Mumbai Under Attack

11:00 PM

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Thai authorities shut down Bangkok's second airport Thursday after it was overrun by anti-government protesters, completely cutting off the capital from air traffic as the prime minister rejected their demands to resign, deepening the country's crisis.

Thailand's powerful army commander, who has remained neutral in the conflict, stepped into the fray Wednesday, urging Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to step down.

He also asked thousands of protesters to end their siege of the main international Suwarnabhumi airport since Tuesday night, which has forced authorities to shut down the facility and cancel hundreds of flights, drawing world attention to a turmoil that has reduced Thailand to a dysfunctional nation.

10:00 PM

(AP) – Teams of gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, hospitals and a crowded train station in coordinated attacks across India’s financial capital Wednesday night, killing at least 82 people and taking Westerners hostage, police said. A group of suspected Muslim militants claimed responsibility.

Parts of the city remained under siege as dawn approached Thursday, with police and gunmen exchanging occasional gunfire at two hotels and an unknown number of people still held hostage, said A.N. Roy, a top police official. Soldiers also took up positions across the city.

A raging fire and explosions struck the landmark Taj Mahal hotel shortly after midnight. Screams could be heard and black smoke billowed from the century-old edifice on Mumbai’s waterfront. Firefighters sprayed water at the blaze and plucked people from windows and balconies with extension ladders.

The Étudiant will keep you updated.

Iran Arming The Taleban

Elements in the Iranian state are sending weapons across the border to the Taleban in Afghanistan, a BBC investigation has uncovered.

Taleban members said they had received Iranian-made arms from elements in the Iranian state and from smugglers.

The UK says its troops have intercepted arms which it believes were given by a group within the Iranian state.

The Iranian embassy in Kabul dismissed the allegations, saying Tehran supported the Afghan government. - BBC News

We arming the Taleban too just by purchasing gas.

Picking the President: Terrorism and Homeland Security

I have two weeks left here. Better get this done. Ladies and gentlemen, the Wakefield Étudiant presents another exciting edition of...

John McCain

• No torture, but let CIA use harsher techniques
  
• Shut down Guantanamo, try detainees in military courts
  
• Bush warrantless wiretapping program was legal
  
• Pakistan a friend, supports Musharraf
  
• NATO should send more troops to Afghanistan

Barack Obama

• No torture, same standards for CIA and military
  
• Shut down Gitmo, try detainees in civilian courts
  
• Opposes Bush wiretapping, pro-FISA compromise
  
• Fight al Qaeda in Pakistan
  
• Add 7,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan by moving some out of Iraq
  

Point to Obama. I don't see why the CIA, military, and civilian courts can't meet the same standards. Oh, and John? You know Bin Laden's in Pakistan, right?

Bin Laden's driver gets 5 1/2

A military jury gave Osama bin Laden's driver a stunningly lenient sentence on Thursday, making him eligible for release in just five months despite the prosecutors' request for a sentence tough enough to frighten terrorists around the globe.

Salim Hamdan's sentence of 5 1/2 years, including five years and a month already served at Guantanamo Bay, fell far short of the 30 years to life that prosecutors wanted.

Again, he was JUST the driver.

The Children of Gitmo

In a submission to the UN in May, the Pentagon said that no more than eight youths, aged 13 to 17 at time of capture, were held at Guantánamo Bay. But a prisoner list released in 2006 in response to US freedom of information act litigation names 21 inmates under 18 when they arrived. A separate defence department admission brings the total to 22. Testimonies collected by the charity Reprieve, which represents 30 inmates at Guantánamo, indicate the actual number is much higher.

Guantánamo's child prisoners came from all over the world: they were Afghan, Yemeni, Saudi, Russian, Uighuri, and Canadian. Five of them are still there. They are: Mohammed el Gharani, aged 14-15 when he was seized while praying in a Karachi mosque; Hassan bin Attash, aged 16-17 when seized in Pakistan, and rendered to Jordan where he endured 16 months of torture before being transferred; Faris Muslim Al Ansari, an Afghan-Yemeni who was 17 when captured; Mohamed Jawad, an Afghan who was 17 when seized and faces trial by military commission; and Omar Khadr.

Saudi citizen Yasser Talal Al Zahrani, 17 when captured, joined a prison-wide hunger strike in 2005. He was found dead in his cell in June 2006 after apparently killing himself. - Guardian

+1 for freedom! Not...

The United States Summed Up

So true!

White Boy Do Bad Things Like Show Video

A 12-year-old white schoolboy is among 120 people being dealt with by police in a new project combating Islamic-inspired violent extremism, it was revealed today.

The child, who has only been identified by the initials BC, was reported by his school in West Yorkshire after he was found circulating video clips of terrorists beheading Westerners.

Sick films were distributed to classmates on their mobile phones, prompting a teacher to march the boy to the local police station. - Mail Online

I guess the "Faces of Death" series is banned in the U.K.

North Korea, U.S. break nuclear impasse

TOKYO: North Korea submitted a long-delayed declaration of its nuclear program on Thursday, and the Bush administration immediately responded by saying it would remove the country it once described as part of the "axis of evil" from the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The declaration was believed to provide a partial, though important, view of North Korea's nuclear capability, and it marked a significant step forward in a multinational effort to end the country's drive to build nuclear weapons.

This, of course, means that the axis of evil now consists of Iran and Iraq. Um...there's a threat out there!

British politician protests terror detention plan

The shadow home secretary David Davis shocked Westminster today by announcing that he was resigning as an MP to "take a stand" against the Government's 42-day terror detention plan.

