The Talk Show American

THE TALK SHOW AMERICAN: 04/08/2007 - 04/15/2007

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Friday, April 13, 2007

Iraq Parliament Meets in "Defiance" of Terror

Iraq's parliament met in an extraordinary session of "defiance" Friday, the Muslim day of prayer, and declared it would not bow to terrorism. A bouquet of red roses and a white lily sat in the place of Mohammed Awad, the lawmaker killed in the parliament dining hall suicide bombing claimed by al-Qaida.

Parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani opened the session and asked lawmakers to recite verses from the Quran in honor of Awad, whom he called a "hero."

The unprecedented Friday meeting was called to send
"a clear message to all the terrorists and all those who dare try to stop this (political) process, that we will sacrifice in order for it to continue,"
said al-Mashhadani, a Sunni Muslim.

"We feel today that we are stronger than yesterday," he said. "The parliament, government and the people are all the same - they are all in the same ship which, if it sinks, will make everyone sink."

An al-Qaida-led amalgam of Sunni insurgents claimed one of its "knights" carried out Thursday's suicide bombing in Baghdad's Green Zone and warned the "monkeys in parliament" to brace for more attacks. The U.S. military revised the death toll sharply downward, saying one civilian was killed. Late into Thursday the military had said eight people were killed and 23 wounded.

While the attack was widely believed to have been an al-Qaida mission, investigators said Friday they were focusing on security guards inside and outside the parliament building. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation.

Iraq's Shiite-dominated Interior Ministry, which runs the police and national paramilitary force, on Friday took over security for parliament.

Regardless of the security breach, Odierno said, U.S. forces did not intend to assume responsibility for parliament security.

"It doesn't help them for us to provide that security, they have to do that," said Odierno, who declared his confidence in the Iraqi security forces.

Brig. Gen. Robert H. Holmes, deputy director of operations for U.S. Central Command, told The Associated Press in London that it was unfair to say the parliament bombing meant the failure of the U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown in Baghdad, now in its ninth week.

"That would not be a fair indictment. This incident is still under investigation. The Iraqi police or the Iraqis had responsibility for security of that target, albeit that there were lines of security around it. Ultimately it will come down to their investigation to see what happened there," Holmes said.

Hassan al-Sunnaid, a member of the parliament's Security and Defense Committee, told state-run Iraqiya television that three cafeteria employees were being questioned by security agencies, although it was unclear what their involvement in the bombing might have been.

In the special session Friday, lawmakers took the podium one after another to denounce the bombing. One legislator had his arm in sling and a woman lawmaker wore a neck brace.

"The more they (terrorists) act, the more solid we become. When they take from us one martyr, we will offer more martyrs," Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi said. "The more they target our unity, the stronger our unity becomes."


Talk Show America 4/16/2007



Iraqi Parliment Meets in "Defiance" of Terror, Al Qaeda Bombing Backfires: Iraq's Parliment Uniting Against Terror, Iraqi Police Arrest Chlorine Bomb Suspects, 60 Taliban Killed in Afghanistan, An Email From a Haditha Marine's Father:



Thanks For Listening -- Jay Are

Iraqi Police Arrest Suspects Involved in Chlorine IEDs

BAGHDAD - Iraqi Police conducted an early-morning operation on April 11 in Al-Anbar province, capturing two suspects believed to be involved in insurgent activities.

With Coalition advisers present for support, Iraqi Forces raided a residence in the village of Kubaysah and captured their primary targets without incident.

The primary targets of this operation are alleged to be responsible for planning and building improvised explosive devices containing chlorine.

No Iraqi or Coalition force members were injured during this operation.

60 Taliban Killed in Southern Afghanistan battles

NATO and Afghan troops backed by warplanes killed up to 60 Taliban militants, officials said Friday, as the US-led coalition battled to gain control of the restive south.

US and Afghan troops backed by warplanes killed more than 35 Taliban militants during a five-hour battle on Thursday in the bitterly contested Helmand province Thursday, the US-led coalition said.

