Reactions to story from Time

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  Afghanistan: There's a War There Too

  http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/07/17/afghanistan-theres-a-wa...
  138 days ago in Bright Hall · Authority: 1

  Filed under: Featured Stories, International News, Wake Forest University For some unknown reason, perhaps a merciful biological reaction rooted in evolution, I actually don't find it all that impossible to sit back and recall the events leading up to the Iraq War. Now, I had to see Recount in short segments in order to a void an embarrassing outburst of that livid, just-watched-Fox News kind of feeling. And I quit following American politics and the progression of humanity in general for three months after watching the 2004 election returns and the debut of Laguna Beach in one night. But the lead up to the Iraq War seems almost droll in the soothing haze of hindsight, more comically cynical than Wag the Dog even imagined. Just with a real war. Oh yea, a real war! - God, I always forget.Even before the WMD though, before Hans Blix, before Colin Powell and the listless offering of his soul in front of the UN, before Shock and Awe, yellowcake and Valerie Plame, before debaathification, before Paul Bremer and the Green Zone, and long before there were 4,121 Americans killed along with nearly 90,000 Iraqis, there was, and apparently still is, a war in Afghanistan. And before that there was a day in September that nobody has forgotten about. Carried out by a terrorist group that most people have forgotten about, lead by a man that everybody has forgotten about. It's no surprise then that the war in Afghanistan, started in order to dismantle Al Qaeda and capture Osama Bin Laden, had also been almost completely forgotten until the latest spike in violence, which resulted in the deaths of nine American soldiers on Sunday. Less prominent in the headlines but perhaps more indicative of the deteriorating security situation were last week's suicide bombings at the Indian embassy in Kabul and in the southern city of Deh Rawood which together killed sixty-six people. These attacks follow two consecutive months during which American casualties in Afghanistan have surpassed those in Iraq and while this poses a huge problem in and of itself, it also points to a general failure of our national security strategy following September 11th. Now, before I go off on the Bush administration for a sin it is not often castigated for I must make one important concession: going by the most obvious, although not necessarily the most accurate measure of the President's performance in this miserable "War on Terror", he has succeeded - we haven't experienced a terrorist attack on American soil since 2001. But, if you recall, before this whole Iraq debacle got started we had relatively modest goals to pursue in Afghanistan - get rid of the Taliban, destroy Al Qaeda, and capture Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive," a la Bon Jovi. None of this magically transforming the Middle East into a series of cherubic pro-American democracies BS. Just a simple, balanced response to the threat we faced. But as sectarian violence in a needless war flared up to dominate the headlines and agendas of government officials, the war in Afghanistan steadily lost traction while our once nearly accomplished objectives slipped out of grasp. Although the sanctuaries provided by the tribal areas of Pakistan undoubtedly complicate the matter, the lack of adequate manpower and materiel as a result of their diversion towards efforts in Iraq severely hampered U.S. capabilities in the region, effectively enabling the resurgence of violence witnessed over the past year. The big question is now, after nearly seven years in Afghanistan, what do we have to show for it? Here's what the RAND Corporation's Seth Jones had to say: "The United States faces a threat from Al Qaeda today that is comparable to what it faced on September 11th, 2001." He went on to say that practically the only major change in Al Qaeda was a shift of operations over a distance "roughly the difference from New York to Philadelphia," i.e. from Afghanistan to western Pakistan. Thankfully though, Mr. Bush's term ends in six months while McCain and Obama have both acknowledged the increasingly dire situation in Afghanistan and promised results. McCain wants more troops, greater help from NATO allies, a war-czar of some sort, blah, blah, blah and Obama essentially wants to move the troops withdrawing from Iraq to Afghanistan. All well and good. The problem which neither of them mention, however, is Pakistan, which plays a pivotal role in this whole mess since, as I said, the Taliban and Al Qaeda have essentially just picked up and moved across the border into their territory. From these lawless mountains in the west, they're able to stage raids on American troops in Afghanistan and then retreat back across the border, not unlike the Vietcong in Cambodia. So whatever steps the next president takes in Afghanistan, it had better include some kind of solution to the Pakistani problem, otherwise the public might just have sit back and forget about Afghanistan for another ten years or so. On a brighter note, we're meeting with Iran! Hooray! So here's to not having to forget about a third war anytime soon. Cheers. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
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  CNN: Bin Laden losing influence in Arab world

