Blast heard in Aqaba port-Al Arabiya TV

[allemand]

DUBAI (Reuters) - A blast hit Aqaba port on Friday, Jordan's interior minister said, Al Arabiya TV reported.

The television quoted Interior Minister Awni Yarfas as saying that the cause of the apparent blast was not immediately known. Earlier Al Arabiya quoted witnesses as saying the explosion took place near a U.S. vessel.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050819/ts_nm/jordan_aqaba_blast_dc_1

[DemInDistress]

1. near a u.s. vessel

think someone was aiming ??

[allemand]

2. Related news: Missile launched from Jordan hits car in Eilat

Missile launched from Jordan hits car in Eilat
By The Associated Press

A missile launched from Jordan's port town of Aqaba seems to be the cause of an explosion that hit a car in Eilat, police said on Friday. (...)

The missile, a Katyusha shell, struck some 50 meters away from the runway of the Eilat airport.

Simultaneously, an explosion was heard in Jordan's port of Aqaba Friday near a facility used by U.S. military vessels, an official and Arab satellite TV stations said but the cause of the blast was unclear. (...)

Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV said the explosion occurred near Port 7, while Dubai-based Al-Arabiya TV said a U.S. naval ship was in the vicinity of the blast. It was unclear what the source of the blast was or if there were any damages.

More:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/614827.html

[allemand]

3. CNN: Aqaba blast 'at U.S. storage area'

Port officials told CNN the explosion took place in a storage area used by by American forces when they are in port. There are currently two U.S. military vessels in the port.

U.S. Navy confirmed that a mortar was fired at an American vessel docked in Jordan's Aqaba port but missed and hit a pier warehouse, The Associated Press reported.

More;
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/08/19/jordan.blasts/index.html

[VolcanoJen]

4. CNN Breaking: Rockets Fired at Nearby Cities of Eliat, Israel...

... and Aqaba, Jordan.

Rocket missed navy ship, according to Cmdr. Jeff Breslau, US Navy.

Will edit with link...

Also, see this thread:

Blast heard in Aqaba port-Al Arabiya TV - allemand

According to the reporter on CNN, Paula Hancocks in Jerusalem, the rocket which hit Eliat, a Red Sea tourist town, did not explode. It looked as though it was heading toward the airport, and hit approximately 15 meters away.

The U.S. military claims the rocket fired at Aqaba in Jordan was aimed at U.S. military targets.

No U.S. troops have been injured in the attack.

[Bluebear]

12. Darn good intel! Heh heh heh! Let's vacation!!!

[CHIMO]

5. Rockets fired on Jordan port

Three rockets have been fired on Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba resulting in some injuries, Aljazeera reported.

Aljazeera correspondent Yasser Abu Hilala quoting eyewitnesses said the rockets were fired on terminal seven. This particular terminal is usually reserved for military vessels.

The rockets fell near a US Navy vessel, anchored on the port for almost a week.

The authorities closed the entire area and have begun combing it to identify the site from where the rockets were fired.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D975F351-A60A-47DE-9948-46BAFE397843.htm

[VolcanoJen]

6. Link: Missile Fired At U.S. Navy Ship in Jordan - AP

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050819/ap_on_re_mi_ea/jordan_explosions

AMMAN, Jordan - Two missiles were fired early Friday from Jordan at a U.S. Navy ship docked in a Jordanian port and at a nearby airport in neighboring Israel, officials said. No casualties were reported in either attack.

The U.S. Navy said a mortar was fired at an American ship docked in Jordan's port of Aqaba.

[Cooley Hurd]

7. Just heard on Rachel Maddow

She says AP saying it was a missle fired at a US ship (but missed)...

See above for link...

Thx, Jen! :hi:

[VolcanoJen]

8. Link: Rocket narrowly misses U.S. ship in Jordan port - Reuters

http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=1077856

Excerpt:

AMMAN (Reuters) - Attackers fired a rocket near a U.S. military ship in Jordan's Aqaba port on Friday, but the missile missed the vessel and hit a nearby warehouse instead, U.S. military officials said.

"I can confirm that a rocket flew over the bow of USS Ashland and the rocket impacted in the roof of a warehouse. No sailors or marines were injured," said Commander Jeff Breslau of the U.S. Fifth Fleet.

Jordanian Interior Minister Awni Yarfas said the rocket caused little damage to the warehouse and no casualties.

"Security forces are investigating the source of the explosion. It was a very weak incident and there was no damage whatsoever," he told Reuters.

A shipping source confirmed to Reuters there had been no casualties.

[xchrom]

9. a war cannot contain this violence.

a war will and has succeeded in spreading it.

[cliss]

49. And that will be

the quote of the day.

There is absolutely NO WAY we can keep this up. Alienating our allies, pissing off entire countries, making deals with dictators who "boil people", setting up arrangements with the Taliban, etc etc.

Important news bulletin for Bush

The U.S. only comprises 3.8% of the world's population. And yet, we seem to feel we have the right to jerk around the other 96%.

In addition, we're stuck in a war of attrition in both Iraq and Afghanistan, which is bleeding us financially. If we were a corporation, we would be filing Chapter 11 right now. We are losing troops every day.

With you Bush, we are simply SCREWED.

[Cooley Hurd]

10. US Navy ships (almost) involved:

USS Ashland (LSD-48)


USS Kearsarge (LHD-3)

[Rhiannon12866]

51. Thanks.

These are really cool ships, if you take the time to access the photos. (Which, of course, you know I did.:D) Are they both aircraft carriers? I know that the Kearsarge is, but I wasn't sure about the Ashland. Helicopters? Thanks.:shrug:

[Bluebear]

11. Attack from Jordan! TIME TO INVADE IRAN!!!

Right, GOP?

[havocmom]

44. Yep, right after they find Iranian passports in the snipers nest

at the book depository.

[TomClash]

13. Missiles Fired at U.S. Navy Ship in Jordan, Airport in Nearby Israel

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - Two missiles were fired from Jordan early Friday, at a U.S. Navy ship docked in a Jordanian port and at a nearby airport in neighboring Israel, officials said. No casualties were reported in either attack.
The U.S. Navy said a mortar was fired at an American ship docked in Jordan's port of Aqaba.

Israeli police and witnesses said a Katyusha rocket fired from Jordan fell on the outskirts of the nearby airport of Israel's Red Sea resort of Eilat, but did not explode.

Aqaba and Eilat are about 10 miles apart and located on either side of the Jordan-Israeli border at the northern end of the Red Sea close to the Sinai Peninsula.

The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet based in Bahrain confirmed that a mortar was fired from Jordan at one of its ships docked in the seaport of Aqaba, missing the vessel but slamming into a warehouse on a dock.

A taxi driver, who passed on the road just as the rocket fell, was lightly injured. However, the rocket did not hit his car, witnesses said.

U.S. frigates, apparently part of routine exercises with the Jordanian army, were seen docked at the mouth of the Red Sea port earlier this week.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBQAG28KCE.html

[maxrandb]

14. Gulf of Tonkin??

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Tonkin_Resolution

[whistle]

15. I wonder how Bush will handle this latest attack....

...invade Jordan?

[maxrandb]

16. Since it came from Jordan, He'll attack Mexico

That would be in keeping with the logic of this mis-administration

[Judi Lynn]

31. This is what he's been waiting for: Time to invade Venezuela

Time to grab Venzuelan oil. Not a minute to lose.

He's had his State Department working overtime spreading disinformation about Hugo Chavez, organizing strikes, an armed coup, and kidnapping Hugo Chavez, organizing the vote recount.

Now it's payday.

Bring em' on again.

[Divernan]

36. No - he only attacks countries with oil fields

nt

[Niccolo_Macchiavelli]

17. nuke it.

:sarcasm:

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Colorado Blue]

42. Oh for pete's sake. I have been trying to have a sense of

humor about this sort of bigoted nonsense but am beginning to lose it.

BTW "The Hunt for Red October" was about the defection of a Soviet submarine to the U.S., having nothing to do with Israel.

On the other hand I'm sure some of y'all could find SOMETHING in "Red October" to blame on the Jews, so why not buy a copy and review it for us, ok? I'll be waiting with bated breath.

[Jim Sagle]

47. That movie was about the reds, not the joooooos.

[Jacobin]

19. Picture of a Katyusha rocket

[leftchick]

20. 3 Rockets fired, 1 dead....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050819/ts_nm/jordan_blast_dc;_

AMMAN (Reuters) - Three rockets were fired at two U.S. Navy ships in Jordan's Aqaba port on Friday, but they missed their targets and hit a warehouse and a hospital, killing a Jordanian soldier, and striking the Israeli port of Eilat.

[mbperrin]

21. I guess my question is, How do we know what they were

firing at unless we asked them? Perhaps they hit precisely what they were aiming at.

Ascribing motivations to missiles seems even more bizarre than most of the shit this mismaladministration does.

[nine23]

22. Pardon me for acknowledging the US's complete lack of credibility, but...

...how can one tell the exact make and model of a rocket as it flies through the air, then explodes? Don't they fly through the air at a few thousand feet per second, or does this particular make/model just mosey along at the speed of a Canada goose, allowing for "confirmed intel" and/or, "product recognition"?

[jhawk_tim]

25. From the debris

Just like identifying what brand and model a plane was when it crashes. A missile leaves behind pieces of it's casing (they don't vaporize), tail fins, etc. There is typically enough casing detail to not only positively ID the missile but usually enough of the markings to ID the sender.

Remember, most missiles are about concussion and shrapnel, not massive, continual fire.

[Stella_Artois]

48. I don't think anyone has yet

"Katyusha" is a blanket term that could cover just about any rocket, although it started off describing the Soviet made "Stalins Organ" of WWII. Just about every rocket the Soviets every made post war got called "Katyusha" in the west.

This could even have been home made, altough there are enough old Soviet ones in the middle east to not make it worth the while


http://www.veteranen.info/~cedarsouthlebanon/kat/kateng.htm

[shadowknows69]

23. let me guess

i'll bet the attackers will end up being Iranian

[seriousstan]

26. Iraqi and Egyptian, 4 men rented the warehouse recently.

[Serial Mom]

24. another distraction from dubya's poor ratings ...

odd how they keep hitting the "trifecta"

I'm just saying ...

[rndmprsn]

27. Rocket Fired at 2 U.S. Navy Ships at Port in Jordan - NYT

AMMAN, Jordan, Aug. 19 - A rocket was fired early today at two American naval ships docked in southern Jordan, killing a Jordanian soldier and marking the first attack on American military ships in the region in five years, American and Jordanian officials said.


The U.S.S. Kearsage, an amphibious assault ship, leaving the Jordanian port of Aqaba today after the attack.

A rocket was fired at the same time from apparently the same area at an airport in a neighboring Israeli port, hitting a stretch of road and wounding a taxi driver, news agencies reported, citing Israeli officials and witnesses. A third projectile was fired at a Jordanian hospital around the southern port of Aqaba but did no damage.

No one claimed immediate responsibility for the simultaneous attacks, which displayed audacity in their use of military-style weapons and techniques. In October 2000, two suicide bombers detonated a launch loaded with explosives next to the American destroyer Cole as it was refueling in a port in Yemen. That attack, which killed 17 people and wounded 39 others, was attributed to Al Qaeda.

The attack today on the American vessels, the Ashland and the Kearsarge, took place around 8:44 a.m. and missed two naval ships at dock in Aqaba, said Capt. Ryan Fitzgerald of the United States Air Force, a spokesman for the American military command in the Middle East. The tocket flew over the ships and landed on a warehouse at the pier, he said.

[In_The_Wind]

28. kick

more bad morning news but thanks for posting it.

[StrafingMoose]

29. AP: "A group linked to al-Qaida claimed......."

http://ap.washingtontimes.com/dynamic/stories/J/JORDAN_EXPLOSIONS?SITE=DCTMS&SECTION=US

"A group linked to al-Qaida claimed responsibility in an Internet statement. The statement purportedly from the Abdullah Azzam Brigades could not immediately be verified."

