U.S. forces in the land of Islam's holiest shrines. No evidence yet has officially linked bin Laden with the car bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, or two previous attacks on Americans in Saudi Arabia to which he has been linked by Washington.

But the U.S. State Department has identified bin Laden, born to a wealthy Saudi family but stripped of his citizenship and exiled first in Yemen, then Sudan and now Afghanistan, as a major sponsor of Islamic militants. Counterterrorism experts in Washington said after Friday's explosions in Kenya and Tanzania that bin Laden topped the list of suspects.

OK, we clearly know his history now, but still aren't getting the message.

Osama bin Laden has the resources to hit anywhere that has open borders. And he will strike again.

If you believe that I am the only one thinking like this ... reconsider. On Monday, a diplomat questioned Secretary of State Albright at meeting that was attended by 800 State Department personnel. The diplomat asked whether the United States sets such a heavy standard of evidence -- that which could hold up in a court of law -- that punishment of terrorists is unlikely. Despite tough statements by successive U.S. presidents and other officials, investigations into most of the 13 terrorist attacks against American facilities overseas since 1983 have produced no arrests or convictions.

Albright could only weakly acknowledge that catching "terrorists" was extremely difficult because they could easily be hidden. While she insisted U.S. law enforcement agencies were working hard on the unresolved cases, she gave the usual line of: "we need to redouble our efforts" and more international cooperation was needed.

Albright, at the meeting, also stood firm against summary justice, stressing: "We are not a nation that retaliates just in order to get vengeance or ... forgets our own legal system while searching for those who have harmed us."

Great. She and Sandy Berger served their nation well.

So did her boss.

Some might ask, how do we find bin Laden? Well, if ABC News and CNN can find him, we should all hope that the massive United States intelligence apparatus, with some help from its allies, could easily find him. After his location is found, you can use your own imagination about how we believe the Navy Seals, Army Rangers or Delta Force should resolve the problem.

For me, the only thing that is "beyond a shadow of a doubt" is that more innocent people will die in the future unless the U.S. stands up and acts soon. The question is: does Bill Clinton and the U.S. government have the political and ideological will to act and save those lives?

Denmark Nabs Eight Al-Qaida Suspects

A regular broad strata of suspects.

Eight Terror Suspects Held in Copenhagen

Danish police on Tuesday say they have foiled a possible terror attack on the nation's capital Copenhagen. Members of Denmark's intelligence agency PET took into custody eight Islamic militants believed to have links to the terrorist group al-Qaida. The arrests were made in separate raids at 2 a.m. following an extended surveillance operation.

According to PET head Jakob Sharf, six of the suspects are Danish citizens and two are foreigners. "With the arrests, we have prevented a terror attack," Sharf told reporters. "Those arrested are militant Islamists with a connection to a leading al-Qaida person."

The suspects are of Afghan, Pakistani, Somali and Turkish origin and range in age from 19 to 29. Sharf said they were "producing an unstable explosive in a densely populated area" and that authorities had waited until they had gathered enough evidence before moving forward with the detentions.

They must have still be seething over the dreaded Mohammed cartoons, or perhaps an upcoming terror trial.

Since 2005, Danish police have staged three such raids against suspected terrorist networks. The trial of four men taken in one of those operations and suspected of plotting to attack a target in Europe begins on Wednesday in Copenhagen.

Bryan at Hot Air has a follow-up, including an AFP link.

Breaking: Jose Padilla Found Guilty

Al-Qaida dirty bomb wannabe and homegrown jihadi Jose Padilla and two co-defandants, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, were found guilty today of supporting al-Qaida and other violent Islamic extremist groups overseas. The jury verdict was read a short time ago before U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke at the federal courthouse in Miami.

The unindicted terrorist co-conspirators from CAIR immediately began seething.

Reaction so far from Michelle Malkin, Allahpundit at Hot Air, LGF, Captain's Quarters.

UPDATE 2:37 ET: CNN story.