  http://rawstory.com/rawreplay/?p=1419
  148 days ago in Raw Replay - Revisiting History · Authority: 263

  CNN: Bin Laden losing influence in Arab world G8 protesting caricatures sing karaoke Afghans say US airstrikes killed 27 civillians Maddow debunks 'Obama withheld fist bump' story Chinese methods used to interrogate Gitmo detainees MSNBC guest: Hostage release 'very convenient' for McCain Bush concedes 'tough month' in Afghanistan Forced DWI blood samples challenged in Texas McCain denies connection to hostage rescue MSNBC debates new examples of McCain's angry temper Obama: After 9/11, 'we were asked to shop' Video shows cop choking marijuana suspect Video shows US advisor teaching Mexican police to torture Feds ignoring own advice on ID theft Japanese TV spot portrays Obama as a monkey Security contractors to lose immunity in Iraq Evangelist to Senate: My financial records belong to God Study finds long benefit in illegal mushroom drug Alan Cumming receives award for gay youth hotline McCain's name adorns new 'Straight Talk Express' airplane RawStory Headlines Cnn weatherman slams Gore's Inconvenient Truth as fiction © 2008 Raw Story Powered by WordPress Design by Peapod, Liberal Designers Build by My Pet Programmer NRA fights to allow guns at Disney World By David Edwards A new Florida law permits workers to bring legal guns to work. Officials at Walt Disney World say they are exempt, and the NRA and some prominent Florida lawmakers are fighting back. Dan Abrams is joined by Florida Republican Rep. Stan Mayfield, who helped pass the law, and Brian Siebel of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. This video is from MSNBC’s Verdict, broadcast July 7, 2008. Download video Posted July 8th, 2008 at 8:43 am By David Edwards Permalink | No Comments » Google must show YouTube viewer log to Viacom By David Edwards Google must divulge the viewing habits of every user who has ever watched any video on YouTube, a US court has ruled. This video is from BBC, broadcast July 7, 2008. Download video Posted July 7th, 2008 at 11:56 am By David Edwards Permalink | No Comments » Deadliest blast in years rocks Afghan capital By David Edwards (AP) A car bomb ripped through the front wall of the Indian Embassy in central Kabul on Monday, killing 40 people in what appeared to be the deadliest attack in Afghanistan’s capital since the fall of the Taliban. This video is from The Associated Press, broadcast July 7, 2008. Download video Posted July 7th, 2008 at 11:43 am By David Edwards Permalink | No Comments » Gay Pride marchers attacked in Budapest By David Edwards (Reuters) The 12th annual Gay Pride parade in Budapest ends in clashes with anti-gay demonstrators and riot police. Parade participants were heavily guarded by police as they marched through the streets of the Hungarian capital. But their presence failed to deter right-wing extremists who’d threatened to disrupt the annual event in the days leading up to it. Susan Flory reports. This video is from Reuters, broadcast July 6, 2008. Download video Posted July 7th, 2008 at 11:29 am By David Edwards Permalink | No Comments » Iconic Iraqi Soldier takes own life By David Edwards An Army Medic featured in famous photograph has died in an apparent overdose. His parents told WTVD that the Army could have done more the Iraq war veteran. This video is from Fox’s WTVD via ABCNews.com, broadcast July 6, 2008. Download video Posted July 7th, 2008 at 11:09 am By David Edwards Permalink | No Comments » Fox: Anarchists planning to ‘crash’ RNC convention By David Edwards Fox’s Jamie Reese reported that anarchists have made radio announcements about their plans to “crash” the Republican Convention in Minnesota. This video is from Fox’s America’s Newsroom, broadcast July 7, 2008. Download video Posted July 7th, 2008 at 8:50 am By David Edwards Permalink | No Comments » AP Yahoo poll: McCain ‘old;’ Obama ‘outsider’ By David Edwards (AP) Ask people to blurt out their first words about the two presidential candidates and one in five say “change” or “outsider” for Barack Obama and “old” for John McCain, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll. This video is from The Associated Press, broadcast July 7, 2008. Download video Posted July 7th, 2008 at 8:34 am By David Edwards Permalink | No Comments » AP: Constitutional protections not guaranteed online By David Edwards Rant all you want in a public park. A police officer generally won’t eject you for your remarks alone. Say it on the Internet, and you’ll find that free speech and other constitutional rights are anything but guaranteed. This video is from The Associated Press, broadcast July 7, 2008. Download video Posted July 7th, 2008 at 8:25 am By David Edwards Permalink | No Comments » CNN: ‘Top secret’ weapons to be used at political conventions By David Edwards CNN’s Ed Lavendera reports that Congress is giving $100 million to pay security expenses for this summer’s political conventions. Denver and St. Paul officials have said that the types of weapons being purchased are “top secret.” The ACLU is suing both cities to disclose how security money is being spent. RAW STORY has more details here. This video is from CNN’s American Morning, broadcast July 7, 2008. Download video TranscriptROBERTS: Pepper ball rifles, goo guns, sonic rays. some are wild rumors but some may not be. some may protect our political convention this year. Ed Lavandera in Denver where the democrats will meet and he’s got more. LAVENDERA: To prepare for this summer’s political conventions, Congress is giving the host cities, Denver and St. Paul, Minnesota, $50 million each to pay for security expenses. But what exactly that money is being spent on is top secret here in denver. NEWMAN: $25 million buys a lot of very interesting things. LAVENDERA: Bob Newman is an anti-terrorism consultant, helping Denver companies prepare for the Democratic convention. He’s anxious to see what kind of crowd control weaponry authorities will deploy for the convention. NEWMAN: There are also crazy rumors going around. LAVENDERA: City officials and the police department won’t talk about most of the weapons and equipment they’re buying. FLEENER: This is your pepper rounds. LAVENDERA: But confirmed one report several hundred thousands of high powered pepper ball rifles will be used to disperse crowds. FLEENER: When that hits, the ball breaks, powder expels. the same reaction as pepper spray. Except it’s powder. LAVENERA: Congressional testimony revealed there will be specialized gas detection equipment and biohazard equipment. Then there are the science fiction-like weapons that may or may not be part of the arsenal, like the goo gun. SECURITY CONSULTANT: It shoots a rubbery gelatin mass when it strikes the body and comes out in a stream it wraps around limbs and the torso and the person can’t move. LAVENERA: It can make a Humvee have spin in place. Then there are the weapons that would make unruly crowds run for cover like a sonic ray gun, a device which emits an ear piercing sound and a microwave device that can be focused on an area and can make you feel like your skin is on fire. The ACLU has sued the city of Denver to find out if these weapons are in the arsenal. SILVERSTEIN: Instead of asking the public, “How come you want to know?” Maybe the question should posed to the government, “Why are you interested in keeping this secret?” NEWMAN: Rational people are not concerned. Those concerned are the ones causing problems. LAVENDERA: In Minnesota where republicans are holding their convention, the ACLU says it’s trying to find out how security money is being spent but law enforcement agencies insist these weapons should be kept secret so they have the upper hand in keeping the convention safe. Posted July 7th, 2008 at 8:13 am By David Edwards Permalink | 1 Comment » Chuck Todd: Dems to move convention to Denver footbal stadium By David Edwards NBC’s Chuck Todd reports the Democratic National Convention will announce that the final day of its convention will take place in Partial transcript LAUER: This morning the Obama campaign is getting set for a big announcement. Chuck Todd is NBC’s political director. August 25, the Democratic convention set to start in Denver, colorado at the Pepsi Center, which is basically a basketball arena. Now the rumbling is that on the night that Barack Obama actually accepts the nomination, they’re going to move across the street to Invesco Field, a 70,000 seat facility, a football stadium. What are you hearing? TODD: Well, later this morning on they’re going to announce that this what they’re doing. They’re going to cut short the convention. Three days in the Pepsi Center and do this last night at the football stadium. As one balm put it to me, “Why give a speech to 17,000 donors when you can give a speech to 80,000 democrats?” So, it’s only going to add to the rock star atmosphere that Obama likes to create at all these things like we saw on the night that he laid claim to being the presumptive nominee where he did it in the facility that the Republicans will nominate John McCain in Minnesota. LAUER: So this is a lot about a visual. 70,000 screaming cheering, Democrats holding signs on the 45th anniversary of the Dr. king “I have a dream” speech. This video is from NBC’s Today Show, broadcast July 7, 2008. Download video Posted July 7th, 2008 at 7:37 am By David Edwards Permalink | No Comments » CNN: Bin Laden losing influence in Arab world By David Edwards CNN’s Paula Newton reports that Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda are losing influence in the Arab world. Newton said, “At his most menacing just after 9/11, Osama bin Laden’s words and warnings were breaking news but nearly seven years later his statements are merely reported and cataloged, hardly major news. And where bin Laden was once an iconic hero, his family’s insist central home of yemen, in some quarters sentiment on the street is turning against him. “Bin Laden still commands respect from this young student and others here, some causes do resonate, political ones, anti-American, anti-Israel but bin Laden’s skill at tapping into that anger is slipping.” “Officials stress that al Qaeda remain as threat. The launched attacks may be compromised by those it once turned to for support. We don’t want to make the impression this is going to make any one of us safer overnight. The trend that’s happening in the Middle East and elsewhere is definitely a bit of positive news.” Time Magazine has more details here. This video is from CNN’s American Morning, broadcast July 7, 2008. Download video Posted July 7th, 2008 at 7:23 am By David Edwards
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  Osama Bin Laden is a symbol now

