Search Results for: Iran

Why Iran sees no rush for a nuke deal


Talibanistan: The Establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Waziristan

Pakistan’s “truce with the Taliban is an abject surrender, and al Qaeda has an untouchable base of operations in Western Pakistan which will only expand if not checked The news of the Pakistani government signing a truce agreement with the Taliban in North Waziristan is far worse than being reported. We raised the alarm early […]


Germany

Merkel rules out military option for dealing with Iran


Israel

Israel plans for war with Iran and Syria


Azzam – The American al Qaeda’s “Invitation to Islam”

Banner announcing “Invitation to Islam, al Qaeda’s latest videotape. Links to video below. As Sabah, al Qaeda’s media production company, has released the anticipated videotape of Ayman al-Zawahiri and Adam Gahadn (a.k.a. Azzam the American). This video is the latest in an al Qaeda media campaign designed to influence westerners, supporters and sympathizers. In the […]


The Lost Territories

North Waziristan and Quetta: Pakistani Tribal regions continue to slide into the hands of the Taliban and al Qaeda The Afghan-Pakistan border regions. News from Pakistan’s western tribal belt is less than encouraging these days. The Taliban and their al Qaeda backers continue to operate from safe havens within Pakistan, particularly in North Waziristan and […]


The Battle Against Sadr Intensifies

Signs indicate the Iraqi government and the Coalition are putting additional pressure against Muqtada al-Sadr and his radical Mahdi Army The fighting between the Iraqi Army and the forces of Iranian backed radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army earlier in the week has increased the tensions between the government and the militia. The battles […]


The Battle for Baghdad Continues

Sadr’s Mahdi Army and political party become targets of the Iraqi government Baghdad and Operation Together Forward. Green is cleared, Yellow is ongoing operations, Red is untouched. Diamonds indicate locations of violence. Operation Together Forward, the plan to secure Baghdad, is still in its second phase, with Iraqi and Coalition forces clearing and securing the […]


The Ongoing Battle for Baghdad

Phase 2 of Operation Together Forward is in its early stages. Click map to view. The city of Baghdad, as well as Baghdad Province has become the epicenter of violence in Iraq. In a recent press briefing, Major General Bill Caldwell stated an estimated eighty percent of the violence in Iraq is occurring in Baghdad […]


After Action Report: Winners and Losers in the Hezbollah-Israel War

With the cessation of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel largely holding after 24 hours, it is time to look at the likely winners and losers of the Hezbollah-Israel war. Israel spent the weekend scrambling to reach the Litani River and consolidate their positions south of the river before the fighting ended, launching an attack which […]


Matiur Rehman, the London Airline Plot and the Road from Pakistan and Talibanistan

Matiur Rehman, image from ABC News Like the 7/7 London Tubes bombing in 2005, the London Airline Plot to destroy over 10 airplanes transiting from London to the United States is being traced back to Pakistan. Pakistan’s Daily Times reports seed money was sent to Pakistan under the guise of earthquake relief and diverted to […]


Israeli Cabinet Continues Debate Over Ground Campaign

The Israeli government continues the debate over the shape of the proposed buffer zone in southern Lebanon, as well as the shape of the campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Haaretz reports that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz are at odds over how deep the IDF should push into Lebanon. Peretz advocates […]


The Southern Lebanon Offensive and the New Buffer Zone

Southern Lebanon. Green indicates Israeli occupied town; red IDF warned towns of operations; yellow Israeli airstrikes; orange clashes. Click map to view. The Israeli Defense Force is probing hard across the entire Lebanese border, from Metulla to Marwahin. Eight Israeli brigades, at about 1,000 soldiers per brigade, plus supporting units (engineering, artillery, reconnaissance, communications, logistics) […]


A Change in Strategy: IDF to Expand Ground Campaign in Lebanon

Southern Lebanon. Green indicates Israeli occupied town; red IDF warned towns of operations; yellow Israeli airstrikes; orange clashes. Click map to view. The government of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to “expanded ground operations in Lebanon,” after an early morning vote by the Israeli security cabinet. Senior officers in the Israeli Defense Force have […]


Mugniyah’s Hidden Hand in Lebanon

Imad Fayez Mugniyah At the outbreak of war between Israel and Hezbollah, I reported Imad Fayez Mugniyah, Hezbollah’s military commander, was likely behind the operation to snatch the Israeli soldiers, and documented Hezbollah and Mugniyah’s links to Iran and historical involvement in international terrorism. Dr. Magnus Ranstorp explained Hezbollah’s command structure and decision making processes, […]


Israel Loses the Initiative in Lebanon

Southern Lebanon. Green indicates Israeli occupied town; red IDF warned towns of operations. Click map to view. After the airstrike in the Lebanese town of Qana, which killed 57 civilians, Israel has enforced a unilateral 48 hour cessation of air strikes against targets in Lebanon. A new report indicates 28 more civilians were killed during […]


