Peace & War: 9/11 & the "war on terrorism" |
| Preparation for and response to the 9/11 attacks and identification of perpetrators; effects on domestic politics; torture and illegal detentions. HEADLINES
12/26/08 What's the future of Guantanamo detainees? After a federal judge in October ruled that they must be brought to trial in U.S. courts, there was celebration among the 17 Chinese Muslim (Uighur) detainees that they were about to the be released to the U.S. mainland. Instead, the U.S. government ruled that they must be kept in detention as a "population apart," meaning they were to receive such amenities as Pepsi, ping pong, and plasma screen TV to watch World Cup soccer matches. What they are not getting is any indication of when they will be released; and it is suggested that prison improvement may provide a counter-model to the future of all detainees to Obama's promised closing of the facility http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/story/825965.html
Websites:
Anti-war.com: http://antiwar.com/ Information Clearing House: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/ 9/11 Research, well organized and searchable site: http://911research.wtc7.net/ Web resources on 9/11, a topical analysis: http://911research.wtc7.net/resources/web/index.html Re-open 9/11.org (comprehensive site): https://secure.reopen911.org/freedvd.php 180+ 9/11 Smoking Guns, extended links to news about background to 9/11 and the event itself: http://geocities.com/killtown/
American Library Association, Alternative Resources on U.S.
Washington Post archive of articles on war on terrorism, updated through April, 2005: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/nation/specials/attacked/
Center for Constitutional Rights: http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/gac
911truthorg: http://www.911truth.org/
William Thomas 9-11 site with links: http://www.willthomas.net/911/index.htm
University of Michigan Documents Center, America's War Against Terrorism (a comprehensive and searchable site featuring documentation): http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/usterror.html#airlines
9/11 Research Library/Archive: http://911readingroom.org/bib/
Articles & views: 12/26/08 What's the future of Guantanamo detainees? After a federal judge in October ruled that they must be brought to trial in U.S. courts, there was celebration among the 17 Chinese Muslim (Uighur) detainees that they were about to the be released to the U.S. mainland. Instead, the U.S. government ruled that they must be kept in detention as a "population apart," meaning they were to receive such amenities as Pepsi, ping pong, and plasma screen TV to watch World Cup soccer matches. What they are not getting is any indication of when they will be released; and it is suggested that prison improvement may provide a counter-model to the future of all detainees to Obama's promised closing of the facility http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/story/825965.html 12/24/08 Popular Christmas and New Year's parties in Indian state of Goa are cancelled over security concerns after attacks in Mumbai. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7793519.stm 12/22/08 ACLU and other civil rights organizations issue an open letter to Obama calling on him to fulfill by a "date certain" his pledge to close the Guantanamo detention center and guarantee an "unqualified" transfer of detainees to the American justice system with prompt and fair trials without the indefinite detentions being practiced against "war on terror" detainees. http://www.aclu.org/safefree/detention/38140prs20081218.html?s_src=RSS 12/19/08 Civil rights organizations in Australia working to counter government's tendency to try to "balance" individual rights against the asserted need for "national security." http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45155 12/4/08 India places airports in three cities on alert for threatened terrorist attacks http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7764142.stm 12/4/08 If Mumbait was "India's 9/11," will India arn from U.S. mistakes in response to the atrocity?:? Juan Cole hopes so, as he recalls how the U.S. demonized Muslims as a people and failed to recognize the "assymetical" character of modern terrorism with their foolishness about "state-sponsored" terrorism that led to the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. The rise of "communal violence" against Muslims and Indians and the persistent demands by India on the government of Pakistan to restrain such terrorists are not good indications that India is, in fact, learning from U.S. mistakes in dealing with terrorism. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21370.htm 12/4/08 "THE VICTIMS OF MUMBAI WILL BE MOURNED BY AMERICANS, AS THEY SHOULD BE. THE VICTIMS OF UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN ARE NOT. Margaret Kimberley describes a weakness in American thinking about terrorism: our inability to recognize that such acts have their causes and that among those causes are the "grievances" of people who are the victims of warfare, the "ultimate act of terror." http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=913&Itemid=1 12/3/08 Did U.S. government give advance warning to Indian government of Mumbai terrorist attacks?: This is the allegation, based on unattributed source (senior Bush administration official), of an article in AntiWar.Com which raises the question why neither the Indian or U.S. government took action to stop the attacks. (Was Mumbai "India's 9/11" in more ways than one?) http://news.antiwar.com/2008/12/02/advanced-us-warning-adds-fuel-to-post-mumbai-criticisms/ 12/2/08 Indian government demands "decisive" action of Pakistan against terrorists who struck in Mumbai. http://www.nationalpost.com/news/world/story.html?id=1018813 11/30/08 Lesson of Mumbai: If you're going to fight a "war on terrorism," you had better be prepared to fight micro-wars against small bands of terrorists:, As death toll in the attacks rises above 200, officials are piecing together a picture of the atrocity as the work of a group as small as 10 men, all but one of whom were killed in police efforts to free hostages. The one survivor says the group planned the operation as "India's 9/11." London and Madrid have already had "9/11s" and no place in the world seems immune from such an operation. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/just-ten-trained-terrorists-caused-carnage-1041639.html 11/30/08 Because of its own recent attacks on alleged terrorist targets in Pakistan, U.S. may not be in favorable position to discourage India's reprisal attacks on Pakistan for alleged role in Mumbai bombing plot http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/world/asia/30diplo.html?th&emc=th 11/28/08 "Do not bring politics into this issue. We are facing a common enemy and we should join hands to defeat them.": Statement by Pakistani Foreign Minister in wake of terrorist assaults in Mumbai, India, as Indian PM makes "veiled accusation" that Pakistan government agencies may have been involved in the incident. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/world/asia/29mumbai.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp 11/28/08 Indian security forces now have a beseiged hotel in Mumbai, India "under control" after a terrorist assault. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7753892.stm 11/28/08 Vancouver officials expressing concern about possibility of "lone wolf" terrorist attack on 2010 Olympic Winter Games like the one which struck Atlanta in 1996. http://www.nationalpost.com/most_popular/story.html?id=997993 11/27/08 “There's absolutely nothing Al Qaeda-like about it.": Analyst at Rand Corporation notes that the "fingerprints" of an al-Qaeda operation are totally missing from yesterday's terrorist assaults on "foreigners" in Mumbai India: no suicide bombers for example. The only group claiming "credit" for the operation are an unknown group calling themselves the Deccan Mujahedeen. (This situation gives force to Egyptian President Mubarak's warning in 2003 that the invasion of Iraq would produce "100 bin Ladens.") http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/28/world/asia/28group.html?hp MUBARAK WARNING: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0331-01.htm 11/27/08 Mumbai terrorists looked specifically for British and American tourists to capture as hostages. 11/16/08 "Don't ask, don't tell may be operative policy on U.S. raids in Pakistan: . Washington Post article says there is a "tacit agreement" between U.S. officials and the new PM of Pakistan, that the U.S. will be allowed to continue air attacks on Pakistani targets, attacks the U.S. will not publicly admit and which the Pakistani govermment can "noisily" protest, in deference to public opinion in that country. (A large grant to Pakistan from the International Monetary Fund may be the bait for the "agreement.") The PM suggests that once Obama becomes President, his government can more overtly support these raids, because Pakistani opinion will become more "pro-American" once he assumes the presidency. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/15/AR2008111502656_pf.html 11/14/08 Will an Obama administration spell the end of torture as an instrument of intelligence gathering in the war on terrorism?: Not likely, says Justin Raimondo of anti-war.com, in an article which draws freely on an analysis in the Wall Street Journal of Obama's intelligence advisors in the presidential transition period. A couple of them are notorious in producing the "flawed" intelligence that justified the Iraqi invasion and for views on interrogation torture that are similar to those of the Bush administration's authorization for torture in "certain case" and with "oversignt." (Caveat: Raimondo's pieces morphs into a fund-raising appeal for antiwar.com, as he notes how the practice of the website in criticizing the President-elect has led to erosion of its support by "Obama fans.") http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=13762 11/12/08 U.S. said to be depending on Saudi Arabia to step into the "quagmire" of Pakistani reluctance to wage the "war on terror" to the liking of the U.S. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JK13Df02.html 11/9/08 Police in Indonesia on high alert for public protests after execution of 3 men convicted of 2002 Bali bombing. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7718246.stm 10/21/08 The DNA of terrorist failure: Al Qaeda in Iraq, Taliban in Afghanistan: William Lind believes with other analysts that the religious fanatics in these movements are doomed to failure by their tendency to alienate "host" countries by their arrogant, un-guest like behaviors. In contrast, more host-friendly organizations like Hezbollah and even the drug gangs in Latin America succeed by doing what al-Qaeda and the Taliban do not do: provide for a range of services to people which are neglected by inefficient and corrupt "host" governments. http://www.antiwar.com/lind/?articleid=13619 10/11/08 Can Pashtun tribal elders control the Taliban insurgency in Pakistan? A day after Pakistani government raid in Orakzai district of two Taleban hideouts, 2000 tribesmen assemble to discuss a Pashtun "force" to operate against the Taleban. A suicide bomber attacks the assembly, killing 32. (This as U.S. officials are insisting that Pakistan must "do more" to fight the insurgency if it wants continued U.S. assistance.) http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081010/wl_afp/pakistanunrest 10/10/08 Constitutional crisis may ne looming over fate of 17 Chinese Uighur detainees:. U.S. Justice Department files appeal to decision of a federal judge that the 17 Islamists were held at Guantanamo without legal warrant and must be brought to him in NYC by today to be released. Justice doesn't challenge the right of the court to make this decision, following a Supreme Court decision 4 months ago, but says only the executive branch, not the executive, has the authority to determine who can come to the U.S. Meantime, China offers to accept the detainees but Justice claims they would be subject to human rights violations, so they must be kept in Guantanamo where their rights are scrupulously observed (?). http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1010/p02s01-usju.html 10/10/08 South Asia experts in U.S. Institute of Peace, with ties to both Obama and McCain, release report saying that Pakistan should be made to understand that continued U.S. support is contingent on better Pakistani effort in the "war on terror." http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JJ09Df04.html 10/8/08 Federal judge orders freeing of 17 detainees at Guantanamo by the end of the week:. The action comes in the case of Uighur Muslim detainees, men who were caught up in anti-insurgency sweeps in Afghanistan, even though their defense says they were merely refugees from anti-Muslim persecution in China. As Justice Department asks for more delay in the 6-year-old case, the judge pronounces a version of "justice delayed is justice denied." http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/washington/08detain.html?th&emc=thhttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/washington/08detain.html?th&emc=th 10/3/08 New Pakistani government faces its first U.S. drone attack on a target within its borders: The new PM says that attack, which killed six people, including an alleged Taliban leader, is a form of "terrorism" that reneges on U.S. promises to respect Pakistani sovereignty. (If this issue was mentioned in last night's Vice-Presidential debate, the editor of SSA nodded off for a moment and didn't hear it.) http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Pakistan/10249278.html 10/3/08 British officials say terrorism threat in UK is "approaching critical" as they fear militant retaliation for cross-border raids of Pakistan by U.S., with whom UK is closely allied. 9/30/08 Militants infiltrating border between Pakistan and Afghanistan:. In a new wrinkle on the flow of militancy between the two countries, Pakistani government officials say their lengthy military actions in Bajaur, Waziristan (in Pakistan) are being hampered by an infusion of militant forces across the border from Afghanistan. A Pakistani official attributes this increase (and geographic spread) of Afghan militancy to Afghan reactions to American assaults on civilians in the two countries: while most civilians are not friendly to the Taliban, "if Americans continue their activities in the tribal areas, these people will become sympathizers of Taliban.” 9/28/08 Keeping the world "safe" from terrorism:. U.S. military is said to be stepping up unauthorized anti-terrorist raids on Pakistani territory to (somehow) "thwart" an "October surprise" that may be planned by al-Qaeda which could entail an attack on a major world embassy. Since the recent attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad has been attributed to a motive of revenge for U.S. attacks on Pakistan, their "reasoning" on how border operations will deter such attacks is a little hard to follow. 9/26/08 Have the first shots been fired in a war between the U.S. and Pakistan? In a border incident the details of which have been contested by U.S. and Pakistani officials, an exchange of what are variously described as "gunfire" and as warning "flares" heats up the rhetoric in Pakistan's protests against alleged violations of its sovereignty in the U.S. prosecution of the "war on terrorism." http://news.antiwar.com/2008/09/25/us-pakistani-troops-trade-fire-across-border/ 9/24/08 The good war gone bad: The Marriot blast in Islamabad may be the "spill over" of Pashtun nationalism aroused by U.S. attacks on Pakistani civilians: Tariq Ali suggests this interpretation of the officially still-unexplained attack on a hotel with numerous foreigners among its guests. He likens the Bush administration decision to expand the war to Pakistan to the Nixon/Kissinger decision in 1970 to expand the Viet Nam war to Cambodia, following the old "imperial motto" about failing militay enterprises, "When in doubt, escalate the war." http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20843.htm 9/24/08 Downed U.S. spy drone is found in Pakistan, in controversey over whether it crashed or was shot down. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7632957.stm 9/22/08 Pakistani government gives clear but double-edged message to U.S. on terrorism fight within the country's borders:. Former National Security Adviser of Pakistani says that the government has given a clear message to the U.S. that it will not "tolerate" anti-terrorist raids that violate Pakistani sovereignty. At the same time, the lack of effectiveness of the government's own campaign against terrorism is noted, and the U.S. is urged to assist Pakistan with weapons representing "enhanced capability" of pursuing that campaign. http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\09\22\story_22-9-2008_pg7_6 9/22/08 Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, scene of terrorist attack, is a long-time target of local resentment against a "decadent" westernized Pakitani elite. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/21/pakistan.terrorism1 9/21/08 Asif ali Zardari, welcome to the presidency of Pakistan: , Hours after his inaugural speech in which he promised to resist both internal extremists and those foreign governments that violate Pakistani sovereignty in pursuit of them, the new President's resolve is severely tested. A truck loaded with explosives slams into and largely destroys Islamabad's luxury hotel, the Marriott, in which "foreigners" of various kinds are staying, including possibly some U.S. soldiers and C.I.A. agents. At least 51 people are killed in the attack, which has been called "Pakistan's 9/11." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7627626.stm 9/21/08 Pakistan said to be trying to "ride a terrorr tiger" in its encouragment of Islamist militancy against India without being able to control the actions of that militancy. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JI20Df02.html 9/19/08 U.S. AIR STRIKES IN PAKISTAN: DEFENSE SECRETARY ASSERTS A "RIGHT," CIA HEAD DESCRIBES THE RAIDS AS A "TICKLE." In BBC interview, Robert Gates asserts the right of the U.S. to engage in these raids when necessary to "protect American troops" in Afghanistan. Michael Hayden says that the raids are useful as a "tickle" to test the responsive force of the militants. Amidst these tickles and assertions of right, Pakistani civilians continue to be killed and the country's leaders and people are outraged at these assaults on their country's sovereignty. http://news.antiwar.com/2008/09/18/gates-defends-right-of-us-military-launch-attacks-into-pakistan/ 9/9/08 Casualty list of 9/11 continues to grow:. The major "causalty" is the loss of civil liberties of Americans. A Palestinian writer living in Boulder Colorado cites as well "the incarceration of more than 5,000 residents of Arab descent on phony charges or on no charges at all." http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/09/08-3 9/8/08 Smai al-Arian: Free at last, free at last (or is he?):. He is released from detention after he was acquitted of "terrorism" in 2006 after being held for three years, but was still held as a witness in another terrorism trial. His release was to "house arrest" under his daughter's custody, which a judge angrily ordered after a prosecutor raised the "racist" objection that, in Muslim "culture," a woman could not prevent a man from any course of action. http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/09/sami-al-arians-long-delayed-freedom/ 9/5/08 The "secret" U.S. plan to invade Pakistan appears to be no secret anymore:. A counter-terrorist raid by U.S. forces stationed in Afghanistan to nearby Pakistan is not officially acknowledged, but the Pakistani government recognize this as a continued pattern and "summon" the U.S. ambassador to protest these violations of the country's sovereignty. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0904/p99s01-duts.html 9/2/08 Can Muslim charities avoid persecution by U.S. enforcement agencies by cleaning up their act in terms of more stringent financial accountability? Many of these agencies, in what is called a "last desperate step" to escape further government actions against them as suspects in the "war on terrorism," are entering into alliance with Better Business Bureau in an effort to make themselves less vulnerable to prosecution. Critics doubt that this will deter a government intent on blaming them for perpetuating that "war" by providing "material support" to the "enemy." http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43730 8/21/08 Saudi Arabia government engages in a program of cash payments and "re-education" to try to convert Islamic jihad militants. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0821/p01s01-wome.html 8/19/08 Questions the mainstream media never ask about the anthrax case: With the suicide of the "lone mad scientist" now tagged as the sender of anthrax-laced letters to public officials in 2001, the media fails once again to ask some very pertinent questions about the implications of the episode for the "war on terrorism." Tom Engelhardt takes on a number of these questions, focussed on the "double standard" of government's extreme response to 9/11 attacks and their reticence to pursue "terrorists" in their own ranks, supposedly scientists involved in the government's own bio-weapons development lab in Maryland. http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174966/six_questions_about_the_anthrax_case 8/16/08 'Fear itself.' A Maine newspaper columnist describes the way in which neo-conservative political forces in the U.S., under the influence of Leo Strauss "philosophy," have manipulated public fear of terrorism and most recently have demonized Iranian PM Ahmadinejah in a Machiavellian effort to manipulate public fear in order to consolidate their political power. Comments on the Common Dreams reprint of the column bring out the view that fear-manipulation is a fully "bi-partisan" affair in the current presidential campaign. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/15/11017/ 8/15/08 Five years ago, Aafia Siddiqui "disappeared" and only surfaced last month when she was arrested last month by U.S. and Afghan police in the course of which she was shot in the stomach, and on her were allegedly found plans for various terrorist operations in New York. As she appears in a Manhattan court, her family claims she was secretly arrested in 2003, tortured and then "re-arrested" with terrorist materials planted on her. The truth of her claims and those of the U.S. government is yet to be determined. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0814/p99s01-duts.html 8/9/08 For Salim Hamdan, it's not overtill it's over:. Convicted by military tribunal at Guantanamo on terrorism charges, he gets a 5 1/2 year sentence, of which all but 5 months would be satisfied by "time served" awaiting trial. But will he be released in 5 months? Very doubtful, as Bush administration has promised to retain him as an "enemy combatant" until the end of the "war on terror," an effective life sentence were he even a baby-unborn as the GWOT is a "war" with no end in sight. Legal scholars criticize both the trial procedures and the "enemy combatant" detentions. (No word yet on whether McCain and/or Obama would continue the detention, but one can guess. wouldn't this be a great "debate" question?) http://www.antiwar.com/ips/fisher.php?articleid=13274 8/9/08 Pakistan accuses U.S. of playing a double game in the "war on terrorism." Pakistani officials complain that the U.S. takes unlateral military action against suspected anti-Afghan terrorist targets in Pakistan but ignores information of Pakistani intelligence against anti-Pakistani terrorists in Kabul, Afghanistan that could lead to raids to eliminate that source of terrorism 8/8/08 Bin Laden driver at Quantanamo trial gets 5 1/2 year sentence. With credit for 61 months in detention, he could be out in 5 months http://www.nationalpost.com/news/world/story.html?id=707583 8/6/08 Guantanamo trials may turn out to be irrelevant to fate of detainees: As verdict nears in first detainee trial, that of bin Laden former driver Salim Hamdan, Pentagon press secretary admits that. even if they are acquitted, some detainees might remain indefinitely in custody as they will be "considered" too dangerous for release. (Just ask Sami Al-Arian). http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Gitmo_detainees_subject_to_detentio_08052008.html 8/3/08 With suicide of the "suspect," is the case of the 2001 anthrax attack closed? Not so, say associates of Bruce Ivins, fellow workers at the Ft. Detrick anthrax lab from which the lethal material was supposedly sent out, as they say he lacked the "motive or means" to carry out the operation. The impending closing of the case arouses an examination of the FBI's long-term involvement with Ft. Detrick personnel, who alternated between the roles of "consultants" and "suspects" of the Bureau. 7/31/08 Tribal elders in Pakistan say they will resist any NATO-U.S. operations near the Afghan border: They say they will join Pakistani army in resisting efforts to interdict movement of people and weapons from Pakistan to Afghanistan. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9681 7/30/08 President Bush and president-in-waiting Obama take turns threatening and reassuring Pakistan about its contributionto the war on terrorism: As Pakistani's Prime Minister Gilani visits Washington, Obama and Bush alternate between support for anti-terror "operations" in Pakistan that allegedly are U.S. sponsored, promises to pursue bin Laden from Afghanistan into Pakistan; and statements of support for the Pakistanis' own initiatives. As for Gilani, he says "we'll take care of it ourselves." http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/07/28/national/w133628D64.DTL 7/29/08 DHS declares a "POHA" for the months ahead. Citing threats to attack the Olympics by a "Chinese Muslim group," the Department of Homeland Security warns that high profile public events, including the political conventions of the Democratic and Republican Parties, may attract terrorist attacks so the U.S. must enter a "Period of Heightened Alert." (Any expectation of popular protest at the conventions may be doused by "security" precautions at the conventions that will remind us of the protests against NAFTA in Miami.) http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=5420514 7/27/08 Public forums being held at Guelph University in Canada on theory that NYC buildings were destroyed by "controlled demolitions" on 9/11/01 http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/article/359105 7/10/08 Bush gets a "long overdue" victory on surveillance legislation. Senate approves, 69-28, a measure renewing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) which broadens the scope of warrantless wiretaps and provides legal immunity for telecommunications companies which engaged in such programs in the past. 19 Democrats join all voting Republicans in support of the act, which critics say is violative of the 4th amendment against "unreasonable searches and seizures." Among recent presidential candidates, Senators Dodd, Clinton and Biden voted against the measure as did Dennis Kucinich in the House, Senator Obama voted for it although he had earlier promised to filibuster against its passage. (Senator McCain was campaigning and did not vote but had publicly endorsed the measure.) On the cloture vote, 40 votes would have sustained the filibuster , the vote was 72-26 with Obama and 16 other Democrats voting to stop the filibuster. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/10/washington/10fisa.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin VOTE ON CLOTURE: VOTE ON PASSAGE HOUSE VOTE: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll437.xml CRITICAL REACTON: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/#postid-updateE6 7/4/08 Thousands of Obama supporters sign up on his campaign website to "pressure" him to oppose the bill in Congress granting civil immunity to telecommunications firms engaged in warrantless surveillance. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/03/10079/ 7/4/08 "Snoop-gate" widens as State Department audit shows that government workers' unauthorized examination of electronic passport records involves intrusion on records of many "celebrities" beyond those of presidential candidates. 