  http://usjamerica.wordpress.com/2008/07/07/osama-bin-laden-i...
  148 days ago in The United States of Jamerica · Authority: 70

  Writing in Time, Peter Bergen asks, “Does Osama Bin Laden still matter?”: The jihad, some experts contend, has moved beyond Bin Laden and al-Qaeda. Dr. Marc Sageman, a former CIA case officer, lays out the view in his new book, Leaderless Jihad, arguing that “the present threat has evolved from a structured group of al-Qaeda masterminds controlling vast resources and issuing commands to a multitude of informal groups trying to emulate their predecessors by conceiving and executing operations from the bottom up. These ‘homegrown’ wannabes form a scattered global network, a leaderless jihad.” According to this assessment, two decades since its founding in Peshawar, Pakistan, al-Qaeda remains a source of inspiration for certain extremists around the world. But it’s far from clear that bin Laden commands them. This view was shared by several European officials I met at a conference of terrorism experts in Florence in May, a few days after bin Laden’s most recent Internet postings. The officials told me they’ve found no evidence of al-Qaeda operations in their countries. If bin Laden has any role in the jihad, say the Europeans, it is merely as an icon. Alain Grignard, Belgium’s top terrorism investigator, says bin Laden is now a “Robin Hood figure; 100 people are inspired by him, but very few respond to do what he wants.” Even though it’s unquestionably a good thing that al-Qaeda no longer has the organization to carry out large scale 9/11 style attacks, it’s probably not good that we’ve let Bin Laden become greater than himself, as it were. Now that Bin Laden has become a sort of symbol of successful resistance (for lack of a better word) to the United States, it doesn’t really matter whether we kill him or not; his image will still inspire thousands to carry out attacks around the world. Which leaves us in the uncomfortable position of having to combat both terrorists and a terrorist icon. The former is difficult, but feasible. The latter however, is impossible unless we make serious conceptual changes to our fight against terrorism. That is, we should probably take a page from Fareed Zakaria, and begin to back away from the “war on terror” language; since it does nothing other than confer upon the terrorists some sort of world-historical significance. If we want to successfully battle the image of Bin Laden and the terrorists he inspires, we should begin treating them like what they are - a bunch of useless thugs who - in the long run - aren’t worth the total preoccupation of the world’s sole superpower.
• 

