Target Centermass

Author: Gunner

  • U.S. Mounts Fresh Attack on Taliban

    Fresh off the successful election and swearing its first democratically-elected president, Afghanistan is now the site of a new effort to keep pressure on Taliban remnants.

    The US-led military coalition in Afghanistan has begun a big offensive against militants loyal to the ousted Taliban regime in an attempt to quash any attempt to disrupt parliamentary elections next spring.

    Operation Lightning Freedom, which involves the entire 18,000-strong force, is designed to target Taliban remnants during the snowy winter months, when militants traditionally lie low and prepare for a spring offensive, said Major Mark McCann, of the coalition, in Kabul.

    The coalition credited a similar operation, Lightning Resolve, which was launched in July last year, with preventing attacks during the October 9 presidential election.

    Col. David Lamm, chief of staff for US forces in Afghanistan, said the military would continue to squeeze the Taliban while offering moderates the option of turning themselves in under an amnesty.

    Kabul has been in talks with moderate Taliban leaders for more than a year but has yet to announce an official mechanism whereby low-level militants could come in from the cold.

    Zalmay Khalilzad, US ambassador to Kabul, said this month foot soldiers could lay down their arms without fear of capture or retribution from the military.

    Afghanistan is scheduled to form a new parliament through elections in April, though many local and foreign officials believe the vote will have to be put off because of the complexity of organising it, and because about 25,000 irregular militia have yet to be disarmed.

    Despite complaints during the U.S. election campaign, the Afghani theater has never been ignored by American forces, strategists and leaders.

    Such pressure kept the Taliban and their terrorist allies impotent in the election that brought the Afghans a president. Similar pressure in the winter months, when the allies are far more mobile, supplied and organized than the ousted Taliban, could very well again bring success to April’s parliamentary election in most or all of the country.

  • 5 Soldiers Killed in Israeli Base Bombing

    Ripping a page out of the union army playbook from the Battle of the Crater in 1864, the Palestinians dug a tunnel, packed it with explosives, lit them off and charged into the aftermath. The explosion was tremendous, the result was carnage, and the charge was suicidal.

    Palestinian militants blew up an Israeli army base at the Gaza-Egypt crossing Sunday by sneaking more than a ton of explosives through a tunnel, killing five Israeli soldiers and wounding five in the largest Palestinian attack in the month since Yasser Arafat (news – web sites)’s death.

    Hitting back, Israeli helicopters fired at least five missiles at targets in Gaza City early Monday, witnesses said. There were no reports of casualties. One missile started a fire at an abandoned metal workshop, while the other target was an empty house near the Islamic University, they said.

    ….

    In the violence along the Gaza-Egyptian border, the military said in a statement early Monday that five soldiers were killed and five were injured, including two seriously, in the explosion. The statement said two Palestinians charged the base and opened fire after the blast, and soldiers shot them dead.

    Palestinians said one attacker was killed and the other escaped. The blast collapsed several structures at the crossing and damaged others.

    ….

    Israeli army spokesman Capt. Jacob Dallal said two explosions rocked the border terminal at Rafah.

    “This was a very large, well coordinated, planned attack against an international crossing, used by Palestinian civilians to cross into Egypt,” Dallal said, adding that the crossing would be closed until further notice.

    Israel TV defense analyst Yoav Limor called the blast the result of an “intelligence failure.”

    ….

    A Palestinian militant giving his name only as Abu Majad claimed responsibility in the name of the Fatah Hawks, an offshoot of the mainstream Fatah Party, and the violent Islamic Hamas.

    A Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 1.5 tons of explosives were set off in the blast, and a second, smaller explosive was detonated later. Masked Hamas militants said a gunman tried to kidnap a wounded soldier but killed him because the soldier resisted.

    Hamas’ representative in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, rejected calls for a halt to attacks on Israel and threatened new, unspecified types of retaliation against the Israeli occupation.

    “The talk about a truce or a cease-fire is pure speculation and illusion. The (Israeli) enemy is still occupying our land. … The next few days will witness new lessons against the Zionist occupation,” Hamdan told about 2,000 Hamas supporters in Lebanon’s Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp on the outskirts of the southern port city of Sidon.

    And just what was the rationalization for this attack?

    Abu Majad said the explosives-filled tunnel was 800 yards long. He said the attack was retaliation for what he called “the assassination” of Arafat, who died in a French hospital. Some Palestinians claim he was poisoned by Israel.

    Lie, bomb and repeat. Lie, bomb and repeat.

    Come on, just fess up to the real reason — you saw a chance to kill some Israelis. Who cares if other Palestinians will suffer for it, right?

  • For the Star Wars Geeks

    Hopefully more blogging later in the evening, but now it’s Christmas shopping time.

    Just thought I’d leave you a little humor for the fans of the original Star Wars. Here it is, a page dedicated to an unsung martyr from the Rebel Alliance, Porkins.

