John Palfrey, a professor at Harvard Law School and co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, has co-written two books examining online issues -- Access Denied, which examines global Internet censorship and filtering, and Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives. The latter book, published last month, set out to provide "digital immigrants" -- older generations of parents, teachers and others -- with a portrait of "digital natives," who were born after 1980.

Palfrey was asked questions and I posted his answer below:

Which findings in the book were most surprising to you? I didn't find as many young people taking advantage of doing everything they could do with technology. I didn't see the outpouring of creativity I was hoping to see.

I wanted to see that the technology was a gateway to get more young people involved in civic life. I didn't find a huge rush to use these technologies to improve the world. There are examples of incredible social entrepreneurs … but there is not a large-scale rush, which I was hoping to see.

Note on Norman Podhoretz, World War IV

This is a quick and easy read but one to stir up controversy if you follow his argument. There are not many people willing to take a positive view of the neocons, since currently they are regularly lampooned publicly, nor many who would dare say that Bush is right on foreign policy but Podhoretz is one such person who will. The closest analogy to Bush he argues is Truman in 1947 who unpopularly enunciated his Doctrine of containment against the Soviets. Eisenhower although differing in many ways did not alter the Truman Doctrine. Podhoretz argues that the Bush Doctrine of preemptive action against our enemies is correct and will be proven true historically.

U.S. Asks Allies/Euros to Pay for Their Defense

In a move that I've long advocated here the U.S. is asking allies such as Japan and NATO allies who have not sent troops to Afghanistan to pony up with the estimated $17 billion needed to build up the Afghan army.

This request may be a two-tiered NATO alliance that U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned against early this year but there is no alternative. The Europeans are going to be hit harder, and most likely before the U.S. next gets attacked by terrorists trained in Afpak camps so they should be willing to pay for their own defense. Gates has been on the frontlines asking U.S. allies to pay for their defense, especially if they are not willing to send troops.

The U.S. has 33,000 troops in Afghanistan. About 22,000 are part of NATO's force of nearly 48,000 troops. The United States contributes the most troops by far among allies, followed by Britain with about 8,000.

The Afghan army plans to double in size to 134,000 soldiers over five years at a cost of $17 billion to $20 billion, according to estimates.

Presidential Candidates At the Bailout Trough

The bloated rhetoric of the two presidential candidates is only exceeded by the nonsense they have both expressed about the financial crisis. Thanks to research by the Center for Responsive Politics the figures they collected speak volumes about how likely the bailout will work. We should know who funds their campaigns. The financial services industries have funded both candidates.

Here is the tally at the trough:

McCain received $19.6 million and Obama garnished $22.5 million.

Two of the biggest financial groups in Washington, the Financial Services Roundtable and the Mortgage Bankers Association, have been holding meetings with McCain and Obama’s economic advisers. They are working to shift their bad debt to taxpayers. The Roundtable has met in private, closed-door sessions with Obama economic advisers Ian Soloman and McCain adviser Ike Brannon. Those lurking around Obama—-economists such as Paul Volcker, Robert Rubin, Lawrence Summers, and Laura Tyson-—are as guilty of dismantling of government regulation as those advising McCain.

I say a pox on both their houses.

Bailouts Work, Sorta'

An important question to ask during these days of bailouts is to ask how things have worked out in the past. The U.S. bailout took place in 1792. William Duer tried to monopolize the market in government bonds and depress the share price of the Bank of New York. His plan went astray which caused market panic. The first Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton authorized banks to accept bonds as collateral for loans, which were then underwritten by the government. He also borrowed money from banks and used it to buy government bonds. The U.S. did well enough then as prices recovered and all the banks involved survived.

On the other hand, Andrew Jackson nearly brought about the collapse of the Second Bank of the United States when he refused to deposit tax revenues in it. The collapse of the bank was an important cause of the Panic of 1837 in which the next president, Martin van Buren, refused to involve the government. This event was a harbringer of the Great Depression.

Thus far, the score is 1-1.

The next disaster was in savings and loans during the 1980s and 1990s. The crisis was caused by institutions lending good money after bad, then getting slammed by rising interest rates. Fraud was also a big factor. The government set up the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) to regulate hundreds of failed S&Ls and try to sell their assets. The taxpayers received back about 80% on the dollar. This one was largely a success.

Then there was the issue in 2001 when the airline industry faced collapse after 9/11. Carriers faced a money crunch when a flying ban was imposed and people were afraid to fly. The government provided compensation. But once flights resumed, the airlines could not get credit. The government set up the Air Transport Stabilization Board to provide up to $10bn in loan guarantees. The government received shares in the airlines in return for guaranteeing loans to them and also charged fees for participating in the scheme. Taxpayers eventually made a profit of $300m. The weaker carriers lost out, such as United Airlines, which was forced into bankruptcy, but most of them survived. Thus, the carrier bail-out largely succeeded.

Most of the bailouts seem to work, basically 3-1 as in this scenario, but what concerns me is the frequency. If the government has to bailout companies, half of the bailouts occurring since the '80s, how vibrant can that economy be?

Judge Considers Release of International Terrorists

The Uighur (pronounced "WEE-gurz") people are Muslims inhabiting the Western region of China. Five of the Uighurs, and twelve more have been mentioned, in filing court papers asking for release. The detainees held at Guantanamo Bay may now be released into the U.S. homeland since these Chinese Muslims are no longer considered enemy combatants. U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina is considering a release. If released, it would become a landmark legal decision in the years-long battle over the rights of terrorism suspects. The men have been held for nearly seven years but they are in a bind. They can not be sent home country because Beijing considers them terrorists and they might be tortured. Previously, the government released five Uighur detainees to Albania in 2006, but no other country wants to risk offending China by accepting the others.

I have two questions: why should the problems of former enemy combatants concern me? And, how did they become former combatants in the first place?

The answer to the latter question is time. Their attorneys argue that the men have been confined for too long. The attornies say authorities could supervise them much as they monitor criminal defendants released pending trial. Yes, I suppose it is a reasonable argument that Washington D.C. is a particularly crimeless area. I wonder if the Judge might like to have the former enemy combatants next door since he was intrigued by the question of release.

How these individuals become enemy combatants is clearer. In 2001, most of the Uighurs now in Guantanamo Bay were living in camps in Afghanistan until U.S. airstrikes drove them into neighboring Pakistan. They were captured there and turned over to U.S. authorities. It is likely then that most of these people were receiving terrorist training and have been biding their time in prison in preparation. Prisons in Britain and Iraq are leading places of terrorist training and development.

The two options that are presented, release into the Homeland, or continued incarceration are the only two choices offered by attorney's on behalf of the Uighurs.

However, I see no reason why Americans should be welcoming individuals who were found in Afghani camps in 2001. Yet, a Supreme Court ruling in June gave camp dwellers the right to have their cases reviewed by federal judges under the legal doctrine of habeas corpus. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon has been conducting closed-door hearings. There are six Algerians who were picked up in Bosnia in late 2001. The only way to block the continued incarceration or release is evidence that the incarcerated received terrorist training. The Justice Department is expected to make the same argument for the other detainees. The government has asserted that the Uighurs were members of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement and trained at camps affiliated with the Taliban or al-Qaeda. The Bush administration designated ETIM a terrorist organization in August 2002, after the Uighurs were taken into custody.

One academic sees no other alternative than the two options proposed: "It boils down to: either you keep these people in prison at Guantanamo Bay for the rest of their lives or you release them into the United States," said Donald E. Wilkes Jr., a professor at the University of Georgia Law School and an authority on habeas corpus rights.

I see no reason why the U.S. should harbor not only the poor and the tired yearning to be free but those training at terrorist camps while providing rights of habeus corpus to them as well. If there is no reason to hold them, then release them back to China or anywhere so it is not a problem for people in the United States. They voluntarily left their own country for Afghanistan so another move, elsewhere, should not bother them now.

Sharia-Compliant Citi Seeks Taxpayer's Money

Obamics and Sharia compliant, the code of law based on the Koran, Citigroup was blocked by a Judge in the Wachovia-Wells deal. However, New York State Supreme Court Justice Charles Ramoscourt will hold a hearing to allow Citi to press for its previous agreement to buy Wachovia.

In a deal struck last Monday with the assistance of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Citigroup had offered to take over Wachovia's banking operations for $2.2 billion.

The battle also has implications for taxpayers.

If Citigroup is successful in its takeover, taxpayers will pay more because of a FDIC offer. Citigroup has the support of industry regulators, and the FDIC stands behind its previously announced agreement with Citigroup, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Sheila Bairwhich who promised to cover any losses on Wachovia's $300 billion loan portfolio beyond the first $42 billion. The Wells offer does not ask for FDIC assistance.

Wachovia spokeswoman Christy Phillips-Brown stated the company believes its agreement with Wells Fargo is "proper, valid and ... in the best interest of shareholders, employees, and the American taxpayers," the Associated Press reported.

Seems so to me too; I'm a taxpayer.

Obama's Favorite Domestic Terrorist

The wonder of the William Ayers terrorist connection to Obama is not that Palin finally unleashed it, it lies in the fact that the mainstream media was so reluctant to report it when the data become widely available in the spring. I suppose it means less to younger people but if one was alive during those heady days of domestic terrorism the charge sticks like mud. The fact that Ayers is now a professor hardly makes his earlier activities any more respectable. There are probably more anti-American sentiments being expressed in American universities than anywhere else anyway. Both Ayers and his wife are currently college professors.

The Obama camp has tried to downplay the relationship between the terrorists and Obama but that story is sketchy. The University of Illinois at Chicago has released hundreds of documents that solidify the relationship between the two. There are more than 50,000 documents, 128 boxes, and 946 files. The University archives on the pair comes out to 70 linear feet. This is no casual connection.

Ayers was a member of the Weather Underground, a radical group that claimed responsibility for a series of bombings, including nonfatal explosions at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol, preceding the foreign terrorism problem by many years.

Ayers was a fugitive for years with his wife, fellow radical Bernadine Dohrn, Dohrn is now a professor at Northwestern University Law School. But after surrendering in 1980, the charges against Ayers were dropped because of prosecutorial misconduct. He got off on a technicality we might say.

Moreover, Obama and Ayers both live in the same Hyde Park neighborhood. They served together on the board of a Chicago charity, and in the mid-1990s when Obama first ran for office, Ayers hosted a meet-the-candidate session for Obama at his home. They are more than casual acquaintances, Obama and Ayers share a political ideology.

For a candidate who champions his better judgement over his opponent, Ayers is a curious political supporter to have. Ayers has not denied that he set off bombs and he is on the record that U.S. Marines are terrorists. All John Kerry did was toss a few medals over the White House fence, Ayers threw bombs that exploded. This is the support that Obama has elicited.

How Obama, McCain, Bush, Congress, and the Federal Reserve Benefit Egypt

While the House of Representatives adopted a wide ranging intrusion into the nation’s beleaguered financial sector, it is instructive to see how the bailout--and why exactly are we having a bailout?--plays out in the rest of the world.

Let us take a glance at Egypt, a nation with a heavy cash-based economy and relatively nascent set of financial tools, which should, in theory, provide haven from the “credit freeze” afflicting developed markets. Nonetheless, if not passed even in Egypt a financial crisis might occur, not without reason is this period best described as “global.” For with every advance in online communication, trading, banking and asset management, the flow of capital from one state to another is eased. In fact, the problem for Egypt and other foreign markets is that when outsiders panic, they aren’t just yanking cash out of their own markets, they disinvest elsewhere also.

The odd thing of course is that Candidate A is running against Candidate B--supposedly--yet both candidates come running to vote in support with the President, I suppose I should describe him as President B, further, the bailout was supported by all three and the Treasury Secretary and Federal Reserve Chairman. It seems like just about everyone favors the bill.

But wait, did the American taxpayers? Well, no, polls last week showed that less than 3 in 10 Americans supported the bailout.

I guess they don't count in this financial lovefeast between President B, Candidate A, and Candidate B.

At one time Republicans would have viewed the bailout as an abandonement of their small-government, free-market ideology that was once the cornerstone of their party’s economic ethos. Democrats at one time would not have wanted to use the little person's money to rescue the big money Wall Street megalomaniacs who drove the economy into the current mess in the first place. No more I take it.

Oh yes, and where does the bailout leave Egypt? Left to its out devices, the Egyptian economy is weak. Because of Egypt’s high poverty rates, and record inflation, Moody’s Investor Service lowered their rating on Egypt’s foreign currency country ceilings for bonds and bank deposits from stable to negative and downgraded the government’s local currency bond rating in July.

And as the past few weeks have shown, each bank collapse or whisper of impending economic chaos in the U.S. ties up nervous American investors-—a primary source of investment in Egypt—-who pull out of emerging markets as they try to recoup losses at home.

Egypt was bracing for Eid El-Fitr, which is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting, and Armed Forces Day, so the American setback would be delayed in Egypt. But, once markets re-open on 7 October, Egyptians can rejoice, Candidates A, B, and President B, along with the U.S. Congress, as well as the financial tentacles of the U.S. government, will have helped them.

Only the American taxpayer will suffer from the bailout.

Note on Bergen, The Osama bin Laden I Know

I'll admit it, this was a book I did not get around to reading at first because of its style and a misunderstanding of the book's purpose. The style of the book is difficult in that it is a series of excerpts, often overlapping, of diverse sources. The players are difficult to keep track of, but they need to be introduced time after time. Thus, we are constantly being reminded of who was bin Laden's bodyguard, which player this guy is, and how they fit into the organization.

Despite its limitations, the book is a fascinating read, and excerpted by those who knew or met bin Laden personally throughout the years. Where else are you going to find detailed information such as in one visitor to bin Laden's hangout, two of bin Laden's sons were playing Nintendo while hiding out with their infamous father?

But most importantly, Bergen is one of those rare journalists who allows bin Laden to be bin Laden, without the distortions or biases built in many other sources. Although the book suffers from a lack of cogent analysis, and that has been done elsewhere by Michael Scheuer particularly, Bergen's work is valuable read in that an accurate oral history emerges from the text to reveal a bin Laden who is unremarkable in some respects, absolutely lethal, and a worthy adversary of the U.S. In addition, since he is engaged in religious war, and a typical product of Islam, the West should realize that more bin Laden's are going to follow his lead, regardless of the presence of Al-Qaeda, or the life of bin Laden.

Fury Explains How Bin Laden Got Away at Tora Bora

Afghan allies have been attributed before for allowing Osama Bin Laden to escape into the mountains of Tora Bora. In addition, a former Delta Force officer, "Dalton Fury," claims his superiors forestalled an effective plan of attack against al Qaeda. AQ has claimed the same thing for some time. Ten weeks after 9/11, and why did it take such a long time is what we should be asking, but Fury and a team of U.S. Army Delta Force soldiers joined CIA operatives and Afghan fighters under the command of a warlord named General Hazrat Ali to attack Bin Laden. The united force pursued bin Laden and an estimated 1,000 al Qaeda fighters into the Tora Bora Mountains. The U.S. strategy, says Fury, was to let Afghan allies do most of the fighting, while U.S. Special Operations Forces directed air strikes and provided support. Fury wonders whether the Afghans were really conspiring with al Qaeda. The forces heard bin Laden's radio communications and Fury noted the Afghan's demeanor. They were in awe and respected Bin Laden. Fury claims to have pushed for an attack from the Pakistan side and surprise the enemy. If does not know know whether the plan was stymied from central command or up to Clinton. Fury says that the Afghan fighters were ordered to take the lead and with the delay Bin Laden escaped. In a separate action following a bombing bin Laden seems to have been injured in the shoulder by shrapnel and then treated and hidden by local sympathizers. The general thrust of the story is in line with other evidence and if Fury is to be believed his story does seem credible.

October Order of Battle in Iraq

Graphic source: The Long War Journal

I wonder what it is about our nominees, and our journalists, who can not state the obvious. In the Vice-Presidential debate, Biden made a point that he thinks the Iraqis should provide for their own defense. Well Joe, just because the mainstream media does not cover this material, and the politicians do not want to recognize success in the field, does not make it so. Readers of this blog are kept up to date every month by the excellent field reports available. As of September 1st, Anbar Province became the eleventh of eighteen Iraqi provinces to revert to Provincial Iraqi Control (PIC). Doesn't Biden know this? Why can't the commentator call him to task for such a obvious gaffe. Even CNN, which puts much stock in fact-checking failed to correct this obvious mistake. I suppose after an election victory this would allow Obamaden to claim they are the architects of victory and withdrawal. It ain't so, Joe. The surge has been working and our military have done a stellar job in Iraq.

McCain Warned Senate About Economic Downturn Two Years Ago: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

McCain claims he has called for more oversight of lending institutions Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for two years. On the Senate floor, and thus a part of the public record, he cited a federal report, saying that "Fannie Mae employees deliberately and intentionally manipulated financial reports to hit earnings targets." He also noted a $3.8 million fine Freddie Mac had recently paid to the Federal Elections Commission over problems with disclosure of its political lobbying. He added: "If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole." McCain correctly and accurately identified the economic malady of today and warned about it some time ago.

Analysis of Only Vice-Presidential Debate

The bar was set very low since Palin has been pilloried in the mainstream media and many did not expect much from her. However, she more than held her own, no, she is not an idiot as Saturday Night Live has lampooned her or as edited clips from Katie Couric would have you believe. You may not agree with her but she took on a eminent senior Senator, more qualified to run as President than his running-mate, and she delivered the message she planned. There was no home-run tonight for the Republicans, and it was not enough to nudge any votes for McCain, but she would do fine and develop along the lines as many no-name Vice-Presidents have before her. The Veep slot is a job in training, and often training leads nowhere but down and out. If people were expecting a train wreck they were disappointed. She should be judged on the issues and her policies just like any non-outsider, non-male candidate is.