  "bin Laden is now a “Robin Hood figure; 100 people are inspired by him, but very few respond to..."

  http://byjoeybaker.tumblr.com/post/41136235
  150 days ago in byJoeyBaker · Authority: 1

  “bin Laden is now a “Robin Hood figure; 100 people are inspired by him, but very few respond to do what he wants.”” - Does Osama bin Laden Still Matter? - TIME
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  News 6-3-08

  http://revolutionmuslim.blogspot.com/2008/06/news-6-3-08.htm...
  150 days ago in Revolution Muslim · Authority: 3

  REVOLUTIONMUSLIM.COM PRESENTS... Akhbar Al-Yaum 6-3-08 VIDEO: THE POWER OF TRUTH The true reason for the coming efforts to take out Iran.... VIDEO: A RADICAL BLACKFOOT TEACHES THE ECONOMICS OF GLOBALIZATION Good revolutionaries tend to make bad rulers Inflation hits domestic tourism in Saudi Arabia Hersh: Congress Agreed to Bush Request to Fund Major Escalation in Secret Operations Against Iran Kashmir: Mass protests force government to reverse controversial land-transfer decision Al-Qaeda's Growing Online Offensive Congress's spending goes unchecked, with more likely Amid policy disputes, Qaeda grows in Pakistan Saudi will continue to carry out raids in bid to foil terrorist plots Vidal: Bush ended US as a republic This Recession, It's Just Beginning Al-Qaeda threat is serious: Al-Asheikh Does Osama bin Laden Still Matter? Capitalism: A System Run By and For Psychopaths Iran to allow 100% foreign ownership Preparing the Battlefield :The Bush Administration steps up its secret moves against Iran. Global cities race to become Islamic finance hubs I'm Off To Iran Before Israel Bombs It "We're Entering a Two Economy Society.There is No Force Opposing Financial Polarization": The Paradoxes of Latin American Development Iraq fails to sign contracts with global oil majors U.S. Helped Western Companies Divvy Up Iraqi Oil US fears Al Qaeda attack next year Ragtag Insurgency Gains a Lifeline From Al Qaeda NYTimes report on infighting over Al Qaeda garners outrage from FOX and Friends Al Qaeda's Summer Plans The Return of Al Qaeda Madness in Afghanistan US Stock Market Posts Worst Monthly Decline Since 1930s CIA given green light to bomb Osama bin Laden Hunkering Down in Afghanistan with Field-Marshall Obama Holding Muslims at arm's length GOV. DOC on IRAN SANCTIONS Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the threat posed to international peace, stability in the Middle East, and the vital national security interests of the United States by Iran's... (Introduced in House)
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  Renewed Warnings About Al Qaeda

  http://www.freethoughtaction.org/2008/07/renewed-warnings-ab...
  152 days ago in FreeThoughtAction · Authority: 1

  A senior U.S. official on Wednesday renewed warnings of the danger posed by al Qaeda to the security of the United States, the Western world, Pakistan and Afghanistan, in a message pointed at Pakistani leaders. More... See also: Does Osama bin Laden Still Matter?

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