Ralph A. Cossa: on the need to rethink U.S. nuclear strategy Svetlana Peshkova and Robert A. Rubinstein: on the impact of cultural misunderstanding on U.S. policy in Iraq

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

INDIA’S TAXICAB BOMBS
No one claimed immediate responsibility for the blast which killed 46 people and wounded nearly 150, but a government report had just been published concerning the existence of Hindu ruins under a centuries-old mosque which was torn down by Hindus in 1992. Ayodhya has been linked to a number of previous bombings, and that has led authorities to look more closely at Muslim student groups.
The BBC , August 26, 2003
The report in the Hindu
Maria Abraham in Reuters-AlertNet, August 25, 2003

ISRAELIS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT NEGOTIATIONS WITH HIZBOLLAH
Despite propaganda and spin control on both sides, Israeli negotiators say they are increasingly optimistic about prisoner exchanges with Hizbollah forces in Lebanon.
Ha'aretz, August 26, 2003
HIZBOLLAH FACES THE SHIFTING POWER BALANCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Hizbollah remains convinced that armed struggle is the only way to repel an occupying force--in this case, the United States--and it is trying to export its philosophy to the conflicts in Israel and Iraq. By Mohamad Kawas, Dar al Hayat (English), London, August 25, 2003.

SIDESTEPPING A “VIETNAM-STYLE” QUAGMIRE IN IRAQ
Iraq is clearly not turning out to be the breezy victory originally predicted by neo-con strategists. The U.S. doesn’t have the troops, the funds or the expertise to get the job done on its own and foreign countries are leery about sending their soldiers into combat at the White House’s bidding. Having destabilized the region, the U.S. can’t simply walk away. The International Crisis Group assesses the options and the concessions that Washington is going to have to make to extricate itself from an increasingly costly situation.
ICG, August 25, 2003

HOW MUCH IS IT GOING TO COST?
Donald Rumsfeld has testified that the war in Iraq currently costs U.S. taxpayers about $3.9 billion a month. Add another $1.1 billion for U.S. fighter jets to fly over the U.S.in case they are needed to shoot down hijacked airliners, and you get an additional bill for U.S. taxpayers of $5 billion per month with no end or exit plan in sight.The projected fiscal deficit for 2004 of $475 billion will add up to an increased tax burden of $281 for every man, woman and child in the country, and that is just the beginning. David R. Francis runs through the numbers in the Christian Science Monitor (August 25, 2003)

NOT EVERYONE LOSES
The war has produced a windfall for several giant U.S. corporations. It should be no surprise that a number of them have close connections to individuals in the Bush White House. Halliburton, which is still paying Dick Cheney a hefty annual deferred compensation, is getting relatively small change from tax payer--a mere $3 billion or so. Boeing, which has increased its Defense Department contract load to $16.6 billion is emerging as a heavy hitter. Lockheed Martin, the champ, took in $17 billion in 2002, and snapped up another $7.1 billion in the first quarter of this year, and a $4 billion multi-year open-ended contract in March to produce C-130 Hercules cargo planes for the Air Force and Marines. Former Lockheed Martin Vice-President Bruce Jackson was a finance chair for the “Bush for President” campaign; Vice-Presidential spouse Lynne Cheney is a former board member of Lockheed Martin, and used to receive $120,000 per year from the company for attending a handful of semi-annual board meetings. William Hartung and Ceara Donnelly provide detailed specifics on who is getting what in a special report by the World Policy Institute’s Arms Trade Resource Center, August 2003.

BETTER TRAINING FOR PEACE KEEPING?
The Center for Defense Information’s Marcus Corbin suggests that it makes more sense to concentrate on upgrading the training of troops in the U.S. Army before swelling the ranks with new recruits. A top priority: more preparation for peace keeping operations.
Marcus Corbin, Center for Defense Information, August 25, 2003

ARE PAKISTAN AND IRAN COLLUDING TO HIDE AL QAEDA?
Joe Trento of the National Security News Service reports that Pakistan’s intelligence service has for a long time been actively helping Al Qaeda activists move freely from Pakistan to Iran. The most disturbing news is that the father of Pakistan’s atomic bomb, Abdul Qadeer Khan, has reportedly been loaned to Iran in order to accelerate Teheran’s nuclear development. According to NSNS, Iran’s nuclear development is being carried out against the advice of iran’s president Khatami, who is powerless to stop it.
Joe Trento, National Security News Service, August 15, 2003

RETURN OF THE TALIBAN
On the Afghan-Pakistan border, the Taliban are planning a return with a vengeance. Asia Times, August 26, 2003

ANTHONY CORDESMAN ASSESSES IRAN’S DEVELOPMENT OF WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
Iran’s weapons development was originally driven by its confrontation with Iraq. Since the end of the Iran-Iraq war, the entire region has been experiencing a gradual increase in the proliferation of weapons.
Anthony Cordesman, Center for Strategic and International Studies, August 14, 2003

RWANDA GETS READY TO CONFIRM ITS FIRST TUTSI PRESIDENT
The 1994 genocide in Rwanda killed an estimated 800,000 people—mostly Tutsis. Despite that slaughter carried out by Hutu tribesmen, or because of it, the Tutsis have emerged triumphant in Rwandan politics. In the first open election since those events, Paul Kagame, a Tutsi, emerged victorious in an election whose turn out has been nearly 80%, and in which Kagame's part claimed roughly 94% of the votes cast.
BBC, August 25, 2003

TRYING TO CLOSE THE BOOKS ON GENOCIDE
In the meantime, Rwanda’s local courts are searching for a way to put the genocide behind them.
Victoria Brittain, The Nation, August 25, 2oo3

SRI LANKA’S TAMIL REBELS PLOT NEXT MOVE
Rebel leaders want to resume peace talks at a Paris hotel, but are cautious about the government’s take on the situation. A major concession, though, is the Tamil’s apparent readiness to drop their demands for their own independent country.
Reuters-AlertNet, August 23, 2003

MOSCOW AUTO SHOW FLIRTS WITH THE HUMMER
The show’s star is supposed to be a neon red Lada racing car with hammer and sickle logos on its hubcaps. It’s called “Revolution.” But much of the real excitement at Moscow's new auto show has focused on reports that General Motors is about to sign a contract to have Hummers assembled in Russia.
The Moscow Times, August 26, 2003

Trapped in Iraq

WHAT DO THE FRENCH HAVE TO TELL US ABOUT IRAQ?
James Pinkerton points out that France knows what it is talking about when it comments on terrorism and the Middle East. It made many of the mistakes we are making now during its own colonial period.
Writes Pinkerton: “What’s French for quagmire? I learned the answer in the wake of the bombing attack that struck United Nations offices in Baghdad, Iraq.
The word is bourbier. As the left-wing daily Liberation put it, America has found itself in a “bourbier sanglant a la Vietnamienne’’ — that is, a “bloody quagmire, Vietnam-style.’’ The even more left-wing l’Humanite argued that it’s a bourbier into which “American leaders are sinking, day to day.’’
The other papers here were kinder, but not much more hopeful. Atop The Wall Street Journal Europe’s front page was this banner: “Bomb Attack on UN HQ in Iraq Underscores US Security Crisis.’’
On the front page of Le Monde, the paper of record here, a front-pager was “Disarray in Washington.’’
And Le Parisien, the daily for the city’s working-stiff subway riders, offered nearly the same header: “Disarray in the United States.’’
Should Americans care what the French think about our occupation of Iraq? Not if they’re happy with the way things are going over there. But for those Americans who think that the United States could use some help extricating itself from this bourbier, maybe it’s worth pondering the experience of a country that’s been down this same quagmire road.
That is, France.
The French, too, went through their expansionary phase. They first set about colonizing Vietnam, for instance, in the late 19th century; but in 1954 they were defeated and expelled.
Too bad Americans weren’t paying attention to that dolorous French precedent when they launched their own Vietnam crusade in the early ‘60s.
Today, the French seem to have a better feel for the dynamics of anti-Western insurgencies than the American government.
President Bush insists, as always, that there is light at the end of the tunnel in Iraq. But in the words of Le Parisian: “This new act of violence confirms that the country is far from being secured. Even if the Americans are congratulating themselves for having arrested or killed most of those close to Saddam Hussein over the last three months, the situation is deteriorating from day to day.’’ So one might ask, “Who’s got a better handle on the Battle of Baghdad — the man in the White House or the reader in the Paris subway?’’
Indeed, the words of Le Figaro, the pro-American daily, seem particularly pointed — and poignant. In an editorial titled ‘’Irak: les erreurs americaines,” the paper begins by asserting, ‘’In the West, everyone hopes — or should hope — that the American pro-consulate won’t come to a bad end.”
By James Pinkerton, Arab Newws/Al Jazeera, August 2003

Need information, but having trouble with a broken link? Send an e-mail to wtd2@nyu.edu
or click here
We may be able to help

For quick access to the Global Beat, set your bookmark to:
http://globalbeat.org