No rest for the wicked.

[BoboCracker]

Report: 5,000 Iran agents behind Shi'ite death squads in Iraq -
www.geostrategy-direct.com<http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/>

WASHINGTON - Iran maintains thousands of intelligence agents in
Iraq, according to Saudi security sources.

A report on Iran's intelligence presence in Iraq by the Saudi
National Security Assessment Project asserts that Iran has at least
5,000 agents, responsible for helping establish Shi'ite death
squads. Authored by Nawaf Obaid, a leading Saudi consultant based in
Washington, the report cited the Al Quds Forces, identified as a
special command division of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps. Obaid said Al Quds mainly functions as the special foreign
intelligence division of IRGC and specializes in unconventional
warfare.

Al Quds "has a close relationship with the Badr Organization and the
Mahdi Army, as well as with smaller Iraqi Shi'ite militias," the
report said. "Members of the Al Quds Forces organized what came to
be known as the death squads under the former Iraqi Interior
Minister."

[On Dec. 20, the U.S. military announced the capture of a leader of
the Iranian-backed Mahdi Army south of Baghdad. The military said
the Mahdi Army commander, a bomb expert, was linked to attacks on
Iraqi and coalition forces in the Wasit Province.]

The report estimated the strength of Al Quds at 5,000. Obaid said
the Mahdi Army has a strength of 10,000 and the Badr Organization,
25,000.

Obaid, who was an adviser to the Saudi embassy in the United States
until December 2006, said Al Quds has been transporting Al Qaida
fighters from Afghanistan to Iraq through Iran.

"Iran has also provided Al Qaida material support in the form of
explosives, food, and logistical help," the report said.
"Operational structural resembles what was formerly the Al Qaida
organization in Saudi Arabia.

"The idea of an overall commander is a Western delusion - no single
leader orchestrates Al Qaida operations in Iraq," the report added.
"Each network operates independently and has its own fighters,
funding, logistical support, recruitment and training."

----------------------------------------------------------

Iran expands training of Hamas -

TEL AVIV - Iran has accelerated military training of Hamas. Israeli
officials said up to several hundred Hamas operatives recently left
the Gaza Strip for Iran. The operatives were undergoing several
weeks of military training by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps.

"The Hamas terrorists enter [Egypt's] Sinai Peninsula and then make
their way to Syria and then Iran," an official said. "We have been
detecting an increase in the flow of Hamas operatives leaving for
Iran over the last two months."

Hamas leaders have discussed expanding cooperation with Iran. In
November, Palestinian Authority Interior Minister Said Siyam said
Iran agreed to bolster training and funding to security forces
aligned with Hamas.

Israeli officials said Iran now regards Hamas as a Palestinian
version of Hizbullah. They expect Hamas to receive advanced Iranian
military training, including the use of anti-tank missiles,
explosives, intelligence and weapons assembly.

"We expect this to significantly improve Hamas's military ability in
2007," the official said.

Hamas has acknowledged agreements for Iranian security training.
Siyam said Iran offered to train up to 50 PA police officers in law
enforcement.
__________________________________________________ ________

This article is for the boneheads that think we are in Iraq fighting Iraqi civilians. Though some here will never understand or accept the truth, some will. Iraq will never calm down until Iran is dealt with, and it looks like that is very close to being a reality.

[Saturn5]

Iran has been jumping for joy since the moment we invaded. We have taken out a regime that had been a clear threat to Iran. The U.S. did what Iran has attempted to do for decades.

[BoboCracker]

Iran has been jumping for joy since the moment we invaded. We have taken out a regime that had been a clear threat to Iran. The U.S. did what Iran has attempted to do for decades.

Looks like they won't be jumping for joy much longer.

[NJCardFan]

Saturn has got to be the only person in this country who's upset that Saddam is dead.

[Saturn5]

Looks like they won't be jumping for joy much longer.
They have become emboldened by the U.S. invasion of Iraq. That much is clear, so by weakening one evil, they've strengthened another. And also allowed an insurgency to move into the power vacuum now present in Iraq.

[Oaken1]

They have become emboldened by the U.S. invasion of Iraq. That much is clear, so by weakening one evil, they've strengthened another. And also allowed an insurgency to move into the power vacuum now present in Iraq.

