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| Iraq + war on terrorism + Middle East conflict + critical perspectives |
 Iraq's proposed constitution leaves key issues unresolvedBy Nancy A. Youssef and Tom Lasseter, Knight Ridder, October 14, 2005 As Iraqis headed to the polls on Saturday to vote on their nation's proposed constitution, concerns mounted that the document, if it's approved as expected, would postpone rather than solve the divisive issues that could further destabilize this war-torn nation. Left unresolved are key points such as whether to allow Iraq's provinces to join together to form regional governments that could divide the country along sectarian lines; how potentially billions of dollars in untapped oil revenue would be distributed; and the role of Islam in the crafting and enforcement of laws. The nation's major political parties agreed this week to discuss these divisive issues next year and to hold a second constitutional referendum. [complete article] See also, No voting centers in many cities in west Iraq (Reuters), Sunni bombs and guards greet Iraq vote (WP), Iraqi women see little but darkness (WP). G.I.'s and Syrians in tense clashes on Iraqi borderBy James Risen and David E. Sanger, New York Times, October 15, 2005 A series of clashes in the last year between American and Syrian troops, including a prolonged firefight this summer that killed several Syrians, has raised the prospect that cross-border military operations may become a dangerous new front in the Iraq war, according to current and former military and government officials. [...] The broadening military effort along the border has intensified as the Iraqi constitutional referendum scheduled for Saturday approaches, and as frustration mounts in the Bush administration and among senior American commanders over their inability to prevent foreign radical Islamists from engaging in suicide bombings and other deadly terrorist acts inside Iraq. Increasingly, officials say, Syria is to the Iraq war what Cambodia was in the Vietnam War: a sanctuary for fighters, money and supplies to flow over the border and, ultimately, a place for a shadow struggle. [complete article] Arab countries look to play a role in IraqBy Roula Khalaf, Financial Times, October 14, 2005 Arab governments are struggling to counter Iranian influence in Iraq by carving out a role for themselves as mediators in the conflict. With blessing from the US, the Arab League is proposing to hold an Iraqi conference of national reconciliation soon after the constitutional referendum. An Arab League team was in Baghdad this week to prepare for a visit by Amr Moussa, its secretary general, to discuss plans for the conference. Senior Arab officials say the US, which sought to marginalise Iraq's Arab neighbours after the 2003 war, has been asking for their input in recent months, amid rising concerns over the growing influence of Tehran and dwindling domestic support for the US military presence in Iraq. The Arabs' leverage, however, is limited. The League itself has rarely proved effective and is seen by Shia and Kurds in Iraq as a backer of the Sunni Arabs. Meanwhile Syria, a League member, has been accused of supporting Iraqi insurgents. [complete article]  If Bush's Brain is removed, it's gonna hurtBy John Dickerson, Slate, October 14, 2005 What's going to happen to Karl? That question was being asked in the White House and throughout Washington today as the president's top political adviser appeared for a fourth time before the grand jury in the CIA leak probe. That he answered questions for four and a half hours only increased speculation that Rove might be the target of an indictment when Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald wraps up his work later this month. If he is indicted, it is almost certain that Rove will have to resign. White House officials will not talk about the case but do not challenge the logical notion that Chief of Staff Andy Card is already thinking through how to fill Rove's shoes. Card can shuffle around his duties into different organizational boxes, but it won't do much good. Rove can't be replaced. His departure would create a "black hole," says one official who works with Rove closely. "He's irreplaceable." [complete article] Casualties of the Bush administrationBy Nick Turse, TomDispatch, October 13, 2005 In late August 2005, after twenty years of service in the field of military procurement, Bunnatine ("Bunny") Greenhouse, the top official at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in charge of awarding government contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq, was demoted. For years, Greenhouse received stellar evaluations from superiors -- until she raised objections about secret, no-bid contracts awarded to Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) -- a subsidiary of Halliburton, the mega-corporation Vice President Dick Cheney once presided over. After telling congress that one Halliburton deal was "was the most blatant and improper contract abuse I have witnessed during the course of my professional career," she was reassigned from "the elite Senior Executive Service... to a lesser job in the civil works division of the corps." When Greenhouse was busted down, she became just another of the casualties of the Bush administration -- not the countless (or rather uncounted) Iraqis, or the ever-growing list of American troops, killed, maimed, or mutilated in the administration's war of convenience-- but the seemingly endless and ever-growing list of beleaguered administrators, managers, and career civil servants who quit their posts in protest or were defamed, threatened, fired, forced out, demoted, or driven to retire by Bush administration strong-arming. [complete article] See also, Bush abandonment watch (Timothy Noah). Iraq: The state we're inBy Patrick Cockburn, The Independent, October 14, 2005 Iraq is a country paralysed by fear. Thirty months after the US and British invasion the country is getting closer to civil war by the day. Ethnic cleansing of Shia by Sunni death squads has started in the south and west of Baghdad. Insurgents control large parts of the city at night. They lob mortar bombs at will into the heavily fortified American, British and Iraqi government headquarters in the Green Zone. The American and British governments seem disconnected from the terrible reality of Iraq. Tony Blair says the time scale for withdrawal is "when the job is done." But stop any Iraqi in the streets of Baghdad and the great majority say the violence will get worse until the US and Britain start to pull out. They say the main catalyst for the Sunni Arab insurrection is the US occupation. A deep crisis is turning into a potential catastrophe because President George Bush and Tony Blair pretend the situation in Iraq is improving. To prove to their own voters that progress is being made, they have imposed on Iraq a series of artificial milestones. These have been achieved but have done nothing to halt the ever deepening violence. [complete article] (Note: This is a very long article. If you have a dial-up connection, please be patient while the page downloads.) In Iraqi swing city, hope vs. defianceBy Steve Fainaru and Anthony Shadid, Washington Post, October 14, 2005 In the heart of the Sunni triangle, Saturday's vote has laid bare two distinct visions of Iraq. For Iraq's minority Sunni Arabs, the referendum has brought forth the grievances that have fueled their two-year insurgency: their political disenfranchisement and the humiliation of being forced to live under U.S. military occupation. For the Americans who patrol the streets, facing daily bombings and small-arms attacks, the referendum embodies their best hope to stem that insurgency and ultimately withdraw from Iraq. Many Sunnis here said they would turn out to reject the charter as a way of registering their anger at the American military presence; they vowed that the insurgency would go on, whatever the result. Meanwhile, the task of the Americans is dauntingly complex -- to transfer authority to the Iraqis even as they coordinate an