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

THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY'S ABU MAZEN MAY BE A TARGET BEFORE THE MIDEAST SUMMIT
Both Israeli and U.S. intelligence agencies fear that the Palestinian prime minister could become a casualty of the latest efforts to get the Mideast peace process moving. The peace plan opponents' most likely options: launch a new wave of terrorism, or simply have Abu Mazen assassinated. (Debka File, May 26, 2003)

WASHINGTON, ISRAEL AND INDIA IN A THREE-WAY PARTNERSHIP?
Washington's efforts to draw Turkey into a relationship with Israel haven't workout out very well. Now India appears ready to step into the gap. The opening inducement is Washington's permission for Israel to sell its advanced Phaelcon airborne reconnaissance system to India for a cool $1 billion. If that deal goes through, Washington may authorize Israel's sale of its Arrow anti-ballistic missile system, despite the fact that it uses sensitive U.S. technology. Don't expect Pakistan to be happy about the deal. (Jim Lobe in Asia Times, May 27, 2003)

BALKAN ORGANIZED CRIME GANGS AND TERRORISTS COLLUDE ON NUCLEAR MATERIAL
Janes reports that there are increasing indications that that Balkan smugglers may now be trafficking in illicit nuclear materials. At least 14 cases of nuclear theft have been reported recently. At stake is 1,350 metric tons of plutonium previously belonging to the former Soviet Union--enough for 40,000 nuclear weapons.
(Janes, May 21, 2003)

TRIAL BALLOONS FOR A GUANTANAMO FINAL SOLUTION?
Australia's Herald Sun newspaper reports that the Bush administration may be preparing to rid itself of the increasingly embarrassing problem of the 680 prisoners that the U.S. has been holding incommunicado for 18 months. Plans are reportedly afoot to set up facilities for executions at Guantanamo's infamous Delta Camp. The prisoners include citizens of some 43 countries, including two from Australia. All have been denied access to legal assistance, and according to the Bush administration's plans, they would be denied jury trials, or the right to appeal convictions by specially constituted U.S. military "commissions." Trials and executions could be carried out without having to leave the base. Prisoners would be allowed access to American lawyers, authorized by the Pentagon, but only if they could afford to pay for legal services or the lawyers agreed to work on a pro bono basis, and at least at this point, prisoners are not allowed to communicate outside the base at Guantanamo. (The Herald Sun, May 26, 2003)
The Pentagon briefs on its intentions for the "military commissions." (Dept.of Defense, May 22, 2003)
Pentagon picks a chief prosecutor for Guantanamo trials
(Dept. of Defense news release May 23, 2003)

U.S. AND IRAQI SHIITES AT BREAKING POINT
Ayatollah al-Hakim's Supreme Islamic Revolutionary Council has flatly refused to turn its weapons despite threats that the U.S. is ready to try to take the weapons by force. The SCRI has some 25,000 militia troops in Iraq, and until recently has received most of its logistical support from Iran. When the U.S. commander, Lieutenant General David McKiernan threatened the use of force, the Shiites replied that since the U.S. was going to leave Iraq anyway, it was not really up to Americans to call the shots.
(Charlotte Edwards, Daily Telegraph, May 25, 2003)

A NEW SHIITE BLOCK?
William Beeman, head of Middle East Studies at Brown University, notes that an unintended consequence of the War in Iraq is a massive Shiite-dominated geographic block that will dominate Middle East politics for the foreseeable future. (Beeman, Al Jazeera Info, May 26, 2003)

HOW MANY CIVILIANS WERE KILLED IN THE IRAQ WAR?
The U.S. Defense Department made a point of not making an effort to add up the "collateral cost" of civilians killed in Iraq. The Project on Defense Alternatives has nevertheless added up the various available reports. According to a survey of 27 hospitals in Baghdad at least 1,700 civilians died from the war and another 8,000 were wounded. Another 1,255 undocumented and consequently unidentified corpses were recorded in Baghdad, and Najaf cemetery reported 2,000 excess burials during the course of the war.(Project on Defense Alternatives, May 2003)

WOLFOWITZ ON IRAQ
In his testimony to the Senate last week, Paul Wolfowitz maintained that much of the criticism of the U.S. efforts in Iraq is based on misunderstanding and false information. (Paul Wolfowitz, department of Defense, May 22, 2003)

BACK TO TOTAL AWARENESS
The idea of having every moment of one's life made available to government authorities has chilling science fiction implications reminiscent of George Orwell's novel, "1984" so it is understandable that the project has been keeping a low profile lately. Thanks to Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003, Pub. L. No. 108-7, Division M, § 111(b) , however, the administration is required to report publicly on the project's progress. Instead of Total Information Awareness, the Defense Advanced Research Projects' scheme has been rechristened the "Terrorism Information Awareness" Program. "Texas Gate" in which House Majority Leader Tom Delay allegedly tried to use anti-terrorism assets to track down a plane belonging to renegade Democrats who had fled Texas to avoid forming a quorum in a redistricting dispute demonstrates that information will invariably be used for political purposes, regardless of the rational for collecting it (See the AP story in the Tacoma Washington Tribune , May 23, 2003 or San Francisco Chronicle, May 20, 2003) A full copy of the TIA report is available on the Electronic Freedom Frontier's website. (Darpa, May 2003)