  • The Future of TargetCentermass.com

    Well, it ain’t looking too good right now. My current host, Bloghosts, is getting out of the business. Unfortunately, they have registration on the domain targetcentermass.com. On their homepage is the following message:

    If Bloghosts owns your domain it is imperative that you contact us soon so we can put your registration in your name. This is a very simple process that we can do free of charge. To assume complete ownership of your domain, please send us your first and last name, full address (street, city, state, zip, and country), valid email address and phone number to domains@bloghosts.com. We cannot transfer ownership to you without all of this information so please make sure it’s accurate.

    UPDATE: We are literally swamped with these types of requests. Please make sure you submit all the above info and then wait for our reply. If all the information is there we will get to you.

    UPDATE #2 (READ ME): A lot of people have been complaining about their domain names in various public forums. If you have not received word from us, it was because you have not followed the simple instructions above. As we are busy with these requests, emails without the proper information will be ignored. This is a simple and FREE process. We need ALL of the requested information to place the domain in your name. If this cannot be done then we cannot help you. It’s really that simple.

    Well, after multiple email requests, no word has been received and the registration has not changed. A quick google search of the company quickly reveals that I’m not the only one in this situation.

    So, as it now stands, I will lose targetcentermass.com in three weeks. What then of my blogging future? As I see it, I have a number of choices to make:

    • Walk away from blogging
    • Take a break until this domain is available
    • Move to a new domain, perhaps targetcentermass.net, or possibly something completely different. You know, fresh start and all that
    • Try to catch on as a contributor on another site
    • Start a completely new blog. I’ve toyed with the idea of a starting a group blog for Texas hawks and/or conservatives

    Any feedback or suggestions would be appreciated. Comments are open and email is occasionally checked.

  • Marine ‘Hostage’ Faces Desertion Charges

    I refrained.

    And then I refrained again.

    Now this.

    A U.S. Marine who disappeared in Iraq and then showed up in a purported hostage video before later appearing as a free man in Lebanon, is being charged with desertion, Pentagon officials said Thursday.

    Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun will also be charged by the Marine Corps with larceny and wrongful disposition of military property in connection with his service-issued 9 mm handgun that disappeared with him and never turned up, officials said.

    ….

    If found guilty of desertion, he could receive a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of pay and allowances, and five years’ confinement for each specification.

    Maximum punishment for each specification of larceny and for the wrongful disposition charge is a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of pay and allowances and 10 years’ confinement.

    ….

    Military investigators re-opened the Hassoun case last month after several personal items — including his military ID and civilian passport — were found in Falluja, the city from which he disappeared in June.

    “The circumstances of his alleged capture and subsequent return to military control are still being investigated,” the Marines said in a statement.

    Hassoun reappeared July 7 in Lebanon, where he was born and has relatives.

    What happened to Hassoun is a mystery to military investigators.

    After the initial report that Hassoun was missing, military officials assumed he had walked away from camp. He was listed as a deserter.

    His status was changed to captured after the release of a videotape that showed him blindfolded with a sword suspended above his head. A few days later, a posting to three Islamist Web sites claimed Hassoun had been beheaded.

    Hassoun denied being a deserter and staging his own kidnapping.

    A Marine Corps official said representatives of the Naval Criminal Investigative Services did not interview Hassoun until after he completed his 30-day home leave, following his repatriation back to the United States. Its report was submitted to Hassoun’s command November 30.

    I will still refrain. Innocent until proven guilty, right? Let the processes of the UCMJ run their course, right?

    Yeah, I’ll refrain again. Just enough to say that, if this sonofabitch is found guilty, I want him punished to the abso-freaking-lute maximum.

  • The Terrorists are Coming!

    One if by land,
    two if by sea.

    Okay, substitute “bioterrorism” for “land” and it works, though not poetically.

  • Six Feared Dead in Chopper Crash

    Often overlooked when praise is lauded upon our servicemen, the Coast Guard plays a vital role in our national security. Beyond this, they have the additional burdens of their roles in drug-traffic interdiction and maritime safety. Today, tragedy struck during a treacherous helicopter rescue.

    Six people were feared dead after a US Coast Guard helicopter crashed into the icy Bering Sea while rescuing the crew of a Malaysian ship that broke up off the Alaska coast.

    As rescuers searched for survivors, a new danger loomed: nearly 500,000 gallons of the vessel’s fuel could contaminate the area, officials.

    The air crash occurred in bad weather about 6:20pm Wednesday (1420 AEST) as the Jayhawk helicopter, with 10 people aboard, was plucking the last sailors from the freighter Selendang Ayu.

    “They were making their last series of hoists to evacuate the 26 crew members from the freighter,” Chief Petty Officer Roger Weatherall, a Coast Guard spokesman, told AFP.

    “At the moment before the crash, they were preparing to rescue the crew’s captain. Something happened and before they could hoist him, the helicopter crashed next to the ship,” he said.

    Four people were rescued from the ice cold, choppy and pitch-black seas by a second helicopter, but the six other crew were still missing 19 hours after the accident.

    Those rescued were wearing life jackets but not survival suits.

    “We are continuing the search for the missing and have a Coast Guard cutter, three helicopters and a C-130 aircraft involved in the rescue effort,” CPO Weatherall said. “There is always a chance they will be OK.”

    The evacuation was ordered after the ship lost power to its engines on Tuesday and was drifting toward a rocky coast off Unalaska Island, in the Aleutian chain, by late Wednesday.

    Three other ships were on their way to the crash site, where the water was about 6C and waves were as high as 6m. Snow was falling and the seas were rough, rescuers said.

  • ‘Twas the Night before Blogothon

    In our continuing attempts to raise fundage for the Spirit of America, the Fighting Fusileers for Freedom bring you this seasonal entertainment, courtesy of BloodSpite.

    If that doesn’t work, here’s more cowbell from Ben.

    The Fighting Fusileers for Freedom — working harder to entertain you for your charity dollar. Please click the image below to donate. Pretty please. With a freakin’ cherry on top already.

    Join the Fighting Fusileers for Freedom!

  • More U.S. Soldiers Survive War Wounds

    Perhaps the most deserving and most unheralded story of the current war is the astonishing success of the military’s medical cadre.

    For every American soldier killed in Iraq, nine others have been wounded and survived — the highest rate of any war in U.S. history. It isn’t that their injuries were less serious, a new report says. In fact, some young soldiers and Marines have had faces, arms and legs blown off and are now returning home badly maimed.

    But they have survived thanks, in part, to armor-like vests and fast treatment from doctors on the move with surgical kits in backpacks.

    “This is unprecedented. People who lose not just one but two or three extremities are people who just have not survived in the past,” said Dr. Atul Gawande, a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston who researched military medicine and wrote about it in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine.

    ….

    By mid-November, 10,369 American troops had been wounded in battle in Afghanistan or Iraq, and 1,004 had died — a survival rate of roughly 90 percent. In the Vietnam War, one in four wounded died, virtually all of them before they could reach MASH units some distance from the fighting.

    Please go read this examination of the effects of advancements in both the protection of soldiers and the treatment of casualties. The story also highlights the courage, determination and skill of our medical personnel. I’ve never met a medic I didn’t like. Apparently, it’s a calling that summons a better, stronger person than I am.

    There is the other side of the story, though.

    “This war is producing unique injuries — less lethal but more traumatic,” he said.

    In one traumatic case, Gawande tells of an airman who lost both legs, his right hand and part of his face. “How he and others like him will be able to live and function remains an open question,” Gawande writes.

    We now face a new generation of injured combat veterans, many of whom would not have survived their wounds in times past. We, as a nation, must welcome and care for them. We must thank them and help them hold on to their humanity and rebuild their lives.

    We owe that to them. And to their caregivers.

  • New DVD Has Dual-Layered Surface

    Don’t junk that old TV and DVD player just yet.

    Two Japanese companies said Tuesday they have developed a DVD that can play on both existing machines and the upcoming high-definition players, raising hopes for a smooth transition as more people dump old TV sets for better screens.

    Toshiba Corp. and Memory-Tech Corp. said their disc has a dual-layered surface that can store both types of data on the same side.

    For consumers, that would eliminate the potential headache of having to own two types of DVD players: Both will be able to read such discs, though only the newer equipment can take advantage of the higher-resolution technology.

    The discs, which took six months to develop, will be able to hold 4.7 GB in the current format and 15 GB in high resolution, Memory-Tech spokesman Masato Otsuka said.

    Making the discs won’t cost any more than the companies now spend on producing current DVDs, Otsuka said.

    Whew! That’s a relief for the ol’ budget. Or is it?

    The new DVDs rely on the HD-DVD format, which has the backing of the DVD Forum, an international association of electronics makers and movie studios. New DVD players using the format are expected to hit stores by late 2005.

    Its competitor, Blu-Ray, is backed by Sony Corp., its Hollywood studio and News Corp.’s Fox Entertainment Group Inc. Blu-Ray has more storage space, but HD-DVD is expected to be cheaper to produce because its technology closely resembles current DVDs.

    It’s still unclear which will become the dominant technology.

    Meanwhile, Disney has thrown its massive weight behind Blu-Ray, though not necessarily exclusively.

    Disney — along with its home-video division, Buena Vista Home Entertainment — announced late Wednesday that it will release movies on the Blu-ray format in North America and Japan when the discs become available. Manufacturers and disc makers said players and discs should start hitting the market in late 2005 or early 2006.

    The announcement means consumers will be able to get movies from Buena Vista Home Entertainment on the Blu-ray Discs. Also part of the library of films are those from Walt Disney Home Entertainment, Hollywood Pictures Home Video, Touchstone Home Entertainment, Miramax Home Entertainment, Dimension Home Video and Disney DVD.

    ….

    Disney said its plans to release movies on the Blu-ray format are nonexclusive, meaning it could publish movies on other formats as well.