February 07, 2012

WFAA:

Maj. Troy Gilbert took off in his F-16 in November 2006 for a mission near Baghdad.

Now that U.S. forces have left Iraq, his family wonders who will look for his body to bring it home to Texas.

The 22nd combat mission for the Texas Tech grad would earn him the Distinguished Flying cross with valor, one of the nation's highest military awards.
He's credited with saving about 20 American commandos under fire.

"They say he was very calm," said the hero's mom, Kaye Gilbert. "He told this young man on the ground, 'I will not leave you.'"

According to witnesses, Maj. Gilbert destroyed one gun truck, then turned sharply to attack a second.

"Of course, he was already too low to begin with to do a strafing run," said his father, Ronnie Gilbert. "He went ahead and did it."

Kaye finished her husband's thought: "...because they were calling him from the ground saying, 'We're dying down here.' And when someone says, 'I'm dying down here,' you do everything you can."

The jet's tail hit the ground. Maj. Gilbert died instantly.
Later, when Ronnie and Kaye Gilbert learned why their son flew so low, it would only add to the cruelty of their ordeal.

It began just hours after the crash.

Insurgents posted a video on the Internet, showing men walking on the wings of the shattered jet. The cockpit canopy lay off to the side.

Three-hundred yards away, the pilot's broken body lay at the end of his unopened parachute. By the time U.S. forces reached the plane, Maj. Gilbert's body was gone.

The cockpit contained a tiny bit of tissue — enough for confirmation of death and burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

I've uploaded the report from WFAA. Please link the story or run the video. We'd like to get as many eyes on this story as possible.

Hat Tip: Lady Raven.

December 22, 2011

The minute we turn our back the Iraqis are back to their old selves.

BBC:

The interior ministry told the BBC 14 blasts hit various locations, including al-Amil in the south and Halawi and Karrada closer to the centre.

The bombings are the worst in months - and follow the withdrawal of US troops.

They come amid fears of rising sectarian tensions as the unity government faces internal divisions.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attacks.

However, analysts say the level of co-ordination suggests a planning capability only available to al-Qaeda in Iraq, which is a mainly Sunni insurgent group.

The bombs exploded as many people were travelling to work during the morning rush-hour.

Four car-bombs and 10 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were detonated, officials told the BBC.

A security spokesman in Baghdad, Maj Gen Qassim Atta, said the attacks had not been aimed at security targets.

"They targeted children's schools, day workers and the anti-corruption agency," he told AFP news agency.

Raghad Khalid, a teacher at a kindergarten in Karrada, said "the children were scared and crying".

I guess we'll find out as things digress.

December 09, 2011

A Canadian citizen has been indicted for aiding in the murder of American servicemen in Iraq:

NEW YORK—Today, a federal grand jury in Brooklyn, N.Y., returned an indictment charging Faruq Khalil Muhammad ‘Isa, 38, aka “Faruk Khalil Muhammad ‘Isa,” “Sayfildin Tahir Sharif” and “Tahir Sharif Sayfildin,” with aiding in the murder of five American soldiers in a suicide-bomb attack in Iraq in April 2009.

Specifically, he is charged with the murders of Staff Sergeant Gary L. Woods, 24, of Lebanon Junction, Ky.; Sergeant First Class Bryan E. Hall, 32, of Elk Grove, Calif.; Sergeant Edward W. Forrest Jr., 25, of St. Louis; Corporal Jason G. Pautsch, 20, of Davenport, Iowa; and Army Private First Class Bryce E. Gaultier, 22, from Cyprus, Calif.

The indictment also charges the defendant with conspiring to kill Americans abroad and providing material support to that terrorist conspiracy to kill Americans abroad.

In January 2011, the defendant was arrested and detained in Canada after he was charged by a federal complaint in the Eastern District of New York. The United States is seeking the defendant’s extradition from Canada in relation to the federal complaint in the Eastern District of New York. He remains in custody, and the defendant’s extradition hearing in Canada is currently scheduled for Jan. 30 to Feb. 1, 2012.

The charges were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Lisa Monaco, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; and Janice K. Fedarcyk, Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI.

The government’s investigation is being conducted by the FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, with assistance provided by the Department of Defense, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the government of Tunisia.

If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zainab Ahmad, Carter H. Burwell and Berit W. Berger, with assistance provided by Mary Futcher and Stephen Ponticiello of the Counterterrorism Section in the Department of Justice’s National Security Division. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs also provided assistance in this matter.

The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

December 01, 2011

I see this case as revealing a number of problems in the way we fought in Iraq, our legal rules, and in our soon to be hasty exit. For instance, with treating terrorists as "enemy combatants": once the war is over, you have to let them go:

Ali Mussa Daqduq, a Lebanese militant accused of involvement in the murder of several U.S. soldiers in Iraq, has been in U.S. military detention in Iraq since 2007 -- but likely not for much longer.

As the last U.S. forces depart Iraq, Daqduq may soon go free without facing trial....

The prospect that Daqduq -- a veteran operative of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia -- may escape U.S. justice....

Daqduq was accused of organizing a kidnapping in the Iraqi city of Karbala in January 2007 that left five U.S. soldiers dead....

But officials identified him as a 24-year veteran of Hezbollah who had commanded a special operations unit and been sent to Iraq to develop "Special Groups" within Shiite militia.

They said he admitted working with the Quds Force, a branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guard....

Daqduq has been held by the U.S. military as an "enemy combatant." Now the withdrawal of U.S. forces is almost complete and he can no longer be held without trial once hostilities are over. But U.S. officials are reluctant to hand over such a high-profile suspect to the Iraqi justice system. Their anxiety is that under pressure from Iran, Iraqi authorities would soon let Daqduq go free.

This seems to me one of the results of turning over these kinds of decisions to the State Department which can be trusted on getting pretty much every decision wrong every time.

October 21, 2011

The One is calling this a campaign promise...not in any sense of what he promised.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki insisted on the remaining soldiers be under his control and would be subject to arrests if the Iraqi government felt the need.

They would be sitting ducks so to speak.

Good on Obama for refusing but bad on Obama for not telling the public why all will return home.

We lost our finest and bravest, Iran is gaining ground and right now this sucks.

Islam sucks...

Oh, and its the Jews fault we were in Iraq or something:

October 04, 2011

Whatever happened to the good ol' days of "Wanted: Dead or Alive"? At what point did we decide the money would only be given for information leading to the man's arrest?

Because, personally, I'd find it a lot more gratifying if he was just dead.

The U.S. State Department's Rewards for Justice page:

Wanted
Abu Du’a
Up to $10 Million

Place of Birth : Samarra, Iraq
Date of Birth : 1971
Sex : Male
Hair : Black
Eyes : Brown
Complexion : Olive
Aliases : Dr. Ibrahim ‘Awwad Ibrahim ‘Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai’, Ibrahim ‘Awad Ibrahim al-Badri al Samarrai, Abu Duaa’, Dr. Ibrahim, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Abu Du’a is the senior leader of the terrorist organization, al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI). Abu Du’a is in charge of overseeing all AQI operations and is currently based in Iraq. AQI was listed by the UN 1267 Committee in 2004 under permanent reference number QE.J.115.04. Abu Du’a is responsible for managing and directing AQI large scale operations, such as the AQI August 28, 2011 attack on the Umm al-Qura mosque in Baghdad which killed prominent Sunni lawmaker Khalid al-Fahdawi.

In a statement eulogizing Usama bin Ladin, Abu Du’a threatened violent retaliation for bin Ladin’s death. Three days after bin Ladin’s death, Abu Du’a claimed responsibility for an attack in Hilla, Iraq, that killed 24 policemen and wounded 72 others. On August 15, 2011, a wave of AQI suicide attacks began in Mosul, Iraq, which culminated in over 70 deaths. Shortly thereafter, Abu Du’a pledged on AQI’s website to carry out 100 attacks across Iraq in retaliation for bin Ladin’s death.

Or just kill him and save us all the hassle.

September 10, 2011

Via CSM

Baghdad

Fatima Odei's love affair with the violin started in the dark days of the war when, only six years old and sequestered at home, she began watching symphony orchestras on TV.

I saw a Japanese girl playing violin and I really liked her," says Fatima, now 12 and one of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra's youngest trainees[...]

Fatima and her fellow musicians aren't the only young Iraqis performing classical music. There is the more established National Youth Orchestra of Iraq, but it performs only in the calmer northern region of Kurdistan and outside Iraq.

In contrast, the young INSO members' unlikely musical careers have been forged amid the heat of war in Baghdad, bringing a sweet escape from the daily challenges of a city hardened first by conflict and then the chaos of reconstruction. For some of the students who walked past bodies in the street on the way to school, knowing they had music made them feel they had something to hang onto.

"Everything around us just makes you feel like you live in hell, so when I am holding my violin and start to play it's the only way I can express myself," says Ali Muhsen, a young electrical engineer about to step on stage for the first time with the orchestra.

Reporters on the Job: The story behind the story

One of correspondent Jane Arraf’s most indelible memories of the Iraq war was the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra’s first public concert after Saddam Hussein was toppled from power.

It was June 2003, and what was left of the orchestra after a decade of sanctions and war gathered at the Convention Center. The guest of honor was L. Paul Bremer, the US administrator of the new Iraq. Flanked by Blackwater guards with submachine guns, Mr. Bremer declared that the concert signaled Iraq’s return to normalcy.

It wasn’t. But that didn’t matter.

As the well-dressed Iraqis sang “My Homeland,” Iraq’s de facto national anthem, many had tears streaming down their faces.

“I’ve known some of those musicians since the 1990s, when they drove taxis to survive,” says Jane. They suffered much since. “Hearing them rehearse and perform is never just a musical experience – it’s an affirmation that there’s an Iraqi spirit that can’t be extinguished.”

September 07, 2011

Comedy gold, people. Comedy gold.

September 02, 2011

August marks the first month of not a single US military casualty.

August 27, 2011

ABC

Bombs in Baghdad killed six people Saturday night, capping a deadly day in which at least 33 people died across Iraq, officials said.

Late Saturday night, a bomb hidden in a bicycle outside a Sunni mosque killed three worshippers and wounded eight others leaving evening prayers at the Omer Bin Abdul Aziz mosque just north of Baghdad, police said.

A half hour later, three policemen died nearby while responding to an explosion under a bridge in the predominantly Christian al-Ghadeer neighborhood in the capital's east, officials said. A second bomb killed them. Eight people were wounded in the blasts[...]

The deadliest incident in Iraq on Saturday, however, was a traffic accident.

A bus carrying vacationing families through northern Iraq collided head-on with a car and burst into flames, killing all 24 people trapped on the bus and three people in the car, police said.

Plus keep our finest and bravest in your thoughts and prayers, it is still dangerous for them in Iraq.

August 15, 2011

Messaging vs reality:

A string of coordinated bomb blasts across Iraq blamed on al-Qaeda killed at least 66 people on Monday in the country's bloodiest day of the year so far.

More than 230 were wounded in bloodshed which underlined the fragility of security less than five months before American troops are scheduled to complete their withdrawal.

While discussing Iraq's financial outlays that the Iraqis agreed to, we get this little tidbit.

Iraq today is a shattered society still picking up the pieces after decades of war and crippling sanctions. Prior to its conflict with the United States, the Iraqi healthcare and education systems were the envy of the Middle East, and despite the brutalities and crimes of the Ba’ath regime there still managed to exist a thriving middle class of ordinary Iraqis, something conspicuously absent from today’s "free Iraq." In light of the continued suffering of Iraqi civilians, the agreement by the al-Maliki government to pay enormous sums of money to the people who destroyed the country is unconscionable and further discredits the absurd claim that the invasion was fought to "liberate" the Iraqi people.

See, Saddam wasn't so bad. You could buy apples and get prostate exams. Really good prostate exams. Stupid America!

July 12, 2011

So, a few backpackers accidentally cross into Iran and it's an act of 'espionage'. If that's true then how is this not an act of war?

Iranian forces are stationed about a 1 1/2 miles inside the Iraq border as part of an operation targeting Kurdish militants, a border official said.

A source inside the border patrol in the northern Kurdish provinces of Iraq said Iranian forces crossed the border during the weekend in pursuit of members of the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan, or PJAK.

July 02, 2011

Fatwas will be issued

I'll start: See the shit on my teeth? Yah, it came from my finger, and Allah knows best.

Thanks to ElmiraViking for suggesting this

UPDATE: What, no meetball reference?

The "i will cut ur neck" fatwa issued against Nanabozoh for

Screen capture from bin Ladin's porn library entitled "POV al-Sadr's Nasheeding Anus".

After removing finger from rectum...rub horizontally against teeth thusly." Excerpt from the perplexing, yet popular Youtube video,” Sadr's Desert Hygiene for the Jihadist.”

Wishing you a very long life

Allah is wise, merciful, all knowing ... and I think he just shat in my mouth!

June 27, 2011

Let us not forget our finest and bravest who are still in Iraq. Recently, two of them were killed. The June total of hostile-related deaths of U.S. soldiers is now 11, the most since May 2009

CNN

(CNN) -- Radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr thanked followers who offered to launch attacks against the U.S. military in Iraq should he reinstate his notorious Mehdi Army militia, according to a posting on his website.

The exchange between a follower and al-Sadr on his website comes as Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is talking with members of his government about the possibility of requesting American troops to stay in Iraq beyond a year-end deadline to withdraw.

Al-Sadr vowed earlier this year to "escalate armed resistance" if the U.S. military does not pull its troops as scheduled, a move that could destabilize the country should the Mehdi Army repeat the bloody battles it waged against American and Iraqi forces during the height of violence.

"We intended to be martyred, if you intend to lift the freeze of Imam al-Mehdi Army to defend Islam, doctrine and Iraq. Our martyrdom will be restricted only on activities against the infidel occupier without harming the civilians or any public proprieties," an unidentified follower posted on the website on Friday.

Hasna Ali Yahya, wife of dead al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri sentenced to 20 years

An Iraqi court has sentenced the wife of a slain al-Qaeda leader to 20 years in prison on terrorism-related charges, an Iraqi judicial spokesman said on Sunday.

Hasna Ali Yahya, the Yemeni wife of Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was convicted last Thursday, according to Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council spokesman Abdul-Sattar Bayrkdar. Bayrkdar didn’t give details on the charges, but a government official said she was convicted of facilitating correspondence between insurgents and preparing explosive-laden belts.

Justice is served...

May 31, 2011

BGDailyNews[Emphasis mine..ed}

LOUISVILLE — Two Iraqi refugees living in Bowling Green were arraigned today on federal terrorism charges - including accusations of attempting to kill U.S. troops with explosive devices in Iraq.

Waad Ramadan Alwan, 30, and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, 23, are charged in a 23-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Bowling Green on May 26. The men made their initial federal court appearance today in Louisville.

Alwan is accused of conspiring to kill U.S. nationals overseas, conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against U.S. nationals overseas, distributing information on how to manufacture and use improvised explosive devices, attempting to provide material support to terrorists and to al-Qaida in Iraq and conspiring to transfer, possess and export Stinger missiles.

Hammadi is charged with attempting to provide material support to terrorists and to al-Qaida in Iraq, as well as conspiracy to transfer, possess and export Stinger missiles.

The men were arrested Wednesday in Bowling Green. The FBI set up a mobile command center behind the Bowling Green Police Department headquarters last week, where FBI agents in camouflage, body armor and suits could be seen moving between the mobile command center and the BGPD.

In September 2009, the FBI began investigating Alwan, according to a news release from the Department of Justice. The FBI later began using a confidential source to meet with and record conversations with Alwan in August and with Hammadi in January. In meetings with the confidential source, Alwan allegedly discussed his previous activities as an insurgent in Iraq from 2003 until his capture by Iraqi authorities in May 2006 - including apparent use of IEDs and sniper rifles to target U.S. forces, according to the release.[More including links to PDF's related to case]

h/t @intelwire

UPDATE: For those of you who didn't read the rest, PDF links below fold:

Click a link below to read documents related to the case (pdf)

-- Press Release from U.S. attorney for the Western District of Kentucky .

-- Alwan and Hammadi Indictment.

-- Criminal Complaint (Alwan).

-- Criminal Complaint (Hammadi).

Jannah is a myth assholes...

???? per Rsluty: "I guess the major question is why was a known insurgent given refugee status???????" Yes, why?

May 23, 2011

American PSD - might be an interesting reality show. I wish them the best.

(Hat Tip: Abdul Kamara of Blue Diamond Strategies)

April 08, 2011

Can't get more evil than this, heh...

God Bless her.

March 31, 2011

Yet another sign that Middle East and Democracy may not always produce optimum results.

H/T: Blue Collar Philosopher.

March 18, 2011

Make no mistake: enforcing a no-fly zone is an act of war. When the first bombs are dropped, we will have invaded Libya.

I guess going to war with an Arab dictator who is murdering his own people but who poses almost no international security threat is peachy-keen okay, but only with U.N. approval.

I think this speaks volumes about this Administration. Apparently it believes that the moral distinction between Libya and Iraq is that in the former there is U.N. approval -- which makes it okay -- while in the latter there was not -- which makes it not okay.

In other words, this Administration thinks moral legitimacy is conferred not by God, a universal moral standard, or by the people of the United States -- but by an unelected body representing no actual people, many of who's members are worse than Ghaddafi.

I'm not saying we shouldn't enforce the no fly zone, or be involved in some way or another. Frankly, I'm torn.

But the point I'm trying to make is that if invading Libya is the right thing to do, then it is the right thing to do whether China & Russia choose to veto it in the U.N. Security Council or not.

March 15, 2011

Here's one of a number of images recently released by the brave mujahideen in Kirkuk, Iraq.

On second thought, maybe the kids armed themselves after they saw what the muj did to the sheep?

PS-- If you look closely you'll see that three of the kids are wearing SCUBA diving shirts from Jamaica. I mean, how much Jamaican SCUBA diving gear can be floating around Kirkuk?

March 07, 2011

As the war continues to wind down for us in Iraq, it's important to remember that our enemies continue to fight their losing battle:

A roadside kaboom killed six people and maimed 12 aboard a bus in Iraq's southern port city of Basra on Sunday, a provincial official said.

The blast had targeted a passing US military convoy, according to Ali al-Ghanimi, the head of Basra provincial council's security committee, but instead struck the bus and wrecked it.

Women and children were among the casualties of the 10:00 am (0700 GMT) attack near a train station in the al-Maakal district of northern Basra, Ghanimi said, but it was unclear how many of them died or were maimed.

January 27, 2011

Car bomb kills 48 at Iraqi funeral

BAGHDAD -- A car bomb ripped through a funeral tent in a mainly Shiite area of Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 48 people and triggering skirmishes between Iraqi troops and demonstrators angry about security failures.

The blast and three other small bombings Thursday were the latest in more than a week of attacks that have killed more than 200 people, raising fears about an uptick in violence as the U.S. military prepares to withdraw from the country.

Update by RS: I updated just to clarify that those responsible will inevitably turn out to be the Islamic State of Iraq, a Sunni group which opposes Shias and Iran.

January 19, 2011

The alleged perp is a bast*rd!

CBC

A Canadian man was arrested in Edmonton on Wednesday for his alleged association with a network of Tunisians believed to be responsible for suicide bombings in Iraq, including one that killed five U.S. soldiers in April 2009.

The U.S. Department of Justice said it is seeking to have Sayfildin Tahir Sharif, 38, also known as Faruq Khalil Muhammad 'Isa or Tahir Sharif Sayfildin, extradited to the United States to face charges in New York state.

U.S. authorities allege the accused is charged "in connection with his support for a multinational terrorist network that conducted multiple suicide bombings in Iraq and that is responsible for the deaths of five American soldiers."

They also allege Sharif had aspirations to travel to Iraq and carry out a bombing himself.[More..]

Faruq Complaint[PDF]

January 08, 2011

Interesting article in that the Iraqi's claim there was a second suicide bomber(an Egyptian national) who recieved similar training with Taymour Abdulwahab(the failed Swedish bomber).

Reuters

(Reuters) - Iraq informed the United States about a plot to carry out bombings in Sweden two months before an attack in Stockholm by a man trained in Iraq, an Iraqi security official told al Arabiya television on Friday.

Major General Dhai Kanani, director of Iraq's anti-terrorism unit, said the man who blew himself up in Stockholm on December 11 had received explosives training in the Iraqi city of Mosul for three months.

He had entered Iraq from Turkey, he added, according to al Arabiya's website.

He said confessions by al Qaeda members detained in Iraq had also revealed that "an Egyptian national entered Iraq at the same time and received similar training to probably carry out another mission."

Kanani said that "Iraq had information on bombings in Sweden, which it informed the Americans about before the bombing in Sweden by more than two months," al Arabiya reported.

He said some detained al Qaeda members had said the group was planning attacks in the United States and Western Europe and "that Sweden was among the targets for an attack at the end of 2010."

A senior Iraqi counter-terrorism official told Reuters in December al Qaeda was planning attacks in the United States, Britain and Europe around Christmas and Iraq had informed the affected countries. He said then that indications pointed to Sweden.

Taymour Abdulwahab, a Swedish national of Middle Eastern decent, is believed to have been killed in a botched attack on downtown Stockholm after a bomb belt he was wearing went off prematurely.

Police believe he was preparing to attack a train station or department store at the height of the Christmas shopping season

December 29, 2010

I guess they still have not gotten the memo that they lost the war.

MOSUL, Iraq — Two suicide bombers on Wednesday killed four policemen in a police station in the northern city of Mosul, including an officer who oversaw a deadly raid on militants, Iraqi security officials said.
A third bomber was shot dead before setting off his explosives belt in the attack targeting Lieutenant Colonel Shamil Ahmed Oglah, who commanded the operation last week against an Al-Qaeda affiliate, a police officer said.

The early morning bombings killed Oglah and three other policemen, an interior ministry source said, and destroyed most of the police station in the Qabr al-Binat area of western Mosul, according to the police officer.

The officer said Oglah had commanded an operation in western Mosul in which a leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, Al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate, was killed.
Suicide bombers had made four previous attempts to kill the lieutenant colonel, he said.

December 25, 2010

Despite those freaking failures called the Islamic State of Iraq aka al-Qaeda in Iraq:

BAGHDAD — Hundreds of Christians packed Baghdad's Our Lady of Salvation church for Christmas on Saturday, defying threats of attacks less than two months after militants massacred worshippers and priests there.
Security was extremely tight, with forces armed with pistols and assault rifles guarding the area, and a 10-foot high (three-metre) concrete wall topped with gleaming razor wire surrounding the church.

..."Last year, we were all gathering" for Christmas, said Uday Saadallah Abdal. But "this year, I went to the house, and I saw it was empty... I was crying all night, because no one was here any more."

The 28-year-old said two of his brothers were killed in the attack -- one of the priests, Father Thair, and another brother Raed. His mother was also shot three times, and is hospitalised in France.

"I feel that their souls are still there in the church; that is why I came. They encourage me to come here despite all the danger and threats," Abdal said of his brothers.

"We are afraid, but despite that, we are coming" for mass, Rana Nikhail said before the service. "We have to be here, because it is the birthday of the Messiah."

No pack of murdering losers can ever kill Baby Jesus.

And thanks to all those Iraqi Muslims who stood between these Christian people and those who would murder them. A Blessing you too.

December 22, 2010

Baby Jesus(pbuh) wept.

KIRKUK, Iraq — Iraqi Christians on Wednesday called off Christmas festivities in three cities across the country as al Qaeda insurgents threatened more attacks on a beleaguered community still terrified from a bloody siege on a Baghdad church.

Church officials in the northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul along with the southern city of Basra said they will not put up Christmas decorations, have canceled evening Mass and urged worshippers to refrain from decorating their homes. Even an appearance by Santa Claus has been called off.

"Nobody can ignore the threats of al Qaeda against Iraqi Christians," said Chaldean Archbishop Louis Sako in Kirkuk. "We cannot find a single source of joy that makes us celebrate. The situation of the Christians is bleak."

Christians across Iraq have been living in fear since a Baghdad church attack in October that left 68 people dead. Days later insurgents targeted Christian homes and neighborhoods across the capital with a series of bombs.

An al Qaeda front group that claimed responsibility for the church siege vowed at the time to carry out a reign of terror against Christians.

The Islamic State of Iraq renewed its threats in a message posted late Tuesday on a website frequented by Islamic extremists. The group said it wants two women it claims are being held captive by Egypt's Coptic Church to be released.

Muslim extremists in Egypt say the church has detained the women for allegedly converting to Islam. The church denies the allegations but extremists in Iraq have latched onto the issue. The message Tuesday was addressed to Iraq's Christian community and said it was designed to "pressure" Egypt.

Since the deadly church siege, the UN estimates some 1,000 Christian families fled to the Kurdish region in northern Iraq which is generally much safer.

For those who remain, this Christmas will be a subdued affair.

December 11, 2010

November 19, 2010

See this analysis of Fursan al-shahada at Online Jihad:

Corpses of Algerian soldiers are depicted in detail. Ambushed for their service for the Crusaders as well as their participation in upholding un-Islamic regimes as well as being responsible for killing Muslims.

What has this to do with ISI and the forthcoming video “Fursan al-shahada, 8″ ? While part six was all committed to self-inoculation attacks in Iraq to “support Turkistan”, this 8th edition seems to be about killing and undertaking operations in Iraq for the sake of Nigeria. Alert forum members pointed out that the picture, as it appears with the remark “soon” shows pictures of the above mentioned massacres:

The failed former objective of ISI has become hopeless. So they've taken a new turn. Revenge(murder) against Iraqis for whatever they can think of.

Just as Iraqi Christians have suffered murderous attacks, now Iraqi Muslims can expect the same for whatever injustice al-Qaeda claims its for anywhere in the world.

AQI murdering everyone for everything.

November 17, 2010

Jesus wept.

November 16, 2010

They are like an island of sanity in the sea of psychopathic morons that is the ME.

ANKAWA, Iraqi Kurdistan: Many Christians, who have been the most vulnerable religious minority targeted by Islamic militants in Iraq since 2003, say that they have found a safe and well-protected haven here in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.

As recent as last week, one of the main Christian churches in Iraq was targeted when some Islamic Arab extremists broke into the church and held dozens of prayers hostage and killed more than 50 of them.

A day after that bloody incident, the Christians as well as Muslim Kurds here in Erbil took to the streets condemning the consecutive attacks on a peaceful tiny religious minority in the Arab-dominated part of Iraq.

But the story of Christians is different here in the northern Kurdish region of Iraq.

One Christian leader, Fahmi Mati Solaqa, who is the mayor of Ankawa, a neighborhood where the Christians have a de-facto autonomous rule in Erbil, says Christians enjoy a "unique life in Kurdistan," that they do not in the rest of the Middle East.

"There is a plan to downsize Christians in the Middle East," said Solaqa. "In Lebanon, the Christians have been reduced from %60 to %40. This rate is even more in Iraq."

"But in Kurdistan, by contrast to the entire Middle East, the Christians have increased,” added Solaqa.

November 13, 2010

Ansar al Sunnah Damages US Wheel Friday, 12 November 2010 10:49

Ansar al Sunnah (Sharia Commission) claimed responsibility for targeting American occupation forces with an IED in main road of Baghdad-Mosul. The attack resulted in damage of one wheel according to the statement of resistance faction.

In other awesome Allah Ho Gaybar Iraq mujahideen news:

"Tank Goes over Mujahideen IED"

Mashallah....

Allah Ho Snackbar, Allah Ho Gaybar!!!!!

November 10, 2010

Focus Fen:

A string of anti-Christian bombings has cost six more lives in the wake of the Baghdad church bloodbath, sowing panic in Iraq's 2,000-year-old minority on Wednesday, many of whom now want to flee, AFP reports.

"Since Tuesday evening, there have been 13 bombs and two mortar attacks on homes and shops of Christians in which a total of six people were killed and 33 injured," a defence ministry official said. "A church was also damaged."

An interior ministry official earlier gave a casualty toll of three dead in 12 of the attacks across the Iraqi capital early on Wednesday.

I don't know what to call it but pure murder in the name of Allah by a desperate and frustrated group.

The people of Iraq, Muslims and Christians everywhere need to stand up against this. al-Qaeda has no hope of any military objective other than the systematic genocide of Christians living in Iraq.

I'm at a loss for words out of disgust for these acts.

More there at the Christian Science Monitor.

November 03, 2010

Qur'an (5:51) - "O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people.

Qur'an 2:191: And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaughter, and do not fight with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then slay them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers.

BAGHDAD — Iraqi

Christians on Wednesday faced fresh violent attacks after Al Qaeda listed them as “legitimate targets,” two days after a church bloodbath and as Baghdad was battered by a wave of bombings.

“All Christian centres, organisations and institutions, leaders and followers, are legitimate targets for the mujahedeen (holy warriors) wherever they can reach them,” said a statement by the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), the local branch of Osama bin Laden’s jihadist network.

The group had earlier claimed responsibility for a hostage drama by gunmen at a cathedral in the Iraqi capital on Sunday night which ended in the deaths of 46 worshippers, including two priests.

ROPMA

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al-Qaeda Explodes Multiple Bombs in Baghdad
Islamic State of Losers in Iraq Hunting the Blood of Cross Worshipers

November 02, 2010

From BBC

A series of apparently co-ordinated blasts in the Iraqi capital Baghdad have killed at least 63 people, officials say.

More than 280 people were wounded in the 10 attacks, which appeared to target Shia areas, officials say.

The incident is the first concerted show of force by insurgents for months.

It comes after at least 52 people were killed in Baghdad on Sunday as police stormed a church where hostages were being held.

At least seven neighbourhoods were targeted by Tuesday night's explosions, some of which detonated near cafes or restaurants.

Most of the explosions were car bombs but there was also at least one roadside bomb. A salvo of mortars was fired in one area in the south-west of the city.

Officials said the blasts were all in busy, predominantly Shia areas, although Sunni and mixed areas were also hit.

DEBKA has the total dead at 120 and 19 car bombs.

Iraqi army commanders admitted the city had veered out of control and voiced fear that it was just the beginning of a broader al Qaeda onslaught which had already begun spreading.

As the public medical system collapsed, the army parked tanks and APCs on the bridges of the Tigris River which cuts through Baghdad.

Cover your ears when the media starts jumping on Obama for proclaiming victory.

Obviously the war is lost - Reid

al-Qeada's standard, we just kill people strategy.

CNN:

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- At least 50 people were killed and 180 wounded in a wave of blasts across Baghdad on Tuesday, police said.

There were 14 explosions. Ten were car bombs, three were roadside bombs, and another was what's called a sticky bomb: a device that's placed on an object, many times a vehicle.

Explosions struck the Shiite neighborhoods of Kadhimiya in the northwest; Amil, Bayaa and Shulaa in the southwest; Ur and Zuhour in the northeast; Sadr City, Kamaliya and Amin in the east; and Abu Dhsir in the southern part of the city.
Other blasts struck mixed Sunni-Shiite neighborhoods, including Waziriya, Yarmouk, Jihad and Eghraiat.

A U.S. military spokesman, Lt. Col. Eric Bloom, said no U.S. advisory units have been requested to the scenes of the attacks.

He said there has been no aerial support but notes that the U.S. military always has "eyes in the skies" that feed imagery into the United States and into the Iraqi operational center.

He said the strikes are typical of al Qaeda in Iraq attacks.

November 01, 2010

Yahoo News:

BAGHDAD – Iraqi security forces stormed a Baghdad church where militants had taken an entire congregation hostage for four hours, leaving at least 47 people dead, including a priest, Iraqi officials said Monday.

It was not immediately clear whether the hostages died at the hands of the attackers or during the rescue late on Sunday night in an affluent neighborhood of the capital.

The incident began when militants wearing suicide vests and armed with grenades attacked the Iraqi stock exchange at dusk Sunday before turning their attention to the nearby Our Lady of Deliverance church — one of Baghdad's main Catholic places of worship — taking about 120 Christians hostage.

Officials said at least one priest and 10 policemen were among the dead. Many of the 62 wounded were women.

A cryptically worded statement posted late Sunday on a militant website allegedly by the Islamic State of Iraq appeared to claim responsibility for the attack. The group, which is linked to al-Qaida in Iraq, said it would "exterminate Iraqi Christians" if Muslim women in Egypt were not freed.

It specifically mentioned two women in Egypt that extremists maintain have converted to Islam and are being held against their will.

The Egyptian women are wives of priests that are believed to have converted to Islam to leave their husbands, since divorce is banned by the Coptic Church. One woman disappeared in 2004 and another in July of this year.

Egypt's Christians maintained they had been kidnapped and demonstrated for their release. Both were later recovered by police, denied any conversions and were then spirited away to distant monasteries.

In the message, the militants claim the two are still Muslim and they called upon the Vatican, which held a meeting earlier in October to discuss the fate of Christians in the Middle East, to release the women.

I think we can all understand detest and hunt for their blood?

Hat Tip: Vincent.

By request I've posted the original Arabic release below the fold. I've also added the complete Googlish XLT with isn't very good but you can get the general idea.

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

يقول تعالى: {وَلا يَزَالُونَ يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ حَتَّى يَرُدُّوكُمْ عَنْ دِينِكُمْ إِنِ اسْتَطَاعُوا}[البقرة: من الآية217].

الحمد لله ربّ العالمين، والصلاة والسلام على نبينا محمد، وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين.. وبعد:

فبتوجيهٍ من وزارة الحرب بدولة العراق الإسلامية، ونُصرةً لأخواتنا المسلمات المستضعفات الأسيرات في أرض مِصر المُسلمة، وبعد تخطيط واختيار دقيق، صالت ثلّةٌ غاضبةٌ من أولياء الله المجاهدين، على وكرٍ نجسٍ من أوكار الشّرك التي طالما اتّخذها نصارى العراق مقرّا لحرب دين الإسلام وإرصادا لمن حاربه، فتمكّنوا بفضل من الله ومنّه من أسرِ المجتمعين فيه والسيطرة على مداخله بالكامل،

وإنّ المجاهدين في دولة العراق الإسلاميّة يُمهلون كنيسة مصر النّصرانيّة المُحاربة ورأس الكفر فيها (ثمانياً وأربعينَ) ساعة، لتبيان حالِ أخواتنا في الدّين، المأسورات في سُجون أديرة الكفر وكنائس الشّرك في مِصر، وإطلاقِ سراحهنّ جميعهنّ، والإعلان عن ذلك عبر وسيلة إعلاميّة تصلُ إلى المجاهدين في فترة الإمهال،

ويُشملُ بهذا الإنذار مَنْ كانت له مِسكةُ عقل من رؤوس النّصارى وكنائسهم ومنظماتهم في بلاد العالم، ممّن له تأثير على تلك الكنيسة المحاربة والضغط عليها، وإلا فلن يتردّد ليوثُ التّوحيد - وقد التحفوا أحزمتهم النّاسفة- في تصفية الأسرى الحربيّين من نصارى العراق، ولتنفتح عليهم بعد ذلك في هذه البلاد وغيرها أبوابٌ تُبيدُ بإذن الله خضرائهم وتكسرُ شوكتهم وتُلزمهم الصّغار الذي كتبه الله عليهم، وتجعلهم عبرةً لكلّ من ركبه الشّيطان فصدّ عن دين الله وتجرّأ على كتابه ونبيّه صلّى الله عليه وسلّم وأعراض المسلمين وشعائرهم.. {يُرِيدُونَ لِيُطْفِئُوا نُورَ اللَّهِ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَاللَّهُ مُتِمُّ نُورِهِ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْكَافِرُونَ}[الصف: 8].

وليعلم المُشركون النّصارى بكلِّ مللِهم ونِحلهم ممّن غرّه بهذا الدّين العزيز تخاذلُ المحسوبين عليه، فتمالأَ على حرب الإسلام، وجعلَ من كتاب الله وشخص رسوله صلى الله عليه وسلّم غرضاً للاستهانة والاستهزاء، أنّ زمن الذّل قد ولّى إلى غير رجعة، وأنّ للإسلام رجالاً ملأ الإيمان قلوبهم، فجعلوا دون دين الله نحورهم، وهانت في سبيل الله دمائهم، وليريَنّ هؤلاء الأنجاس وأمثالُهم منهم ما يكرهون، ولو بعد حين، فراية الإسلام لابدّ مرفوعةٌ، ودين محمدٍ لابدّ ظاهرٌ ولو كره المشركون والمنافقون: {هُوَ الَّذِي أَرْسَلَ رَسُولَهُ بِالْهُدَى وَدِينِ الْحَقِّ لِيُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّينِ كُلِّهِ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْمُشْرِكُونَ}[الصف: 8-9].

والله أكبر

{وَلِلَّهِ الْعِزَّةُ وَلِرَسُولِهِ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَلَكِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ لا يَعْلَمُونَ}

وزارة الإعلام / دولة العراق الإسلامية

المصدر: (مركز الفجر للإعلام)
__________________
www.tvquran.com/

In the name of God the Merciful

Almighty says: {and continue to fight you until they turn you back from your religion if they could} [Baqarah: verse 217].

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and companions .. After:

Fbtoger of the War Department Islamic State of Iraq, and support our sisters Muslim vulnerable prisoners in the land of Egypt, Muslim, and after planning and careful selection, sheds a group angry with the friends of Allah the Mujahideen, the Walker unclean from the nests of polytheism, which has long taken by the Christians of Iraq, the seat of war, the religion of Islam and Irsada those who fought, Vtmknua the grace of God and from the families of the meeting and in full control of the entrances,

The Mujahideen in the Islamic State of Iraq wait around for the Church of Egypt Christian warrior and the head of kufr (down eight and forty hours), to indicate if the sisters in religion, Almosurat in prisons, monasteries, infidelity and the churches of polytheism in Egypt, and release them all of them, and the announcement through the news media up to the mujahideen in grace period,

And includes this warning from the his grip the mind of the heads of Christians and their churches and their organizations in the country in the world, who have an impact on the church fight and to pressure it, otherwise you will not hesitate to Youth Unification - The Althvo belts devices - in the liquidation of the prisoners warlords of Iraq's Christians, and open them after that in this country and other doors shall perish, God willing, Khaddraihm break the thorn and require little of God, written on them, and make them an example to all of an archetype of Satan venesection from the religion of God and dared to book and the Prophet peace be upon him and symptoms of Muslims and their rituals .. {want to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will perfect His light, though the Unbelievers may detest} [Grade: 8].

It should be noted detest Christians of all denominations and bee who Suddenly this religion Aziz weakness affiliated with it, Vtmalo the war against Islam, and the making of the book of God and a person Messenger peace be upon him object of contempt and ridicule, that the time of humiliation is gone forever, and that of Islam, men filled with faith in their hearts, So they, without the religion of Allah Nhoarham, The Hunt for God's sake their blood, and they see these impurities and the like of them hate, even after a while, Fraip Islam to be raised, and the religion of Mohammed to be apparent however much the idolaters and hypocrites: {it is Who sent His Messenger with Guidance and the Religion of Truth, to proclaim it over all religion, however much the idolaters} [Grade: 8-9].

God is the greatest

{Glory be to God, His Prophet and the believers, but the hypocrites do not know}

The Ministry of Information / Islamic State of Iraq

(Source: Center for Media Dawn)
__________________
www.tvquran.com/

October 26, 2010

Iraq’s high tribunal has passed a death sentence on Tareq Aziz, once the international face of dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime, over the persecution of religious parties, the court said.

The death sentence was the first to be handed down to Aziz, who was well known in foreign capitals and at the UN before Saddam’s downfall. He rose to prominence at the time of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and the 1991 Gulf War, when he was foreign minister.

“The court today issued the death sentence on Tareq Aziz and four others for committing crimes against humanity. The charge of elimination of religious parties was classified as crimes against humanity,” Judge Mohammed Abdul-Sahib, a spokesman of the Iraqi High Tribunal, said.

“The nature of the crimes is willful killing, torture and the enforced disappearance of persons.”

Related:
Newly Declassified Iraqi Testimony: Saddam Took Joy in 1998 Embassy Bombings