WAR ON THE INTERNET
The War in Iraq seemed custom made for the Internet. It didn't quite happen. According to a Pew survey only 17% of the computer-savvy public went to the internet for their main source of news on the war. That is compared to 22% who relied on radio, 21% who turned to newspapers and 87% who watched the war on TV. Nevertheless the web has made progress as a reference source for journalists, and it has gained with the general public since 9/11 when only 3% depended on the net for information. (Barb Palser in American Journalism Review, May 2003)

CHANCE FOR A NEW START AT THE UPCOMING G-8 SUMMIT
President Bush's appearance at the upcoming G-8 conference provides a chance for rebuilding some of the important alliances frayed by the War in Iraq. The G-8 meeting promises to test the president's diplomacy since the session will be hosted by French President Jacques Chirac. that consideration aside, a growing number of U.S. foreign policy experts believe it is now time to bring European allies in on a number of pressing world issues. (Brookings, May 26, 2003)

Everything about the Summit
The University of Toronto maintains a comprehensive online guide to the Summit.
France's Official Summit Website (in English)
Chirac interviewed in the Financial Times
The French president is unrepentant about Iraq, but ready to move on other fronts. (Financial Times, May 24, 2003)

Colin Powell says that Bush is prepared to approach the Summit with an open mind
Speaking to reporters after meeting with France's foreign minister on Saturday, Powell said that there was no point in denying that the U.s. and France had had serious differences, but that it was time to move on. (U.S. State Dept. transcript, May 24, 2003)

EUROPE PUBLISHES A DRAFT CONSTITUTION
Europe has a long way to go before it achieves the political unity of the United States, and its proposed constitution reveals a certain political inertia. Nevertheless, the document will define European interaction over the next generation.
THE BBC provides a quick overview. (Click here)

FOR THE FULL DRAFT OF THE CONSTITUTION (Click here)

JOURNALISTS AS TARGETS
As tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have increased, Israeli troops have increasingly targeted journalists. In startling footage, Canadian TV news producer, Patricia Naylor, documents the growing danger faced by news reporters. After he was shot and fell to the ground, Reuters' Nael Shyouki was shot several more times by Israeli soldiers, and if his colleagues had not dragged him to safety. An israeli government press officer watching the footage, expresses shock, but then adds that the country is at war. Naylor's film, shot for PBS Front Line World is viewable on line in streaming video. A text version of the story is also available.(Front Line World, March 2003)
Click here.

The Jagged Edge of the U.S. Strategy in the Middle East
Hardly anyone questions that Iran has pulled out the stops to become a nuclear power. It is also in a position to influence Shiites in Iraq. Certain intelligence agencies argue that moving against Iran's nuclear capabilities would stabilize the Middle East and send a message to North Korea--or it might unleash a war with a much wider scope than Iraq. (The Debka File, May 26, 2003)

Three U.S. experts analyze the situation in Iran and what is likely to happen next
The Jim Lehrer News Hour interviews former NSC adviser Flynt Leverett, David Albright of the Institute for Science and National Security and Georgetown's Rob Sobhani on the implications of the Administration's rhetoric towards Iran. According to Leverette, in addition to Iran's past tradition of supporting terrorism in general, a small cell of Al Qaeda operatives have holed up in the largely inacessible northeastern part of the country. Washington wants them out, but even more important, Iran could develop a nuclear capability within the next two years and the administration has yet to develop a coherent strategy. (NewsHour, May 27, 2003)

THE CONGO TEST
France's about face and its readiness to go along with the U.S. on the latest U.N. resolution on Iraq, was ostensibly a gesture that was intended to revive the U.N. as a functioning organization--at least that is how French Foreign Minister Dominique Villepin presented it. Philip Gourevitch notes in the New Yorker this week, that the real test of the U.N.'s viability in supporting international law could well be the current crisis in the Congo. Our involvement in Iraq offers American companies enormous commercial advantages. Do we care about human rights when there is no profit involved? Gourevitch notes that the system that U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has tried to promote resonates with a different vision of the role of the United States in the world. " The idea behind that system," Gourevitch writes,"is that common humanity ought to be reason enough to take an interest in preventing such terrors as extermination campaigns. And the premise behind that idea is that, while action may be costly, the price of inaction must finally be greater. But is that really how the world works? What if the ultimate horror of the Congo nightmare is that there is no price for ignoring it? ".
(Philip Gourevitch, The New Yorker, May 26, 2003)

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