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General
Afghanistan and Pakistan
Anti-war
movement
Law, legality and rights
Middle East and
Arab world
Philosophy
Radical Islamism and
al Qaeda
UK foreign
policy and ideology
US foreign
policy and ideology
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The inevitable
logic of US repression in Iraq
Richard Phillips, World Socialist Web Site, 12 Apr 2004
The Bush administrations response to the popular uprising against the US-led
occupation of Iraq has been to unleash a wave of bloody reprisals. US
helicopter gunships, jets, tanks and heavily armed soldiers have laid siege
to Fallujah in the Sunni triangle, while military attacks have been launched
... [1000 wds]
Turning
into Israel?
Juan Cole,
Salon.com, 16 Apr 2004
One year after Baghdad fell to victorious U.S. troops, the Americans had to
conquer the country all over again. The great rebellion of April 2004
expelled the U.S. from much of the capital, humiliated coalition allies, cut
supply and communications lines to the south, and revealed a reservoir of ...
[3000 wds]
The
Iraqi Shiites: on the history of America's would-be allies
Juan Cole, Boston
Review, Oct-Nov 2003
The ambitious aim of the American war in Iraq articulated by Richard Perle,
Paul Wolfowitz, and other neoconservative defense intellectuals was to
effect a fundamental transformation in Middle East politics. The war was not
or not principally about finding weapons of mass destruction, or ...
[6000 wds]
Blair's
misunderstanding of his chosen ally is dangerous
Godfrey Hodgson, Independent, 17 Apr
2004
Should we really be surprised, as some have been, that Tony Blair has not
dissented publicly from President Bush's endorsement of Prime Minister
Sharon's new policy towards Palestine? There is nothing unexpected about the
fact that Tony Blair has made it ... [1200 wds, see especially first part of
this article]
Rule of the
death squads
Stephen Grey, New Statesman, 15 Mar
2004
On the morning of his death, 19 January 2004, Professor Abdullatif Ali
al-Mayah left his house as he always did at 8am. Placing his Samsonite
briefcase on the back seat, he took the wheel of his metallic-blue 4x4, a
Hyundai Galloper II. Another professor, Sarhan Abbas Abbas, who lived in the same
... [1400 wds]
Echoes of Vietnam:
Phoenix, assassination and blowback in Iraq
Douglas Valentine, CounterPunch,
8 Apr 2004
On Monday, April 5th, as thousands of US Marines surrounded Fallujah and
prepared to pacify it, Senator Edward Kennedy predicted that Iraq would be to
Bush what Vietnam had been to Nixon. Given that Nixon won a resounding
reelection in 1972, this means that Bush will also win reelection in 2004.
Hence the ... [1800 wds]
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Bin
Laden tape offering European 'truce', 15 Apr 2004
Bush
press conference on Iraq, 13 Apr 2004
Blair
article on Iraq, 11 Apr 2004
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Iraq's
enemy within
Haifa
Zangana, Guardian, 10 Apr 2004
In Iraq we say: 'Choose the companion first, then the road.' We believe it
very important to know who one is travelling with. On June 30 the US-led
occupation forces will hand power to an Iraqi government. Iraqis would like
to begin our journey towards a much-needed stability and democracy. But at
the moment ... [1300 wds]
Iraq
war launched to protect Israel -
Bush advisor
Emad Mekay, Inter Press Service, 29
Mar 2004
Iraq under Saddam Hussein did not pose a threat to the United States, but it
did to Israel, which is one reason why Washington invaded the Arab country,
according to a speech made by a member of a top-level White House
intelligence group. Inter Press Service uncovered the remarks by Philip
Zelikow, who is ... [1200 wds]
Israel
trains US assassination squads in Iraq
Julian Borger, Guardian, 9 Dec 2003
Israeli advisers are helping train US special forces in aggressive
counter-insurgency operations in Iraq, including the use of assassination
squads against guerrilla leaders, US intelligence and military sources said
yesterday. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has sent urban warfare specialists