He said he was forcing a by-election to protest against the "insidious" erosion of civil liberties in Britain.

MP stands for "Member of Parliament", by the way...

Iraq update

MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) — Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered a new assault on Al-Qaeda in the main northern city of Mosul on Wednesday, the jihadists' last urban bastion in Iraq according to the US military.

Terrorists, your game is through, 'cause now you have to answer to America!

Bush administration slashes reward for terrorist

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration has slashed its reward for the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq from $5 million to $100,000 because it feels he's lost effectiveness and is no longer worth such a steep price, officials said Tuesday.

Hey, the price for this guy got slashed! Maybe gas is next!

Iraqi army captures al-Qaida leader

BAGHDAD -- Iraqi police commandos captured the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq in a raid in the northern city of Mosul, Iraqi officials said Thursday, in what could mark a significant blow to the Sunni insurgency in its last urban stronghold.

Mission Accomplished!

Iraq update

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Wednesday
he's more confident than ever his government will defeat al-Qaida in Iraq and
that confrontation with militia fighters will help achieve political stability.

Well, if you want to do that anytime soon, something tells me you'll need America's help.

Suicide bombing occurs in Iraq

BAGHDAD—A female suicide bomber attacked a group of Shiite worshippers near a
mosque in Karbala on Monday, killing at least 32 people and wounding 51,
officials said.

Meanwhile, our heroes have vowed to continue their fight for justice...

Elsewhere in the capital, Vice President Dick Cheney and Sen. John McCain vowed
in meetings with Iraq's prime minister that the U.S. would maintain a long-term
military presence in Iraq until al-Qaida is defeated there.

Pentagon seeks death penalty for alleged 9/11 planner

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Monday sought murder and conspiracy charges against
the alleged planner of the Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and five
others and will ask they be executed if convicted.

I don't believe in the death penalty...letting this guy get raped in prison for the rest of his life will be sweet enough a punishment.

South America to host Dakar Rally

PARIS — Argentina and Chile will host the 2009 edition of the Dakar Rally, which
was cancelled this year because of fears of terrorism in Africa.

On December 24, a family of French tourists was killed in Mauritania. The incident has been linked to al-Qaeda. Eight of the competition's 15 stages were to be held there.

Bush Lays The Smack Down On Iran

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - President Bush yesterday called Iran "the world's leading state sponsor of terror" and sought to shore up opposition to the government in Tehran throughout the Middle East.

But even as he criticized Iranian leaders, saying they were seeking to repress their citizens and cow neighboring countries, Bush appealed to US allies in the region to open up their political and economic systems to greater democracy.

Iran agrees to discuss nuclear work, agency says.

Spotlighting a swath of the globe where US diplomacy is built around seeking help for the administration's antiterrorism effort, the president criticized only Iran by name. He avoided mentioning Egypt, his final stop on a six- nation Middle East trip, despite the country's long record of human rights abuses, limited political rights, and economic disparity. He also did not cite other nations across the region with similarly troubled histories.

Speaking 150 miles across the Persian Gulf from Iran, Bush said the Islamic Republic "sends hundreds of millions of dollars to extremists around the world, while its own people face repression and economic hardship at home." He said Iran was seeking "to intimidate its neighbors with ballistic missiles and bellicose rhetoric." - The Boston Globe

Let's bomb Iran...right Mogni?

At least eight police killed by Al Qaeda

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Al Qaeda militants killed at least eight police in southern Baghdad on Thursday, raking them with machinegun fire from a stolen Iraqi army vehicle, police said.

Separately, police said insurgents fired 10 mortar bombs at Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone just before dusk, in attacks coinciding with the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.

A Reuters witness said he saw what appeared to be a body hanging from a damaged minibus in the zone, which houses the U.S. embassy and many government ministries. Police said there were casualties, but had no details.

The eruption of violence ran against the trend of a sharp drop in attacks in recent months.

Al Qaeda in Iraq militants opened fire on a neighborhood police patrol in the Hawr Rajab area of Baghdad, a mainly Sunni Arab area, approaching in at least one of two vehicles they had stolen after shooting at least two Iraqi soldiers.

An Interior Ministry official confirmed that eight "Awakening Council" police patrol members had been killed. He said three Iraqi soldiers were killed and another three were wounded, and that two al Qaeda gunmen had also been killed.

Lovely place, Baghdad. Just a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime. Stupid statements by Indiana congressman Mike Pence aside, yes, believe it or not, Al Qaeda DOES have a presence in Iraq! However, Iraqis comprise five percent of the entire Al Qaeda insurgency. Yes, our number one priority, according to the Bush administration, is crushing that five percent.

Darfur update

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Darfur rebels on Monday said they had released five hostages seized during a raid on a Chinese-run oil field and repeated threats to attack more foreign operators in the energy-rich area.

The Justice and Equality Movement said it launched the attack because they believe these Chinese oil companies fund Khartoum's military. Sudan's Ministry of Energy and Mining lists 24 companies with stakes in oil concessions in the country.

Report on shooting death of Brazilian man to be released

LONDON (Reuters) - A long-awaited report by an independent watchdog into the shooting of a Brazilian man by Metropolitan Police officers who had mistaken him for a suicide bomber will be released later on Thursday.

Remember when suicide bombers attacked London trains in 2005? Well, soon after that, terrorists tried to carry out a similar attack, and the Brazilian man, Jean Charles de Menezes, was mistaken for one of the suicide bombers and shot dead by the police. Big mistake. Last week, the London police force was fined for the shooting. Criminal action may be brought against the police. The Conservatives and Democrats of the U.K. are demanding that London's police chief, Sir Ian Blair, step down.