Here is one for you to research Saturn.
I read an article yesterday or the day before, regarding US Troops in Somalia. Not to help the Somalians mind you, but to root out terrorist training camps apparently. I find it disappointing we could not go over there to help with all the inhumanities going on over the past decade.
But anyway, has there been a shift in power in Somalia? Last I read, Somalia was being ran by a militant faction that overthrew the rightful government there some years back, and that militant faction are the ones responsible for all the **** and murder that was occurring there everyday for the past 10-15 years or so.
The part that caught my attention was the part where the current Somalian ruler stated that " The US has my full support in this action"
That stood out because if this is the same military faction running Somalia, then that ruler is by definition a terrorist, and far worse than Saddam was even to his own people.
Do you know anything about this action? It was just a curiosity but I thought maybe you may have some more background on it.

[Oaken1]

I found this follow up article on azcentral.com. Looks like we are going to be dropping more troops into Somalia as well.




Top al-Qaida suspect killed in U.S. airstrike, Somali official says

By Salad Duhul
Associated Press
Jan. 10, 2007 07:42 AM


MOGADISHU, Somalia - 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 confirmed would mean the end of an eight-year hunt for a top target of Washington's war on terrorism.

There was no immediate confirmation from the United States. In Washington, an 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 perhaps four or five others were wounded.

The report came as U.S forces apparently launched a third day of airstrikes in southern Somalia. Witnesses said an AC-130 gunship attacked a suspected al-Qaida training camp. At least four separate strikes were reported Wednesday around Ras Kamboni, on the Somali coast and a few miles from the Kenyan border. advertisement




In three days of attacks near Afmadow, close to the Kenyan border, 64 civilians had been killed and 100 injured, said elder Haji Farah Qorshel. There was no independent confirmation of his claim.

Also Wednesday, Somalia's deputy prime minister said American troops were needed on the ground to root extremists from his troubled country, and he expected the troops soon. It was the first indication that the U.S. military may expand its campaign.

Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who allegedly planned the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa, was killed in a U.S. airstrike Monday, 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."

If confirmed, Mohammed's death would be a major victory for the U.S. in its hunt for the 1998 embassy bombers. The strike was part of the first U.S. offensive in the African country since 18 American soldiers were killed there in 1993.

The campaign is aimed at capturing al-Qaida members thought to be fleeing Somalia since the Islamic militia that sheltered them began losing ground to Somali government soldiers backed by Ethiopian troops last month.

The Somali troops and their Ethiopian allies have driven the Islamic movement that had dominated the country for six months out of the capital and toward the Kenyan border.

Hassan said local intelligence reports indicated Abdirahman Janaqow, one of the Islamic militants' deputy leaders, had also been killed.

Fazul, 32, joined al-Qaida in Afghanistan and trained there with Osama bin Laden, according to the transcript of an FBI interrogation of a known associate. He had a $5 million bounty on his head for allegedly planning the 1998 attacks on the U.S. Embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, which killed 225 people.

He is also suspected of planning the car bombing of a beach resort in Kenya and the near simultaneous attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner in 2002. Ten Kenyans and three Israelis were killed in the blast at the hotel, 12 miles north of Mombasa. The missiles missed the airliner.

Somalia's Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Aideed said U.S. special forces are needed on the ground as government forces backed by Ethiopia are unable to capture the last remaining hideouts of suspected extremists.

"The only way we are going to kill or capture the surviving al-Qaida terrorists is for U.S. special forces to go in on the ground," Aideed, a former U.S. Marine said. "They have the know-how and the right equipment to capture these people."

"As far as we are aware they are not on the ground yet, but it is only a matter of time," Aideed said.

Defense Department officials, speaking privately Tuesday in Washington because the department was not releasing the information, suggested the military was either planning or considering additional strikes in Somalia.

With a U.S. aircraft carrier off Somalia's coast, commanders can call in strikes. Defense Department officials said that as of Tuesday, three other U.S. warships were conducting anti-terror operations off Somalia's coast.

Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Tuesday the U.S. military assault had been based on credible intelligence. He would not confirm any details of the strikes, conducted by at least one AC-130 gunship. He would not say if any specific members of al-Qaida had been killed, or address if the operations were continuing.

In the capital of Mogadishu, some said the attacks would increase anti-American sentiment in the largely Muslim country, where people are already upset by the presence of troops from neighboring Ethiopia, which has a large Christian population.

Leaders of Somalia's Islamic movement have vowed from their hideouts to launch an Iraq-style guerrilla war, and bin Laden's deputy has called on militants to carry out suicide attacks on Ethiopian troops.

Police at the Kenyan coastal border town of Kiunga on Monday arrested a wife of Mohammed, with her three children, according to an internal police report seen by the AP.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since clan-based warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on each other. The interim government was established in 2004.

[Mibrilane #56]

Saturn has got to be the only person in this country who's upset that Saddam is dead.
No wicked for the rest, apparently. :wink: