A Happy 4th of July to you all...
...from the Occupied West Bank of the Ohio River.
Canine Farewell :-(
Whiskey, an explosive protection military working dog, relaxes next to his handler, U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Chris A. Beavers, a kennel master assigned to the 48th Security Forces, at Royal Air Force Feltwell, England, June 24, 2008. Whiskey is being retired for medical reasons after serving more than six honorable years.
U.S. Air Force Airman Perry Aston
Welcome home, soldiers!
Keith Stansell, left, Marc Gonsalves, center, and Thomas Howes prepare to walk off a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III as they arrive on Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, July 2, 2008. The three were held as hostages in Colombia for more than five years, after their plane crashed in the jungle in February 2003.
U.S. Air Force photo Lance Cheung
3 contractors rescued in Colombia, return to U.S.
7/3/2008 - SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) -- Three military contractors held captive by the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia were rescued by the Colombian military and returned to the U.S. July 2.Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell, all employees of the Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp., spent five years in captivity, making them the longest-held American hostages in the world at the time.
They were captured in February of 2003 after their drug-surveillance plane went down in the jungles of southern Colombia.
The men were flown directly to the U.S. aboard a C-17 Globemaster III, which landed at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, shortly before midnight. From there, they were taken by helicopter to Brooke Army Medical Center to undergo tests and treatment.
The C-17 is from Travis Air Force Base, Calif., and its crews is from various bases including Pope AFB, N.C., and Charleston AFB, S.C.
Twelve others were rescued along with the Americans, including 11 Colombian police and soldiers and Ingrid Betancourt, a former Colombian presidential candidate.
New Entries
• Note from your jihadi travel agent:
• US Telecommunications Companies to be Granted Immunity
• Poor Mohamed, the Frugal Jihadi
• Quote of the day
• Andalus, again
• Internet Ties Link U.S. Terror Cells
• Temper tantrum of the day award...
• CENTCOM embraces irregular warfare
• Nuclear Jihad?
New Entries
• The future of jihadi use of the Internet belongs to YouTube...
• Violent Islamist Extremism, The Internet, and the Homegrown Terrorist Threat.
• A tale of a straw man and a final paragraph or two worth reading
New Entries
Internet
• remorse*
• Jihadi workplace remedial education
• A guide for the perplexed...
• Geert Wilders is a Zionist Plot?
• Meeting with Zawahiri, Part 1
• Fundraising for Hizballah
• Jihadi OSINT
• Europe poised to bolster Web shield
• More about Fitna
• Somebody please tell the OSC...
• Translation of OBL's "second audio message" from a week ago.
OSINT
• 45 Al-Qaida suspects arrested in Turkey [ 3 Apr 2008]
• Former Detainees Released to Sheikh's Supervision [ 3 Apr 2008]
• Egyptians: Man shot dead by US in Suez [28 Mar 2008]
Off-Topic (soon to be renamed Israel)
• Someone blew out the fuse on the demographic bomb
• Israel: Reports of Syrian Reserve Call-Up "Incorrect"
• Everything is under control.
• Terrorist Involved in 2002's "Park Hotel" Attack in Netanya, Arrested
• Our World: The new Guardians of Israel
• PFLP Operative Involved in Death of IDF Soldier Arrested
• Lavrov has a fit in Jerusalem
• Soon to be a target for terrorist attacks, no doubt.
• 10,000 Syrian troops deploy in Kurdish region
New Entries
Internet
• Fun with shaped-charge explosives
• Doktor Ayman bloviates
• A church in the UAE?
• Best Friends Forever!
• A letter to the editors at FoxNews.com
• Fox News joins the "fake but accurate" school of journalism
• The *second* OBL audio released today
OSINT
• Navy Contract Ship Fires Warning Shots Near Suez Canal [25 Mar 2008]
• If he's not dead, kill him. [20 Mar 2008]
• The following entities have been added to OFAC's SDN list... [20 Mar 2008]
• I'm with Frattini [20 Mar 2008]
• CIA Expands Legal Help for Workers [20 Mar 2008]
• Ten years for 'religious' rapist [20 Mar 2008]
Off-Topic
• Terrorism-enabling "human shields" front for Easter Mass protesters
• Syria Deploys Three Military Divisions on the Border with Lebanon
• I like this Pope
• FBI probes potential hate crime near college
New Entries
Internet
• Poisoning the well
• al-Tawbah forum: bersama meraih impian syahadah
• From the archives: the LEE Media, al-Firdaws, al-Nusra connection
OSINT
• Extremism, crime and delinquency: a Russian news report [18 Mar 2008]
• The Military Commissions Act of 2006 [18 Mar 2008]
• Got one in Netherlands [15 Mar 2008]
• One that got away [15 Mar 2008]
Off-Topic
• How do you know you killed the right terrorist?
