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POPSMystery swirls around hijacked Iranian ship Within days, pirates who had boarded the ship developed strange health complications, skin burns and loss of hair. Independent sources tell The Long War Journal that a number of pirates have also died. In a strange twist, the Iranian press claims that the U.S. has offered to pay a $7 million bribe to the pirates to "receive entry permission and search the vessel." Officials in the Pentagon and the Department of State approached for this story refused to comment on the situation.
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POPSThousands flee fighting in Somalia David Shinn, a former US diplomat who teaches at the George Washington University, said fighters from the hardline al-Shabab militia were trying to assert their authority in order to force the Ethiopians out. They are trying "to show that they are in a position to perhaps even take control of Mogadishu if the Ethiopian forces were to leave", he told the BBC.
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POPSThirty killed as Mogadishu is shelled
Islamic militants with ties to al-Qaida have been fighting the government and its Ethiopian allies for control since their combined forces pushed the Islamists from the capital in December 2006. Within weeks of being driven out, the Islamists launched an Iraq-style insurgency that has killed thousands of civilians to date. In recent weeks, the militants appear to be gaining strength and sidelining the fragile government. The group, known as the Council of Islamic Courts, has taken over the port town of Kismayo, Somalia's third-largest city, and dismantled pro-government roadblocks. They also effectively closed the Mogadishu airport by threatening to attack any plane using it. "We keep recruiting new fighters to prepare them for the holy war against Ethiopian troops in our country and their Somali stooges," said Sheik Muhumed, a commander with al-Shabab, the group's military wing. The United States considers al-Shabab a terrorist group, raising fears Somalia could become a have
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POPSArms Trade Flows Freely According to US state department figures this week, Iraq has signed more than $3bn worth of arms deals in the past two years. Amnesty estimates that more than 1m small arms have been sold to Iraq since the 2003 invasion and the Iraqi government plans to procure more than 250,000 from the US and China. And the irresponsible war profiteering continues. Russia has agreed to supply 27 helicopters to Sudan, says Amnesty. Last year, Sudan listed its main arms suppliers as China, Russia, North Korea, Belarus, Indonesia, Iran and Malaysia. Some of these weapons are being used by Al Qaeda against U.S. troops. Is there no better reason to halt this illegal/immoral war?
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POPSPakistan Orders Troops to Fire Back Against US Insurgents
Pakistan finally reclaims it sovereignty and orders its troops to fire back if US forces or drones violate their border again and attack on their soil (usually killing more civilians than combatants). This is the only way to change Bush policy and now forces Bush (and even Obama who says he would do same) to reconsider the consequences of such actions. Multi-million dollar attacks using Predator drones is cowardly warfare and a clever way to hit and run while never proving who exactly was being targetted and committing gross negligence in regard to innocent civilians. This is also contrary to the principles of Just War which requires solid ID, direct confrontation where opportunity to surrender is offered, and separating civilians from combatants during any attack, instead of this "just kill them all" policy called "scorched earth". There also is no way to identify (after missiles or bombs strike) who the persons really are, or justification to attack.
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POPSA rose by any other name? Physically, the younger Saddam Hussein looks nothing like the man after whom he was named. He has light-coloured hair and eyes, while the dictator's were dark. He is stocky while the president was tall and he is timid while the older version talked with a booming voice. However, the name brought certain advantages to the youngster. "In exams, the teachers gave me 10 extra marks because of my name," he admitted, adding that it also helped with girls. When Saddam was overthrown in April 2003, the younger man's mother begged him to changed his name but he refused. "It has served me well," he said. Later, working as a photographer with an American permit, the name won him respect from insurgents he was filming. "They were mostly former soldiers, security services agents or members of the Republican Guard, so being called Saddam Hussein made an impression," he said. On one occasion, he was hit in a shoulder by two bullets during a shootout in his shop between a member of the
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POPSGeorge Medal winner killed in Afghanistan Normally the bomb disposal soldiers use a remote- controlled razor blade to cut the wires, while they take cover in case the device is booby trapped with a secondary circuit. But WO2 O'Donnell was trapped with his fingers inside the trigger, and he couldn't get away without detonating the explosives. To make matters worse, he wasn't wearing a protective bomb suit, like soldiers in Britain often use to give them extra protection from a blast. The massive, unwieldy suits weigh 45kg and they make it difficult for the soldiers to defend themselves if they get attacked en route to a bomb site. In a single day, WO2 O'Donnell had to defuse eight Taliban bombs on a hill overlooking Helmand's deadly green zone, near Gereshk. The insurgents have started targeting high ground with record numbers of massive improvised explosive devices, because they know it is where the tanks and armoured cars go to provide back-up for soldiers in the valley below.
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POPSOn the US search for Bin Laden and Pakistan Pashtuns suffered heavy casualties in the bombing campaign of 2001. They resent the recent Predator attacks that are resulting in civilian casualties. As a result, the $25 million reward on Osama’s head has failed to elicit cooperation leading to the capture of the Al Qaeda leader.