Possible Veeps Silent on Iran Killing Our Troops

Graphic source: Pajamas Media

A Humvee interior view of the passenger side door shows how a copper projectile ripped violently through the door, fragmenting the interior door armor and causing significant damage before exiting though the dashboard. This is a typical Iranian-made EFP causing U.S. casualties.

Regardless of any analysis, it is quite embarrassing to hear two people running to be second-fiddle to the Commander-in-Chief not even mention the blood and sacrifice spilled by American troops. Instead, both vice-presidential nominees hid behind the skirt of defending Israel rather than take Iran to task for supplying weapons to kill American troops. It is just despicable. Let Israel take care of their own issues, and we can remain a solid ally as needed, but for God's sake, defend our troops.

Despite abundant evidence outside the mainstream media, in the debate tonight neither candidate mentioned Iran's role in killing our people. Coalition forces have documented how Iran supplys Sunni and Shia insurgents with deadly munitions in the form of explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs.

Their blood and sacrifice is worth more than silence.

Islamist Group Urges Pakistan to Deploy Nukes

Hizb ut-Tahrir Pakistan, an international Islamist group which aims to set up a Caliphate or Khilafat, a trans-national Islamic state, has announced a campaign urging Pakistan to deploy nuclear weapons if the US continues to violate Pakistan’s territorial integrity. Previously, the group asked Pakistan to attack US bases in Bagram and Doha with nuclear weapons and suggested all of Pakistan's 160 million citizens conduct martyrdom operations. In the latest statement the group states:

Deploy nuclear weapons all over Pakistan and warn the crusaders and their allies of a stern response should they persist in their violation of Pakistan’s territorial integrity. This maneuver will not weaken Pakistan. On the contrary it will bolster the country’s ability to effectively counter regional and international threats. If a small nuclear country like North Korea’s can spurn US advances, then Pakistan, a far stronger nuclear power with the seventh largest army in the world, is in a far better position to accomplish much more.

Pakistan should detonate nuclear weapons against the Coalition.

Biden Gets $51.5 Million from Taxpayers

Funding bills is a favorite project in Washington, many people have heard now how the crucial bailout fiasco includes funding for wooden arrows. If you have not heard this, I do not make this stuff up. An earlier bill included $51.5 million and was requested by Democratic vice presidential nominee Biden. Taxpayers for Common Sense analyzed the 2,321 special-interest items called "earmarks" in the spending bill.

Senate Ignores Wishes of the People

Since the Senate is ignoring the will of the people, the most we can hope for at this point is that a sane voice against the bail out will be raised in the house.

Who Am I?

I am under 45 years old,
I love the outdoors,
I hunt,
I am a Republican reformer,
I have taken on the Republican Party establishment,
I have many children,
I have a spot on the national ticket as vice president with less than two years in the governor's office.

Who Am I?

I am Teddy Roosevelt in 1900.

Obama's Ties to Citigroup and Fannie Mae

A $100,000 state grant for a botanic garden in Chicago that then-state Senator Obama awarded in 2001 to a group headed by a onetime campaign volunteer is now under investigation by the Illinois attorney general. The money may have been misspent. State records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times show $65,000 of the grant money went to the wife of Kenny B. Smith, the Obama 2000 congressional campaign volunteer who heads the Chicago Better Housing Association. Smith wrote another $20,000 in grant-related checks to K.D. Contractors, a construction company that his wife, Karen D. Smith, created five months after work on the garden was supposed to have begun, records show. K.D. is no longer in business.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan, a Democrat who is supporting Obama's presidential bid, is investigating "whether this charitable organization properly used its charitable assets, including the state funds it received," according to Sun-Times article.

Obama vowed to "work tirelessly" to turn the lot into an oasis; today the garden site is a mess of weeds, chunks of concrete, and garbage.

Let the Obama Campaign respond I say (Cf. http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/07/suntimes_probe_as_state_senato.html).

In an official response the Campaign stated that Obama worked with the Chicago Better Housing Association, a non-profit that received funding from Fannie Mae, and the Citigroup Foundation.

A further tie to the discredited Fannie Mae program and the Sharia affiliated Citigroup is supposed to reassure us?

Obamics: Obama's Crooks and Cronies on Economics

Robert Rubin, former Secretary of the Treasury, later of Citigroup, Citi’s Global Islamic Banking operations were established in 1981 in London, and in 1996 Citi became the first international financial institution to set up a separately capitalized Islamic Bank: the Citi Islamic Investment Bank.

Former Secretary of Commerce William Daley, Mayor Daley's brother, Daley has been a lobbyist for the discredited Fannie Mae program that led to the economic crisis.

Former Secretary of Transportation and Secretary of Energy Federico Pena who assisted Enron. Former Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay asked Clinton to propose a power deregulation bill to forestall legislation promoting competition and consumer choice in electricity. Lay wrote the letter at Pena's urging. Internal Enron documents show Secretary Pena gave Lay key information about "key contacts from important constituents" who could pressure President Clinton.

Penny Pritzker lost her family bank to the FDIC when federal regulators cited "poor oversight by [Superior Bank's] board" when it chose to shut it down.

No wonder Obama favors the failed bailout bid.

American Professor Seeks to Silence Novel About Mohammed's Nine Year Old Bride

Denise Spellberg, an associate professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, is an expert on the life of Aisha and she was asked for a comment to put on the cover of a novel by Sherry Jones called The Jewel of Medina. She demurred since she was appalled by the novel.

How I would like to know, could she claim that the book was "sacred history?" Was she speaking as a detached, secular, scientific observer? She was further quoted as saying the work was "softcore pornography." Spellberg said: "I felt it my duty to warn the press of the novel's potential to provoke anger among some Muslims. London-based cleric Anjem Choudhary has called the book an insult to the Prophet's honour, and thus warrants a "death penalty" under Sharia law. Goodness, we wouldn't expect Muslims to conduct themselves properly in a diverse, secular setting now would we? Spellberg further stated: "When combined with falsification of the Islamic past, it exploits Americans who know nothing about Aisha or her seventh century world." Thank you for looking after my reading habits and noting my ignorance professor.

Moreover, Spellberg then continued into areas fields further outside her academic expertise, she teaches the history of the Middle East and Gender in Islamic History, and was quoted as stating that the novel constituted a "declaration of war" and "a national security issue."

The author Sherry Jones has called on Professor Spellberg to retract her comments.

Spellberg has published an academic study of Aisha's life called Politics, Gender and the Islamic Past: The Legacy of Aisha bint Abi Bakr; she is currently on leave.

British Kow-tow to Muslim Censorship

Graphic source: AP

As the West begins to cower before Islamic censorship, the novel Jewel of Medina may not be published in Britain. The Random House publisher of the work, Martin Rynja, had his London house firebombed which provoked the cancelling of the publisher's right to a free press. Author Sherry Jones has called on freedom loving people to protest the indefinite postponent of the work. The book fictionalizes the life of one of the prophet Mohammed’s wives, Aisha.

Despite the London action, the American publisher, Beaufort Books, will publish the book on 15 October.

Girls Are the Perfect Weapon

15 Year old girl suicide bomber awaits her fate.

Video source: The Times Online

A 15 year-old teenage girl, handcuffed to an iron railing, patiently waits as an Iraqi explosives expert cuts the trigger cords on a suicide vest strapped to her body.

The footage originates from an August incident when police found Rania Ibrahim Mutlib in a side road in Baquba, north of Baghdad, having failed to detonate her charge. The girl claimed that she had been drugged and did not wish to become the 16th teenage girl bomber said to have struck in the past year. Her husband, Mohammed Hussein Mohammed Sameet, 24-years-old, bade her farewell as she dressed that morning. Police have been given metal detectors to scan women because women would pass through checkpoints without being searched since Islam forbids a man to frisk a woman. Young girls are the perfect weapon.

Same Old Chicago Boss: Obama

What is wrong in Ohio?

"How can you run when you know?"

"Ohio," lyrics by Neil Young

As the bailout fiasco continues, the Democrats in Congress managed to attach funds in the bill for Acorn which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Among their many activities is to organize voter registration efforts for the Democratic Party. In 2006 their efforts registered 1,800 new voters in Washington but only six were later verified as authentic. Yet, the same organization has been involved in similar nonsense in the swing states of Missouri, Michigan, and Colorado, in addition to Washington and Ohio. Moreover, the New York Times reported that the group misappropriated funds.

Who else would such an organization attract but of course Barack Obama during his community organizing. He trained Acorn staff and later the Democratic nominee funneled money to the group through the Woods Fund, on whose board he sat, and through the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.

During this organization, Acorn promoted non-credit-worthy borrowers and now taxpayers are expected to foot the bill for the failing lending companies.

Why not just put our collective feet down, on Acorn and their crony?

But, there is more.

The likelihood of fraud is greater than ever in this election year.

Ordinarily, ballots are safeguarded with representatives from major parties who overlook the voting process. Not this year in Ohio.

A lawsuit by GOP-backed voters was dismissed against the Democratic secretary of state, Jennifer Brunner, and her interpretation of Ohio's absentee voting law. Ohio changed its election law in 2005 to allow any registered voter to cast an absentee ballot, beginning Sept. 30. The deadline for registering isn't until Oct. 6, so Brunner ruled there is a six-day window in which voters can register and vote at the same time.

In Ohio there are no safeguards, no validation of ballots, no oversight. Obama learned his Chicago style politics well: `vote early, vote often.' To quote the Who: "Here comes the new boss, same as the old boss."

Africom Debuts

One place the U.S. can not afford to go is Africa. Nonetheless, the U.S. Africa Command, the Pentagon's first effort to unite its counterterrorism, training and humanitarian operations on the continent, is beginning. Africom, as it is known, may be an expansion of the U.S.-led war on terrorism and a bid to secure greater access to the continent's vast oil resources. Insurgent groups have been active in Somalia and North Africa which may be leading to an anti-AQAM move into Africa. In 2006, the U.S. military supplied intelligence to help Ethiopia overthrow a fundamentalist Islamic regime next door in Somalia. As blowback, the invasion energized a Islamist insurgency. U.S. forces have continued to launch strikes on suspected terrorist targets.

The economic factor plays an important role in the debate. Department of Energy statistics indicate that 17% U.S. crude oil imports now come from Africa, more than the United States gets from Persian Gulf countries. However, China is a looming presence in Africa and counter-balances American influence.

Is the U.S. willing to open up a third front in the war on terror? We are already stymied on two fronts. Is the U.S. willing to cozy up to more repressive regimes in order to extend our dependence on foreign oil? Many Africans would think so. And finally, has the U.S. already been beaten to the punch since China preceded the U.S. as an important presence on the Continent?

I Hate Congress; I Love Congress

The news just keeps getting worse for Congress, if they would listen of course as more Americans are willing to say they disapprove of how politicians have handled the financial crisis. According to a Gallup poll Obama won the approval of 46% of Americans, although it is largely his party that supports rewarding poor business practices on Wall Street. This is typical behavior, disliking Congress but liking my representative. Indeed, 39% approve of Democratic leaders in Congress. 37% approve of how McCain has responded, compared with 31% approval of Republican congressional leaders. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the main author of bailout plan, and George Bush received only 28% of respondents who said they approved of how Paulson and Bush responded. The overwhelming majority of Americans weighed in, against the plan, yet the plan was rather narrowly defeated although most Democrats voted in favor of the measure. At least it was turned down, so far.

The People in Lashkars Fight the Taliban Invaders

Some intelligence is reporting that in Pakistan a possible popular resistance movement is emerging. In the chaotic North West Frontier Province and the tribal territory, and in the face of the violent Taliban, some resistance has occurred. Islamabad is quite removed from then, most likely can not defend them, and they have organized themselves. Pakistani culture consists of fierce tribes and widely held gun ownership which has resulted in traditional private armies, or lashkars, each consisting of hundreds or even several thousands of volunteers. Lashkars have arisen in Bajaur, in the tribal zone, and Dir and Buner in the "settled" areas of NWFP.

Anyone for the Sons of Afghanistan?

Slick Willie Calls McCain "Great," Not So Obama

Former President Bill Clinton declined to call Obama "great" but he then explained what he meant in characterizing McCain as a "great man."

"I think his greatness is that he keeps trying to come back to service without ever asking people to cut him any slack or feel sorry for him or any of that stuff because he was a POW."

Bill knows a great possible President when he sees one, it takes one to know one.

Obama Up Again

The latest Gallup poll shows Obama Biden at 50% and McCain at 42% which is only one point less than the biggest lead Obama has held all year.

Kissinger Opposes Obama

Obama misspoke in regards to former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's comments about Iran in Friday's debate. Kissinger defended McCain's attack against Obama for Obama's willingness to meet with the Iranian president "without precondition."

Kissinger stated that he is not in favor of negotiations with Iran at the presidential level. He stated: "Sen. McCain is right. I would not recommend the next president of the United States engage in talks with Iran at the presidential level." Kissinger does not agree with McCain in all matters but he is right on Iran according to Kissinger.

Obama is embarrassing this country.

Pakistani Reaction to the 1st Presidential Debate

Mushahid Hussain, chair of Pakistan's Senate Committe of Foreign Relations, commented on the first presidential debate.

Hussain stated: "Senator McCain came across as more thoughtful with a better understanding of the situation in Pakistan's frontier regions, which he has visited, and he got it right when he said that we have to win the support of the people rather than threaten them with military strikes."

One thing strikes me, what is obvious to Pakistanis, is something that American independent voters fail to grasp.

What we can not agree to though, is something that weaker countries, allow for: unrestricted, and non-conditional talks. It should be obvious to the Pakistanis, and if the Islamabad bombing is not a message, I don't know what else could be, is that you can not sit down at the same table with people who want to kill you.

People Believe in Savior Obama

As I suspected, the polls suggest that most people believed the promises of Obama. An immediate telephone poll by CNN and Opinion Research Corp found 51% said Mr Obama had won, to 38% for Mr McCain; a poll of uncommitted voters by CBS News found that 39% gave Mr Obama victory, 25% thought John McCain had won, and 36% thought it was a draw.

Analysis of the First Debate

In the analysis of most commentators I believe last night's debate will be considered a draw. Both candidates were obviously not completely comfortable with the format, neither looked directly at the opponent for about the first 45 minutes, and they only got a bit more testy as the night wore on. If neither scored a knockout punch, then what else can we say about the candidates as they faced off head to head?

The debate hurt McCain more since he needed a knockout punch if he expected to pick up much needed votes. Also, it is difficult to evaluate the visible but hard to interpret reaction line that ran beneath the screen, consisting of Democrats, Republicans, and critically important Independents, but I would guesstimate that the Independents found Obama's words and promises more appealing.

On the other hand, several comments are in order. The issues of the economy seemed to have stumped Obama. When asked directly if he favored the proposed $700 billion dollar bailout, he waffled. Then, as a follow-up, when asked what he would cut since he identified not everything can be funded and some projects would need to be delayed, he again seem mystified. We are in dire financal straits but Obama went on to list more programs that he favored and would pay for, treasured Great Society programs such as education and food for poor children. Obama doesn't get it. He is not LBJ. We don't have that federal largesse any more. At one point McCain noted that Obama is the furthest from center candidate ever nominated by either major party. On the other hand, McCain stated his position bluntly. He would pay for defense, care for our veterans, and veto spending bills to reign in the free-spending government. In a time of fiscal crisis, which guideline might work? The French before the Revolution fell into a tailspin during war time yet they continued to fund extravagant projects.

In addition, McCain has been there. During any questions that involved how would you handle such and such international crisis or war effort, McCain was able to deftly respond, I've been there, I know the particulars and the players, and this is what I would do. Obama was left flailing on the ropes. He is embarrassingly out of his league in experience and international affairs, and the global situation is more dangerous today than it ever was during the Cold War. He is not prepared to handle an international crisis.

On the specific issues of war, Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama is running against the ghost of George Bush circa 2003. It is not 2003; it is 2008 and the surge worked in Iraq, and the military can apply the lessons learned there to achieve covert and overt victory in Afghanistan as well. Yet, Obama said we need to press Pakistan and take care of Osama et. al. by ourselves if necessary. As McCain rightly observed, you don't announce your intentions to your enemies, and doesn't Obama realize we have CIA assets in Pakistan who no doubt at this very moment are operating undercover? You don't unnecessarily put your troops at risk.

And, last but not least, isn't the lack of respect towards McCain revealing? Obama consistently referred to McCain as "John," ironically, even calling him "Tom" at one point, as if they were long-time colleagues from the Senate. They are not. In the Senate, Obama is in the background but McCain is a player who has reached across the aisle and cooperated with Democracts to sponsor major legislation. McCain, on the other hand, conducted himself as a gentleman, and respectfully referred to Obama as "Senator."

In the critical issue of experience versus judgement, McCain's experience trumped Obama's hailing of his sound judgement by calling him to task. Obama can not deliver; he is the Teflon candidate.

Of Vices and Dustbins

And now let us praise famous men, drum roll please: George Clinton, Elbridge Gerry, Daniel D. Tompkins, Richard M. Johnson, George M. Dallas, William R. King, Hannibal Hamlin, Schuyler Colfax, Henry Wilson, William A. Wheeler, Thomas A. Hendricks, Levi P. Morton, Garrett A. Hobart, Charles W. Fairbanks, James S. Sherman, Thomas R. Marshall, Charles G. Dawes, Charles Curtis, John N. Garner, Henry A. Wallace, Alben W. Barkley, Hubert H. Humphrey, Spiro T. Agnew, Nelson A. Rockefeller, Walter F. Mondale, and J. Danforth Quayle. If the names do not roll off the tongue, nor can you really identify who and what they are about, this should not surprise us. They are a particularly undistinguished lot in terms of their actual service record in the position in question. Even when their names are somewhat familiar, George Clintion, not the singer, nor related to "Slick Willie, or Gerry providing his name to a disreputable political practice, "gerrymandering," or even those more recent figures whose names might be somewhat known and may ring a bell: Wallace, Humphrey, Agnew, Rockefeller, Mondale, or Quayle, they are not easily identified. The point here is that Vice-Presidents, the list of unknowns here, really are "just a heartbeat away from the Presidency," but most Vice-Presidents simply retreat into the dustbin of history. It is true of course that numerous Vice-Presidents were known commodities, but that is largely because they went on to distinguish themselves as President or they were identifiable as part of a larger historical movement or made another important contribution.

To wit, Palin is a political choice for the Republican ticket, if she does not know all the intricacies of foreign policy, she will simply do what all Vice-Presidents do, study for the job and if history calls upon her, God help us if she is not ready.

This is the traditional role of Vice-Presidents anyway. Most just fade away over time. The more interesting aspect of the Republican ticket, it seems to me, is that many people already have poor McCain dead and buried while displaying an unhealthy predilection towards age discrimination.

Many older people can and do have important contributions to make to this country. I would hope that the nay-sayers would lighten up. McCain might not die tomorrow.

McCain Believable on Economy

McCain does not need to "grand-stand" on the economy, in fact, it hurts him. It is not in his interest to suspend the debates unless he truly believes, and he is of course a key player, he can help the U.S. to end the financial crisis. He would be better off trumpeting Iraq, an issue that he comes off stronger in the polls, if he were really only trying to get attention for his campaign. The debate should end and the principals should agree to a plan.

Maverick McCain Shows His Presidential Character

Whether he wins or loses, there is a candidate who certainly appears Presidential. In another surprising move for a guy who is accused of being more of the same, McCain had another idea. McCain announced that he is suspending his campaign to return to Washington and focus on the "historic" crisis facing the U.S. economy. If Obama follows, and he is in a difficult position, since he is following, he will demonstrate that he is not a leader. If he continues on the campaign trail, he will demonstrate that he is more interested in himself, and his campaign, than he is in the country's well-being. McCain also called on the organizers of Friday's presidential debate to postpone the event.

Bush has proposed a $700 billion bailout for the troubled U.S. economy.

The proposal was drafted by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

The troubling aspect of the Obama campaign is that he previously just played politics as usual by lashing out at the Bush administration, McCain, and the handling of the crisis on Wall Street as well as the $700 billion bailout plan by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson.

The move would be the most sweeping economic intervention by the government since the Great Depression. Maybe we should think about it first: 'ya think?

Petraeus 2008 Ramadan Style

A spokesperson for the Multi National Forces (MNF) in Iraq on Wednesday stated that violence during Ramadan 2008 was 82% less when compared with Ramadan 2007. And, speaking of comparison, if Petraeus was Washington, he would hailed as one of American's finest generals ever. But alas, he will not receive as much credit as he deserves for carrying out one of the most significant about-faces ever in American military history.

Advice to the President?

What would you do if you had to advise the next President? We would all probably wonder what we would say to the politicians if we had the chance, starting with, perhaps, work harder, but secretaries of state actually get to advise the President. Five former secretaries of state recently had some words of advice. Former Secretary of State James Baker advised engaging Syria. Baker served President George H.W. Bush and has endorsed McCain.

Colin Powell criticized McCain's toughness on Moscow. He pointed out that the Russian Federation had legitimate interests in the region. Interestingly, Powell has not decided which candidate to back. He stated the election of an African-American president "would be electrifying, but at the same time [I have to] make a judgment here on which would be best for America." Powell is hedging his bets.

Henry Kissinger, who served under Nixon and Ford, said the U.S. needs Russia for help on Iran and we may need Russia if Pakistan evolves in a positive direction.

Madeleine Albright stated that the U.S. did not understand Iranian society. Yes, Madeleine, so what is your point? Does Iran understand us?

Warren Christopher said we should check how authentic the Iranians are while we attempt to negotiate with them. We have to be wary because of their nuclear potential but without substantive dialogue we have few alternatives "because, frankly, the military options here are very, very poor." He is correct on that point.

U.S. Allies, the Pakistanis, Fire Upon American Troops

Our beloved allies, the Pakistani military, fired on U.S. helicopters as they attempted to cross Pakistan's border to attack the Taliban in the lawless region near the village of Lwara Mundiof, North Waziristan. The area is dominated by the Taliban Haqqani family. Pakistani regular Army and Frontier Corps units opened fire during two separate incidents. Since U.S. sources denied the incursion, it is possible that the Pakistanis are simply posturing for their domestic audience. They have to play up to the insurgents in their midst and show how they are standing up to the U.S.

Pakistan may yet need U.S. intervention. We have eliminated three senior al Qaeda leaders who have been killed in the attacks. Also, the Haqqanis, run by Jalaluddin and Siraj Haqqani, has also been hit heavily. We need to attack these targets because otherwise AQ will have the ability to plan and conduct attacks against the West since we know these are the staging grounds for attacks against us. Pakistan may regret having these cretins in their midst.

Pakistan's leaders seem to think you can placate the insurgents but the suicide attack against the Marriott Hotel should convince them otherwise. The majority of those killed were Pakistanis.

Two U.S. Killed in Islamabad

Two members of the U.S. armed forces were killed in the Islamabad Suicide Blast (ISB) that killed more than 50 people at the Marriott Hotel, the Defense Department said on Sunday.

10% Undecided: McCain Ahead in Florida, Ohio, and Missouri

Sens. Obama and McCain are neck and neck in key battleground states. The key states are Florida, Ohio, and Missouri. McCain holds a one-point lead in Florida, ahead of Obama 47-46 percent. Obama has outspent McCain by a margin of more than eight to one. McCain also leads by a one-point margin in Ohio, up 47-46 percent. In Missouri, McCain leads Obama by four points, 49-45 percent. 6 percent remain undecided in Missouri. Obama is ahead in CNN's national poll of polls. Obama is ahead of McCain by three percentage points, 47-44. About 10 percent of voters are still undecided so the debates could prove critical but it is not unusual that the winner in the debates still goes on to lose the election, to wit, Kerry lost to Bush last time around.

Bin Laden the Pop Star

Graphic source: Language and Communication

Poetry recitals by Osama Bin Laden will be published from performances at wedding banquets and feasts from the 1990s. The performance tapes were preserved on recordings recovered from his compound in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks. Professor Flagg Miller, an Arabist at the University of California, Davis, reports that Bin Laden excells in a standard Arabic poetic form, hamasa--a warlike poetic tradition from Oman--that is enormously popular throughout the Islamic world. Bin Laden was so well known at the time that many people taped him and the recordings were circulated like pop songs.

Some sample lines of one poem states:
“A youth who plunges into the smoke of war smiling stains the blades of lances red. May God not let my eye stray from the most eminent humans, lest they fall.”

The FBI originally suspected that the poems may have coded messages to sleeper cells but it seems more obvious that Bin Laden simply expressed himself in a typical Islamic manner. The search for coded messages, hidden in typical Arabic poetry, is part and parcel of how the U.S. fails to grasp the obvious. Bin Laden explicitly stated his intentions, and then carried out all of his threats, all in plain sight (Cf. Michael Scheuer, Through Our Enemies Eyes). In addition, the FBI has no place, operating as it is as a fish out of water, in the brutal, cut-throat overseas world of jihad.

About 20 tapes feature the “distinctive monotone” of Bin Laden, according to Miller. Excerpts from the tapes will appear in the October issue of the journal Language and Communication, (Cf. The Abstract below).

The tapes often revealed news to family members about the deaths of their sons. According to Miller, Bin Laden's poems were calculating: “He crafts his words to excite the urban dissatisfied youth, offering them escape from their elders and villages. Instead, many just die in terrible ways.”

Miller plans to write a book about Bin Laden’s poetry while the tapes will be preserved at Yale University where they will be available to scholars.

Abstract

This article explores area studies contributions to sociolinguistics by examining Sunni reformers’ use of the Arabic term al-qācida, or a “pragmatic base.” Material is drawn from an audiocassette collection formerly owned by Usāma Bin Lādı¯n. Divergent approaches to the qācida suggest that the term functions a base for many forms of spatial, temporal, social, and ethical orientation. Much of the critical leverage of the concept stems from speakers’ sense of Arabic as a template of ethical attunement that cues language users to founding Muslim lifeways and leaders in and beyond the Arabian Peninsula. A review of Western Arabic sociolinguistics shows how scholars have hampered and also enhanced an understanding of the pragmatic resourcefulness of Arabic. Special attention is given to the ways area studies can help situate Arabic as a signifying practice that accommodates diverse textual, historical, and territorial claims.

U.S. Army to Take Care of Business in Pakistan

In what is one of the most important recent developments in the Pakistani versus the U.S. standoff it has been announced that U.S. army trainers are set to arrive in Pakistan shortly. There had been a plan to send dozens of U.S. military advisers to Pakistan to train the Pakistan Army in counter-insurgency but this has received new force recently. In a matter of weeks a new agreement has centered on a training base to be located in Pakistan. Joint Chiefs Chairman Michael Mullen as stated that the U.S. and Pakistan had cleared the remaining obstacles to the arrival of the advisers.

This should be a good move since Pakistan has dragged its feet while claiming they are allied with us in the war on terror. With the massive amounts of support and aid the U.S. has squandered on the Pakistanis, they are no closer to shutting down the Taliban and other AQAM than before. The Pakistanis have been adept at manipulating American officials and have been eager to receive weaponry and equipment that look as if best suited to oppose its regional rival India.

Since Pakistan has accused the U.S. of violating Pakistani sovereignty, as if Pakistan had sovereignty throughout its entire nation, which it doesn't; and, I believe Pakistan fails as a supposed ally in the war on terror, the building of a U.S. training facility, on Pakistani soil and with their permission, is a solid move against the Taliban and AQAM. The U.S. can take care of business.

Whoever heard such an outrageous comment from a supposed ally as Pakistani officials issued a warning that they might open fire on Coalition troops crossing into Pakistani territory?

Either Pakistan is with us or they are against us. And, if they do not prosecute the war on terror with zeal, then, we will. We can not afford to have our troops subject to attack while the insurgents simply scurry back across the lawless Pakistani regions (FATA).

Briton's Youngest Terrorist Convicted

Graphic source: Reuters

The youngest Briton, Hammaad Munshi, 18, ever to be convicted of a terrorism offense was jailed for two years for his worldwide plot to target non-Muslims. His co-accused Aabid Hussain Khan recruited Munshi when he was 15 and at just 16 Munshi was arrested in Dewsbury, northern England for his support of AQ. Khan will serve a 12 year term while their cell-mate Sultain Muhammad was sentenced to a 10-year term. Munshi was found guilty of being part of a cell that spread extremist propaganda and provided practical guides on how to make poisons and suicide vests. The Internet was his tool as he circulated material including technical documents on how to make napalm and homemade explosives, and discussed how to smuggle a sword through airport security. He was sentenced to two years in a young offenders' institution. Prosecutors said Munshi was part of a cell that provided information on terrorist techniques, training, weapons and explosives.

U.S. Special Operations Target Pakistani Camps

U.S. Special Ops have increased attacks against insurgents in Pakistan's chaotic tribal regions as intelligence officials seek to stem an attack inside the United States. AQ has proved to be remarkably resilient but the next expected attack seems involved training in the tribal camps. As the U.S. has raided Pakistani areas, the attempt is intended to root out the training camps and safe houses. The targets are AQ's Taliban allies, in particular the long-standing Haqqani family in North Waziristan and the Taliban forces of Mullah Nazir in South Waziristan. The insurgents appear to be actively recruiting Western looking operatives. These operatives seem to be training somewhere in the Northwest Frontier Province at the 157 training camps and more than 400 support locations dispersed throughout the tribal areas and the Northwest Frontier Province.

At Least One American Killed in Yemeni Embassy Attack

Graphic source: CNN

Susan Ali Elbaneh, a U.S. citizen, was killed in the terrorist attack in Yemen, site of the attack on the U.S.S. Cole. She was 19 and had been married for just two months. She died alongside her husband. Ironically, and just a coincidence that she was killed in the attack, Elbaneh is a relative of Yemeni-American Jaber Elbaneh who is on the FBI's most wanted list. Yemen has not cooperated in extraditing Jaber. Elbaneh had accompanied her sister in law who had an appointment with the embassy. During the attack, Ms. Elbaneh's nephew, aged three, may also be among the casualties.

The U.S. had only recently decided to return to the Embassay after having pulling out citing security concerns.

The highly coordinated and complex attack is usually a hallmark of AQ attacks but another group, the Yemeni Islamic Jihad, has claimed responsibility. How the group and AQ are related is unclear. Leading figures include Qasim al Raymi and Nasser al Wahayshi, two of the 23 AQ insurgents who escaped prison in February 2006. Hamza al Quaity, the former leader of Yemeni Islamic Jihad, also escaped during the same prison break and later formed Yemeni Islamic Jihad. All three have strong ties to al Qaeda.

All told, 16 people were killed in the attack, which did not involve U.S. service personnel. In addition, the actions of the Yemeni security forces apparently thwarted the attack and bore the brunt of the casuality toll.

AQ Network Problems

Well, after a couple of days in cyberspace, and no one really taking credit, whoever took down AQ: the world thanks you. After hearing so many Islamo-apologists proclaim just how media savvy AQ is; they are not. Al-Qaida's As-Sahab Media Foundation suffered a number of technical problems that delayed the publication of AQ's 9/11 anniversary video. A crippling network outage thwarted AQ plans to distribute their drivel. One of the AQ discussion forums, "Al-Ekhlaas," was thankfully knocked off line before this 9/11. Thereafter, a series of domains used by yet another competing extremist forum "Al-Hesbah," blacked out. "Ekhlaas" has been offline, and there has been no word from As-Sahab. AQ wants to play the game but they lost so thanks whoever you are. AQ's tech needs some work. Finally, As-Sahab has breathed new life today and distributed packaged copies of the video "Results of 7 Years of the Crusades," or at least it has attempted the distribution. Now, they have caused their own problems. Human error is at fault when the wrong password for the packaged video--meaning that users can download but not actually view the film, was announced. All the site needs to state is the correct password but our poor insurgents are still waiting for re-publication. As-Sahab is not as slick and professional as many would like to claim, and really, does the world need more hate and recruitment for insurgents?

The mustard comes off the hot dog.

EU May Act to End Horn Piracy

In what I believe to be a positive development, the European Union, with 27 member nations, plans a mission to tackle the increasing problem with piracy off Somalia. The EU plans to send a possible naval mission to the Horn of Africa. The U.S. has argued, alone and with its own forces, that lawlessness should end in the region but I do not think the U.S. should go it alone. The shipping lanes directly impact the EU and they should be solving their own problems.

There have been at least fifty attacks since January in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. The International Maritime Bureau, a private non-profit organisation that tracks such data, says seizures of ships and sailors are running at their highest level since 1991, when it first started to collect piracy data.

If the EU does decide to act, their justification is within the framework of United Nations Security Council resolution 1816, which the members unanimously adopted in June. The potential action is also in line with their recent higher-profile role in efforts to promote security in Africa, having deployed a 3,700-strong peacekeeping force in eastern Chad this year.

The next more positive development, although there are no signs of anything of the sort happening now, is that India and possibly China would send additional personnel.

Hackers Shut AQ Up

As-Sahab, Al Qaeda’s media unit, was not able to post a videotape on 9/11. Western intelligence suspects two hackers who have targeted Islamicist sites before were responsible: Aaron Weisburd from Internet Haganah and Rusty Shackleford from the web group My Pet Jawa.

In 2004, a hacker group called TeAmZ USA had knocked out the websites of Abu Musal al-Zarqawi, late head of the Al Qaeda in Iraq, for showing tapes of Westerners being beheaded. The hackers left the image of a gun-toting penguin on the website.

Sheikh Pronounces Islamic Law: Mickey Mouse Must Die

Sheikh Muhammad Munajid, a cleric and a former diplomat at the Saudi embassy in Washington DC, stated that Mickey Mouse is "one of Satan's soldiers" and makes everything it touches impure. Under Sharia, both household mice and their cartoon counterparts must be killed. Munajid provided Islam's teaching on mice during a religious affairs programme broadcast on al-Majd TV, an Arab television network. According to a translation prepared by the Middle East Media Research Institute, an American press monitoring service, he said: "The mouse is one of Satan's soldiers and is steered by him." The Islamic expert declared that "according to Islamic law, Mickey Mouse should be killed in all cases." Last week his target was the Beijing Olympics which was described as the "bikini Olympics", claiming that nothing made Satan happier than seeing females athletes dressed in skimpy outfits.

My blog may be hard to take at times, but I assure you, I did not make this story up.

Checkpoint-Friendly Bags for Airport Security

Checkpoint-friendly bags allow laptops to be fully visible to security scanners. This scan was taken by Aerovation, which went to the distributor of the X-ray equipment used by TSA and rented its lab. Graphic source: Aerovation

While traveling this summer I noticed all the difficulties people had with their laptops, especially at one of the most secure airports I traveled through: Phoenix. The issue arises once people are required to remove their laptops from their protective cases. Laptops get dropped, damaged, forgotten and even stolen outright. One study by Dell estimated that about 12,000 laptops are lost in U.S. airports every week. All you need is for yours to be one of the numbers and its costly.

Presently, the TSA has recognized the importance of the laptop issue and on the market now are five criteria: a designated laptop-only section; a laptop-only section that completely unfolds to lay flat on the X-ray conveyor belt; no metal snaps, zippers or buckles inside, underneath or on top of the laptop-only section; no pockets on the inside or outside of the laptop-only section; and, nothing packed in the laptop-only section other than the computer itself.

There are eight full-featured TSA-approved cases, available now or soon, with pockets and compartments that hold everything from your power adapter and accessories to a change of clothes: Aerovation Checkpoint Friendly Laptop Bag, CODi Phantom CT3, Mobile Edge ScanFast Backpack, Pathfinder Wheeled Checkpoint Friendly CompuBrief, Skooba Design Checkthrough, Solo CheckFast Laptop Clamshell, Targus Zip-Thru 15.4" Corporate Traveler Laptop Case, and the Tom Bihn Checkpoint Flyer Briefcase.

Lieberman Fighting YouTube, Again

I have to hand it to one of the few politicians to be persistent. Even if I disagree with censorship, which I do by nature, and I think that the response to stupidity is a strong counter, I admire Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) in his battle with YouTube. Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, has asked the service to remove video content produced by terrorist organizations that showed assassinations, the deaths of U.S. soldiers and civilians, weapons training and other objectionable material. Lieberman said the content intends to "encourage violence against the West."

The solution seems to be working towards a solution as YouTube revises its community standards, or Terms of Service. The key line is the note about "inciting others to commit violent acts or to violate the terms of use are taken very seriously."

There are countries in which free speech to incite others to violence is not protected speech. In Canada for example, freedom of speech is generally protected under Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Criminal Code of Canada, however, limits these freedoms and provides for several forms of punishable hate speech. The form of punishable hate speech considered to encompass fighting words is identified in Section 319. Free speech has its limitations when it is an incitement to violence against others.

Lieberman's point is along these lines. He stated: "YouTube was being used by Islamist terrorist organizations to recruit and train followers via the Internet and to incite terrorist attacks around the world, including right here in the United States, and Google should be commended for recognizing that." He added: "I expect these stronger community guidelines to decrease the number of videos on YouTube produced by al-Qaeda and affiliated Islamist terrorist organizations."

Pakistan Threatens Britain with Reprisal Violence

Pakistan’s high commissioner to the UK, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, threatened Britain. The recent actions by the U.S. bombings, intending to eliminate Taliban and AQAM elements, had inadvertently killed civilians. According to Hasan, this makes the streets of London fair game for reprisals. He stated: “There are 1m Pakistanis in the diaspora here and resentment is mounting. I’m being flooded by text messages from community leaders saying we must organise our anger."

Pakistan’s newly elected president, Asif Ali Zardari, arrives in Britain today. He will hold talks with Gordon Brown and David Miliband, the foreign secretary. He will appeal to them to exert their influence to halt the unauthorised bombings.

Taliban Kills Children

The world will not be outraged but an explosion killed six children in Afghanistan, 12 were wounded, some of them critically. The roadside bomb was apparently planted by Taliban rebels to target Afghan and Coalition troops. The children from Sardar village started playing with explosives and they went off. If the Coalition targets the Taliban and civilians are killed as a result, expect an outcry against the U.S.

Model Checking

One of the most frustrating things about computing is that the equipment does not work simply. I envision the day when computer use is as simple as a television. You simply plug it in, and it works, although T.V.'s are evolving to be more complicated than that. The point holds for T.V.'s `back in the day.' Along comes a work that I recently reviewed (forthcoming) which outlines current work in computing, Model Checking, that seems to be a useful area of endeavor. Working closely with programmers and computer specialists I never cease to marvel at their technical abilities, though computers themselves still seemed obtuse. However, even for non-specialists, the area of Model Checking is intriguing because computing specialists in this area may be solving some of the most frustrating aspects of computing: waste and delay. I intend to follow some of the current work in the field in the hopes that computing will be more efficient and practical.

About Time for Pakistan

Pakistan’s unwillingness, or inability to dismantle insurgent safe havens in Fata (the lawless regions of Pakistan) has finally prompted the U.S. administration to decide that "enough is enough." Pakistan must be cooperating since they have been largely mum about the new initiative although previously Pakistan disapproval was clear. The U.S. needed to take action to solve the problem of insurgents having a free rein in the region. The move followed Pakistan’s feeble attempts to forge peace deals with militants in the tribal areas. In addition, the U.S. should not be expected to conduct business as usual following heavy casualties.

McCain Lead Currently 1 Point

CNN's average of national polls shows McCain currently holds a 1-point lead over Obama at 46-45%. The average is composed of five national general election surveys: Fox News/Opinion Dynamics (September 8-9), NBC/Wall Street Journal (September 6-8), American Research Group (September 6-8), Gallup (September 8-10), and Diageo/Hotline (September 8-10). It does not have a sampling error. If the polls remain at those numbers it will be an extremely close race, among the closest ever.

Al Qaeda Loss in Iraq

Graphic source: The Long War Journal

In what is probably the most fascinating set of documents yet uncovered, a number of AQ letters reveals what has become obvious in the long war community: AQ is fragmenting in Iraq. Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaeda's second in command, Abu Ayyub al Masri, al Qaeda in Iraq's leader, and Abu Omar al Baghdadi, the leader of al Qaeda's Islamic State of Iraq exchanged letters which were intercepted by Coalition forces. The letters reveal that AQ's senior leadership has lost confidence in AQ's leadership in Iraq. Perhaps even more revealing is a graphic revealing the loss of territory by AQ between 2006 up to the present. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Most Recently Conducted Polls: McCain Even, a Victory of Sorts

Several recent presidential polls are interesting to consider. The CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation poll conducted in Michigan among registered voters calculated Barack Obama at 45 percent, John McCain 42 percent, and Ralph Nader 6 percent. Of particular pain for McCain is that in southwestern Michigan-—which Bush won overwhelmingly four years ago-—Obama is up by 9 points. A similar poll in Missouri among registered voters showed McCain at 48 percent and Obama at 44 percent. In New Hampshire among registered voters Obama garnished 48 percent and McCain 43 percent. In Virginia among registered voters McCain took 49 percent and Obama 43 percent.

Score: Obama 2, McCain 2.

The most striking aspect of this, admittedly unusual presidential election, is that Obama has not struck the killer blow. It seems closest to the Carter defeat at the hands of Reagan, the significant difference is in their respective parties. However, a hugely unpopular incumbent President, Carter, similar to Bush, lost overwhelmingly to Reagan. Obama should be delivering the knock-out blow to McCain as a third term of Bush but this has not happened. McCain is in the running or beating Obama in the polls. As some have noted, Obama might not possess the toughness required of a President. He can not deliver.

Why I Take Middle Eastern Opinion Polls With a Grain of Salt

I know the conventional wisdom is to take the results of polls fairly seriously. On the other hand, bear in mind the off-base things that people believe. For example, Arab nations still suspect that it was U.S. in cahoots with Israel who were behind the 9/11 attacks. There is no credible evidence that such a thing actually occurred but the facts do not trouble the irrational and misguided. Nonetheless, when poll after poll shows how America's place in the world is diminished, I do not lose much sleep over it. As the cliche states it: consider the source.

Many Medieval people believed the planets revolved around the Earth but such wishful thinking did not make it so. Likewise, many Middle Easteners think there is a conspiracy against Muslims.

The San Diego Tribune reported one such statement: “Look, I don't believe what your governments and press say. It just can't be true,” stated Ahmed Issab, 26, a Syrian engineer who lives and works in the United Arab Emirates. “Why would they tell the truth? I think the U.S. organized this so that they had an excuse to invade Iraq for the oil.” A person intelligent enough to receive a decent education, a scientist no less, and an engineer to boot; yet, Mr. Issab is not discerning enough to understand that the U.S. and Israel and not involved in a devil's pact to bring down Islam? I do not buy it.

Isn't there a way to end the double standard against Americans? I mean, we are often described as the ugly Americans because we do not understand the rest of the world; on the other hand, any nonsense that the media reports on from the Middle East is treated with the utmost respect. Why can't someone simply ask for evidence? What evidence is there that a grand conspiracy exists between these two nations? At least that would be the scientific way to approach a controversial issue.

The same Times article noted: "Americans might better understand the region, experts here said, if they simply listen to what people are saying – and try to understand why – rather than taking offense." The point they make is that Americans need to understand, yet, any half-baked notion arising from the Middle East is accepted uncritically. The fact that the foreign policy of the U.S. and Israel coincides is evidence of nothing more than what it is: two nations view their self-interest, for a time, similarly. These things change, they have before and they will again.

Offensive prejudice, on the part of Middle Easteners, is accepted uncritically and embraced as an authentic voice of the people. This is wrong-headed. The only way America was able to stare down and defeat prejudice, such as lynching, was through education, a more active Justice Department, and federal intervention. It helps no one not to ask Middle Easterners to learn more accurate information about the U.S.

British Muslims Convicted of World's Biggest Terrorist Atrocity Planning

Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 27, Assad Sarwar, 28, and Tanvir Hussain, 27, three British Muslims were found guilty of conspiracy to murder. The world's biggest terrorist atrocity plot is the one responsible for the banning of liquids of airline flights up to the present. An unknown AQ associate, planned to conceal explosives within 500ml Oasis or Lucozade bottles; thereafter, the al-Qaeda cell members in London planned to detonate a series of liquid-based bombs disguised as soft drinks. The suicide bombers intended to blow up several transatlantic airliners bound for America in a simultaneous attack which would have caused an even greater loss of life than 9/11. Other possible targets included the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf, nuclear power stations, and oil terminals.

The jury was unable to reach verdicts on conspiracy to murder charges relating to four other defendants: Ibrahim Savant, Arafat Khan, Waheed Zaman and Umar Islam; they now face a retrial.

An eighth man, Mohammed Gulzar, was found not guilty on all counts, including conspiracy to murder.

Police said the plot was drawn up in Pakistan with detailed instructions passed to Ali during frequent trips to its lawless border with Afghanistan. In a suicide video Ali warned the British public to expect "floods of martyr operations" that would leave body parts scattered in the streets.

Zawahiri Admits Defeat in Iraq

Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al-Qaeda's deputy leader, stated in his latest missive that Iran was "collaborating" with the US in its occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq. The video entitled "Assessment of Seven Years of Crusades," was produced by AQ's media arm, Al-Sahab. The 90-minute video also attacks Lebanese, Pakistani and Afghan leaders. The interesting aspect of the message is that it is an admission of AQAM's failure in Iraq. Of course Iran and the U.S. did not collaborate but by attacking fellow insurgents, Zawahiri is admitting defeat in Iraq, something that the U.S. surge handled by early this year spring and at the same time Zawahiri announced was critical to AQ's aims. The recruitment of young people and children that Zawahiri announced at the time did not come to pass.

Zawahiri exacerbates already troublesome relationships with Iraqi Shia clerics and the Lebanese Shia militant group, Hezbollah. He stated: "Hezbollah has not obtained any victory in Lebanon against Israel." Otherwise, the tape is just more of the same with the added note regarding the importance of Algeria. The tape also unwittingly points to increasing tensions within worldwide insurgent movements.

Infrastructure Issues: Not to Mention Attacks

One of the biggest concerns with our aging infrastructure is that the demands placed on the systems are too great. Coupled with possible insurgent attacks, Americans are really susceptible to increasing issues with transportation. The problem was illustrated graphically with the recent Federal Aviation Administration's traffic management computer system issue which caused flight delays at U.S. airports.

The delays were largely centered around airports in the northeastern U.S. which is among our oldest and most prone systems.

CNN.com reported that all major U.S. airports were affected by the computer problem at a facility near Atlanta. Problems processing data in Atlanta meant that flight-plan information had to be routed through another facility in Salt Lake City.

Now, if you were seeking to create havoc on American airlines, where would you strike?

Those two sites handle all flight plans for commercial and general flights in the U.S.

August Order of Battle in Iraq

Graphic source: The Long War Journal

The August Order of Battle in Iraq demonstrates progress in increasing responsibilities for native Iraqi elements as the U.S. plans to draw down its troops.

Pakistan Makes a Step Towards Democracy: Zardari

Nearly a year after assassins killed Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, her widower, Asif Ali Zardari, won the country's presidential election and hailed his triumph as a victory for democracy. "I feel democracy has been vindicated," Zardari told CNN. Zardari had been the front-runner in the race to replace former President Pervez Musharraf, who was forced to resign last month. The pro-American Zardari will rule a nuclear power threatened by the Islamic Taliban militants and economic turmoil. Conditions are extremely difficult currently but if Zardari can support the U.S. efforts to curtail Islamism the world will be a better place. The U.S. can possibly access the areas where the central Pakistani government is too weak to control.

Pakistan Cuts its Own Throat

Supposedly our ally, Pakistan, has reportedly blocked a major fuel supply route for Western forces in Afghanistan in response to a raid by US forces in northwest Pakistan earlier this week. Al-Qaeda and pro-Taliban fighters live in sanctuaries in northwest Pakistan's ethnic Pashtun tribal areas, where they organise attacks in Afghanistan. The U.S. can not afford to sit idly by while its troops are being attacked. And, in these lawless regions, the central Pakistani government is hardly in control of the regions, thus, Pakistan does not enjoy sovereignty in the region. The U.S. has every right to protect its troops any way it can.

Afghan Support to Increase, Eventually

With the developing violence and the increasing numbers of foreign insurgents, some of whom are fleeing the losing AQAM campaigns in Iraq, which is not a bad thing, are pouring into Afghanistan, the U.S. will launch a "very aggressive" winter campaign according to Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey J. Schloesser, commander of the 101st Airborne Division task force in eastern Afghanistan. The unprecedented winter offensive, and the first major action since 2002, will be coupled with a development drive that will provide some $479 million to help employ young Afghan males on local development projects. Due to a lack of troops, the U.S. is pressed to hold territory and protect the people against the Taliban and other foreign invaders. American military commanders in Afghanistan have been pleading for more troops for more than a year. At least 10,000 more troops, about two brigade combat teams, are needed in Afghanistan, U.S. commanders have stated. About 33,000 U.S. troops are fighting in Afghanistan, including 19,000 under Schloesser's command and 14,000 assigned to the NATO command. Both Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, indicated that it is unlikely that additional troops will be deployed to Afghanistan until troop reductions are made in Iraq next spring. The unusual winter campaigns have been provoked by U.S. intelligence reports which indicate that many of the 7,000 to 11,000 insurgents in Afghanistan are planning to remain there over the winter.

Celebrating Jihad

On 14 August 2008 the Islamist group Jamatud Dawa - the new name of the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, led by Professor Hafiz Muhammad Saeed - held a conference in Lahore, billed as the "Defend Pakistan Conference."

At the opening of the conference, a duo, Hafiz Abdul Wadud Hasan and Hafiz Abdur Rauf, sang the following song, described by the organizers as the "jihadi tarana (anthem)."

The song is available at the Jamatud Dawa website.

"Jihad will continue till the Day of Judgement; jihad will never stop.

(Jihad jari rahega ta qayamat
Jihad hargiz naheen rukega)

It has forced oppressor's head to bow; it will end oppression and torture.

(Is se zalim ka sar jhuka hai
Is se zulm-o-sitam mitega)

Jihad is the order of Allah; jihad is the path of the Prophet.

(Jihad farman hai Khuda ka
Jihad rasta hai Mustafa ka)

Jihad is the assurance of loyalty; every true Muslim will be loyal.

(Jihad paiman hai wafa ka
Her ek momin wafa karega)

Jihad is mentioned in the Koran; jihad is the eternity of faith.

(Jihad Qur'an mein likha hai
Jihad Eiman ki baqaa hai)

This is the Will [of God], this is [His] happiness; no one can change it.

(Yahi masheeat, yahi raza hai
Jise na koi badal saekga)

Only Jihad has always cut the head of evil from the earth

(Zameen se fitno ka sar hamesha
Jihad hi se qalam huwa hai)

If jihad has the power in it; mischief will have no substance.

(Rahega dam kham jihad mein to
Fasad mein dam naheen rahega)

Jihad alone gives voice; respect comes to the helpless.

(Jihad hi se zaban milti
Hai aan milti hai bekason ko)

Jihad will make the gods of falsehood naked.

(Jihad jhooti khudaion ko
Ulat kar be abroo karega)

Avoidance of jihad has given birth to subjugation.

(Jihad se ijtniab hi ne
Ghulamion ko janam diya hai)

Enemies of Jihad will be dishonoured; they will sink into an unending abyss.

(Jihad dushman zaleel hoker
Athaah pasti mein ja girega)

Jihad is the protection of the Ummah; jihad is the symbol of self-respect.

(Jihad millat ki pasbani
Jihad ghairat ki hai nishani)

Jihad is a Revealed gift; only the lucky ones will get it.

(Jihad tuhfa hai aasmani
Naseeb walon ko hi milega)

Jihad destroys terror; jihad brings good news.

(Jihad dehshat mitane walaa
Jihad muzde sunane walaa)

Jihad teaches how to live; only those will live who learn to die.

(Jihad jeena sikhane walaa
Jo marna seekhega wo jiyegaa)

Jihad is the state of ecstasy; jihad is the army of the brave.

(Jihad alam hai bekhudi ka
Jihad Lashkar bahaduri ka)

Jihad is the flag of truth; Never has it bowed, nor will it bow.

(Jihad parcham hai rasti ka
Kabhi jhuka, na kabhi jhukega)

Jihad is the kingdom of faith; jihad is the depth of emotions.

(Jihad eiman ki hai shahi
Jihad jazbon ki hai bepanahi)

Jihad is the destruction of heretics; those who fight against it will die.

(Jihad alhad ki tabahi
Ise mitayega jo mitega)

Jihad is to stand for truth; not go back once you have taken the step.

(Jihad Afazan haq per hai datna
Qadam barhaker ne peechhe hanta)

Jihad is the Eagle's attack; falsehood will be victim.

(Jihad shaheen ka jhapatna
Shikar batil bana rahega)"

Cf. http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD204208