Friday, a joint NATO and Afghan military offensive in the Garmser district of Helmand killed a further 24 militants, the province's police chief Mohammad Nabi Mullahkhil told AFP, although the reports could not be confirmed.

Meanwhile, a British soldier with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed in a separate gunbattle with rebels on Friday, becoming the 12th foreign soldier to die in Afghanistan in a week.

US special forces and Afghan troops also killed three Taliban who pinned down a group of civilian contractors after their helicopter came down in another area.

The fighting on Thursday, where 35 of the rebels were killed, took place in the Sangin district of Helmand, which some 1,000 Afghan and international troops wrested from insurgent control at the weekend.

Sangin is one of several districts in southern Afghanistan that have been out of government control at times during the last year amid a fierce insurgency led by the Islamist Taliban.

"More than 35 Taliban fighters were killed by ANA (Afghan National Army) and coalition forces during the five-hour afternoon battle,"
the coalition said in a statement.

The statement said the clashes erupted after the troops identified several militant groups in the region. US air support was also called to pursue the fighters as they fled, the statement said.

The British soldier was killed and two others wounded in southern Afghanistan when their patrol fought fierce firefights with Taliban insurgents, the Ministry of Defence in London said.

The fighting erupted when a unit returned from a patrol aimed at reassuring Afghans that NATO forces were improving security in an area of northwest Helmand province and spotted five Taliban preparing an ambush.

The soldiers based near the town of Now Zad opened fire on the Taliban who were soon reinforced, with other fighters firing mortars, rockets, RPGs, heavy machine guns and small arms, the ministry said.

One of the soldiers received serious gunshot wounds, it added in a statement relayed from an ISAF press centre in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan.

Backed by an Apache attack helicopter exchanging fire with Taliban fighters on the ground, a Chinook ambulance helicopter arrived to collect the casualty and evacuated him for medical care at the main British base at Camp Bastion.

However, he was pronounced dead on arrival, the ministry statement said.

The death brought to 40 the number of international troops killed in Afghanistan this year. Some 170 were killed there in 2006

An Email From A Haditha Marine's Father

J.R.,

The Sharratt family and I thank you for broadcasting the story of Our Haditha Marines. Time magazine, the MSM and Congressman Murtha have brainwashed the American public with false accounts of Haditha. Through the efforts of small-town newspapers, bloggers, Kit Jarrell and you, I have been trying to unmask the un-truths published about Haditha.

I have seen the NCIS statements and testimony concerning Haditha and when the truth finally comes out, the MSM and back-stabbing politicians will have to answer for their lies.

JR, I could talk for hours about the truth, but when I respond to Haditha I use 2 articles already published by others. I would like to share these points with you. I hope you feel I am not preaching, just revealing the truth:

1.
The Wash Post on Jan 6, 2007 published the article by Josh White entitled 'Death in Haditha'. Josh White purports to have the NCIS investigative report covering 13,000 pages and writes in his article "according to eyewitness accounts that are part of a lengthy investigative report obtained by the Washington Post. In this article he does reveal key points to show Haditha was a firefight and the "the Marines concurred that they were under fire from all sides." Excerpts from his article testify that Navy Corspman Brian Whitt 'said he could see bullet impacts near his feet and noticed men with rifles disappearing from atop a house to the north. Some of the fire appeared to be coming from behind the white taxi.' Whitt returned fire with an M-16 to protect himself before he could reach the wounded Marines at the IED site. "Cpl Hector Salinas spotted a man firing at the squad from the corner of a house on the south side of the road" Minutes later, a Quick Reaction
Force(QRF) arrived from the Marine base, bringing Lt. William Kallop, the first officer on the scene. Kallop told the investigators 'he began to receive enemy fire almost immediately.' JR, I feel the strongest testimony comes from a IA Sgt named Asad Amer Mashoot. In his sworn testimony, he said "he thought the attack on the houses was warranted because the entire convoy was taking fire." Investigators noted that he believed the Marines "had justification" because they were "defending themselves." This should have been the headline describing the Haditha engagement--Iraqi Sgt says Marines were justified........ Strong evidence the Haditha Marines were in a firefight and not a massacre. JR, I assure you even stronger evidence will come out in the Articles 32's.

2.
The MSM and talk shows keep assigning the number 24 as to the purported civilian deaths in Haditha. In a 19 page article by Andrew Walden entitled "Haditha: reasonable Doubt" written statements by Marine intelligence officers show this number to be false. Major Dana Hyatt "said he was told by his superiors to compensate the relatives of 15 victims, but was told the rest of those killed had been deemed to have committed hostile acts." " The list of 15 victims deemed to be noncombatants was put together by intelligence personnel attached to the batallion", Major Hyatt said. The Marine Corps has identified 9 of the bodies from Haditha to be combatants- wonder how many in the 15 could be classified as such also? The 24 bodies were transported to FOB Sparta after the engagement. The Marines photograped, fingerprinted and identified the bodies. The Marines know who were terrorists. Somehow the MSM doesn't want to do the math or report the TRUTH.

JR, I have written countless articles and spoken to thousands in an effort to get the truth told. As I said I am using evidence already in publication to counter the MSM lies. Hannity & Colmes, Bill O'Reilly, Oliver North and other MSM outlets do not want to hear the truth. They refuse my requests to appear on their shows. Through the efforts of Americans like you the truth will be told. The prayers and support from caring Americans like you has kept me strong in my quest to exonerate Our Haditha Marines. They could, when we couldn't-they did, when we didn't they have earned the right for the truth to be told. I will not rest till they are all exonerated. Sharratt, Tatum, Wuterich, DelaCruz, Chessani, Stone, Grayson and McConnell, please ask your listeners to pray for them and support them. It will make you proud.

JR, I again thank you for your support and if you need further info, please feel free to ask. I will not rest till these men are vindicated.

Darryl

www.justinsharratt.com
www.frankwuterich.com

Haditha Marines: Update Justin Sharratt's Art 32 Hearing Delayed

Talk Show America 4/16/2007



Iraqi Parliment Meets in "Defiance" of Terror, Al Qaeda Bombing Backfires: Iraq's Parliment Uniting Against Terror, Iraqi Police Arrest Chlorine Bomb Suspects, 60 Taliban Killed in Afghanistan, An Email From a Haditha Marine's Father:



Thanks For Listening -- Jay Are

U.S. Can Defeat Iran's Russian Air Defenses

According To A Report in the Geostrategy-Direct.com:

The U.S. Air Force could overwhelm the Russian-origin air defense umbrella in Iran.

Russian generals said the U.S. Air Force would sustain losses by Iranian surface-to-air missile systems, but added America would eventually destroy the systems and achieve air supremacy.

"Today's situation is such that the attacking side [the United States] has more modern and powerful weapons and enjoys supremacy in quantity, compared to Iran's defenses," said Gen. Sergei Razygrayev, chief of staff of Moscow's air defense network. "They [Americans] will be able to create such a quantitative supremacy that they will accomplish the set task, although they will also suffer losses."


At a news conference on April 5, Razygrayev said Russian military analysts have been seeking to determine the extent of U.S. air power against Iran by studying the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. The general said the U.S. would likely destroy Iran's radar systems with cruise missiles.

Two Terrorists Killed in Iraq, 17 Detained

Coalition forces killed two suspected terrorists, detained 17 others, and seized weapons and documents owned by terrorists during operations in Iraq over the past two days.

Coalition forces killed two terrorists and detained four others while targeting an al Qaeda in Iraq cell south of Haditha this morning. During the operation, ground forces engaged and killed two armed terrorists when they entered a targeted building.

In operations northwest of Karmah this morning, coalition forces captured four suspected terrorists with alleged involvement in car-bomb attacks.

In several operations overnight in Baghdad, coalition forces captured nine suspected terrorists with alleged ties to al Qaeda in Iraq, military officials said.

"Coalition forces will continue deliberate and methodical operations in order to hunt down and capture or kill terrorists trying to prevent a peaceful and stable Iraq,"
said Army Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman.

In Diwaniyah yesterday, Iraqi security forces cordoned off and searched a suspected insurgent's office. This raid was based on intelligence gathered by military officials and targeted a known terrorist believed to be in the office that belongs to the Organization of the Martyr Sadr, an affiliation tied to radical cleric Moqtada al Sadr.

Coalition soldiers provided security outside the office as Iraqi troops entered the office and searched for the terrorist suspect and weapons. Once inside, the Iraqi troops found hand grenades, multiple identification cards, improvised explosive device-making materials, anti-government propaganda, photos of wounded soldiers and battle-damaged vehicles, and a low-power transmitting station.

In accordance with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki's recent directive, any buildings used for criminal or illegal purposes may be entered and searched, including those used by political parties, U.S. officials said. Additionally, Maliki's directive states that when sites are used for criminal or terrorist activities, they lose any protection they may have under international law.

Coalition Forces Capture 18 Terrorists in Iraq

Coalition forces captured 18 suspected al Qaeda terrorists this week, while Iraqi forces took the lead in operations throughout the country, detaining five suspects, military officials report.

During an operation in Karmah this morning, coalition forces captured six men with suspected involvement in recent car-bomb attacks operations against Iraqi and coalition forces.

Five suspected terrorists with links to recent car-bomb attacks against coalition forces in Mosul were captured today, officials said.

A raid east of Amiriyah resulted in the capture of one suspected terrorist with known involvement in transporting al Qaeda senior leaders.

Forces also captured two suspected foreign fighter facilitators in Baghdad.

Elsewhere in Iraq, insurgents attacked Iraqi civilians with mortars yesterday, injuring seven in an area south of Baghdad. Military officials said Iraqi police heard the explosions and immediately assisted injured citizens by evacuating them to a local hospital.

In other operations this week, Iraqi police forces conducted an early-morning mission April 11 in Anbar province, capturing two suspects believed to be involved in insurgent activities.

With coalition advisors present for support, U.S. officials report that Iraqi forces raided a residence in the village of Kubaysah and captured individuals allegedly responsible for planning and building improvised explosive devices containing chlorine.

Iraqi special operation forces conducted an air assault April 11 outside of Fallujah, capturing two suspects believed to be involved in insurgent activities. With coalition advisors present for support, the Iraqi forces conducted the air-assault raid northeast of the city, capturing their primary targets without incident. Five other suspicious individuals present during the operation were detained.

One of the targeted suspects detained is believed to be a member of a terrorist organization named the Islamic Army and part of an improvised-explosive-device cell operating out of Fallujah, military officials reported. The other suspect is believed to be with the cell and responsible for emplacing IEDs specifically targeting coalition vehicles.

"Coalition forces continue to target terrorists regardless of where they may hide or operate,"
Army Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, said.
"They will be identified, captured and prosecuted for their crimes."

Pakistani Tribesmen Kill 300 Al Qaeda Terrorists

A recent article in the Scotsman reported that:


PAKISTANI tribesmen backed, by the army have killed 300 foreign, al-Qaeda-linked militants in weeks of fighting in the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border, the president, Pervez Musharraf, said yesterday.

Tribesmen began battling the foreign militants they had previously sheltered in early March after the foreigners tried to kill a tribal leader.
"The people in South Waziristan have now risen against the foreigners. They have killed about 300 of them," Mr Musharraf told a military conference on counter-terrorism. "And they get support from the Pakistan army, they asked for support,"
Mr Musharraf said, in a first public admission that troops were involved.

Government officials had previously said more than 200 people, most of them Uzbek militants, had been killed in the fighting. The military had said it was not involved. Many foreign militants fled to Pakistan after US-led forces ousted the Taleban in Afghanistan in 2001. Since then, many have been involved in fighting both Pakistani security forces and US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Mr Musharraf said he was pained by persistent questioning of Pakistan's commitment to the coalition against terrorism, and distrust of Pakistan's motives.
"If Pakistan is bluffing, if I am bluffing and the ISI is bluffing, I think we should be out of the coalition,"
he said referring to the military spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate.