The jury in the Jose Padilla terror trial has found the American guilty of conspiracy to support Islamic terrorism overseas.

Jose Padilla was originally accused of planning a "dirty bomb" attack in the U.S.

Padilla's two co-defendants, Adham Hassoun and Kifan Jayyousi, were also found guilty on the three counts as charged: conspiracy to murder, kidnap, and maim people in a foreign country, conspiracy to provide material support for terrorists, and providing material support for terrorists.

The verdict came after less than two days of deliberations, according to a U.S. District Court official.

Sentencing is set for December 5. All three defendants face life in prison.

UPDATE II 3:18 ET: Assorted reaction at Memeorandum.

It appears many of the leftwing blogs are too busy wiping away the tears, but I'm sure the venom will start flying before long.

UPDATE III 3:30 ET: Sure enough. The Democrat Party's favortie blog is apoplectic.

Over at the Home Office For Hate, the commenters, the commenters are losing it, as expected.

lisakaz (See profile | I'm a fan of lisakaz)
That's about where I see things. Given this guy was broken down over 3.5 years and this is what they got, I gotta wonder if even this was manufactured. A judge permitted some "evidence" of Osama to prejudice the jury seems awfully like hangman justice to me, too. Unless they can concretely tie one to the other with documents or audio, etc. I don't understand how this was allowed. Frankly I don't even get how this guy was ruled competent to stand trial when he seems so fearful to his family that they hardly recognize him and he clams up begging not to be asked about torture. I bet he and the others get shanked in prison before the truth comes out. This seems fishy to me. I'm not ready to say he isn't guilty of something but I have doubts about this case and whether or not the process was tainted.
Log in | Parent | posted 02:50 pm on 08/16/2007

collapse SanityNotHannity (See profile | I'm a fan of SanityNotHannity)
This dumbshit should have changed his name to Bin laden the bush would have flown him home.
Log in | posted 02:45 pm on 08/16/2007

coastalcarla (See profile | I'm a fan of coastalcarla)
This has been the most ridiculous "trial" ever conceived. They trumped up a bunch of charges and railroaded this guy. So far, they haven't found one single real terrorist yet. Just a bunch of scapegoats that happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. And I love how they keep "recovering" evidence from Afghanistan. Have you looked at that place lately? We bombed it to rubble after the Soviets bombed it to rubble. They must have a document-forging operation over there, just so they can come up with "evidence" against people here. One more person thrown in prison for the rest of his life to prop up Bush's GWOT. How can they expect us to believe any of this?
Log in | posted 02:45 pm on 08/16/2007

esquire07 (See profile | I'm a fan of esquire07)
"the U.S. The administration called his detention an important victory in the war against terrorism, not long after the Sept. 11 attacks."

Lies, lies, lies.

The Administration was behind 9/11. George W. Bush and Company profited handsomely from 9/11 and the illegal and immoral occupation of Iraq.

Lies, lies, lies.

Wake up America, it is just about to late.

www.911truth.org
Log in | posted 02:50 pm on 08/16/2007

rbspickles (See profile | I'm a fan of rbspickles)
And don't forget Silverstein. Also, Bush's little brother owned the security company for both World Trade Centers and the airport the planes came from. Too many coincidences.
Log in | Parent | posted 03:05 pm on 08/16/2007

galaxy101 (See profile | I'm a fan of galaxy101)
This verdict is outragous, this government is not legitimate, this is sick. I just feel bad for those taken by the Bush Administration and held illegally that we don't know about...
Log in | posted 03:06 pm on 08/16/2007

I question their patriotism.

More Muslim Mayhem in Yemen

Terrorists never take a day off.

Car Bomb Explodes at Temple in Yemen

SAN'A, Yemen -- A car bomb exploded Monday at an ancient temple in northeast Yemen, killing eight people at the popular tourist site and wounding at least seven, police said.

Police in the province of Mareb said six of the dead were tourists, believed to be mostly from Spain. The other two were Yemenis, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Question. How long until Bush is blamed?

More from IHT:

Witnesses reported seeing a car enter a gate before exploding at the site of temple, which was built about 3,000 years ago at the time of the ancient Queen of Sheba.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but police in Mareb said they had received information last month about a possible al-Qaida attack. Authorities did not elaborate.

Al-Qaida has an active presence in Yemen, the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden, despite government efforts to fight the terror network. Al-Qaida was blamed for the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Aden that killed 17 American sailors and the attack on a French oil tanker that killed one person two years later.

More Arrests in Scotland

We'll assume there's a reason the perps have yet to be identified. Probably don't want to offend the Muslims, as we know how delicate their feelings are. Yes, that must be it.

U.K. police make 5th terror arrest

Police searched several houses near Glasgow International Airport on Sunday in connection with a fiery attack on its main terminal and a foiled car bomb plot in London, and police arrested a fifth suspect in the case.

Britain's new prime minister, Gordon Brown, said the country was dealing with terrorists associated with al-Qaida. And Lord Stevens, Brown's new terrorism adviser, said the two attacks in Britain indicate that "al-Qaida has imported the tactics of Baghdad and Bali to the streets of the UK."

Four suspects were in police custody Sunday — and a fifth man was under guard in hospital — after a flaming Jeep crashed into a Scottish airport on Saturday and two car bomb plots were foiled in central London on Friday.

On the upside, it appears some folks in the UK are beginning to get it.

n a column in Sunday's News of the World newspaper, Lord Stevens, London's former police chief and Brown's new terrorism adviser, said: "This weekend's bomb attacks signal a major escalation in the war being waged on us by Islamic terrorists."

He said, "This week's terrorists used the same technology, the same bomb-making techniques, the same operating methods as their brothers-in-arms in both Baghdad and Bali," Indonesia.

In central London, police foiled a car bomb plot early Friday, discovering explosives packed into a Mercedes outside a nightclub near Picadilly Circus and in another car parked nearby.

Glasgow police chief Willie Rae announced the attempted attacks were connected and said a suspect device had been found on a man wrestled to the ground by officers at Glasgow airport and hospitalized in critical condition with severe burns. John Smeaton, who saw the airport attack, said the man shouted "Allah, Allah" as he was detained.

Still, the idiot "Red Ken" Livingstone apparently has a death wish. Such breathtaking stupidity.

Michelle Malkin has a further roundup.

French Knew of al-Qaida Plot

Not much new here, but it's sure to rouse the Truther rabble.

Report: French Knew of al-Qaida Plot

A French intelligence service learned as early as January 2001 that al-Qaida was working on a plot to hijack U.S. airliners, and it passed the information on to the CIA, a news report said Monday.

France's Le Monde newspaper said it had obtained 328 pages of classified documents on Osama bin Laden's terror network that were drawn up by the French foreign intelligence service, the DGSE, between July 2000 and October 2001.

The Defense Ministry didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

Le Monde reported that the documents included a note dated Jan. 5, 2001, which said al-Qaida had been working on a hijacking plot for months. The intelligence note reported that bin Laden had attended a meeting in Afghanistan in October 2000, where a final decision to carry out the plot was taken, the newspaper said.

French intelligence officials apparently had no idea that al-Qaida was plotting to crash hijacked planes into buildings, as happened in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Le Monde quoted Pierre-Antoine Lorenzi, a former chief of staff for the intelligence agency's director, as saying, "You have to remember that up until 2001, hijacking an airplane did not have the same meaning as after Sept. 11. At the time, that meant forcing an airplane to land in an airport to carry out negotiations. We were used to handling that."

UPDATE: Welcome by Strata-Sphere readers. Feel free to browse some other items and thanks for stopping by.

Al-Sadr Calls for Attacks on U.S. Forces

Why is this piece of garbage still breathing?

The renegade cleric Muqtada al-Sadr urged the Iraqi army and police to stop cooperating with the United States and told his guerrilla fighters to concentrate on pushing American forces out of the country, according to a statement issued Sunday.

The statement, stamped with al-Sadr's official seal, was distributed in the Shiite holy city of Najaf on Sunday a day before a large demonstration there, called for by al-Sadr, to mark the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad.

"You, the Iraqi army and police forces, don't walk alongside the occupiers, because they are your archenemy," the statement said. Its authenticity could not be verified.

As soon as he ever shows his face inside Iraq, he needs to be whacked.

Some good news was buried in this report:

U.S. forces also captured a senior al-Qaida leader and two others in a raid Sunday morning in Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

The al-Qaida figure was identified as "the gatekeeper to the al-Qaida emir of Baghdad" and was linked to several car bomb attacks in the Iraqi capital, the military said in a statement, without naming the captive.

More at Captain's Quarters.

Somali Islamic Leader Wants Peacekeepers Out

Sounds like a reasonable request, considering wherever peacekeepers tend to go, mayhem follows. In this case though, I wouldn't trust this clown for one minute.

NAIROBI, Kenya: One of Somalia's top Islamic leaders warned on Saturday that the deployment of a foreign peacekeeping force will only fuel growing insecurity in the country.

Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed told The Associated Press he wanted talks with the interim government to help foster peace in the anarchic African nation.

Sheik Ahmed, who was seen as a moderate within the Islamic movement ousted by Somalia's government with the help of Ethiopian military forces earlier this year, spoke by telephone from an undisclosed location in Kenya, where he sought sanctuary.
...

Sheik Ahmed said the Islamic movement leaders, some of whom are accused by the U.S. of having links to al-Qaida, are alive and in constant touch with each other.

"We are ready to talk with the government," he said. "We are seeking peace, reconciliation and Somalis to solve their own problems through dialogue."

Again with the dialogue. Have him call The Pantsuit. She plans to end war. Maybe she'll have a chat with him.

Pakistan Army Smashes Al-Qaida Hideouts

Always be skeptical when we're talking about Pakistan, but if true, it certainly is good news. No word on whether any weddings or funerals were disrupted.

Pakistan's army destroyed suspected al-Qaida hideouts in an airstrike near the Afghan border on Tuesday, killing 10 people, officials said.

The army and a senior local official said the dead were militants, and included some foreigners, but a resident said the slain men were Afghan laborers.

The raid in South Waziristan came days after the U.S. intelligence chief said leaders of both al-Qaida and Afghanistan's former ruling Taliban militia were finding shelter in Pakistan's lawless frontier areas.

An army statement said intelligence sources confirmed the presence of 25 to 30 foreign terrorists and their local facilitators occupying five compounds in the area of Zamzola - a village about two miles from the frontier.

Pakistani forces backed by helicopter gunships attacked them, destroying three of the compounds.

"We believe most of them were killed," said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan.

Al-Qaida Chief in Somalia Killed

This time, we didn't have to bomb any aspirin factories. Just keep the good news coming.

A senior al-Qaida suspect wanted for bombing American embassies in East Africa was killed in a U.S. airstrike, a Somali official said Wednesday, a report that if true would mean the end of an eight-year hunt for a top target of Washington's war on terror.

There was no immediate confirmation from the U.S. In Washington, a U.S. intelligence official said the U.S. killed five to 10 people in an attack on an al-Qaida target in southern Somalia but did not say who was killed. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the operation's sensitivity, said a small number of others present, perhaps four or five, were wounded.

Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who allegedly planned the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa, was killed in a U.S. airstrike early Monday morning local time, according to an American intelligence report passed on to the Somali authorities.

"I have received a report from the American side chronicling the targets and list of damage," Abdirizak Hassan, the Somali president's chief of staff, told The Associated Press. "One of the items they were claiming was that Fazul Abdullah Mohammed is dead"

No reports of any weddings being disrupted either.

Ralph Peters has more and Opinion Journal notes the U.S. is staying on the offensive this time in Somalia.

Rowan Scarborough also has a detailed report in the Washington Times.