7/3/08 Obama's position on elecommunications legal immunity for warrentless surveillance raises fire-storm of protest among his own followers: Articles in New York Times and The Nation describe such protest on a website for his supporters, and the comments on the Common Dreams website, linked here, show a high level of angst among his supporters and of "I told you so" declarations among his detractors. Times article: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/02/10035/ NATION ARTICLE: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/02/10050/ 6/26/08 Is U.S. counter-terrorism aid to Pakistan "pouring money into a black hole"?: This is Senator Tom Harkin's characterization of a report of the Government Accountability Office which details numerous projects which the U.S. has funded without their having been completed and in which fraud and corruption are suspected. 6/26/08 Obama leads Democrats into taking a dive on FISA:. Glenn Greenwald, a strong Obama supporter, decries an Obama flip-flop in which he gave his endorsement to the legislation passed in Congress approving warrantless electronic surveillance, which he had earlier opposed as violation of civil rights. Greenwald condemns as well the tendency of Obama supporters to play "follow the leader" and exempt him from criticism lest the criticism should compromise his chances to win the White House. http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/06/21/obama/index.html 6/24/08 Terrorizing the electorate about terrorism:. A top aide of GOP nominee-apparent John McCain tells Fortune Magazine that the McCain campaign would "benefit" by a new terrorist attack on the U.S., just as it had benefitted from last November's Pakistan assassination of Benazir Bhutto because such events highlight the importance of a President considered strong on "national security" issues. Barack Obama and John McCain himself denounce the comment of Charles Black and he apologizes for the remark, but asking the electorate to "ignore" it may be like asking a jury to ignore an inflammatory but inadmissable statement in a law court. 6/22/08 "Worst of the worst" at Guantanamo; Meet Omar Khadr. At age 14 the Canadian youth went to Afghanistan to fight with the Taleban against Soviet invasion; after 9/11 at age 15 he became a guerilla fighter against coalition forces, involved in a gun battle with U.S. soldiers who called in an air strike against a group of youthful fighters, killing most of them, but a wounded Khadr survived to throw a hand grenade among the soldiers who came in to "mop up" after the strike, killing one of them. Against a number of laws of war against the detention of children, he was sent to Guantanamo as an "enemy combatant" where he remains today, at age 21. (The survivors of the killed U.S. soldier successfully sued Omar Khadr's father for "failure to control his son.") http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/06/21/9787/ 6/19/08 UN nuclear watchdog group going into Syria to try to investigate allegations of covert nuclear development facilities remaining at site of an area bombed by Israel. 6/17/08 Is World War II-style internment of Nazis to be fate of Muslims in Britain?: Events are tending in that direction, as some UK officials hold up the internment of Germans as a useful precedent in how such a policy could protect the country from an "enemy within." Now being debated in the country, as a form of "creeping internment," is a proposal to increase from 28 to 42 days the length of time that suspected terrorists may be detained without charges. Opponents say that such policies in fact do not protect the British public but actually endanger it through its effects in "radicalizing" the Muslim population. http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/06/42-days-creeping-internment-in-the-uk/ 6/15/08 Continuity of government orders issued on 9/11 may be key to understanding 9/11 as a "coup d'etat" : Peter Dale Scott, the erstwhile scholar of "deep politics" in the JFK assassination and the Viet Nam war, takes up a theme from "deep research" being found today only on the internet: the uncovering of indications that on the day of the terrorist attacks, the government secretly issued long-developed orders for "continuity" in the event of a terrorist attack that would effectively abrogate the civil rights of Americans. http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9289 6/13/08 "The court's ruling makes clear the legal righrs given to Al Qaeda members today should exceed those provided to the Nazis during World War II": Senator Lindsey Graham, author of the Military Commissions Act under which Guantanamo terrorism detainees are now being tried, so reacts to this week's Supreme Court decision granting access to U.S. civilian courts for these detainees. He wants a constitutional amendment to overturn the decision by these "activist judges." http://www.mcclatchydc.com/244/story/40899.html 6/7/08 Racheal Ray, Dunkin' Donuts and Joe McCarthy reutnred, oh my!: The food network's hostess wore a paisley scarf that some terrorism-frightened people thought resembled an Arab head-scarf and the doughnut maker responded by pulling its ad on the show. For a Miami Herald columnist and some who comment on the Common Dreams reprint of his column, this episode recalls the panic about communism in the McCarthy era and one commenter laments the lack of an Edward R. Murrow in today's media to step forward and blow a whistle on terrorism-terror. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/06/07/9486/ 5/28/08 “Safe, legal, ethical and effective, " is the American Psychological Association's justification for allowing psychologists to be involved in aggressive interrogations of terrorism detainees. Stephen Soldz reviews independent reports of interrogation practices that assert that psychologists have generally failed to report or tried to stop unsafe, illegal, unethical and ineffective interrogation. 5/26/08 FEDERAL APPEALS JUDGE: "WHAT YOU ASSERT IS THE POWER OF THE MILITARY TO SEIZE A PERSON IN THE UNITED STATES, INCLUDING AN AMERICAN CITIZEN, ON SUSPICION OF BEING AN ENEMY COMBATANT?" JUSTICE DEPARTMENT LAWYER: "YES YOUR HONOR." These words were heard in a Virginia court during a detention hearing for the only "enemy combatant" held in a military prison on U.S. soil. The defendant is a citizen of Qatari origin, arrested on such suspicion in 2002 and held without trial until now. The courts are still adjudicating that alleged U.S. military "power." http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080524/ap_on_go_ot/enemy_combatant 5/23/08 Justice department audit attempts to distance the Bureau's agents from the harsh interrogation techniques employed by U.S. military agencies. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0523/p03s01-usmi.html 5/15/08 Launched from a console in Nevada, U.S Predator drones deliver lethal strike at Pakistan/Afghanistan border: The strike at a Pakistani village at which an al-Qaeda leader was believed to have lived a year ago, kills at least a dozen people, including some children. http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=169385 5/14/08 Is torture necessary to get vital intelligence information? Contrary to this justification of "enhanced interrogation," the "20th hijacker," arrested at Orlando airport in 2001 before, allegedly, he could join the 19, has charges against him dropped at Guantanamo, apparently because success of prosecution was doubted because of evidence of his having been tortured to secure "information." http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/20th_hijacker_blows_up_torture_argument.html 4/29/08 British M 15 (Security Service) agents accused of having participated in interrogation of terrorism suspects after they had been tortured in Pakistan. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/29/humanrights.uksecurity1 4/25/08 Outsourcing torture: New documents appear in court filings:. Documents show that the CIA anticipated legal questions about their program of "extraordinary rendition" to allow terrorism detainees to be interrogated in other countries that use torture methods. They also show the intention of the Agency to continue to operate such programs. http://rawstory.com/news/2008/CIA_knew_secret_detention_interrogation_program_0424.html 3/18/08 What's "new" in U.S. counter-terrorism? Sounds a lot like the old Cointelproand nuclear deterrence stuff: New York Times interviews with counter-terrorist officials paint a picture of changed thinking about how terrorist attacks can be curbed; if we can't capture or kill 'em, we will engage in counterintelligence operations that will disgrace 'em among their own followers. While they don't hold any "territory" that we could hit with nuclear bombs if they hit our "territory," they do have reputations to uphold among their peers and that can be "hit" with operations the likes of "amplifying" the voices of Muslim critics and engaging in cyperspace mischief like putting decoy messages on websites. (Or, come to think of it, using FBI provocateurs to incite fantasied "territory attacks" the likes of the Liberty 7 "conspiracy.") In an "information age," counter-terrorism needs to be ready with the weapon of disinformation. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/washington/18terror.