Talk Show America

Political News & Commentary

Talk Show America 4/13/2007




Thanks For Listening -- Jay Are

Islamic Army of Iraq splits from Al-Qaeda

According to the Fourth Rail Blog:

The largest Sunni insurgent group has severed ties with al Qaeda and its Islamic State of Iraq; Sunni religious leaders oppose al Qaeda

The Sunni civil war in Iraq continues to gather steam. The Islamic Army in Iraq, the largest Sunni insurgent group which has previously operated closely with al Qaeda in Iraq, has severed ties with the terror group after several months of infighting, Al Jazeera reported today. Ibrahim al-Shammari, an Islamic Army in Iraq spokesman, "told Al Jazeera on Thursday that the Islamic Army in Iraq had decided to disunite from al-Qaeda in Iraq after its members were threatened."

"In the beginning, we were dealing with Tawhid and Jihad organisation, which turned into al-Qaeda in Iraq," Al-Shammari explained. Specifically after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi died, the gap between us [and al-Qaeda] widened, because [they] started to target our members... They killed about 30 of our people, and we definitely don't recognise their establishment of an Islamic state - we consider it invalid."

Evidence of the split between the Islamic Army in Iraq and al Qaeda began to appear early this year. Mishan al-Jabouri, the owner of Al Zawraa - or Muj TV, which is the propaganda television station for the Islamic Army in Iraq, lashed out against al Qaeda in February of 2007. Jabouri aired a laundry list of complaints against al-Qaeda and its puppet Islamic State of Iraq. the grievances included:

Al-Qaeda in Iraq has divided the Iraqi people, failed to protect the Sunnis and brought the Shia death squads down on the Sunnis by inciting sectarian violence through mass suicide attacks.

The Islamic State of Iraq in Iraq wants the Sunni groups to "pledge allegiance" to leaders, ministers and emirs whose identities are unknown, including Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.

Islamic State of Iraq has continued to conduct an extensive campaign of assassination against rival sheikhs, emirs and insurgent group leaders, and in many cases added insult to injury by failing to give the bodies back to the families. One of al-Jabouri's own messengers was executed.

The Islamic State of Iraq has no system of law or justice.

Weapons and ammunition are being confiscated from insurgent groups that do not support the Islamic State.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq is intentionally targeting members of the Iraqi Army and police forces, who al-Jabouri and other insurgents believe are acting in the best interest of Iraqis.

The goal of the Islamic State of Iraq is to serve as a stepping stone to attack other nations, which endangers the Iraqi people.


Talk Show America

Political News & Commentary

Talk Show America 4/13/2007




Thanks For Listening -- Jay Are

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Ohio Man Plotted with Al Qaeda

A federal grand jury indicted a U.S. citizen on charges of joining al-Qaida and conspiring to bomb European tourist resorts and U.S. government facilities and military bases overseas.

Christopher Paul, 43, of Columbus, trained with al-Qaida in the early 1990s, the indictment issued Wednesday says. The indictment says he told al-Qaida members in Pakistan and Afghanistan that he was dedicated to committing violent jihad.

Paul is charged with providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to provide support to terrorists and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction.

Fred Alverson, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Columbus, said Thursday that he couldn't comment further on the case.

Federal prosecutors planned to hold a news conference later Thursday.

Paul was in the Franklin County Jail late Wednesday after a U.S. District Court hearing was postponed until his attorney, Don Wolery, could be present. Wolery did not immediately return a message seeking comment Thursday morning.

The indictment says Paul traveled to Germany about April 1999 to train co-conspirators to use explosives to attack European and U.S. targets, including government buildings and vacation spots frequented by American tourists.

Paul was born Paul Kenyatta Laws. He legally changed his name to Abdulmalek Kenyatta in 1989, then to Christopher Paul in 1994, according to the indictment said.

Two other Columbus men have been charged in federal investigators' terrorism investigation. Iyman Faris was sentenced in 2003 to 20 years in prison for a plot to topple the Brooklyn Bridge. Nuradin Abdi, accused of plotting to blow up a Columbus-area shopping mall, is awaiting trial on charges including conspiring to aid terrorists.

Tehran Believes U.S. Attack Coming

Iran is preparing for a possible confrontation with the United States and Israel over its nuclear program and has been training and funding Palestinian groups to carry out large-scale terror operations in the event of a U.S. or Israeli attack against Tehran, according to Palestinian security officials and terror leaders speaking to WND.

The officials and terror leaders said Iran has in recent days been funneling money to Palestinian terror groups in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to compensate for the loss of loyalty of other Palestinian terror groups receiving funds from competing sources.

The Palestinian security officials said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization, in coordination with Israel-based U.S. security coordinators, has stepped up payments to Fatah militias and cells of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group on condition the militias and Brigades members cut contact with Iran and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia.

"Iran is making contingency plans for war,"
said a security official.

Earlier this month, the Israeli Defense Forces warned Iran, Syria and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia are preparing for a U.S.-led war this summer.

"Their preparation is defensive ahead of war. ... They fear a war initiated by the Americans because they understand that there might be an attack against Iran over the summer, but not by Israel,"
IDF Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin told the Knesset.

Yadlin said Iran and Syria believe a war this summer will be initiated by the U.S. and that Israel will be involved. He said Israel has been monitoring Iranian fortification of Tehran's military positions; Syrian military movements and indications of war preparation with the help of Iran; and the large-scale smuggling of Iranian-supplied weapons to Hezbollah.

Yadlin noted the war preparations are defensive. He said Israel doesn't expect Iran or Syria to start a confrontation. The military intelligence chief, though, said he feared hostilities could break out even without a U.S.-led strike because of "the involvement of many players."

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Guns Fall Silent in Iraqi City

Here is the latest from Al Jazeera ?:

The guns in the city of Hiyt in Iraq's western province of Anbar have finally fallen silent, thanks to the efforts of local administrators and security forces.

In mid March, a well-equipped contingent of Iraqi police entered the town, situated 180km west of the capital Baghdad, and immediately began a recruitment drive for local volunteers to take charge of security.

Hiyt, which in the past four years has been the scene of anti-US attacks, air strikes and internal strife, has not had an effective police force since its security headquarters was blown up in December 2004.

Recruitment drive

When Iraqi police returned to the city on March 15, the first order of business was to impose a day-long curfew as they patrolled the streets.

When calls went out for new recruits, several hundred young men registered at their neighbourhood precincts.

A Hiyt emergency battalion to combat al-Qaeda was also established and is currently training nearly 500 volunteers.

Many of the volunteers who signed up for the new police force belong to the villages surrounding Hiyt, with a large portion belonging to the Majlis Inqaz Al Anbar (The Council for the Protection of Al Anbar), an organisation established by Abdul Satar Abu Risha, a tribal chief.

The council is known to have engaged against al-Qaeda forces in recent weeks.

Ahmed Mohamed, a Hiyt resident, said: "We said so early since April 2003 that we want police and army from the citizens of the city, we didn't want strangers from the south and US troops to control us or to move in side districts".

Security measures
Districts are no longer controlled by US troops but by Iraqi police, in some cases supported by Iraqi army units.

Since their March 15 return, police commanders divided the city into several sectors separated by heavy barbed wire and large concrete walls.

A police source told Al Jazeera that the security measures were to curb the movement of cars for a period of 30 days and to tighten control of the movement of peoples from one sector to the next.

The new security steps seem to be paying off.

By the end of March, police had arrested several men suspected of belonging to "extremist" groups.

Rehabilitation

The improved security conditions allowed the establishment of the first local elections overseen by Iraqis in the city.