If you ask me though, Internet claiming is BS.

[Roland99]

33. I'm surprised BTK didn't claim he was part of Al Qaeda

[StrafingMoose]

39. LOL, good one

[Nihil]

34. "Two U.S. amphibious assault ships"

I wonder what sort of "joint training exercise with the Jordanian navy"
those two US amphibious assault ships were conducting?

[Divernan]

37. US runs joint op with little Jordan; while superpowers Russia & China

are running joint military exercise. Another example of Bush administration's failure to form POWERFUL alliances to protect US interests.

[allemand]

30. "Qaeda" group claims rocket attack on U.S. ships

DUBAI (Reuters) - A group claiming links to al Qaeda said on Friday it had fired rockets at U.S. Navy ships in Jordan and an Israeli port, according to an Internet statement.

The statement, which could not be authenticated, was signed by the Abdullah al-Azzam Brigades of the al Qaeda Organization in the Levant and Egypt. It was carried on an Islamist Web site not often used by other groups which say they are linked to Osama bin Laden's network.

Earlier this month, the group was one of several organizations that said it was behind the bomb attacks on a market and hotels in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. It has also claimed the October 2004 bombings at another Egyptian Red Sea resort.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050819/ts_nm/jordan_blast_claim_dc

[StrafingMoose]

32. USS Liberty?

:eyes:

[Barrett808]

35. But the world is safer since we toppled Saddam.

Safer.

[wli]

38. exercise in progress... al Qaeda claims responsibility...

Another false flag attack.

[reprobate]

40. Anyone else hear that Al Queda is a CIA black op and nothing more?

[Coastie for Truth]

41. Terrorists = Anarcho Warrior Class Hiding Under a Convenient Flag

Terrorists = Anarcho Warrior Class Hiding Under a Convenient Flag of Political Cause


The terrorists are an "anarcho-warrior" class - they see any diminution of active hositility as a threat to their life style. They're not equipped to do anything productive (at least the Japanese Kamikazi pilots could build Toyopets and Nikkorex cameras and market ball point pens after VJ Day)

Don't care if they're fired from civilian law enforement jobs (as Charles Grainer of Abu Ghraib) or "soldiers of fortune"/mercenaries (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/14/magazine/14PRIVATI.html, Bergner, The Other Army) or Hezbollah or Hamas or Jihad or AlQauda. They are anarcho-warriors.

Put a political label on them - they are still Charles Mansons and BTK Killers and Timothy McVeighs and Eric Rudolfs and if they have PhD degrees they are Steve Cambone and Paul Wolfowitz.

<>
<>
<>

[havocmom]

43. You've got their number, CFT.

And the neocons do all they can to make an environment where these types flourish. It's good for their agenda to have people afraid, willing to sell their freedoms for the illusion of security and happy to send tax $$ to defense contractors.

Too bad people can't be made to see the value of spending on education and mental health care.

[Jack Rabbit]

45. Al Qaida

It is fashionable nowadays for any Islamic terrorist to strike in the name of al Qaida. Both in the ways the term al Qaida is used by the Bush regime and by the terrorist themselves, it has become a term that describes a style of action and ideology rather than a specific organization.

Even assuming that the claim of responsibility is genuine, we cannot be sure that that anybody in the organization claiming responsibility is within two or threes degrees of separation from Osama or receives any direct funding from him. On the other hand, we can't be sure they don't.

[Rhiannon12866]

52. Thanks for the explanation, Jack Rabbit.

I already suspected that this was the case, given how often we hear the term. Also, I wonder how many self-styled "terrorists" consider themselves aligned with al-Quada, because they share their ideals, but, in reality, have no official connection, as you suggested. I'd guess most...:shrug:

[VegasWolf]

46. This is really going to piss off Bush, having to do president stuff now

while on his little vacation.

[Az_lefty]

50. yep, those darn terrorists hate our vacations. n/t

[Rhiannon12866]

53. They sure do...

According to F 9/11, Bush* was on vacation 40% of the time before the attacks of 9/11...:grr: