William Hartung: on the enduring questions that remain after Saddam's capture Ehsan Ahrari: on why Saddam's capture will not eliminate the threat of terrorism Dan Smith: on U.S. military bases overseas as the price of empire Tommy Ates: on why the new Geneva accords are relevant Ralph A. Cossa: on the flashing yellow light from Taiwan and China

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

PERSON OF THE YEAR
TIME MAGAZINE PICKS THE 'AMERICAN SOLDIER'
Time's annual cover package cashes in on patriotic fervor by focusing on heroic human interest stories of G.I.s in Iraq. While there is plenty of heroism, there is little discussion of the degree to which the U.S. military is now overextended and badly prepared for the nation-building task it has been handed, or the fact that many wounded veterans from Iraq are being left on their own to face bleak futures with meager benefits. In contrast to TIME's glowing cover package, CBS NEWS reports on Staff Sergeant Ryan Kelley who was earning $20,000 a year until he lost his left leg below the knee in combat. For his pains, Kelley will be medically discharged from the Army and left to try to survive minus a leg and with a payoff of roughly $8,000 a year. Kelley is not alone. Other G.I.s wounded in Iraq say they are prepared to fight for a better deal. (CBS News, December 19, 2003).
For TIME's Man-of-the-Year package, click here
To read the CBS News report, click here

EGYPT'S FOREIGNMINISTER ATTACKED BY PALESTINIANS
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Mahir thought it might be a propitious moment to try to soften relations between Cairo and Ariel Sharon. For his pains, Mahir barely escaped an enraged Arab mob and had to spend three hours recovering in a hospital. The message to other Arab leaders is not likely to go unnoticed.(Al Jazeera, December 23, 2003)

HA'ARETZ REPORTS ON THE INCIDENT

DEALING WITH IRAQ'S DEBT
Paul Bremer's Provisional Coalition Authority has already spent most of the cash captured from Saddam's Baathist administration. U.S. reconstruction efforts are beginning to face a liquidity crunch. Complicating matters is the fact that Iraq owes other countries a whopping $225 billion in loans and reparations. While Europe has pledged help and Russia has agreed to write off some of the debt, the amount Iraq owes is so enormous that paying off the amount that remains threatens to slow reconstruction efforts, and provide a heavy dose of reality for the U.S. taxpayer who will be footing most of the tab. The Center for Strategic and International Studies sketches out the dimensions of the problem.

LIBYA DOES AN ABOUT-FACE
Muammar Gaddafi's surprise offer to open himself up to inspections for weapons-of-mass destruction was a masterful coup aimed at leveraging the Bush administration's need for good news as a way of exerting maximum pressure to end sanctions once and for all. Libya badly needs U.S. help to refurbish its oil fields, and at least three major oil companies need to get back into Libya before their rights there expire. The BBC comments on the financial considerations that made this a propitious moment to forget Libya's troublesome past.(BBC, December 22, 2003)

AND NOW FOR PAKISTAN
Throughout much of the 1980s, Pakistan actively sought to create an Islamic atomic bomb. A new investigation suggests that some of the technology may have been exported to other countries. (The New York Times, December 22, 2003)

SEPARATION OF POWERS?
The detention of Jose Padilla, an American citizen, for 18 months in a Navy brig, risked setting a precedent that would have enabled the president to imprison anyone he deemed to be a threat without recourse to the U.S. Constitution or other legal protections. The evidence against Padilla, who was returning to the U.S. from Pakistan, was considered too weak to stand up in a U.S. court of law. Just to make sure, Padilla was denied the right to see a lawyer or be faced with specific charges. A decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals to force the administration to make a case against Padilla or let him go, reinstates crucial legal protections guaranteed by the Constitution. The Federation of American Scientists links to the Court of Appeals' decision. (Click here) Law professors David Cole and John Yoo debate the decision on the Jim Lehrer NewsHour. JohnYoo's position is that the law is different after 9/11, and that the "War Against Terrorism" Yoo argues, is in fact a war which justifies extraordinary actions by the president. (Jim Lehrer NewsHour, December 18, 2003)

NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVES: The Saddam Source Book
If and when Saddam Hussein goes on trial he is likely to argue that the United States was prepared to live with Iraq's weapons of mass destruction when it suited American political objectives. A series of recently declassified U.S. embassy cables make the point that although the U.S. consistently spoke out in public against the use of chemical weapons, American diplomats--including Donald Rumsfeld--were repeatedly ordered to make it clear to Iraqi government officials that improved relations between Washington and Baghdad, and more specifically U.S. interests in Iraqi oil, were to be put on a higher priority. the national Security Archive has published a complete set of the cables in pdf format and they provide crucial insights into how the Iraqis viewed their relationship with the U.S.

ENDLESS THREATS
Only last week, Democratic contender Howard Dean came under intense criticism for remarking that Saddam's capture was not likely to improve U.S. security from terrorist attacks. On Sunday, the Department of Homeland Security unwittingly supported Dean's contention by raising the U.S. threat level from Yellow to Orange, i.e. from an elevated risk to a high risk. The rationale for the change: a surge in communications traffic between would-be terrorists. Homeland Security's advice to Americans: "Make a kit. Make a Plan. Be Informed."
(Dept. of Homeland Security, December 21, 2003)

THE GILMORE REPORT
The fifth and final report by the Gilmore Commission points out that despite some definite advances produced by HomeLand Security, the government has little chance of ever being able to guarantee absolute security. What is important, the report advises, is to concentrate on measures that can actually be implemented to significantly reduce risk. The report also cautions against sacrificing personal liberty and privacy to new technology that is likely to become ubiquitous as authorities try to cope with increasing assymetric threats. (The full report is available through Rand. Click here)

The Security Policy Working Group

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