Al Qaeda Posting Confirms Death of Weapons Expert

Bit by bit…
WSJ
KABUL, Afghanistan — In a blow to al Qaeda in Pakistan, the terrorist group confirmed Sunday that one of its top weapons researchers, Abu Khabab al-Masri, was killed, apparently in a U.S. missile strike.

Abu Khabab al-Masri
For more than a decade, Mr. Masri moved in the top echelons of al Qaeda as a bomb maker and innovator of the group’s mostly feckless attempts to build viable chemical and biological weapons. While his expertise is replaceable, Mr. Masri’s death further degrades the old guard who were trusted by al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman Zawahri. (more)

Son of top Hamas leader converts to Christianity

‘I hope my father and family open their eyes to Jesus and the Kingdom of God’
Posted: July 31, 20081:35 pm Eastern
By Aaron Klein© 2008 WorldNetDaily
Sheik Hassan Yousef (Passia.org)JERUSALEM – The son of one of the most popular leaders in the Hamas terrorist organization has moved to the U.S. and converted to Christianity, it has emerged. (more)
Wow! Pray for him because his life is now in danger. (As evidenced by this story) And pray that others might have a similar experience

Mofaz sees Iran heading to nuclear breakthrough

From IHT:
WASHINGTON: Iran is heading toward a major breakthrough in its nuclear program, an Israeli official said on Friday, as the White House warned Iran could face new sanctions if it ignores an international freeze offer.
“As soon as 2010 (Iran) will have the option to reach (uranium production) at military levels,” Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz told an audience in Washington, adding that this would be an “unacceptable” development. (more)

Kuwaiti Daily Reveals: Iran Building Secret Nuclear Reactor

From Memri, hat tip to The Spine:
On July 29, 2008, the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa reported that, according to “highly reliable sources,” Iranian authorities had begun construction of a secret nuclear reactor in the Al-Zarqan region close to the city of Ahwaz in southwest Iran, on the Iran-Iraq border.
The paper said that according to sources, Iran was working to distance its nuclear installations from international oversight. The English version of the report, published in the Kuwaiti Arab Times, said, “Disclosing [that] Tehran directed international A-bomb inspectors to other places, sources warned [that] the project poses a very serious threat to international security.”
Also according to the sources, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) did not know about this site at all, since it was not included in negotiations with Iran in Geneva held in early July.
According to the report, the sources said that during 2000-2003, Iran expropriated the lands and homes of thousands of Arab citizens from the Al-Zarqan region, destroying homes of thousands of Arab citizens from the Al-Zarqan region..(more)

A Week with No US Troop Deaths In Iraq

From Heavy Handed Politics blog and Jeremiah Films:

NewsBusters.org:
On July 16, Andrew Malcolm at the Los Angeles Times’s Top of the Ticket Blog wrote the following:When President Bush ordered the surge in January 2007, (Barack) Obama said: “I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse,” a position he maintained throughout 2007. This year he acknowledged progress, but maintained his position that political progress was lacking.The LAT Blog notes earlier in its entry that “The parts (of Obama’s web site) that stressed his opposition to the 2007 troop surge and his statement that more troops would make no difference in a civil war have somehow disappeared.”

Iran main entry route for militants: Afghan paper

KABUL (Reuters) - Iran has become the main transit route for militants trying to join insurgents in Afghanistan, an Afghan government daily said on Sunday.
Some Western nations with troops in Afghanistan have said that Iranian weapons destined for the Taliban have been seized in Afghanistan, although they are unsure whether Tehran knew about the shipments...(more)

Operation’s goal is "to clear al-Qaida in Diyala."

Go get ‘em boys!
BAGHDAD (AP) – U.S. and Iraqi forces fanned out in the volatile Diyala province Tuesday in a new operation aimed at clearing al-Qaida in Iraq from safe havens in an area considered the last major insurgent belt around the capital.
New checkpoints were erected across the province and authorities ordered a ban on unofficial traffic as search operations got under way in the provincial capital of Baqouba and surrounding areas, according to witnesses. Many residents said they were afraid to leave their houses.
The U.S.-backed Iraqi military is hoping to build on recent security gains from similar offensives against Sunni insurgents in the northern city of Mosul and Shiite militiamen in Baghdad, Basra and Amarah.
The troops were focusing on chasing al-Qaida and other insurgents who sought refuge in Diyala to escape earlier crackdowns, said Gen. Ali Ghaidan, the commander of Iraqi ground forces in the province. (more at Onenews)

Cuban Missile Crisis Redux?

Reported by CBS and 33-minutes:
In a story that broke on Monday, a Russian newspaper reported that a high-placed source in the Russian government said the Kremin may retaliate against the United States if it deployed Ground-based Mid-course Interceptors in Poland or Lithuania. The retaliation? Russia may base its Tupolev Tu-160 White Swan supersonic nuclear bombers in Cuba.
Former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro didn’t confirm or deny the report...(more)

Analysis: US now winning Iraq war that seemed lost

Of course we’ve known this for some time, General Petraeus has said as much, but it is good to see the press catching up and actually REPORTING it. Of course whether any major outlet actually picks it up…
And Mr. Obama can’t bring himself to say the surge had anything to do with it…Just one more example of how politics are more important to the libs than the war or American lives..
From OneNewsNow/AP
BAGHDAD – The United States is now winning the war that two years ago seemed lost. Limited, sometimes sharp fighting and periodic terrorist bombings in Iraq are likely to continue, possibly for years. But the Iraqi government and the U.S. now are able to shift focus from mainly combat to mainly building the fragile beginnings of peace – a transition that many found almost unthinkable as recently as one year ago.(see video report)

Despite the occasional bursts of violence, Iraq has reached the point where the insurgents, who once controlled whole cities, no longer have the clout to threaten the viability of the central government.(more)

Islamic group claims responsibility for deadly India blasts

Western India, that would be near…ah…Pakistan, yes sir.
AHMADABAD, India - An obscure Islamic group claimed responsibility for a series of synchronized explosions that killed at least 45 people in western India, warning of “the terror of Death” in an e-mail sent to several television stations minutes before the blasts.(see video report)

Another unexploded bomb was found and defused early Sunday, said the city’s police commissioner, O.P. Mathur. He said police had detained 30 people.”In the name of Allah the Indian Mujahideen strike again! Do whatever you can, within 5 minutes from now, feel the terror of Death!” said an e-mail from the group sent to several Indian television stations minutes before the blasts began.The e-mail’s subject line said “Await 5 minutes for the revenge of Gujarat,” an apparent reference to 2002 riots in the western state which left 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, dead. The historic city of Ahmadabad was the scene of much of the 2002 violence. (more)