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th 3/17/08 A Dairy Queen waitress in Southern California is killed by a "surgical strike" from the air and Iran announces proudly that it has killed another American terrorist: Sci-fi fantasy? Of course but how about the reality of a recent such "surgical" U.S. strike in Somalia that killed numerous innocent civilians, not to mention recurring such strikes in Afghanistan and Iraq, and numerous illegal kidnappings of "terrorist" suspects in European countries? The American policy of "assassination by war" has separated the country from any pretense of operating by international law requiring recognition of other countries' sovereignty; and while you can call this a "Bush" policy, it won't change with the next President, be his/her name McCain, Clinton or Obama. http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174906/philip_k_dick_meet_george_w_bush 3/17/08 Turkish residents in Bulgaria are victims of the "war on terror" and Bulgaria's entrance into the European Union: A "model" of ethnic peacefulness during the Balkan wars of the 1990s, Bulgaria has fallen into decline with the economic effects of its EU entry, and convenient scapegoats are found among suspected "terrorists" in the country's Turkish (Muslim) population, as a bomb threat disturbs the peace of a mosque. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41607 3/15/08 Issue whether insurgents in Somalia are freedom fighters or terrorists is raised in Norway as three Somalias are accused of terrorism for sending funds to Somalia. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41603 3/11/08 The fear factor in presidential politics: Whose ox is gored? In its issue dated 3/24/08, Nation magazine editors do two things: (a) in an editorial they, avowed supporters of Barak Obama, condemn Hillary Clinton for her "scorched earth tactics" of raising fears about Obama's capacity to deal with natural security emergencies; and (b) publish an article titled "Hothead McCain" that uses interviews with Republican insiders to characterize McCain as more dangerous than Bush in his proclivity to wage war on any pretext and (in the print version of the same issue) accompanying the article with a cartoonized version of McCain as a lunatic warrior. The Clinton condemnation: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080324/editors HOTHEAD MCCAIN http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080324/dreyfuss 3/7/08 A terrorist attack and a cancelled U.S. presidential election? Betsy Hartmann raises the spectre of this possibility, as one of the "scenarios" under which an election cancellation could occur after an attack that would activate an existing emergency plan. Following Thursday morning's alarming small-bore IED explosion at the military recruiting station at Times Square, many people weigh in on this issue on the "comments" section of a Common Dreams article. Many of these commentators express skepticism about whether "they" would resort to the cancellation of an election, since the same "they" already control the outcome of the election and a cancellation would be counter-productive to that control. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/06/7525/ 2/15/08 "Which attack would they have hoped we wouldn't have prevented?" asks President Bush in a BBC interview in which he implicitly justifies torture interrogation techniques as having saved lives in London's July 7 bomb attacks. Meanwhile at home, he threatens to veto a congressional bill allowing waterboarding, even as an official of his own Justice Department admits that it is illegal. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/15/terrorism.usa1 2/14/08 Harvard Crimson opinion: World jihadists don't envy us for our freedoms, they hate us for our interventions: Writer cites results of studies indicating that terrorist attacks did not come from most impoverished countries or individuals, and that there was a spike in jihadist attacks following the Iraqi invasion. The lesson not learned by American policy makers is that the prediction has come fully true uttered by Egypt's Mubarak at the time of that invasion: "by killing one bin Laden, you'll create a hundred bin Ladens." http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=521852 2/13/08 AT&T buys itself some immunity in latest action of Senate on intelligence surveillance:. Senate passes, 68-29, a White House-pushed measure that provides legal immunity for telecommunication firms now being sued for cooperating with illegal government wire-tap operations. Though most Democrats opposed, 19 (including Florida's Bill Nelson) supported it, including Jay Rockefeller who recently got a $42,000 campaign contribution from A.T.&T. McCain voted for, Clinton and Obama missed vote, too busy campaigning. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/us/13fisa.html?th&emc=th The Vote: 2/12/08 Politicizing the war on terror: Round X. For the last year of his presidency, President Bush seems determined to push his agenda of "toughness" on terrorism, highlighted now with the capital crimes charges against 6 long-term detainees at Quantanamo for alleged involvement in the 9/11 incident. Unrepentant and undaunted by charges of his own administration's incompetence in allowing the incident to happen and then escalating a response into a bungled war, the President seems to adopting again his bellicose "bring it on" attitude toward the Iraqi insurgency, indeed seems to be trying to make political capital for the next (Republican) occupant of the White House, the most likely one of whom (McCain), though a past avowed critic of torture methods, can gain credentials of his own "toughness" by supporting the very "harsh" interrogation methods the details of which will no doubt come out in the course of the trials. Democrats are sputtering about "politicization," but will have their own "toughness" credentials threatened if they protest too much. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/12/washington/12assess.html?th&emc=th 2/6/08 Justice Department tries to cover CIA's involvement with blanket of "national security"." Agency intervenes in an ACLU suit against Boeing Corporation subsidiary for alleged involvement with the Company in its "rendition flights" that allowed terrorist suspects to be interrogated in other countries. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/05/AR2008020502983_pf.html 2/4/08 New book on 9/11 panel alleges that executive director Philip Zelikow may have "skewed" the report toward exoneration of his friends in Bush administration. http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20080204/NEWS/802040320/1082 2/1/08 Reflecting uncertainty from official reports on the matter, BBC says a top al-Qaeda operative was "killed" in Pakistan, presumably from a U.S. drone bomber. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7220823.stm 1/31/08 Denmark's foreign minister demands explanation from U.S. of why CIA used Greenland as re-fuelling top on international terrorist rendition flights without Danish approval. http://www.cphpost.dk/get/105365.html 1/24/08 U.S.military assistance to Pakistan to shore up the "stability" of that country?: Commander of U.S. Central (Asia) Command makes an unusually explicit statement of U.S. plans to give Pakistan help in countering the "instability" arising from an internal Muslim insurgency. No silly prattle about spreading "democracy" here, just an in-your-face statement that the U.S. will support any government at any level of democracy so long as it has decent credentials of being an ally in the "war on terrorism." http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080124/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_afghanistan_pakistan_8 1/24/08 Recent evidence suggests a link between the U.S. and Thailand in pre- and post-9/11 cooperation on anti-terrorist intelligence, possible use of a Thai facility for torture interrogations, and U.S. support of anti-Muslim insurgency operations of Thai military. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/JA25Ae01.html 1/22/08 Congress fusses, travellers sit in traffic backups and DHS persists in reqiring passport identification and other documents at Canadian border: Michael Chertoff defies Congress by implementing on January 31 tightened security practices that Congress had required to be delayed until 2009; trade and travel backlogs are cited as results. 1/22/08 Canadian government apologizes for inclusion on a "torture watch list" of two of its closest allies, the U.S.A. and Israel. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7198435.stm 1/17/08 Canadian government puts Guantanamo prison on "torture watch list." http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080116/khadr_torture_080116/20080116 1/12/08 As world "celebrates" 6th year of Guantanamo... Los Angeles woman who advocates for homeless describes her experience with an overnight stay in an LA jail and wonders how it would be possible for a prisoner like Jose Padilla, who was imprisoned without charges for 3 1/2 years, to be "competent" to stand trial after the agony of those years. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/01/11/6315/ 1/3/08 The floundering of "material support" prosecutions in anti-terrorism cases: . A mistrial for the Liberty 7 in Miami, deadlocks and acquittals of defendants from a Muslim charity in Texas after years of legal persecution...these end-of-2007 failures highlight the reluctance of jurors to convict on the basis of prosecutions that provide only tenuous links between defendants' actions and specific terrorist acts. To the extent these prosecutions are "effective," they seem to be most effective in terrorizing any would-be contributors to Muslim charities. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40662 12/21/07 "They're giving out punishment to a man they couldn't convict":" So says a lawyer for Florida professor Sami Al-Arian who was exonerated of perjury charges yet still remains imprisoned nearly 5 years after his arrest which AG John Ashcroft described as a landmark event in the "Justice" Department's war on terrorism. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40560 12/21/07 Australian government finally allows cleared terrorist suspect Mohamed Haneef to resume his visa allowing him to work as a doctor in the country. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22958472-2,00.html 12/21/07 Nightmare not yet over for one of Liberty 7 man so far acquitted in Miami's "homegrown terrorism" trial: a legal Haitian immigrant being held for deportation on vaguely specified grounds. http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/352667.html 12/12/07 Alla visited a top Al Qaeda operative's cell and told him to co-operate with U.S. interragators: So says a former CIA operative, noting that the deity's intervention and the detainee's cooperation were secured a day after he was water-boarded, a procedure that the agent claims was used with full approval of highest government levels, including the White House. http://www.thestar.com/News/article/284485 12/5/07 Key decisions concerning the U.S. prosecution of the "war on terror" loom before the Supreme Court: Two cases challenge the suspension of habeas corpus rights for detainees held as "enemy combatants." Depending on the way they are decided, the government may have to appear in court to air its interrogation methods...or immediately release the detainees. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1205/p01s02-usju.html 12/4/07 Pakistani correspondent says government agents are in Washington trying to scare U.S. into supporting Musharaff regime by raising the spectre of Islamic extremist capture of Pakistani nuclear weapons. http://www.dawn.com/2007/12/04/top9.htm 12/2/07 Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act is described as a "tutorial in Orwellian newsspeak":NEWSSPEAK." An act passed by the House and now being considered in the Senate establishes a Commission to make recommendations for legislation to combat terrorism. One writer sees in the act's wording the "sheer cloudy vagueness" that Orwell condemned as the language by which authoritarians consolidate their political control. The opening phrase of the act, saying it is enacted "for other purposes," should raise alarms for civil libertarians, as the vagueness of those "purposes" might mask the intention of its users to extend the concept of "terrorism" to cover any dissent against government policies. This is especially the case since a prime sponsor of the legislation, Jane Harman, has a long history of association with the Rand Corporation, one of whose reports notoriously equated the dangers of dissent against capitalism with the dangers from al-Qaeda. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/12/01/5551/ 12/1/07 What's the Violent Radicalizationand Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007? It's a measure passed by the House on a 404-6 vote establishing a commission responsible for promoting anti-terrorism action. A critic says the measure is at the same time redundant, since such crimes are already outlawed, and dangerous, since it looks to the diminishment of rights to dissent. One of the 6 voting against was Dennis Kucinich, the "fringe" Democratic candidate for President. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/15/30/5526/ THE VOTE: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll993.xml 11/24/07 New question to be asked by U.S. firefighters: Not "are there any kids in the house," but "are there any terrorists here?" Associated Press reports that many U.S. cities are training their firefighters to look for terrorist activity at fire scenes and, since they enter premises under emergency conditions, theirs' many be the ultimate in "warrantless searches." http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/24/america/NA-GEN-US-Firefighters-Terrorists.php 11/13/07 Australian prosecutors were ordered to "lay as many charges as possible" to test out an anti-terrorism law:. This admission comes as an Australian court dismisses charges against a Sydney medical student arrested on terrorist charges in 2004. Court now accuses the government of "false imprisonment" in the case. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22747968-2,00.html 11/13/07 Amnesty International denounces NATO countries' transfer of detainees to Afghan prisons, where it says they are tortured. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7091928.stm 11/11/07 Jim Lobe: the Bush "war on terror" may be going a bit better in Iraq, but it is increasingly failing in "peripheral" areas like Pakistan, Turkey and the Horn of http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IK10Ak04.html 11/4/07 Close Guantanamo? Now there's a "radical" alternative.:. Bush administration considering the granting of detainees some legal rights that might grant many detainees the opportunity to be transferred to the mainland U.S. legal system where they would supposedly be granted more "protection" while in custody. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/us/nationalspecial3/04gitmo.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin 10/24/07 Is Guantanamo moving to London? UK may be taking a play-book from U.S. "war on terror" by quietly setting up two prisons specifically for "foreign" prisoners, with special procedures for their treatment pending actions to deport them. (Cite has numerous links to articles about problems of the prison service in Britain). http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7059283.stm 10/24/07 U.S. envoy to Japan urges the country not to "opt out of the war on terrorism" by refusing to support a U.S. naval mission in the Far East. 10/18/07 Smuggled underwear stymies Guantanamo investigators, as prison officials worry that the material in briefs and speedo bathing suits may be used for fashioning nooses, a concern raised by the fact that 4 inmates have hung themselves in recent months. 10/18/07 Senate Democrats and Republicans agree on legislation that would provide legal immunity for telecommunications firms that provide information about their customers to government surveillance programs. 10/9/07 "Nervous"emocrats in Congress appear ready to yield to Bush on wiretap powers: A few months after vowing to "roll back" surveillance techniques used in the "war on terror," many Democrats are now described as nervous that they will thought of as "soft on terror" and are preparing their own legislation to extend the life of those techniques. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/washington/09nsa.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin 10/5/07 Justice Department refuses to turn over documents with legal opinions authorizing coercive CIA interrorgation techniques: Justice stands by its official position that "torture is abhorrent" and a spokeswoman says "we don't do torture." Do "we"? Depends on what the meaning of is is. The opinions apparently say that practices like simulated drownings are not torture and therefore can be "done." 10/4/07 Homeland Security getting set to undertake large terrorism drill called "Topoff": Simulated dirty bombs will be detonated in Portland OR, Phoenix and Guam in a periodic drill mandated by Congress. Members of that body are wondering why there is still no "after action report" from the last such exercise, conducted in April, 2005. Critics note that the "lessons" of the 2005 drill were apparently not available to officials in dealing with New Orleans hurricane in August, 2005. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-10-03-terror-exercise_N.htm 9/15/07 Nebojsa Malic, a U.S. refugee from Bosnia, continues his writings about a jihadist element in Bosnia, encouraged by an Islamist regime in that country with the complicity of both the Clinton and Bush administrations and of all mainstream media, which allowed the jihadist build-up in that country to occur as it did in Afghanistan, as the "evil Serbs" of Yugoslavia were made the equivalent of the "evil Reds" of Russia. This blind eye to Bosnia-based radicalism extended to failures to see the Bosnian connections of both the New Jersey-based plotters and the Valentine's Day massacre in a Salt Lake City shopping mall http://www.antiwar.com/malic/?articleid=11617 9/7/07 Osama Bin Laden gets within yards of George Bush at APEC meeting in Sydney. (Actually it was a costumed member of an Australian TV comedy show team, whose members were arrested for having committed a "dangerous stunt.") http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6982897.stm 9/5/07 Arrest of 8 men in Copenhagen Denmark is said to have prevented a terrorist attack there. http://www.cphpost.dk/get/103353.html 9/4/07 As 9/11 approaches, is it possible that a government-sponsored false flag act of terrorism will be used to provide a pretext to invade Iran? It may sound far-fetched, but there are plenty of instances in the history of the U.S. and other countries and numerous warnings from people savvy about clandestine operations that are detailed in this richly-linked article. http://www.wanttoknow.info/falseflag 8/23/07 A British expatriate artist returns from Turkey to London to find the city awash in anti-terrorist signs and PA announcements in the Underground, and surveillance cameras, including drones in flight, in numbers that come out to 1 for every 14 people. http://www.counterpunch.org/dickinson08222007.html 8/22/07 Foreign Policy article asserting that the "war on terrorism" is being lost spurs calls for changes in anti-terror strategy. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0822/p03s03-usmi.html 8/22/07 They went to a meeting of social activists without their cellphones. On the basis of this and some other equally dubious grounds of suspicion, Berlin police arrest two German sociologists for alleged "terrorist" activities or intentions. 8/18/07 Federal judge ;laments that "prosecutors seem to have conspiracy on their owrd processors as count 1“ and the just-concluded Padilla trial seems to show they clicked their "count 1" button with a vengeance. The only "overt act" proven was the defendant's filling out of an application to attend a 2000 Al-Qaeda training camp. The case actually represented a "new model" for conspiracy anti-terrorism cases, as the court recognized the legitimacy of "preventive detention" for a criminal act that might have been committed, and the exclusion of legal representation for the defendant on grounds that it might interfere with the interrogation process. Meaty issues for a Supreme Court review; don't hold your breath on the outcome. Hamdan was then (O'Connor), Padilla is now (Alito). http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/18/us/nationalspecial3/18legal.html?hp 8/17/07 Jose Padilla has been found guilty of terrorism charges and may face "life" imprisonment: Amy Goodman asserts, based on extended interview with a forensic psychiatrist, that Padilla's life has effectively ended by the conditions of his torture incarceration that have driven him insane. http://www.alternet.org/story/59958/ 8/16/07 Iran denounces U.S. plan to designate its Army a "terrorist group;" European Union will not join any such U.S. action. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6949902.stm 8/15/07 Ivan Eland: In American politics since 9/11, nothing succeeds like failure:. "Blunders" in international relations like the invasion of Iraq and "travesties" in domestic civil rights like government intrusion on citizen privacy are actually rewarded by the political establishment as both parties, while some members decry these "failures," effectively ratify them lest they lose political support by appearing too "soft" on terrorism http://www.antiwar.com/eland/?articleid=11447 8/13/07 Psychiatrists say that Jose Padilla's mental condition sharply deteriorated under harsh conditions of his incarceration as an enemy combatant. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0813/p01s03-usju.html 8/11/07 New release of uncensored documents on Maher Arar case show the Canadian was deported for torture rendition to Jordan with the collaboration of intelligence agencies in both Canada and the U.S. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081007B.shtml 8/8/07 Canadian judge orders Attorney General to release uncensored documents which may throw much light on the government's controversial arrest and prosecution of Maher Aran. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070807.woconnor0807/BNStory/National/home 8/5/07 "Protecting America is our most solemn obligation" says President Bush as he receives a congressional bill allowing for warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens. House passes the bill 227-183 with 41 Democrats joining 186 Republicans in its support. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20126385/ The vote: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll836.xml 7/29/07 Australian police defend themselves for responsibility in abortive prosecution of accused terrorist Mohammed Haneef, saying their actions were based on "mistaken" information from British police. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6920956.stm 7/19/07 Pakistan's contribution to the "war on terror" appears to be the arrest and "disappearance" of men whose offense seems to be "living while religious." http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/19/world/asia/19missing.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin 7/18/07 Australian doctor on trial in India for involvement in UK terrorist plot denies involvement, says he tried unsuccessfully to contact British police before his arrest. 7/12/07 UK woman marries man she claims to be the son of Osama bin Laden, and says she experiences travel difficulties because her name in bin Laden. http://www.thestar.com/News/article/235103 7/11/07 "9/11 changed everything": Paul Campos notes that those who terrorize Americans about terrorism use the more or less foiled terrorist plots in the U.S. and Britain to propagate nonsense about our "vulnerability" to terrorist attacks, when in fact they demonstrate just how "pathetic" and non-threatening those terrorist wannabes actually are. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/opinion_columnists/article/0,2777,DRMN_23972_5622100,00.html 7/11/07 New York City expected to install a London-style system of extensive camera surveillance by the end of this year. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0711/p01s04-ussc.html 7/10/07 What the TSA in America learn from UK's latest round of "terrorist plots"?: Apparently, not much where airport security is concerned. To help improve the "bottom line" of airlines' profits by luring business travelers fed up with security check delays back to flying the protected skies, U.S. airports are developing "registered traveller" systems that allow pre-screened travellers to pass through security check points without the usual inspections. This system assumes that terrorists would not pass the required security check but, considering the prominence of NHS personnel in the UK "plot," it is entirely possible that would-be terrorists in "sleeper cells" could obtain the necessary background clearance to sail through the checkpoints as registered travellers. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0710/p02s01-usgn.html 7/9/07 Without citing any specific threats, Australian PM Howard warns Australians against travel to Indonesia because of likelihood of terrorist attacks. http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailtoplatest.asp?fileid=20070709133916&irec=0 7/7/07 "Before the passage of this law, somebody like me could take a trip to the Caribbean and on the strength of my Staten Island accentand my golds Gym card talk my back into the United States": says the Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs. With the new system of requiring passports for travellers returning from Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean, there is some doubt whether "this law" has actually resulted in improved security from terrorists entering the country. Backlog of passport applications and lack of effective data-sharing of information on passport-holders are among the problems in creating such a secure situation, as it's yet to be proven that "talking your way" through immigration stations is inferior to the new system. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0706/p02s01-usgn.html 7/5/07 British PM Gordon Brown, in aftermath of London and Glasgow incidents, wants an examination of how foreign doctors are recruited to the country. 7/3/07 U.S. intelligence officials apparently had access to warning of a terrorism "spectacular" similar to what happened in Glasgow but failed to pass it along to Scottish officials. 7/2/07 British officials continue to "see" an Al Qaeda link to bomb plots in London and Glasgow: However, they have yet to produce any evidence of this "link" as the identities of arrested suspects remain unclear. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/02/world/europe/02britain.html?pagewanted=1 7/1/07 High school student, one of 140 who went to the White House to receive a Presidential Scholarship award, hands President Bush a letter signed by 40 of the Scholars decrying the use of torture in the "war on terrorism." Bush read the letter and said, "We agree. America doesn't torture people." (We out-source it) http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/06/30/presidential_scholar_confronts_the_president/ 6/30/07 In the latest "foiled" terrorist plot in London's Haymarket, two cars wired for explosion are found in two separate locations. There have been no arrests or identified suspects, but the police surmise that it may have been an al Qaeda operation, some of whose (alleged) other operations used such "linked" simultaneous explosions in different places. Also, the New York Times reports the ominous observation that a videotaped image of a man seen leaving one of the cars "resembles" a suspect arrested and later released in another alleged plot and who has since "disappeared." Does the word "Haymarket" mean anything to anyone from the annals of phony bomb plots? http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/30/world/europe/30britain.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th 6/29/07 Refugees from Myanmar in Thailand are among the victims of an expansion of U.S. definition of "terrorist" organizations that hampers the immigration prospects of many people whose home-country "terrorism" is compared with that of American patriots. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/IF30Ae01.html 6/21/07 With the FBI's focus on investigation of terrorism cases, a 30% drop is noted in investigations of other types of crime. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0621/p01s02-usju.html 6/20/07 Canadian leaders debate whether a video showing a "graduation" ceremony at a Taliban school of jihadists accurately reflects a likely targeting of jihadists for Canada. http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=042d1ff1-2524-4870-9cf2-cd340728d3ba 6/18/07 Profiling of Muslim "terrorists" in the US prison system. In a story uncovered by Gainesville's "own" Jennifer Van Bergen, a special prisons unit at Terre Haute Indiana was set up in December 2006 which contained stringent restrictions on outside communication of the prisoners, a change instituted without public comment in violation of federal law. A Syracuse oncologist, Rafil Dhafir, active in humanitarian aid in the Middle East, is among those so held, as are the "Lackwanna Six" arrested for supposed attendance at a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan http://www.countercurrents.org/hughes180607.htm For Van Bergen's Feb. '07 story on the subject, see: http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Documents_show_new_secretive_new_US_0216.html 6/17/07 South Asian commentator returns to Pakistan and finds many young men eager to jihad in Afghanistan, and many Pakistani authorities willing to tolerate or encourage their plans. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IF16Df01.html 6/13/07 So what's happening with those four "terrorist plotters" against the JFK airport? A Brooklyn man is in U.S.custody. Three of them, citizens of Trinidad, are in custody in Port of Spain, awaiting results of a proceeding for extradition to U.S. A Trinidad judge denies bail for the three, after their lawyer presents evidence of their good community standing, testimonials of their innocence, and their upright appearances. In turning them down, judge says appearances can deceive http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,58638.html 6/12/07 "Military detention of Al-Marri must cease" is a Virginia federal appeals court's ringing rebuke of the U.S. policy of indefinite detention as a terrorist suspect without charges being filed. Court says integrity of U.S. Consitution requires that such detainees be charged and tried or released. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/12/washington/12combatant.html?th&emc=th 6/8/07 Evil ate at table eight. One of the screaming headlines in New York City tabloids following the FBI's action to "thwart" still another terrorist plot, this one directed at JFK airport. The headline, based on an interview of a waitresses who had served one of the plotters, matches the alarmist rhetoric of the prosecutor who described a plot of "unthinkable" and "unfathomable" consequences. As with such earlier plots as those resulting in arrests in Miami and New Jersey, this one's "mastermind" was an elderly and sometimes homeless man of questionable mental stability, and the case rested on testimony of an unnamed person called "the source," almost surely an FBI informant and agent provacateur. The New York Times found this story "fit to print" only on its Metro page, and public skepticism about the plot leads a writer to the ominous fear that the Bush administration may need to encourage or ignore some more drastic incident to divert public attention from its failures. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=5904 6/8/07 Backup on processing of passport applications lead to change in Federal policy. In its zeal to "protect our borders" against terrorists, U.S. in January began requiring passports for U.S. citizens returning from trips to Mexico and Caribbean. With delays in application processing threatening the vacation plans of those who can afford such vacations, government is now allowing waiver of actual passport if traveller shows a receipt that he/she has applied for a passport. So much for passport "screening" of security dangers. 6/6/07 Last week's U.S. air strike inside Somalia goes largely uncriticized by bush's war critics. While Democratic and Republican presidential candidates and members of Congress criticize Bush for his "handling" of the Iraqi War, they generally ignore the context of such military action: the enabling of actions at the President's discretion to carry out campaigns in the "war on terror" without explicit congressional approval...the ultimate "blank check" for militarism. http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=201802 6/6/07 U.K's proposed new counter-terrorism law comes under fire for its expansion of police powers to stop and question, a measure that critics say will make the law a "recruiting Sergeant for terrorism." http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,2096509,00.html 6/5/07 How did the United States come to be so hated? Gore Vidal joins a panel of academics in an Independent Institute discussion of this question...an hour and a half laced with humor and profundity about the "terrorist" crisis of our time; a video of the event. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17828.htm 6/5/07 Hamdan II ruling grounds Guantanamo trials again. Ruling by judge results in dropping of charges against Salim Ahmed Hamdan, whose case had earlier resulted in alteration of trials of accused terrorists. Charges also dropped against man who was 15 when criminal act allegedly occurred. Future of trials now very much in doubt, as no suspects have yet been brought successfully to trial, though they may still be detained indefinitely. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N04481007.htm 6/3/07 A terrorist action that "could have happened" is once again broken up. FBI arrests 4 men who allegedly planned to blow up fuel facilities at JFK airport in NYC. Like the New Jersey plotters, they had neither equipment or money to carry out their planes, but one official said they were engaged in actions that were a "bit further along" toward a realized terrorist act than in the case of the New Jersey arrestees. 6/3/07 Can the acts of a child of 15 result in war crimes prosecution? A pending case before the Guantanamo tribunal may help answer this question. One jurist argues that children must be treated as the victims and not the perpetrators of war crimes, with "adult influences" perhaps the only actionable behaviors. (Who gave the kid the gun?) http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/us/03gitmo.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th 5/31/07 "Reverse engineering" said to have converted survival trainig for US troops into a model for torture of detainees. Pentagon IG report notes that a program, advised and supervised by psychologists, to prepare troops for enemy torture techniques like water boarding were easily converted into the use of such techniques against "enemies" in the "war on terror." http://www.counterpunch.org/soldz05292007.html 5/29/07 Alabama Department of Homeland Security lists anti-war activists, environmentalists, animal rights activists and opponents of abortion as among the groups that should be suspected of terrorist intentions. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070527/ap_on_re_us/web_site_terror;_ylt=Amah4aApKr99AAqJ2VjXidXMWM0F 5/18/07 Did the US even try to capture bin Laden at Tora Bora? Not according to the chief CIA field commander at the time. In a new book, he says he made repeated and rejected efforts to initiative a capture that could have been made. http://www.antiwar.com/sperry/?articleid=10981 5/18/07 Oregon prosecutors are seeking "terrorism enhancements" to sentences of environmental activists convicted in series of attacks on targets of environmental condemnation. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0518/p02s01-ussc.html 5/18/07 World Tamil Movement head says in Montreal that he admires the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka as "freedom fighters," but denies that his organization has sent them money to support terrorist activities. http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=9ea1602e-0d56-4448-96ee-7f80df932e56 5/12/07 FBI Director Robert Mueller says that, increasingly, terrorist plot are "home grown," with plotters having little or no connection to al-Qaeda. 5/12/07 U.S. and European governments are negotiating for exchange of passenger information in connection with terrorist investigations. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070512/ap_on_re_eu/italy_us_terrorism;_ylt=AticLBsOLH0duI3U8qzavBCs0NUE 5/8/07 As Bush administration insists on its anti-missile shield emplacements in Europe, security experts note that the new "rules of engagement" in nuclear war may have to account for threats coming from dispersed elements not necessarily controlled by "rogue governments." http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/08/washington/08nuke.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin 5/4/07 A Jihadists dead friends are the lucky ones. Jarqa Jordan is a center of development of Sunni jihadist action in Iraq, as young men recruit one another and are encouraged by imams to develop an implacable hatred of both Americans and Shiites. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/world/middleeast/04bombers.html?th&emc=th 5/2/07 Delaware County Community College, in suburban Philadelphia, is re-opened after being closed down for a day following e-mailed terrorist threats. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20070502_Delco_college_to_reopen.html 4/30/07 Five are convicted in fertiliser bomb plot in UK, in a year-long trial in which prosecution did not mention possible connections of same suspects to the July 7 train station bombing in London. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6195914.stm 4/28/07 Another terrorist "mastermind" arrested in Iraq. This one as the ringleader of the 7/7 suicide bombing in London. The details of this arrest are murky, as usual. The al-Queda associate. formerly an officer in Saddam Hussein's army, is said to have been detained last year and kept in "spook" CIA detention facilities for many months. With his current arrest he is whisked off to the "high-value detainee center" in Guantanamo where British officials may not have access to interrogating him since |