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.