Jeffrey K. Mann: on why the Muslim world hates us Conn Hallinan: on Cyprus as political collateral damage Anouar Boukhars: the dominant divide is not between the West and the Muslim world; it is between extremists and moderates

New York University

U.S. State Department's
Report on Patterns of Global Terrorism for 2002

The US State Department's Report on Patterns of Global Terrorism for 2001

ISRAELI SUICIDE BOMBER WAS RECRUITED IN PRISON UNDER NOSE OF SHIN BET
Two of the male suicide bombers who struck Israel over the weekend were photographed together before leaving for their respective assignments. One of them had been in administrative detention just before the attack. What has Israeli intelligence agencies most concerned is the fact that a lethal suicide cell was able to function openly on Israeli territory without anyone being aware of its existence.
(Ha'aretz, May 19, 2003)

STILL NOT GETTING THE MESSAGE
Hamas' latest bombings were intended to send a message to the Palestinian Authority that a stamp of approval from Washington is not enough. As Hamas sees it, there can be no peace without a suitable payoff for everyone. For the Palestinians, that means pressure on Israel to halt to aggressive measures in the occupied territories. (Danny Rubinstein, Ha'aretz, May 19, 2003)

ISRAEL'S MILITARY RUNNING OUT OF OPTIONS
Israel has no intention of going soft on Palestinian hardliners, but so far, Ariel Sharon's get tough approach has only turned out to be an incentive for increasing the will to resist while the suicide bombers have refined their techniques. Ha'aretz analyzes the growing concerns among the IDF, that there may not be that many more options left. (Ha'aretz, May 19, 2003)

BENNY ELON'S NOVEL SOLUTION TO MIDDLE EAST PEACE
Elon, a rabbi and leader of Israel's Moledet political party, voices what many Israelis feel, but few dare say aloud: why not move all the Palestinians to Jordan. The Jordanians can always move to Iraq. Elon was in the U.S. recently selling the idea to his erstwhile allies on the Christian right. A faction in Congress is beginning to think that Elon may have a good idea. (Claire Tristam reflects on Elon's vision in Salon, May 14, 2003)

IS IRAQ EDGING TOWARDS CIVIL WAR?
The New Republic reports that in the wake of the the political vacuum created by Saddam's collapse, competing groups are arming their own militias for a showdown over who gets to define Baghdad's next government. (Hassan Fattah, The New Republic, May 20, 2003)

U.S. WILL TRY TO DISARM IRAQI CIVILIANS
In an effort to control the chaos in Baghdad and other cities, the U.S. plans to demand that Iraqis turn in their AK-47s and other weapons.
(The New York Times, May 20, 2003)

U.S. TROOPS LEARN THE REALITY OF PUBLIC RELATIONS IN IRAQ: FORGET ABOUT REALITY
A Shiite cleric lecturing to a crowd of 30,000 over the weekend delivers a wild sermon accusing U.S. troops of using nightvision goggles to peer through the clothes of Iraqi women, and of passing out candy to Arab children with pornographic pictures on the wrappers. The sermon's bottom line: throw the Americans out of Iraq. Senior Shiite clerics have apologized for the performance and are now demanding that future sermons be cleared first.
(Warren Richey in the Christian Science Monitor, May 19, 2003)

U.S. NEEDS U.N. DRAFT RESOLUTION
Despite earlier confrontations, the U.S. still needs the U.N. Security Council's authorization to formally switch Iraq's oil assets over to American control in place of the "Oil for Food" program currently being administered by the U.N. An early U.S. draft resolution encountered resistance because it left U.S. control over Iraq open ended, and it left U.S. management of Iraq's oil pretty much open ended as well. Other Security Council members--notably France and Russia--feel there should be some international input into Iraq's future.
(The BBC, May 20, 2003)

JANES REPORTS AL QAEDA'S AIM IS TO OVERTHROW SAUDI REGIME AND INSTALL HARDLINE ISLAMIC GOVERNMENT
Janes reports that last week's attack had revolutionary overtones that are targeted directly at Saudi rule. The terrorists want nothing less than their own hard line Islamic government and control of the Holy sites in Mecca and Medina. (Janes, May 19, 2003)

CBS DOCUDRAMA ON HITLER BANNED IN TEXAS
CBS's dramatization of Hitler's rise to power was hardly groundbreaking, but two CBS affiliates in Texas decided not to run the broadcast. One station manager said that he was afraid of giving ideas to viewers who belong to the Aryan Nation, the other said that it might give encouragement to viewers who already have Nazi tendencies, and there are certain lines you just don't want to cross.
(Knox News Service, May 19, 2003)

Ron Rosenbaum reported in the New York Observer last week on comparisons between 9/11 and the Reichstag Fire (Click here)

