Attacks on sources of information

[T4 Primera]

The last couple of days have seen attacks made on various sources of information available to the people of the world. First, the English version of the Al Jazeera website was subject to a hacker attack within hours of it's launch. Then the Iraqi ministry of information, which was the maincentre used by foreign journalists in Baghdad was bombed. And yesterday, the english version of the russian site at the link below was subject to a "Denial of Service" hacker attack. Evidently there are people who would deny us all access to information that is not in their interests.

This Russian site Russian Military Analyses of the Unfolding Events in Iraq., regardless of whether you believe them or not, poses many interesting questions on the accuracy and timing of events concerning the military operations - especially the accuracy of casualty reports.

I would suggest this site is of interest to those of us who have been solely relying on the reports of the allied forces and Western media. TO quote from the top of the page at the link provided:

Welcome to the special Wartime Edition of the Aeronautics.Ru What you see is the lighter version of the usual main page. This is a temporary measure designed to improve the response time of this site. The server was overloaded by unexpected increase in traffic as well as by attempted denial of service attacks coming mainly from US-based domains.

[jon@af]

people suck.

[T4 Primera]

Bugger - none of the links from that page seem to be working anymore...at least not for me. Hope it's back up soon.

Never mind - I found the site where they get the military reports from...try this: http://www1.iraqwar.ru/?userlang=en and click on "event chronicles" at the bottom of the blurb under "events of the day" on the right for the daily military reports.

Note that there is provision under each of these reports to express your opinions. Even that makes interesting reading as people from all sides of the conflict make comment.

Regardless of any opinions you may have of the bias of these reports, they seem to lead the reports given in the Western media by hours and sometimes even days.

[taranaki]

Don't watch any Arab stations,its all lies and will rot your brain.Watch CNN,that is the American truth,we're liberating these Iraqis and that's all there is to it.

We've heard all the war reports from CNN,weapons hidden in schools, children forced into the military, attacks being launched from under the white flag of surrender,huge stockpiles of chemical defence suits being found........etc etc...CNN is the total truth,so all Iraqis must be terrorists,and George is a wonderful saint and anybody that says different is cowardly unpatriotic democrat scum.....


yeah....heard it all before guys.

[T4 Primera]

Here's an example of what is contained on the site I provided the link for in the post above for your perusal. I'm not advocating it's accuracy, just want to provide people with alternative sources of information:

Russian?sesid=2 military intel update: War in Iraq, March 29
30.03.2003 [10:30]


During the past day the situation on the US-Iraqi?sesid=2 front remained largely unchanged. The US is continuing reinforcing the attack group near Karabela for a thrust toward Baghdad. By the morning of March 29 up to 20,000 coalition?sesid=2 troops were massed in the area of Karabela. This forces includes up to 200 tanks, 150 artillery systems and more than 250 helicopters. The order for the attack will be given by the coalition?sesid=2 commander Gen. Tommy Franks, who, according to intercepted radio communications, will personally inspect the troops during the next several hours.

Around 1900hrs yesterday an Apache attack helicopter crashed. Intercepted radio communications show that the helicopter was heavily damaged in a combat mission. The helicopter's pilot lost control during landing and the helicopter crashed, causing serious damage to another helicopter that landed earlier.

The coalition?sesid=2 troops have so far failed to take An-Nasiriya? despite of the categorical orders from the command and more than 800 combat missions by the strike aircraft. All attempts to break through the Iraqi?sesid=2 defense were met by Iraqi?sesid=2 counterattacks. After 24 hours of fighting the coalition?sesid=2 troops only managed to advance several hundred meters in two sectors near An-Nasiriya? at the cost of 4 destroyed armored personnel carriers, no less that 3 Marines killed by sniper and mortar fire, 10 wounded and 2 missing in action. The exact Iraqi?sesid=2 losses are being determined.

The Americans have also failed to advance near An-Najaf?. Every coalition?sesid=2 attack was met by massive artillery barrages from the Iraqi?sesid=2 side. Later during the day the Iraqi?sesid=2s mounted a counterattack throwing the US forces back by 1.5-2 kilometers. No fewer than 10 Marines were killed or wounded. After exchanging fire for six hours both warring sides remained in the same positions. Iraqi?sesid=2 losses in this area are estimated to be 20 killed and up to 40 wounded.

Near Basra the British?sesid=2 troops pushed the Iraqi?sesid=2 defense lines on the Fao peninsula but were unable to capture the entire peninsula. The British?sesid=2 advance was a maximum of 4 kilometers from the highway leading to Basra. Radio intercepts show that in this attack the Iraqi?sesid=2s shot down a British?sesid=2 helicopter. Additionally, two tanks and one APCs were destroyed by landmines. At least 2 British?sesid=2 servicemen were killed, around 20 were wounded and 15 were captured by the Iraqi?sesid=2s.

Exchange of fire continued in the area of the Basra airport. The Iraqi?sesid=2s destroyed one coalition?sesid=2 APC wounding two coalition?sesid=2 soldiers. The Iraqi?sesid=2 losses are difficult to estimate, but available information suggests that up to 20 Iraqi?sesid=2 soldiers and local militia members might have been killed in the air and artillery strikes.

All attempts by the British?sesid=2 troops to break through the Iraqi?sesid=2 defenses from the south along the Al-Arab? river have yielded not results. The British?sesid=2 command reported that it is unable to storm Basra with the available forces and will require no less than two additional brigades and at least five additional artillery battalions. Thus, to avoid further casualties the British?sesid=2 are adopting defensive tactics, while trying to maintain a tight blockade around Basra and trying to improve their positions with small localized attacks. The British?sesid=2 are also maintaining pressure on the Iraqi?sesid=2 positions on the Fao peninsula.

The psychological levels among the city's residents, according to interviews, is far from critical. The Iraqi?sesid=2 military made several public announcements to the residents offering them a chance to leave the city. However, most of the residents do not want to leave, fearing the faith of the Palestinian refugees, who, after losing their homes, gained pariah status in the Arab world. Basra's residents were extremely depressed by the video footage aired by the coalition?sesid=2 command showing Iraqi?sesid=2s on the occupied territories fighting for food and water being distributed by the coalition?sesid=2 soldiers. The city's population views this as a sample of what awaits them if the Americans come...

At the Al-Kuwait? airport the unloading of the 4th Mechanized Infantry Division is continuing and is expected to be completed by the night of April 1. During a night flight one of the US military transport aircraft requested an emergency landing. What happened to the plane is still being determined.

Currently the coalition?sesid=2 command is deciding how better use the 4th Infantry Division. The complete deployment of the division?sesid=2 and preparations for combat are expected to take at least 10 days. However, the combat units require immediate reinforcements and it is possible that the [4th Infantry} Division will be joining combat in stages, as the units become ready. This will mean a considerable reduction of the Division's combat effectiveness.

A report was obtained, prepared by the Al-Kuwait-based? coalition?sesid=2 Psychological Operations Tactical Group for the coalition?sesid=2 Special Ground Forces Command. The report analyzed the effectiveness of the information and propaganda war. According to the report, analysis of the television broadcasts, intercepted radio communications, interrogations of Iraqi?sesid=2 POWs show that psychologically the Iraqi?sesid=2s are now "more stable and confident" that they were during the last days before the war. This, according to the report, is due primarily to the coalition's numerous military failures.

"...Following nervousness and depression of the Iraqi?sesid=2s?sesid=2 during the first days of the war we can now observe a burst of patriotic and nationalistic feelings. ...There has been a sharp increase in the number of Iraqi?sesid=2 refugees, who left the country before the war, returning to Iraq. A "cult of war" against the US and the UK is now emerging among the Iraqi?sesid=2s...", the report states. Reverse translation from Russian?sesid=2&

Coalition?sesid=2 analysts believe that if this attitude of the Iraqi?sesid=2s?sesid=2 is not changed within the next 7 days, a "resistance ideology" may take over the Iraqi?sesid=2 minds, making the final coalition?sesid=2 victory even more difficult. In response to this report the US Army Psychological Operations command decided to combine all Iraqi?sesid=2 POWs into large groups and to distribute the resulting video footage to the world media. A more active use of the Iraqi?sesid=2 opposition was suggested for propaganda work in the occupied villages. The same opposition members will be used to create video footage of the "repented" Iraqi?sesid=2 POWs and footage of the local Iraqi?sesid=2 population "opposing Saddam."

Radio communications intercepted during the last five days suggest that the coalition?sesid=2 is using Israeli?sesid=2 airfield for conducting night air strikes against Iraq. Combat aircraft are taking off regularly from the Israeli?sesid=2 Hatzerim and the Navatim airbases do not return to the same bases but fly toward the border with Jordan while maintaining complete radio silence.

Possibly these are just Israeli?sesid=2 Air Force exercises, However, Russian?sesid=2 radio intercept and radar units observe increased intensity of radio communications coming from the Jordanian air force and air defense communication centers during such overflights, as well as changes in the operating modes of the US Army "Patriot" tracking radars deployed in Jordan. This indicates the Israeli?sesid=2 airbases as used as forward airfield or that some of the coalition?sesid=2 air force units are based there. Normally the IAF F-15I fighter-bombers and A-4N strike aircraft operate from the Hatzerim airbase and the F-16 fighter-bombers operate from the Nevatim base.

Experts believe that these airbases may be used by the F-117 stealth bombers "officially" based at the Al-Udaid? airbase in Qatar. Using these two locations minimizes the risk to the F-117s by allowing them to fly along the left bank of the Euphrates (in the direction of Turkey) and to avoid the dangerous maneuvering over Iraq.

The destruction of the telephone stations in Baghdad did nothing to disrupt the communications of the Iraqi?sesid=2 army. The coalition?sesid=2 command acknowledged this fact after analyzing the dense Iraqi?sesid=2 radio traffic. Because of that the USAF was ordered to employ the most powerful available conventional?sesid=2 munitions against predetermined strategic targets. This attacks will be carried out immediately before renewing ground advance.

[T4 Primera]

Journalist says U.S. war plan has failed
NBC severs its ties with journalist

[T4 Primera]

The Pentagon report of a shooting of a vehicle full of civilians appears to be at odds with the report filed by an embedded reporter with the Washington post. - Are we going to see another reporter fired for not toeing the line?

Russian version
The Washington Post Version

[1985_BMW318i]

Christ almighty people they show it live on the damned news. The Russian's are against the war as well as their press. I've talked to my nephew on board the USS Constellation. He's there you are not and neither are those posey sniffing treehugging liberal or chicken press sitting behind a desk. WE HAVE REPORTERS ON THE FRONT LINE!. When my nephew who is a Navy Seal confirms my questions I believe him. Code is not just for the military it is for those that are smart enough to think ahead. Sheeze people if you don't get first hand knowledge then maybe you need to rethink what you see in the press. Now with all due consideration to Naki I will say I do not believe everything I see in the press but after my conversation with my nephew I'll say that 99% of what CNN has reported has been damned accurate

[T4 Primera]

So this Washington Post report was not sourced from an embedded reporter?

EDIT: Never mind, I searched and confirmed that the author of the Washington Post Report - William Branigin - is indeed embedded with the 3rd infantry.

Please, ask your nephew if he can shed some light and let us know what he says.:right:

CNN, it is what they don't report that concerns me.

[T4 Primera]

Oregon Law Would Jail War Protesters as Terrorists

[Cbass]

Don't you think that maybe, JUST maybe, the soldiers on the front line are going to be the most propagandized? After all, they've been fed the military line since the day they enlisted...

[Prelewd]

Originally posted by Cbass
Don't you think that maybe, JUST maybe, the soldiers on the front line are going to be the most propagandized? After all, they've been fed the military line since the day they enlisted...

They may be during bootcamp, but you see the truth firsthand, you can form your own opinion. People aren't programmable robots.. sometimes.

[T4 Primera]

Originally posted by Prelewd


They may be during bootcamp, but you see the truth firsthand, you can form your own opinion. People aren't programmable robots.. sometimes.

Very good point. Ask some frontline veterans for their views after they return. And I mean frontline people specifically as well. In my experience, the further they were from the fighting, the more they are willing to go into detail about it.

[taranaki]

Originally posted by Prelewd


They may be during bootcamp,

YOU ARE HERE TO THINK FOR YOURSELF,DIRTBAG!!!!!!!!

IF YOUR PRESIDENT GIVES AN ORDER THAT YOU BELIEVE IS WRONG,IT IS YOUR DUTY TO DISOBEY!!!!!!!!!!!!





:finger:

[Prelewd]

Now we know what taranaki bases his/her (still unclear, people call you tara, it's confusing) knowledge on.