election and continue to fight a war. [complete article] See also, Insurgents bomb Sunni Arab office in Iraq (AP), Sunnis split over final draft of proposed Iraqi constitution (WP), and In Sunni area, a pro-constitution buzz (LAT). For injured U.S. troops, 'financial friendly fire'By Donna St. George, Washington Post, October 14, 2005 His hand had been blown off in Iraq, his body pierced by shrapnel. He could not walk. Robert Loria was flown home for a long recovery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he tried to bear up against intense physical pain and reimagine his life's possibilities. The last thing on his mind, he said, was whether the Army had correctly adjusted his pay rate -- downgrading it because he was out of the war zone -- or whether his combat gear had been accounted for properly: his Kevlar helmet, his suspenders, his rucksack. But nine months after Loria was wounded, the Army garnished his wages and then, as he prepared to leave the service, hit him with a $6,200 debt. That was just before last Christmas, and several lawmakers scrambled to help. This spring, a collection agency started calling. He owed another $646 for military housing. "I was shocked," recalled Loria, now 28 and medically retired from the Army. "After everything that went on, they still had the nerve to ask me for money." Although Loria's problems may be striking on their own, the Army has recently identified 331 other soldiers who have been hit with military debt after being wounded at war. The new analysis comes as the United States has more wounded troops than at any time since the Vietnam War, with thousands suffering serious injury in Iraq or Afghanistan. [complete article] Out-Saddaming Saddam - Mr. Bush goes to Tikrit (sort of)By Jeremy Scahill, Counterpunch, October 13, 2005 Just when you think that President Bush couldn't out-Saddam Saddam any more, he goes and does something that proves you wrong. If any Iraqis caught the hilarious videoconference today between Bush at the White House and troops from the 42nd Infantry Division in Tikrit, it may have seemed like a high-tech version of a familiar scene from the old days when Saddam used to travel to Tikrit to feel (and more importantly to have others feel) his greatness. The videoconference was a display of just how far the propaganda system has come since Bush took over from Saddam. Instead of visiting Tikrit, which the president lightly acknowledged he could not safely do, Bush addressed-- via satellite--an adoring bunch of US soldiers that had apparently been given a heavy dose of Kool-Aid before the telecast began. Oh, there was one Iraqi there--Sergeant Major Akeel from the 5th Iraqi Army Division, whose role in the affair was limited to smiling like a good Iraqi and saying to Bush, "I like you." [complete article] Comment -- We can't afford to gloat about President Bush's descent into political and psychological paralysis. A president who is crippled by loss of confidence and loss of support will inevitably be indecisive and ineffectual. That means that we can't expect any bold policy moves when it comes to Iraq. More than likely Bush will continue bumbling along looking for new prognosticators of happy days to come that like the false promises of a fortune-teller succor hope in the face of adversity. That was a short war on povertyBy E. J. Dionne Jr, Washington Post, October 14, 2005 It has long been said that Americans have short attention spans, but this is ridiculous: Our bold, urgent, far-reaching, post-Katrina war on poverty lasted maybe a month. Credit for our ability to reach rapid closure on the poverty issue goes first to a group of congressional conservatives who seized the post-Katrina initiative before advocates of poverty reduction could get their plans off the ground. As soon as President Bush announced his first spending package for reconstructing New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, the Republican Study Committee and other conservatives switched the subject from poverty reduction to how Katrina reconstruction plans might increase the deficit that their own tax-cutting policies helped create. [complete article] Scandals take toll on Bush's 2nd termBy Jim VandeHei and Peter Baker, Washington Post, October 14, 2005 A string of scandals involving some of the most powerful Republicans in Washington have converged to disrupt President Bush's agenda, distract aides and allies, and exacerbate political problems for an already weakened administration, according to party strategists and White House advisers. With Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove returning to a grand jury as early as today, associates said the architect of Bush's presidency has been preoccupied with his legal troubles, a diversion that some say contributed to the troubled handling of Harriet Miers's nomination to the Supreme Court. White House officials are privately bracing for the possibility that Rove or other officials could be indicted in the next two weeks. Bush's main partners on Capitol Hill likewise are spending time defending themselves as the president's legislative initiatives founder. The indictment of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) for alleged campaign funding illegalities has thrown Republicans into one of the most tumultuous periods of their 10-year reign and created the prospect of a leadership battle. And while Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) deals with a subpoena in an insider-trading investigation, a bipartisan majority rebuked Bush over torture policies. [complete article] More than Hussein is on trialBy Richard Boudreaux and Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times, October 14, 2005 U.S. officials had advised the judges on the fledgling court to try a "test case" against underlings before putting Hussein on the stand. Urged by Iraqi leaders to move more swiftly, investigative judges chose instead to include Hussein along with seven aides in the court's first trial. The conflicting pressures on the Iraqi Special Tribunal reflect deep uncertainties about how to proceed with the notorious prisoner 22 months after his capture. With the country torn since his ouster by an insurgency targeting Iraq's elected leaders and 140,000 U.S. troops, much more is at stake than the fate of one man. [complete article] Al Qaeda in Iraq says Zawahri letter is fake - WebBy Firouz Sedarat, Reuters, October 13, 2005 Al Qaeda's wing in Iraq on Thursday rejected as a fabrication a letter by a top group leader that was issued by U.S. officials and suggested deep internal rifts among militants. According to the letter, released this week by U.S. intelligence officials, al Qaeda's second in command Ayman al-Zawahri urged the group's leader in Iraq to prepare for an Islamic government to take over when U.S. forces leave. The letter warns Zarqawi the killing of Shi'ite civilians and hostages risked alienating Sunnis at a time when al Qaeda in Iraq should be seeking support for a religious state. But Al Qaeda's wing in Iraq said the letter's release showed the "bankruptcy plaguing the infidels' camp". [complete article] See also, Zawahiri letter to Zarqawi: a Shiite forgery? (Juan Cole). Song and dance on the terror trailBy Syed Saleem Shahzad, Asia Times, October 14, 2005 After spending billions of dollars and devoting thousands of people to the task, hundreds of al-Qaeda operatives have been arrested in the past four years in the US-led "war on terror". Yet any assessment of al-Qaeda is still largely based on guesswork rather than concrete facts, and US policymakers are still very much in the dark about Osama bin Laden, his deputy Aiman al-Zawahiri, and the exact structure of al-Qaeda, its financial arteries, and even its real ideological paradigms. Having recently spent 21 days in the US as a State Department guest, with al-Qaeda and the "war on terror" as the central topics during the stay, this correspondent's views largely stand vindicated, that the "war on terror" is still far from any logical conclusion. [complete article] Militants are heroes in the village that was buried aliveBy Justin Huggler, The Independent, October 14, 2005 The men who operate the ferry service [taking the earthquake victims to hospital] are young, with long Islamic beards. They are the militants of Lashkar-e Toiba, listed as a "terrorist" group in the West and officially banned by the Pakistani government under Western pressure. They have come here from the same madrassa outside Lahore that attracted attention in July, after it emerged that one of the 7/7 London bombers had visited it. But to the desperate people here, the militants of Lashkar-e Toiba are heroes. "The government has done nothing for us," says Said Zurkanian, a resident of Chalabandi. "Only Lashkar has helped us. People died of hunger over there; there was no food for the injured. There are 200 people over there who are urgent need of medical help. If they do not get it they will die. Lashkar is taking it to them." [complete article] See also, Hopelessness descends over quake victims (WP). World may have to live with nuclear Iran - U.S. studyReuters (via Yahoo), October 13, 2005 Iran is determined to acquire nuclear weapons and the United States may find it less costly to deter a nuclear-armed Iran than to dismantle its weapons program, according to two U.S.-funded researchers who advise the Pentagon. "Can the United States live with a nuclear-armed Iran? Despite its rhetoric, it may have no choice," concluded the report by Judith Yaphe and Air Force Col. Charles Lutes, which was released on Thursday. The potential for rolling back Iran's program, once it produces a nuclear weapon, "is lower than preventing it in the first place and the costs of rollback may be higher than the costs of deterring and containing a nuclear Iran," they said. The two analysts are senior fellows at the National Defense University's Institute for National Strategic Studies, which does policy research for the Defense Department. [complete article] See the study, Reassessing the Implications of a Nuclear-Armed Iran, by Judith S. Yaphe and Charles D. Lutes (PDF).  Cleaning houseBy Ben Bain, Carnegie Endowment, October 13, 2005 The US government program to prevent nuclear materials from vanishing from insecure facilities into the hands of terrorists has scored several striking successes but is still far from accomplishing its goals. The Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) has securely repatriated 122kg of highly-enriched uranium to Russia in eight operations, including a recent dramatic midnight airlift from Prague. The GTRI mission is of the highest importance, yet recent studies conclude that progress is dangerously slow. Harvard's Graham Allison believes, "The only thing keeping al-Qaida from building a nuclear weapon is the fissile material needed to produce a self-sustaining chain reaction for a nuclear explosion." The 2005 Carnegie report, Universal Compliance, concluded, "securing weapon-usable fissile materials is, therefore, the single greatest nonproliferation priority." As Allison puts it, "no fissile material, no nuclear explosion, no nuclear terrorism." [complete article] Turkey, Europe and the clash of civilizationsBy Gwynne Dyer, San Diego Union-Tribune, October 9, 2005 There is an attractive symbolism in the idea that Turkish membership in the EU would finally begin to repair the split that tore the old classical Mediterranean civilization in two with the rise of Islam 14 centuries ago, but it is not really about an alliance between Christianity and Islam. On the contrary, it has become possible only because both Western Europeans and Turks have ceased to define themselves solely or even mainly in religious terms. Many people in Western Europe and most people in Turkey are still believers, but it doesn't swallow up their whole identity. [complete article] Sistani urges Iraq charter 'yes'BBC News, October 13, 2005 Iraq's most senior Shia cleric has called on the country's majority Shia community to vote "yes" in Saturday's constitution referendum. The statement was conveyed by aides of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani based at the shrines of Najaf and Karbala. It is his most direct show of support for the charter and it is expected to carry great weight with Iraqi Shias. [complete article] See also, Najaf prepares to endorse charter, but rifts are apparent (WP). After changes to Iraqi charter, Sunni leaders still differ on supportBy Dexter Filkins, New York Times, October 13, 2005 Sunni leaders offered a mixed reaction on Wednesday to a deal intended to improve the prospects of Iraq's constitution, which is set to go before voters in a nationwide referendum on Saturday. A number of religious and political leaders among the Sunni Arabs, the ethnic group that provides the backbone of the guerrilla insurgency, said they would continue to oppose the proposed charter. The Iraqi Islamic Party, the country's largest Sunni political party, agreed Tuesday to support it in exchange for an amendment that could allow substantial changes after a new National Assembly is elected in December. Among those continuing to reject the constitution is the powerful Association of Muslim Scholars, which represents hundreds of Sunni clerics from across the country. At least two other Sunni leaders, Adnan al-Dulaimi of the Conference of the Iraqi People and Kamal Hamdoon, a Sunni member of the constitution drafting committee, said Wednesday that they would also continue to oppose it. [complete article] Iraq's Kurds ambivalent on charterBy Jackie Spinner, Washington Post, October 13, 2005 In the days leading up to Iraq's historic national elections nearly nine months ago, the streets of this Kurdish provincial capital buzzed with excitement. Aging former pesh merga militia fighters sang revolutionary songs in an impromptu bus parade around the city. Political party workers sat in striped tents outside campaign headquarters and shouted through bullhorns, urging people to vote in the country's first democratic elections in nearly half a century. The result gave Kurdish leaders their first chance to participate in a central government in decades and a large hand in drafting the new Iraqi constitution that will be put to the vote on Saturday. But in the days before this second historic vote, a city that looked like one big street party in January feels more like a deserted Wrigley Field after the Chicago Cubs let another pennant chance slip away. Posters announcing the constitutional referendum are noticeably absent from walls that were covered in January. On a busy street corner, a lone pink election banner competed for attention with one announcing new flights from the city's airport and another advertising sweets for the holy month of Ramadan. And across the city, residents expressed ambivalence about the referendum, even though it could give the Kurds a measure of legitimacy they have long sought. [complete article] Iraq's little-read charter evokes strong viewsBy Dan Murphy and Jill Carroll, Christian Science Monitor, October 12, 2005 Just days before Iraq's constitutional referendum on Saturday few Iraqis have read the country's new draft charter or even know what's in the document. But ask the average Shiite what they think of Iraq's proposed constitution and it will be praised to the heavens. Ask a Sunni, and he or she says that it will lead to the breakup of Iraq, and a deepening of its civil war. Many simply say they're voting based on what leaders of their communities say, and when they speak of the document's weaknesses or advantages, they focus on group, rather than national interests. [complete article] Sectarian resentment extends to Iraq's armyBy Tom Lasseter, Knight Ridder, October 12, 2005 Swadi Ghilan's two sons were dropping their sister off at high school earlier this year when a carload of Sunni Muslim insurgents pulled up and emptied their AK-47s into their bodies. In broad daylight his children were torn to pieces, their blood splashed against the windshield as they screamed and died. Ghilan is a major in the Iraqi army and a Shiite Muslim, the sect that makes up some 60 percent of Iraq's population. Now, more than ever, the grieving father says he wants to hunt down and kill not only Sunni guerrilla fighters but also Sunnis who give those fighters shelter and support. By that, he means killing most Sunnis in Iraq. "There are two Iraqs; it's something that we can no longer deny," Ghilan said. "The army should execute the Sunnis in their neighborhoods so that all of them can see what happens, so that all of them learn their lesson." [complete article] See also, Sectarian strife tears at neighbors (CSM). Bio-KatrinaBy Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball, Newsweek, October 12, 2005 As if they didn't have their hands full with Iraq and terrorism, U.S. intelligence agencies are being drawn into the debate over whether the United States is imminently threatened by a deadly outbreak of bird influenza and whether the Bush administration has adequately prepared for such an epidemic. Over the last two weeks, the administration has held bird flu briefings classified "Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information" for members of both houses of Congress, according to intelligence and congressional officials. A counterterrorism official indicated that the intelligence community is also studying whether it would be possible for terrorists to somehow exploit the avian flu virus and use it against the United States, though there is no evidence that terrorists have in any way tried to do so. [complete article] Dutch unveil the toughest face in Europe with a ban on the burkaBy Anthony Browne, The Times, October 13, 2005 The Netherlands is likely to become the first country in Europe to ban the burka, under government proposals that would bring in some of the toughest curbs on Muslim clothing in the world. The country's hardline Integration Minister, Rita Verdonk, known as the Iron Lady for her series of tough anti-immigration measures, told Parliament that she was going to investigate where and when the burka should be banned. The burka, traditional clothing in some Islamic societies, covers a woman's face and body, leaving only a strip of gauze for the eyes. Mrs Verdonk gave warning that the "time of cosy tea-drinking" with Muslim groups had passed and that natives and immigrants should have the courage to be critical of each other. She recently cancelled a meeting with Muslim leaders who refused to shake her hand because she was a woman. The proposals are likely to win the support of Parliament because of the expected backing by right-wing parties. But they have caused outrage among Muslim and human rights groups, who say that the Government is pandering to the far Right. [complete article] Charlie Company fights an invisible enemyBy Scott Baldauf, Christian Science Monitor, October 13, 2005 For the past three days, the men of the 82nd Airborne's Charlie Company have been chasing ghosts. Every time they fly into a valley in Chinook helicopters, the Taliban flee at the thumping sound of the rotors. Every time they walk into a village, Taliban radios crackle with news of their arrival. It's frustrating, and more than one soldier grumbles this mission is "pointless." "It's frustrating," says 2nd Lieutenant Ben Wisnioski of Rocky Hill, Conn. "It's like Vietnam, or the French in Algeria. We have the ability to beat these guys militarily, but they won't come out and fight us." [complete article] See also, Rice visit to Afghanistan coincides with violence (WP). Musharraf is facing his 'Katrina moment'By Ahmed Rashid, Daily Telegraph, October 12, 2005 The last time the Pakistan army rode to the rescue of its citizens after a massive natural disaster, the result was a civil war and the loss of half the country. That was in 1970, when half a million people in what was then East Pakistan drowned as a result of typhoons and floods, and the delay of the army in launching a relief effort led to enormous public anger and the eventual creation of Bangladesh. The same army is once again in control of the country and of the desperately needed relief effort after an earthquake that in a breath has taken away 40,000 people - half of them children. Western governments and Pakistanis will be looking closely at the political fall-out for President Pervez Musharraf, who remains a key Western ally, army chief, the supremo of the country and chief relief organiser. Will Gen Musharraf, like George W. Bush, have his Katrina moment, when the public turn against their leader? [complete article] Next: a war against natureBy Robert D. Kaplan, New York Times, October 12, 2005 ...because of our military's ability to move quickly into new territory and establish security perimeters, it is emerging as the world's most effective emergency relief organization. There is a saying among soldiers: amateurs discuss strategy, while professionals discuss logistics. And if disaster assistance is about anything, it's about logistics - moving people, water, food, medical supplies and heavy equipment to save lives and communities. We also have our National Guard, which is made up primarily of men in their 30's (many of whom are police officers and firefighters in civilian life) trained to deal effectively with the crowds of rowdy young men that tend to impede relief work. The distinctions between war and relief, between domestic and foreign deployments, are breaking down. This is especially true within the Special Operations contingents. As democratization takes hold, and as feisty local news outlets arise in previously autocratic third-world countries, the military's Special Operations Command can no longer carry out commando-style raids at will. In recent years, I have been a witness to a shift in emphasis from "direct action" to the soft side of "unconventional war": undertaking relief work in places like the southern Philippines and northern Kenya to win goodwill and, informally, to pick up intelligence on America's terrorist enemies. On a larger scale, the disaster relief provided by the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln during the Indian Ocean tsunami probably did more to improve America's image in Asia in relation to that of China than any conventional training deployment. So, how can the Pentagon become better at emergency relief without impeding its ability to fight wars? First, it must continue to train primarily for combat. Combat provides a vital esprit de corps, and the skills that are honed in preparation for combat are also the most valuable tools for disaster relief. [complete article] Comment -- If it wasn't for the fact that, as Andrew Bacevich writes, "Robert Kaplan is a writer whose views command attention among movers and shakers," it would be easy to dismiss Kaplan's views as simply the ravings of a man infatuated with a fantasy about soldiery. But since this vision of GI Joe saving the world has the privilage of appearing on the NYT's op-ed page, let's consider some of the implications of what Kaplan is saying. Suppose the epicenter of Pakistan's devastating earthquake had been a couple of hundred miles to the south west in Warizistan. What would now be the role for Kaplan's well-armed relief workers? On camera, rescuing earthquake victims, while off camera interogating the injured for tips about al Qaeda suspects? If, as Kaplan says, the distinctions between war and relief are breaking down, whose interests are thereby being served? Those in need? The "civilian do-gooder groups"? Or is this really just a rosy scenario to those who find it invigorating to contemplate an unimpeded flow of materiel and men securing the globe? The conservative crack upBy Howard Fineman, MSNBC, October 12, 2005 President George W. Bush may have no military exit strategy for Iraq, but the "neocons" who convinced him to go to war there have developed one of their own -- a political one: Blame the Administration. Their neo-Wilsonian theory is correct, they insist, but the execution was botched by a Bush team that has turned out to be incompetent, crony-filled, corrupt, unimaginative and weak over a wide range of issues. The flight of the neocons -- just read a recent Weekly Standard to see what I am talking about -- is one of only many indications that the long-predicted "conservative crackup" is at hand. [complete article] Syrian interior minister's death - suicide or murder?By Joshua Landis, Syria Comment, October 12, 2005 Syria's interior minister, who ran Lebanon as security chief until 2003, committed suicide Wednesday, days before the expected release of a United Nations report into the assassination of a former Lebanese leader, Syria's official news agency reported.