Archive for the ‘middle east’ Category

Tuesday, December 4th, 2007

Hey, what a surprise! No Iranian nukes!

by Warren

Yeah, it’s a total shocker to me that the Iranians aren’t actually ready to trot out a nuclear weapon, though it is amazing to hear it from American intelligence agencies. Looks like the y might have finally grown a set and not just told Bush what he wants to hear, like they did in the “slam dunk” days building up to the Iraq war. Still, the sterling record of spot-on analysis from the American intelligence community leading up to both 9/11 and the war means Iran probably DOES have nukes.

Friday, November 30th, 2007

How network-centric warfare failed (and succeeded) in Iraq

by Warren

One of Donald Rumsfeld’s big goals for the American military was “transformation,” a process by which the armed forces modernized and adopted a more “network-centric” approach to combat. It worked spectacularly during the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, with Special Forces troops laser-targeting opposing forces and ground commanders getting a God’s-eye view of their operations theatre. But network-centric warfare has turned out to be a bust for winning the peace, as Wired Magazine details.

Sunday, November 25th, 2007

From villager to jihadi

by Warren

There’s a village in Morocco called Tetouan that’s the home town of a disproportionate number of young jihadis, including some of the men responsible for the Madrid train bombings in 2004. The New York Times Magazine investigates (at length) what turns normal young men from Tetouan into suicide bombers.

Thursday, November 22nd, 2007

Amnesty International’s “Unsubscribe Me” film shows the horror of US interrogation methods

by Warren

Amnesty International made a film featuring a performance artist going through six hours of the allegedly non-tortuous treatment that prisoners of American forces endure when being interrogated. The artist isn’t acting; every single whimper out of the guy is the real thing. Kind of puts the whole “war on terror” thing in perspective.

Monday, November 12th, 2007

Iraqi fighters grilled for connections to Iran

by Warren

Ah, more shaping of questionable intelligence to fit Dick Cheney’s homicidal whims. How delightful!

Wednesday, October 31st, 2007

Diplomats none too pleased with being forced to go to Iraq

by Warren

Remember the news about a week ago about State Department employees being forced to serve time in Iraq? Turns out they’re not very happy with the idea, likening the task to a “death sentence.”

Thursday, October 25th, 2007

Waging counterterrorism in the suburbs

by Warren

Nope, it doesn’t involve duct tape or keeping an eye on your neighbours for possible un-American activities. Wired magazine profiles a suburban Montana woman who spends her days at an office, but her nights monitoring jihadi activity online.

Monday, October 22nd, 2007

Why Pakistan might be more dangerous than Iraq

by Warren

With the violence marring the return of exiled Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto, it’s increasingly obvious that Pakistan is sinking into the thrall of militants. Newsweek has a very interesting piece on how we should be more scared of civil unrest in Pakistan, which already has nuclear weapons, than in Iraq, which doesn’t.

Sunday, October 14th, 2007

Bin Laden’s Western blogger network

by Warren

While Bin Laden occasionally creates videos aimed at a Western audience, his parables of naughty she-goats unearthing knifes don’t have a hell of a lot of cachet in media-soaked North America. But a growing group of jihadi bloggers and other activists already based in the West are spreading Al Queda’s message,and according to the New York Times, are doing so with some measure of success.

Friday, October 12th, 2007

Blackwater drew guns on American soldiers

by Warren

With Blackwater already in trouble for shooting Iraqi civilians, more stories are coming to light of arrogance and recklessness regarding the private security firm. The latest involves Blackwater operatives getting into a car crash with U.S. soldiers, then forcing the soldiers to lie down at gunpoint until help arrived. Not that there’s any real legitimate power structure in Iraq, but you’d think U.S. soldiers would be the last word in authority in a war zone, just by dint of hardware and history.

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