PENTAGON TRIES TO END CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT
In the interests of streamlining, the Pentagon has drawn up a list of nearly 100 reporting and notification requirements that it would like to dispense with. The changes would substantially reduce oversight by Congress. Four Democrats resisting the move, include Henry Waxman, the California Congressman who has been questioning the military about its decision to secretly award a contract with a ceiling of $7 billion to Halliburton, the company formerly headed by vice-president Dick Cheney. Halliburton was the subject of a GAO investigation on previous contracts for failing to control costs. If the current changes go through, the Defense Department could cease most of its current reporting to Congress within 5 years.
(Federation of American Scientists, May 14, 2003)

TOTAL INFORMATION WAS NOTHING. TAKE A LOOK AT "LIFELOG"
DARPA's latest brainstorm involves nothing less than documenting every waking moment and thought in a person's life. Think of it as a computer-assisted second memory. Except that this memory will be searchable by government technicians. The idea may sound a bit nutty, but DARPA is already putting out contracts to Universities and research institutes to bid on contracts. (Wired, may 20, 2003)

ASHCROFT MOVES TO CHANGE THE LAW PERMITTING SUITS AGAINST U.S. COMPANIES FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES
Human rights groups have been suing the giant energy company, UNOCAL, for allegedly collaborating with Burma's military junta which allegedly relied on forced labor to build UNOCAL's natural gas pipeline. UNOCAL denies the charges, of course, and now it is receiving an added boost from the Justice Department. A number of similar human rights suits over the last 20 years have been based on the Alien Tort Claims Act, passed in 1789, which allows American companies to be sued in the U.s. if they violate "the laws of nations" while operating overseas. Despite the fact that a number of precedents have already been set, the Justice Department is now arguing that the law is arcane, rarely used, and should be disregarded. Not everyone agrees with that interpretation. TomPaine.com outlines the recent debate.
(Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch, on TomPaine.com, May 19, 2003)

UNOCAL argues that it's Yadana Project, is helping the local natives (click here for the company's version of events).

DIANE FEINSTEIN ON U.S. IMPACT ON NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION
Speaking to the Center for Defense Information, Diane Feinstein sees unilateralism as a major threat to world peace. Feinstein traces the president's deviation from traditional U.s. diplomacy to Four key documents released in the year following 9/11 laid out the President’s unprecedented new policies: the Nuclear Posture Review, January 2002; the Doctrine of Preemption, at West Point in June 2002; the Administration’s National Security Strategy in September 2002; and the National Security Policy Document 17 , signed by the President in September 2002.(Diane Feinstein, Center for Defense Information, May 2003)

INDONESIA LAUNCHES ALL OUT ATTACK IN NORTHERN SUMATRA
Determined to end resistance by GAM, the Aceh independence movement, Indonesian military troops parachuted into the airport near Banda Aceh. while Indonesia far outnumbers the guerrillas, the territory in Aceh is so impenetrable that it is doubtful that Indonesian troops will be able to achieve a decisive victory. On the other hand civilian casualties are highly likely.
(Sydney Morning Herald, May 19, 2003)

VILLAGERS ARE FIRST CASUALTIES
Summary executions and government opaqueness characterize the opening days of the offensive. (BBC, May 20, 2003)

Where it all went wrong --the BBC
Why Indonesia's military option won't work--International Crisis Group

FRANCE'S
ANTI-TERRORISM CHIEF PREDICTED ANOTHER SURGE FROM AL QAEDA
A week before the attacks in Saudi Arabia and Morocco, Jean-Louis Bruguière, France's chief of anti-terrorism warned that Al Qaeda is still very capable of action. In that context, the War in Iraq was largely a distraction. Luckily, despite public French bashing, relations at the level of intelligence and police agencies, cooperation is still very good.
(The Brookings Institution, May 12, 2003)

France's experience fighting terrorism
The French have been learning how to handle numerous Middle Eastern terrorist organizations since the early 1980s when Paris experienced dozens of terrorist bombings. French intelligence on the Middle East is noticeably better than anything the U.S. can offer. We could learn from their experience. (Brookings May 12, 2003)

HYPING THE RESCUE OF
JESSICA LYNCH
The rescue of U.S. Army private Jessica Lynch, last month, was presented as one of the most daring operations in the War in Iraq. In fact, doctors in the hospital where Lynch was being kept report that enemy troops had pulled out a day earlier. Iraqi doctors say they tried to return Lynch to U.S. lines in an ambulance, but were forced to turn back when they came under American fire. Far from being mistreated, Lynch reportedly received excellent medical care for injuries she received when the truck she was on crashed. Lynch now claims to have amnesia about the entire incident. While U.S. forces may not have known the full circumstances before the rescue attempt, the failure of the Pentagon to correct the record has raised serious questions about the U.S. Central Command's penchant for spin control. The BBC's John Kampfner reports on the fracas.(John Kampfner, BBC, May 15, 2003) Click here for the BBC's story

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