On April 4, 21 members of local tribes were elected to a new municipal council.

Suburbs in Hiyt are no longer controlled by US soldiers but by Iraqi police units

The council is to manage the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the town, and it has announced that it would expedite the rebuilding of mobile phone services.

A telecommunications tower built for such services was destroyed by armed groups in September 2005.

The council has also seen to the reopening of schools for girls, which had been closed down by the al-Qaeda-led Islamic State of Iraq, the self-styled Islamist government set up by the group.

Anbar University is also expected to reopen in the near future, the council told residents.

Internet cafes, which have been targeted throughout most of Iraq, quickly took advantage of the new security environment and reopened.

Enfranchising tribes

But there is also a strong political movement at work in Hiyt.

Hoping to dissuade young men from taking up arms or joining extremist groups, the police have instituted a series of steps to recruit evenly from each tribe in the city.

Tribal elders and sheikhs are required to submit lists of men they volunteer for the new police force.

Hiyt's new police force is also expected to be reinforced by 1000 new cadets who are currently undergoing training in Habbaniya, a former Iraqi air force base now administered by US forces.

"No more military operations," said a man on his way to market.

"Now people in the city have started to forget the sounds of mortars and explosions."


Talk Show America

Political News & Commentary

Talk Show America 4/13/2007




Thanks For Listening -- Jay Are

Iran Helping Iraqis Build Bombs

Iranian intelligence operatives have been training Iraqi fighters inside Iran on how to use and assemble deadly roadside bombs known as EFPs, the U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday. Commanders of a splinter group inside the Shiite Mahdi Army militia have told The Associated Press that there are as many as 4,000 members of their organization that were trained in Iran and that they have stockpiles of EFPs, a weapon that causes great uneasiness among U.S. forces here because they penetrate heavily armored vehicles.

U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell would not say how many militia fighters had been trained in Iran but said that questioning of fighters captured as recently as this month confirmed many had been in Iranian training camps.

"We know that they are being in fact manufactured and smuggled into this country, and we know that training does go on in Iran for people to learn how to assemble them and how to employ them. We know that training has gone on as recently as this past month from detainees debriefs,"
Caldwell said at a weekly briefing.

EFP stands for explosively formed penetrator, deadly roadside bombs that hurl a fist-size lump of molten copper capable of piercing armor.

In January, U.S. officials said at least 170 U.S. soldiers had been killed by EFPs.

Caldwell also said the U.S. military had evidence that Iranian intelligence agents were active in Iraq in funding, training and arming Shiite militia fighters.

"We also know that training still is being conducted in Iran for insurgent elements from Iraq. We know that as recent as last week from debriefing personnel,"
he said.

"They do receive training on how to assemble and employ EFPs,"
Caldwell said, adding that fighters also were trained in how to carry out complex attacks that used explosives followed by assaults with rocket- propelled grenades and small arms.

"There has been training on specialized weapons that are used here in Iraq. And then we do know they receive also training on general tactics in terms of how to take and employ and work what we call a more complex kind of attack where we see multiple types of engagements being used from an explosion to small arms fire to being done in multiple places,"
he said.

The general would not say specifically which arm of the Iranian government was doing the training but called the trainers "surrogates" of Iran's intelligence agency.

Caldwell opened the briefing by showing photographs of what he said were Iranian-made mortar rounds, RPG rounds and rockets that were found in Iraq.

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Guns, TNT Found in Sunni lawmaker's Home

BAGHDAD - U.S. and Iraqi troops found a huge stash of weapons in a raid on the home of a Sunni lawmaker and detained at least a dozen men for questioning, officials said Sunday.

Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, spokesman for the Baghdad security plan, said the raid targeted a house of legislator Khalaf al-Ilyan — one of the three leaders of the Iraqi Accordance Front, which holds 44 seats in parliament.

"During the search, we discovered many weapons and explosive materials,"
al-Moussawi said at a news conference. He did not say when the raid took place, but a U.S. military statement said it occurred Tuesday.

Among the weapons found in the house were 33 Kalashnikov rifles, three pistols, one hand grenade, 4.4 pounds of TNT and 13 82-mm mortar rounds, al-Moussawi said.

The U.S. military said eight 57-mm rockets and 5,000 rounds of ammunition were also seized, along with photos of burning British soldiers and American flag-draped coffins. A detailed search revealed buried mortar rounds with new explosive timing and initiation devices.

Al-Ilyan was believed to be in Jordan at the time of the raid, and was unreachable for comment.

Al-Moussawi said troops detained 12 people for questioning. A U.S. military statement put the number of detainees at 14, and said they were al-Ilyan's personal bodyguards.

As a parliament member, al-Ilyan has immunity from prosecution. But al-Moussawi said
"no one is immune when it comes to the law, and if anyone is convicted the person will be detained by security forces."

Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a U.S. military spokesman, suggested U.S. officials would not back away from prosecuting a parliament member.

"Anytime we find someone operating outside the law, not following the rules that have been set by this government, they are subject to being detained and arrested,"
Caldwell said.

SENIOR AL-QAEDA LEADER CAPTURED IN BAGHDAD RAID

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Coalition Forces captured a senior al-Qaeda leader and two others during raid Sunday morning in Baghdad.

Coalition Forces identified the man as the gatekeeper to the al-Qaeda emir of Baghdad. He has alleged ties to several senior al-Qaeda members and is reportedly linked to a number of mass casualty vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attacks in the Baghdad area.

He was detained along with another known al-Qaeda VBIED cell leader and one other suspect.

"This is a significant step in our efforts to disrupt the VBIED network and their devastating attacks against the Iraqi people,"
said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, MNF-I spokesperson.

Dems New Plan: Pretend There is "No War on Terror"

A recent piece by John Semmens in the AZCONSERVATIVE says it all about the Dems.

(The comments in parenthesis are mine...J.R.)

The House of Representatives Armed Services Committee Chairman, Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), announced that the phrase "global war on terror" will no longer be tolerated in his committee.

"Ever since President Bush introduced the phrase 'global war on terror' there's been nothing but trouble in the world," Skelton said. "The phrase magnifies the problem and terrorizes the population."


By banning the phrase Skelton said he hopes to
"restore the sense of calm and peace that prevailed during the first Clinton Administration." "When Bill Clinton was president there was no war on terror. People felt safe. We want them to feel safe again. The first step in restoring this sense of tranquility is to change the way we talk about the world. If we don't call it a war it won't seem as scary or important. Eventually, we can forget about it and return to a normal life."
(People actually elected these morons...J.R.)

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) blasted the plan to ban the use of "global War on Terror" phrasing.
"The notion that making the American people feel secure by softening our semantics fulfills our responsibility to provide for their security is idiotic," Boehner complained. "The terrorists know they are at war with us. Pretending we aren't at war, as the Democrats would have us do, isn't going to persuade al-Qaeda to stop scheming to kill us."

Skelton brushed Boehner's criticisms aside as "the whines of a sore loser."

(Skelator still thinks he's on a kiddie playground calling kids names...J.R.)
"Voters are tired of the war," Skelton said. "It's time to 'change the channel' so to speak. That's what we were elected to do. It's what we intend to do."


(Yes Folks, the Dems Plan to save America: Pretend to be Ostriches and bury our heads in the sand...J.R.)

Polls seem to support the Democrats on this issue. A USA Today/Gallup poll found that a majority of voters want the war to end.
"It's had its run," said Willy Laufen, a poll respondent from Los Angeles. "It's time for something new."


(Such as, Willy ?...J.R.)
"The war is so boring," said Mona Lott, a respondent from Boston. "I missed an important segment of 'Lost' because Bush had to make another stupid speech about freedom and democracy. What about my freedom to watch what I want on TV?"


(Why don't you tell the Men and Women of the US Military that the war is boring...and did you ever hear of re-runs, Mona ?...J.R.)