Hezbollah’s Army Revisited

The skill and training of Hezbollah’s Army in southern Lebanon becomes clearer after details emerge about Wednesday’s fighting in Bint Jubayl, where the Israeli Defense Force’s elite Golani Brigade and Hezbollah fighters have been slugging it out since last week. The most recent combat in Bint Jubayl claimed the lives of 9 Israeli soldiers and […]


The Battle of Bint Jubayl and Hezbollah’s Army

As the smoke clears from the fighting in the Lebanese border town of Bint Jubayl, Hezbollah’s military capabilities become clearer. Today, 8 Israeli soldiers from the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion were killed and 22 wounded during a “well-planned Hezbollah ambush on the outskirts” outside of Bint Jubayl. This follows the 4 killed and 18 wounded […]


IDF Operations; Buffer Zones; Operational Possibilities

Southern Lebanon. Green indicates Israeli occupied town; red IDF warned towns of operations, orange recent clashes. Click map to view. The Israeli Defense Force’s Golani Brigade has taken the town of Bint Jubayl, Hezbollah’s southern command center, and is moving towards the town of Aytarun, another of the towns the IDF has warned the Lebanese […]


Worst Case Scenario II: Hezbollah’s Ambush of the Golani Brigade

In Worst Case Scenario: Hezbollah’s Conventional Forces: Hezbollah’s Conventional Forces, we discussed Hezbollah’s surprising conventional military prowess and weaponry, and reported of an ambush on a unit operating in Lebanon near Avivim. Haaretz reports that four soldiers from the Golani Brigade were killed and five wounded during the ambush, and the unit withdrew from the […]


Worst Case Scenario: Hezbollah’s Conventional Forces

The Israeli Defense Forces and Hezbollah have fought pitched battles over the past two days in the region around Avivim. Ynet News reports nine Israeli soldiers were wounded during the fighting, and two were killed in the nearby town of Maroun al-Ras. “Attempts to rescue some of the injured were carried out under relentless fire,” […]


Another limited IDF incursion into Lebanon; Evacuating Lebanon

Israeli troops have entered southern Lebanon for the second time in two days. Like the last raid, this one had the limited objective of destroying Hezbollah strong points on the Lebanese border, as well as “searching for tunnels and mines” in the region.


IDF enters Lebanon, a new buffer zone?

Range of Iranian built missiles possibily in Hezbollah’s arsenal. Map & graphics courtesy of Kathryn Cramer. Click map to view. After a weekend of repeated Hezbollah missile strikes into Israel, including hits in Afula and the surrounding communities, and Haifa, the Israeli Defense Force has launched a ground incursion into Lebanon. The IDF “briefly entered […]


Counterterrorism Roundtable at Global Crisis Watch

This afternoon Richard Lafayette of Global Crisis Watch hosted a counterterrorism roundtable, attended by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Douglas Farah, Nir Boms of the Center for Freedom in the Middle East, and myself. The main topic was the crisis in the Middle East, including the mood in Israel, Israel’s response to Hezbollah’s attack, and Iran, Syria, and […]


Hezbollah missile sea strikes: UAV or ground based?

The Iranian C802 / Chinese Jing YJ-82. Click photo to view. In last evening’s post, “The War Widens, Hezbollah Strikes Egyptian, Israeli Ships with UAVs,” we reported the Israeli warship and an Egyptian civilian vessel were likely hit with missiles launched from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and not a UAV packed with explosives. The Egyptian vessel […]


The War Widens, Hezbollah Strikes Egyptian, Israeli Ships

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has escalated, as Hezbollah has conducted two sea strikes against an Israeli warship and an Egyptian civilian ship, possibly a cruise liner. While initial reports are stating an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was used to ram the ships, an anonymous intelligence official indicates the Egyptian ship was struck by […]


Hezbollah escalates the war in Lebanon, launches rocket attacks in Haifa

Map of Hezbollah rocket strikes in northern Israel. Click map to view. Since the Hezbollah raid on an Israeli outpost on the Lebanese border and kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers, and the follow on Israeli raids into Lebanon attacking Hezbollah targets and road, bridge and air infrastructure, several events increased the prospect for a wider […]


Imad Mugniyah likely behind the capture of Israeli soldiers

Imad Fayez Mugniyah Hezbollah has conducted a highly successful raid into Israeli territory, attacking a Israeli Defense Force outpost along the Israel-Lebanese border, killing three soldiers and capturing two after they were wounded. Four Israeli soldiers were killed when their tank ran over a land mine in Lebanon during follow-up operations to free the captured […]


Iraqi Police take another shot at Sadr’s militia

Map of Baghdad, click to view. Image courtesy of Global Security The Shiite militia of Moqtada al-Sadr appear in the cross hairs of the Iraqi government for the second time in three days. Following up on Friday’s raid on Sadr’s allies in the Sadr City section of Baghdad, Iraqi Security Forces conducted an operation against […]


The Kabul Bombings: Taliban or AGE?

Aftermath of a bombing in Kabul on July 5, 2006. Images courtesy of Walt Gaffney. Click photo to view gallery. The string of four bombings over two days in Kabul, Afghanistan, have raised the tension level in the city and stoked media speculation of a Taliban resurgence in the capital. On July 4, two roadside […]