[...] Was Ghazi Kanaan setting himself up to be [Syrian President Bashar al-Asad's] alternative? Could he have been the Alawite "Musharrif" that some American's and Volker Perthes suggested would take power from the House of Asad and bring Syria back into America's and the West's good graces. I have heard from several people that "high ranking Syrians" have been complaining to people at the National Security Council and elsewhere that they are very distressed by the mistakes Bashar al-Asad has made and the terrible state of US-Syrian relations. Could Ghazi have been setting himself up as the alternative to Bashar? Could the Syrian government believe he might have been? We don't know, but here goes the possible speculation. He is known to have had good relations with Washington, when he held the Lebanon portfolio. He visited DC. Two of his four sons went to George Washington University in DC. Kanaan was reported to have been one of the "Old Guard" who spoke out against the extension of Emile Lahoud's presidency in Lebanon, which set the stage for Lebanon's Cedar revolution and the assassination of P.M. Rafiq Hariri. He had been one of the Syrians responsible for cultivating Hariri and building up his position in Lebanon. He was also accused of having significant business relations in Lebanon which tied him to Hariri. It is unlikely that he was involved in Hariri's murder, having been a Hariri and not Lahoud supporter. [complete article] Sunnis accept deal on charterBy Borzou Daragahi and Solomon Moore, Los Angeles Times, October 12, 2005 Top Iraqi politicians said late Tuesday that they had reached a deal to persuade leading Sunni Arabs to support a draft constitution that will be the subject of a national referendum Saturday. Under the terms of the compromise, Sunni leaders would drop their opposition to the constitution if the current National Assembly requires its successor to renegotiate the charter. A new legislature is to be elected in December, and the deal mandates that a second constitutional referendum would be held within four months. Although it was not immediately clear whether most Sunni Arabs would accept the deal, it was hailed by leaders of the main Sunni Arab political party, which did not participate in last January's national elections. [complete article] Insurgents 'importing ideas from Iraq'By Tim Albone, The Times, October 12, 2005 Fears that Afghan insurgents are learning from their Iraqi counterparts have grown after the fourth suicide bombing in two weeks. Nineteen police officers were also killed when militants attacked their convoy. On Monday a suicide bomber killed at least five people in Kandahar -- the spiritual home of the Taleban -- including Agha Shah, a government supporter and former militia commander with the US-backed Northern Alliance. A second bomber was intercepted and blew himself up, with no other injuries reported. The police convoy was attacked on the same day in Helmand, where British forces are due to be stationed next year. The victims included the deputy police chief. [complete article] Pessimism surrounds falling oil production in IraqBy Rick Jervis, USA Today, October 12, 2005 Iraq's oil production has fallen below prewar levels to its lowest point in a decade, depriving the country's fledgling government of badly needed income and preventing the United States from achieving one of its main reconstruction goals. Iraq's oil wells -- beset by equipment problems and saboteurs -- are producing about 1.9 million barrels a day in net production, lower than the 2.6 million it was producing just before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, according to the London-based Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES). Of the oil produced, about 500,000 barrels are consumed daily by Iraqis, while 1.4 million barrels are exported, CGES says. [complete article] Special prosecutor again queries reporterBy Carol D. Leonnig, Washington Post, October 12, 2005 New York Times reporter Judith Miller answered questions yesterday about a previously undisclosed conversation she had with Vice President Cheney's chief of staff in June 2003 and is scheduled to testify before a grand jury today to answer more questions in the investigation of how a covert CIA operative's identity was leaked to reporters. [...] Numerous lawyers involved in the 22-month investigation said they are bracing for Fitzgerald to bring criminal charges against administration officials. They speculated, based on his questions, that he may be focused on charges of false statements, obstruction of justice or violations of the Espionage Act involving the release of classified government information to unauthorized persons. [complete article] Bush without Rove is hard to imagineBy Nedra Pickler, AP (via WP), October 12, 2005 Karl Rove's fingerprints are all over everything at the White House, from politics to policy to the shape of President Bush's entire career in government. It's hard to imagine Bush without Rove, and vice versa. But the question of what would happen if Rove were forced to resign is something to contemplate, now that the grand jury is pressing the president's aide-de-camp in its investigation into who leaked the identity of a covert CIA officer. White House insiders speaking privately say Rove would be irreplaceable. While Bush has a few other close confidants in aides like chief of staff Andy Card and counselor Dan Bartlett, none combine such an intimate working knowledge of politics and policy with such a long trusted relationship with the president. [complete article] For president under duress, body language speaks volumesBy Dana Milbank, Washington Post, October 12, 2005 Only the president's closest friends and family know (if anybody does) what he's really thinking these days, during Katrina woes, Iraq violence, conservative anger over Harriet Miers, and legal trouble for Bush's top political aide and two congressional GOP leaders. Bush has not been viewed up close; as he took his eighth post-Katrina trip to the Gulf Coast yesterday, the press corps has accompanied him only once, because the White House says logistics won't permit it. Even the interview on the "Today" show was labeled "closed press." But this much could be seen watching the tape of NBC's broadcast during Bush's 14-minute pre-sunrise interview, in which he stood unprotected by the usual lectern. The president was a blur of blinks, taps, jiggles, pivots and shifts. Bush has always been an active man, but standing with Lauer and the serene, steady first lady, he had the body language of a man wishing urgently to be elsewhere. [complete article] Conservatives and exiles desert war campaignBy Guy Dinmore, Financial Times, October 11, 2005 Even among the strongest advocates in Washington of the war in Iraq there is a sense of alarm these days, with harsh criticism directed particularly at the draft constitution, which they see as a betrayal of principles and a recipe for disintegration of the Iraqi state. Expressions of concern among conservatives and former Iraqi exiles, seen also in the rising disillusionment of the American public, reflect a widening gap with the Bush administration and its claims of “incredible political progress” in Iraq. Over the past week, two of Washington's most influential conservative think-tanks, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Heritage Foundation, held conferences on Iraq where the mood among speakers, including Iraqi officials, was decidedly sombre. [complete article] CIA review faults prewar plansBy John Diamond, USA Today, October 12, 2005 A newly released report published by the CIA rebukes the Bush administration for not paying enough attention to prewar intelligence that predicted the factional rivalries now threatening to split Iraq. Policymakers worried more about making the case for the war, particularly the claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, than planning for the aftermath, the report says. The report was written by a team of four former CIA analysts led by former deputy CIA director Richard Kerr. "In an ironic twist, the policy community was receptive to technical intelligence (the weapons program), where the analysis was wrong, but apparently paid little attention to intelligence on cultural and political issues (post-Saddam Iraq), where the analysis was right," they write. [complete article] N.Y. threat may have been a hoaxBy Dan Eggen and Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post, October 12, 2005 The alleged threat that led to heightened security on New York subways last week may have been a hoax on the part of an Iraqi informant attempting to get money in exchange for information, U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism officials said yesterday. The informant has since disappeared in Iraq, and the Defense Department has not been able to locate him, city and federal officials said. New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg described the informant's claims last week as the "most specific threat" ever received against the city's transit system, leading officials to issue a heightened terrorist alert and blanket the subways with police and National Guard troops. U.S. troops in Iraq captured three suspects south of Baghdad who the informant said were involved in the alleged plot. But none of the suspects, including two who were given polygraph examinations, corroborated the informant's allegations or appeared to have any connection to a terrorist plot, according to intelligence officials. [complete article] Kyrgyzstan agrees to continuing U.S. military presence at key air baseBy Robin Wright, Washington Post, October 12, 2005 After months of talks over continued U.S. access to a military base in Kyrgyzstan, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday won formal agreement from the new Kyrgyz leadership for open-ended use of the airfield for continuing military operations and humanitarian programs in nearby Afghanistan. Rice and President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced the deal at a joint news conference here after what a senior State Department official described as difficult negotiations between the two countries. Kyrgyzstan is now requesting additional payment for services and facilities provided to the roughly 1,000 troops who have been based here since shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, plus an accounting of funds paid to the Kyrgyz government that was ousted in March in what was known as the Tulip Revolution, the official said. Washington now pays between $40 million and $50 million per year. [complete article] Seized letter outlines al Qaeda goals in IraqBy Susan B. Glasser and Walter Pincus, Washington Post, October 12, 2005 Al Qaeda's top deputy urged the leader of his Iraq branch in July to prepare for the inevitable U.S. withdrawal by carrying out political as well as military actions, and he lectured him that he risked being shunned by an Islamic world angered over his gruesome and not "palatable" killings of fellow Muslims, according to an intercepted letter released yesterday by the U.S. government. The 6,000-word letter from Osama bin Laden's chief lieutenant, Ayman Zawahiri, to Iraqi insurgent leader Abu Musab Zarqawi amounts to a detailed portrait of al Qaeda's long-term goals in Iraq and the Middle East, and includes a striking critique of how Zarqawi has gone about waging his war against not only U.S. troops but also Iraqi civilians. The letter was posted yesterday on the Web site of Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte -- http://www.dni.gov -- after senior intelligence officials released excerpts of it last week. Invoking the specter of the United States abruptly abandoning Iraq as it did to Vietnam, Zawahiri counseled immediate political action: "We must take the initiative and impose a fait accompli upon our enemies, instead of the enemy imposing one on us." [complete article] Comment -- While Newsweek refers to "anomalies of logic" in the letter, the Post reports, 'Although the letter does not contain a direct reference to Zarqawi until a cryptic greeting to him at the end, a senior intelligence official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity said "it's absolutely certain" it was meant for Zarqawi, declining to elaborate on how U.S. officials made that conclusion.' Outside the text of the letter itself, however, neither publication (nor any other that I have read so far) actually reprints the "cryptic" greeting itself: By God, if by chance you're going to Fallujah, send greetings to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.The letter addressed to Zarqawi asks the reader to pass along greetings ... to Zarqawi. That is of course only "cryptic" if one accepts the claim that the letter was addressed directly to Zarqawi. Moreover, would we not expect that Zawahiri would excercise a smidgen of caution by not spelling out Zarqawi's location? Be that as it may, whether this is a letter to Zarqawi or one of his associates, let's for the sake of argument accept the claim that this is a message from the leadership of al Qaeda in Pakistan to the leadership of al Qaeda in Iraq ("al Qaeda in the Land of Two Rivers"). After the Pentagon released just three sentences from the letter last week, why is the full text now appearing on the web site of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence? I suspect that there was one passage that captured the interest of the US embassy in Baghdad as they try to clear the way for passage of the new Iraqi constitution: I stress again to you and to all your brothers the need to direct the political action equally with the military action, by the alliance, cooperation and gathering of all leaders of opinion and influence in the Iraqi arena. I can't define for you a specific means of action. You are more knowledgeable about the field conditions. But you and your brothers must strive to have around you circles of support, assistance, and cooperation, and through them, to advance until you become a consensus, entity, organization, or association that represents all the honorable people and the loyal folks in Iraq. I repeat the warning against separating from the masses, whatever the danger.By disseminating this message (along with the rest of the letter with its various appeals for jihadists to pull back from their campaign of violence against Shia civilians), the Bush administration is arguably putting itself in the curious position of attempting to help al Qaeda's senior leadership spread the message that the Iraqi jihadists need a popular political strategy. But if circulating this statement a few days before the referendum has the effect of damping the passions of a few insurgents and thereby diminishing the level of violence until after the vote, then the letter's release will have had what I imagine to be one of the intended effects. Lost in Iraq, without a mapBy Tony Karon, Rootless Cosmopolitan, October 11, 2005 It's no longer simply the case that U.S. goals in Iraq cannot be achieved; right now U.S. goals in Iraq cannot even be clearly defined. Strip away President Bush's bumper-sticker bromides about "staying the course" and fighting "Islamo-fascism," and what remains is a gaping vacuum in real-world strategy. The Bush administration tore up the traditional U.S. strategic approach towards the Middle East, in the belief that a military hammer-blow at the heart of the Arab world would precipitate a dramatic reordering of the region's realities on terms more favorable than ever to U.S. global interests -- a politico-military fantasy that had less in common with John Foster Dulles than it did with Che Guevara (and whose assumptions were as tragically naive). The failure of the promised regional transformation to materialize has left U.S. policy makers confronting an old reality in which the position of U.S. has deteriorated precipitously as a result of its failed social engineering in Iraq. [complete article] Tell us who fabricated the Iraq evidenceBy Norman Dombey, The Independent, October 9, 2005 President Bush's principal adviser Karl Rove is to be questioned again over the improper naming of a CIA official. Mohamed ElBaradei, accused by the American right of being insufficiently aggressive, wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his stalwart work at the helm of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Pentagon official Larry Franklin pleads guilty to passing on classified information to Israel. Just a normal week in politics. But there is a thread linking these events and it is Iraq. Politicians tell us they acted in good faith on the road to war, and maybe they did, but that leaves a prickly question: who was so keen to prove that Saddam Hussein was an imminent threat that they forged documents purporting to show that he was trying to buy 500 tons of uranium from Niger to develop nuclear weapons? The forgery was revealed to the Security Council by ElBaradei. That was not an intelligence error. It was a straightforward lie, an invention intended to mislead public opinion and help start a war. [complete article] See also, A case of treason (Larry Johnson). A parting thought on Iraq, againBy Michael Getler, Washington Post, October 9, 2005 There is no bigger story than war. And a war whose major premise -- the threat from Iraqi weapons of mass destruction -- turned out to be unsupported is an even bigger story. That the administration presented this threat to the public with such a strong, yet false, sense of certainty -- including the imagery of mushroom clouds -- is an even more important lesson for all of us about big but not well-examined decisions. How did a country on the leading edge of the information age get this so wrong and express so little skepticism and challenge? How did an entire system of government and a free press set out on a search for something and fail to notice, or even warn us in a timely or prominent way, that it wasn't or might not be there? Since the war began, many other questions have been raised about other prewar assessments. But the key question for journalists is how the process of vetting the main prewar rationale for sending Americans into a war took place, or failed to take place. [complete article] Comment -- While it's true that a politically less servile press corps might have thrown more obstacles in the path of an administration intent on war, the reason George Bush was able to launch an invasion of Iraq was not simply his success in duping the majority of Americans. The reason this country acquiesced to war was that for most people it appeared that this would be someone else's war. Much as we solemnly profess our awareness of the gravity of war, a war that only involves a small fraction of the population requires a calculation from everyone else in which cost is an abstraction. The blood and treasure can be quantified, yet when they don't translate into absent faces or destroyed homes, they fall into the periphery of a life lived as usual. Miller to talk to prosecutor again Tuesday, as some editors question 'NY Times' coverage of her caseBy Joe Strupp, Editor and Publisher, October 10, 2005 In the 11 days since Judith Miller left jail after agreeing to testify before a federal grand jury about her sources, many of the facts in the case have yet to come out. But one thing is clear: Her newspaper, The New York Times, has had very little to say about her role in the Plame/CIA leak case, and has been regularly scooped by other papers on the latest twists in her involvement. The newspaper promised a full accounting by now, but then put it off after Miller was told she had to chat with the federal prosecutor again, on Tuesday. Executive Editor Bill Keller was quoted in an online Business Week article Monday suggesting that the complexities of the situation put the paper in the "uncomfortable" position of not being able to share important information Miller knows. [...] Leonard Downie Jr., Executive Editor of The Washington Post, was one of several editors who declined to comment on the situation, saying, "I'm in charge of this paper, not that one." (At least two of his reporters have also testified before the Plame grand jury.) Amanda Bennett of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Ken Paulson of USA Today, Ann Marie Lipinski of the Chicago Tribune, and Robert Rivard of the San Antonio Express-News, among others, also took a pass. [complete article] Comment -- Journalists can compete like hyenas, they can cannibalize each others' work, but heaven forbid that journalism itself should become the object of investigation - better just to uphold the code of silence. Or even better, call on the services of a pious in-house ombudsman who can deftly wash the dirty laundry in public yet conveniently out of sight. Shield law sponsor: bloggers 'probably not' considered journosBy Mark Fitzgerald, Editor and Publisher, October 10, 2005 Bloggers would "probably not" be considered journalists under the proposed federal shield law, the bill's co-sponsor, U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar (R.-Ind.), told the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) Monday afternoon. Lugar emphasized, however, that debate is not yet closed on how to define a journalist under the proposed law. "As to who is a reporter, this will be a subject of debate as this bill goes farther along," he said in response to a question from Washington Post Deputy Managing Editor Milton Coleman. "Are bloggers journalists or some of the commercial businesses that you here would probably not consider real journalists? Probably not, but how do you determine who will be included in this bill?" According to the first draft of the Free Flow of Information Act of 2005, the "covered person" protected by the bill's terms includes "any entity that disseminates information by print, broadcast, cable, satellite, mechanical, photographic, electronic, or other means and that publishes a newspaper, book, magazine, or other periodical in print or electronic form; operates a radio or television station (or network of such stations), cable system, or satellite carrier, or channel or programming service for any such station, network, system, or carrier; or operates a news agency or wire service." The legislation also covers employees, contractors or other persons who "gathers, edits, photographs, records, prepares, or disseminates news or information for any such entity." [complete article] Comment -- The idea that a legal distinction can be made between bloggers and journalists seems like a bit of a stretch. Would journalists who are also bloggers be slipping in and out of protection under a shield law depending on whether their words appeared in a newspaper or on a blog? And what about the many journalists and contributors (such as the WP's Dan Froomkin and William Arkin) whose blogs are in-house features? Let's face it, even if a few media-illiterate politicians haven't caught on, blogging - for better or worse - is a form of journalism. Sunni-Shiite religious war in Iraq fearedBy Charles J. Hanley, AP (via Seattle P-I), October 10, 2005 From hilly Zarqa and nearby Salt, from Cairo, Damascus and distant points, young Arab fighters have slipped across the desert and into Iraq. If that shattered land now plunges into a religious war of Sunni against Shiite, will these ranks of foreign volunteers swell further? Some here in his hometown hope more will follow Iraq's most notorious volunteer, Abu Mussab Zarqawi. But many hope not. "We're all Muslims. We shouldn't fight each other," townsman Abu Salah, 50, told a reporter as he rushed into Friday prayers recently at the drab storefront Mosque of Omar, wedged between shops in the shadows of a narrow downtown street. A curbside perfume peddler listening in said many young men from Zarqa have gone over the border to join the anti-U.S. insurgency. "But if it's civil war, they won't get involved," said Ashraf Abu Abdullah. "Instead, we in Jordan should help resolve it." [complete article] As talks continue, many Iraqis lack copy of charterBy Ellen Knickmeyer and Omar Fekeiki, Washington Post, October 11, 2005 As outraged would-be voters protested at still not being shown copies of Iraq's proposed constitution, U.S. and Arab diplomats bore down on Sunnis, Shiites and Kurdish leaders Monday in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone to make last-ditch changes to the charter that would overcome Sunni opposition. But meetings among political leaders -- including consultations with U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, a sit-down dinner to break the daily fast of the holy month of Ramadan and gatherings where Arab leaders exerted behind-the-scenes pressure -- all failed to reach a breakthrough, Iraqi officials in and close to the talks said. With just five days until Iraqis are due to decide on the charter in a referendum, negotiators pointed to meetings Tuesday as the very last chance to haggle out a constitution that would hold Iraq together. Many Iraqis and U.S. officials fear the current draft will instead pull the country further apart. If voters approve a charter widely seen as shutting out the once-dominant Sunni minority, many expect a worsening of the strife that already has killed thousands since spring. [complete article] Iraqi Sunnis focus beyond Saturday's voteBy Solomon Moore, Los Angeles Times, October 11, 2005 Not far from Saddam Hussein's birthplace, a delegation of U.S. and Iraqi election organizers met Monday with Sunni Arab heartland leaders to discuss the new Iraqi constitution scheduled for a referendum Saturday. During two wide-ranging meetings, politicians, clerics, professors, lawyers and tribal elders questioned various tenets of the constitution, the accessibility of polling places and seeds of national disunity they perceive in the document. But time and again, the discussion went beyond the Oct. 15 ballot, to Dec. 15, the date of the upcoming National Assembly election. [complete article] Basra voters say it is time for soldiers to goBy Kim Sengupta, The Independent, October 11, 2005 "I felt proud that the Iraqi police had arrested the British soldiers, it is our country and our laws should be obeyed", said Zainab. Her colleague Fatima added: "I do not like seeing foreign soldiers on our streets, they should go." What is surprising about these views in Basra is that they came from two educated, middle class women speaking fluent English who have frequent contact with the British and have little sympathy for the Shia militia who have infiltrated the Iraqi police. In fact, the women admit they are very wary of the same police who had arrested two British special forces soldiers, triggering a rescue mission in which British forces smashed their way into a police station. [complete article] See also, Basra governor: British threatening vote (CNN). Iraq orders 'corruption' arrestsBBC News, October 11, 2005 Iraq has issued arrest warrants for 27 senior officials from the US-backed interim government over suspected embezzlement of more than $1bn. The money was allegedly taken from the defence minister coffers to fund corrupt military procurement deals. Suspects from the former administration include Defence Minister Hazem Shaalan, who has denied the allegations. [complete article] Terminal debateBy Bernard Haykel, New York Times, October 11, 2005 When Iraq's most notorious terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, declared a "full-scale war" on Iraq's Shiites on Sept. 14, he appeared to be speaking for all or most jihadis. But Mr. Zarqawi's war on Shiites is deeply unpopular in some quarters of his own movement. In fact, growing splits among jihadis are beginning to undermine the theological and legal justifications for suicide bombing. And as that emerging schism takes its toll on the jihadi movement, it could well present an opportunity for Western governments to combat jihadism itself. The simple fact is that many jihadis believe the war in Iraq is not going well. Too many Muslims are being killed. Images of that slaughter, conveyed by satellite television and the Internet throughout the Muslim world, are eroding global support for the jihadi cause. There are strong indications from jihadi Web sites and online journals, confirmed by conversations I have had while doing research among Salafis, or scriptural literalists, that the suicide attacks are turning many Muslims against the jihadis altogether. [complete article] Al Qaeda's golden opportunityBy Fawaz A. Gerges, AlterNet, October 11, 2005 The American-led invasion and occupation of Iraq has provided Al Qaeda with a new lease on life, a second generation of recruits and fighters, and a powerful outlet to expand its ideological outreach activities to Muslims worldwide. Statements by Al Qaeda top chiefs, including bin Laden, Zawahiri, Zarqawi and Seif al-Adl, portray the unfolding confrontation in Iraq as a "golden and unique opportunity" for the global jihad movement to engage and defeat the United States and spread the conflict into neighboring Arab states in Syria, Lebanon and the Palestine-Israeli theater. The global war is not going well for bin Laden, and Iraq enabled him to convince his jihadist followers that Al Qaeda is still alive and kicking despite suffering crippling operational setbacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and elsewhere. [complete article] Yemeni anti-terror scheme in doubtBy Tim Whewell, BBC News, October 11, 2005 Doubts have been growing over the effectiveness of a pioneering Yemeni scheme to fight Islamist violence by using dialogue to convert extremist prisoners to more moderate views. Launched three years ago, the project has been followed with interest by British and other Western governments. The Islamic scholar behind it, Judge Hamoud al-Hitar, has been invited to London twice to lecture senior anti-terrorism officers. Muslim prisoners in London will now be given mentors before their release to help them understand mainstream Islamic values and prevent them being attracted to extremism. But in Yemen, some say Judge Hitar's scheme - which the state claims has helped stop terror attacks there - is a sham and does not motivate any real conversions. [complete article] Airmen fill the gaps in wartimeBy Mark Mazzetti and Greg Miller, Los Angles Times, October 11, 2005 Straining to find ground troops to maintain its force levels in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon has begun deploying thousands of Air Force personnel to combat zones in new jobs as interrogators, prison sentries and gunners on supply trucks. The Air Force years ago banked its future on state-of-the-art fighter jets and billion-dollar satellites. Yet the service that has long avoided being pulled into ground operations is now finding that its people -- rather than its weapons -- are what the Pentagon needs most as it wages a prolonged war against a low-tech, insurgent enemy. [complete article] A front-row seat in the plodding war on the TalibanBy Scott Baldauf, Christian Science Monitor, October 11, 2005 The squad jumps from the back end of a Chinook helicopter into a swirl of sand kicked up by the rotors. We take positions on the bank of a mountain stream and pause in silence, scanning the hillside for movement. The eight-member team is young - the oldest is 28 - and all are fighters of the elite 82nd Airborne, nicknamed the "Ghost Busters." Their mission: To work with about 40 US and 10 Afghan soldiers from a nearby base to sweep villages never before visited by US forces. They're looking for Taliban or their weapons. For the next five days, I will have a front-row seat in what some call "The Other War," where 18,000 US troops continue fighting four years after ousting the Taliban government and sending Osama bin Laden into hiding. I will accompany a US Army squad carrying a mere 40 lbs. of body armor, notebooks, water, and MREs, while they carry up to 115 lbs. of "battle rattle" - guns, ammo, food, body armor, radios, and night-vision equipment. [ |