• A little more info about incident at Brown University
• US: Molotov cocktail thrown into home of Jewish Agency envoy
New Entries
Internet
• Iranian student group offers reward for killing Israeli officials [from site hosted in the USA]
OSINT
• MI5 targets Ireland's al-Qaeda cells [3 Mar 2008]
• Tablighi Jamaat terrorist cell captured in Spain [24 Jan 2008]
• What works [15 Jan 2008]
• Object lesson in Information Warfare [14 Jan 2008]
Off-Topic
• A girl and her dog
• Low morale in Israel?
• IDF 5, PIJ 0
• Peace in our time? Don't count on it.
• Just doing what he was trained to do
• Cheney to press Israelis, Palestinians during Mideast visit
• Jordan stops public mourning of gunman
• Yeshiva Mercaz Harav - 2008-03-06
• Hundreds of millions of dollars poured into Gaza...
New entries (at our "off-topic" blog)
• Palestinian civilian casualties explained
• Don't even let them land.
• Hiding weapons in a Mosque? Say it ain't so!
• They said they were "in jail"
• At least he is honest...
• Hamas using a school as a firing position
• IAF airstrike on truck loaded with 160 rockets...
• Now this is an APC
• Varmint hunting in Gaza with the Givati Brigade
New Entries
• LEE Media Network Presents: "Does this bomb vest make me look fat?"
• Jihadi "bloggers" arrested in Italy
• Recommended reading
• Effective use of the Internet for Intelligence Purposes Award for the past month goes to...
• Irhabi007: now nothing more than a banner ad and a memory
• CIA: Hackers Shook Up Power Grids
• Israel Thwarts Islamic Jihad Plan to Bomb Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Railroad
• "If you’re a terrorist and you’re dependent on the internet, I have bad news"
• Terrorists (heart) Adobe
New Entries
Internet
• Al-Qa`ida of Yemen releases their first magazine issue
• Ah, the old put-a-camera-in-every-room-of-the terrorists'-apartment trick...
• Avoiding or dealing with arrest - notes based on the experience of the brothers in Iraq
• Paranoid Drivel of the Week Award goes to...
OSINT
• Former Officers of a Muslim Charity, Care International, Inc., Convicted [13 Jan 2008]
• Darn those wacky Muslim Boyz [ 9 Jan 2008]
• "Terror Suspects Hone Anti-Detection Skills" [ 5 Jan 2008]
Off-Topic
• Hot times in the religious schools of Qom...
• Elements in the US military and intelligence community find the Kool-Aid* less-than-palatable...
• Bush's gift to Israel...
• Speaking of double standards
• The Bush Visit and Tensions in the U.S.-Israel Relationship
• Spitting in the wind is now a matter of policy...
• Secretary of Defense Robert Gates - the next person to lose his job?
• An Erev Shabbat message to the Egyptian Foreign Minister
New at sofir.org
• Regarding Jihadi infiltration of the organizations of various adversaries
New Entries
Internet
• Mourning the loss of al-Andalus
• "An Tnoitation to Reflection and Repentance"
Off-Topic
• Just repeat to yourself over and over again: "The Muslim Brotherhood is our friend, the Muslim Brotherhood is our friend."
• India, Israel decide to share intelligence
• Still not clear on this whole Middle East culture thing?
New at sofir.org
• The files downloaded by the Madrid bombers
New Entries
Internet
• Terrorist use of the Internet for training purposes
• Irhabi007 & Co. to remain on holiday in Belmarsh for an extended period of time
• Top German Prosecutor Backs Online Terror Surveillance
OSINT
• Lebanon Indicts 31 Over Al-Qaida-Linked Plots [22 Dec 2007]
• Belgium Arrests 14 in Terror Probe [22 Dec 2007]
Off-Topic
• Award for most creative use of a Hamas guy while in the middle of a gunfight
• Sherlock Holmes used to work for the CIA
• KoolAid. Very, very strong KoolAid.
• American Intelligence
• National Intelligence Estimate is...
New at sofir.org
• Reading Their Lips: The Credibility of Jihadi Web Sites as ‘Soft Power’ in the War of the Minds
• ISLAM IN AFRICA NEWSLETTER, Volume 2 (2007), Number 4 (December 2007)
• Radical Islam in the Caribbean Basin: A Local Problem or a Global Threat?
New Entries
Internet
• LOLcats cn haz Internets Haganah
• "Web sites ready for al Qaeda 'morons'"
• A little jihadi-style strategic thinking...
• Jihadis notice Michael Savage
• More analysis of the Rand Institute's "plan divide and conquer the Muslims"
• Dr. Atef's guide to poison gasses [redacted]
• Ramsey Clark offers reassurance regarding the condition of the Blind Sheik
• 'Lyrical Terrorist' found guilty
OSINT
• Terrorism and crime in the news recently... [11 Nov 2007]
• Only the most willful form of blindness... [11 Nov 2007]
• NYPD radicalization report applied in court [11 Nov 2007]
Off-Topic
• Shhh! Don't let the State Department hear about this...