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POPS 6th September 2008 Politics First! Sarah’s biggest problem (caveat: that we know of) is the so-called Troopergate scandal. Whereas it would certainly be in our country’s best interest to know if Palin abused her power before we vote, John McCain apparently has plenty of private exceptions to his public proclamation: “Country First!” Effortlessly placing campaign above country, he has deployed a militia of lawyer insurgents to storm Juneau to try to undermine the Alaska legislature’s effort to find out if Palin broke the law. Clearly, this is one of the other exceptions we keep seeing: to how John will bring a change from the Bush years.
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POPSAP Doing Everything Except Actually Physically Handing Track Palin Over to Insurgents So let's analyze this now. Let's say I'm an insurgent and I want to take out the potential Vice President's son. I now know where to look for him. I know what unit he's in down to the company level. I know how to identify that unit (because I know how to use "the Google"). If I don't find him immediately, I know how long he'll be in the country--which guides my sense of urgency. And, of course, I know what he looks like. The worst thing about this is the added danger in which the entire unit is now placed. The men of the unit now face a more precarious situation because there is the potential that the unit will be specifically targeted. I know everyone in the media is giddy over this deal, but those covering the story need to shut their pieholes. That goes for Governor Palin, too--who should probably now be prohibited from holding a security clearance if--God forbid--she gets elected.
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POPSKandahar rocked by suicide blasts The US-led coalition said its forces had killed more than 10 insurgents in an operation in the eastern province of Khost on Saturday. Afghanistan has seen rising levels of violence in recent months. There are about 70,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, most of them serving under Nato's command.
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POPSIraq Takes Aim at Leaders of U.S.-Tied Sunni Groups Cont.... Even before the new pressure from the government, many Awakening members were growing frustrated — and at an especially delicate time. United States and Iraqi negotiators have just completed a draft security agreement that next year, Iraqi officials say, would substantially pull American forces back from cities and towns to be replaced by Iraqi security forces. Awakening members complain, with rising bitterness, that the government has been slow to make good on its promises to recruit tens of thousands of its members into those security forces. General Perkins said only 5,200 members had been recruited in a force of about 100,000.
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POPSTaliban Launches Large Coordinated Assaults The Taliban claimed responsibility for all three attacks in Khost. Their spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahed, reached by telephone at an unknown location, said that 15 suicide bombers, equipped with machine guns and vests packed with explosives, with 30 militants backing them up, attacked the base, one of the largest foreign military bases in Afghanistan. He claimed that some of the bombers had gotten inside the base and had killed a number of American soldiers and destroyed equipment and helicopters. This last claim was denied by General Azimi of the Afghan military.
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POPS10 Weeks of Hell: Afghanistan Death Rate Exceeding Highest of Iraq War in an ambush, with four of them being captured and subsequently executed. Around the same time, Afghan insurgents launched a coordinated attack on a major U.S. base. The fatality rate in Afghanistan during the past 10 weeks would be equivalent to 353 deaths in Iraq at the same time--a rate not even seen during the bloody crescendo of 2007. This is a crisis.
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POPSMuslim women in jail for premarital sex. So what if they where victims of rape. They still had sex outside of marriage and must pay for their indiscretion. Absurd! This article is being discussed here; http://www.atheistthinktank.net/thinktank/index.php?topic=4933.0 Please join us.
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POPSResurgent Taliban in Afghanistan Another result of "successful" troop surge in Iraq? As forces that could be used in Afghanistan continue to be diverted to Iraq the failure of the US/NATO Afghan war becomes even clearer.
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POPSOOO -Rah Stories from Fallujah about our bravest and finest...
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POPSSpanish-American War
The U.S. government was also moved by the heavy losses of American investment in Cuba caused by the guerrilla warfare, an appreciation of the strategic importance of the island to Central America and a projected isthmian canal there, and a growing sense of U.S. power in the affairs of the Western Hemisphere. There was an unspoken threat of intervention. This grew sharper after the insurgents, refusing a Spanish offer of partial autonomy, determined to fight for full freedom. The warfare that commenced was short and very one-sided. Peace was arranged by the Treaty of Paris signed Dec. 10, 1898 (ratified by the U.S. Senate, Feb. 6, 1899). The Spanish Empire was practically dissolved. Cuba was freed, but under U.S. tutelage by terms of the Platt Amendment (see under Platt, Orville), with Spain assuming the Cuban debt. Puerto Rico and Guam were ceded to the United States as indemnity, and the Philippines were surrendered to the United States for a payment of $20 million.
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POPSU.S. Military Frees 10,000 Detainees in Iraq Detainees are sometimes released for political purposes. For instance, the recent amnesty law which released thousands of suspected insurgents in an effort to bring certain Sunni groups back into the government. They are also released when it is determined they held no intelligence value, or posed no threat. In Iraq, the average time of detention is just under one year. Of those now in detention, 12 are women, more than 300 are juveniles, 200 are third country nationals and about 200 are over the age of 60, the US military statement said.
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