to Fort Bragg in North ... [600 wds]
A new
kind of killing
Charmaine
Seitz, Middle East Report Online, 30 Mar 2004
The killing of Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, spiritual leader of Hamas, was a new kind
of killing, even in the midst of the protracted conflict that began in the
fall of 2000 and has claimed some 2,800 Palestinian and some 900 Israeli
lives. Viewed by most Israelis as a kind of godfather of terror, in death
Yassin has become ... [3000 wds]
The
Shi'ites and the future of Iraq
Yitzhak
Nakash, Foreign Affairs, Jul-Aug 2003
In late April, barely two weeks after
the collapse of the Baath regime, elated Iraqi Shi'ites flocked to the shrine
of Imam Hussein in Karbala, renewing an annual ritual of lament and
remembrance that had been banned by the Iraqi government since 1977. Hussein,
a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, died at the ... [3000 wds]
(See also: Muqtada
al-Sadr, S. Otterman and E. Pan, CFR, 5
Apr 2004)
Musharraf left
counting the cost
Syed Saleem Shahzad, Asia Times, 30 Mar 2004
The 12-day Pakistani army operation in the South Waziristan tribal area near
the Afghan frontier is winding down following the release on Sunday of 12
government officials and soldiers seized by alleged al-Qaeda fighters and
tribal allies. Similarly, a number of tribal suspects held by the army have
been set free or will be released soon. Those released by the tribals were
among 14 people [...]
FFI
explains al-Qaida document
Brynjar Lia and Thomas Hegghammer, FFI, 19 Mar 2004
Since the Madrid bombings on 11 March there has been considerable media
interest in a document found on radical islamist websites some months ago by
researchers at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI). The
document recommends "painful strikes" against Spanish
"forces" specifically [...]
(See also: Qa'idat
Al-Jihad, Iraq and Madrid, Reuven Paz, Media Line, 14 Mar 2004)
The
true rationale? it's a decade old
James Mann,
Washington Post, 7 Mar 2004
The Bush administration has offered a series of shifting justifications for
the war in Iraq. Each has been quite specific: The war was to uncover Saddam
Hussein's weapons of mass destruction; to dislodge a brutal dictator; to
combat Iraq's support for terrorism; to deal with what President Bush called
a 'grave and gathering threat.' Which
was the real one? That's the overarching question [...]
2004: choose your
favorite pro-war candidate
John Pilger, Antiwar.com,
5 Mar 2004
A myth equal to the fable of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction is gaining
strength on both sides of the Atlantic. It is that John Kerry offers a
world-view different from that of George W Bush. Watch this big lie grow as
Kerry is crowned the Democratic candidate and the 'anyone but Bush' movement
becomes a liberal cause celebre. While the rise to power of the Bush gang,
the [...]
The Hutton
fiasco: the government overseeing itself
Isa Atkins, The News
Insider, 5 Feb 2004
The problem with America's new war is
that, for most Americans, it's not really happening. The nation got
moderately excited during the initial stage of the invasion. But now most US
news providers don't even highlight the daily combat fatalities of the men
and women supposedly fighting to defend America's freedom- let alone
bothering to question the official pretexts for going to war. [...]
The
Iraq war is the Suez of our time
Geoffrey
Wheatcroft, Guardian, 24 Feb 2004
On the question of Iraq, Tony Blair isn't so much a
deceiver as someone who simply has no grasp of objective truth. The pretexts he has used over the war were so
flagrant that it's hard to sympathise with anyone who ever believed them. And
even the angry arguments over what the PM really knew about
"45-minute" weapons are empty, since they assume that WMD were the
real [...]
The
essence of Al Qaeda: an interview with Saad Al-Faqih
Mahan
Abedin, Terrorism Monitor, 5 Feb 2004
Dr. al-Faqih heads the Saudi opposition group, Movement for Islamic Reform in
Arabia (MIRA), and is a widely acknowledged expert on al Qaeda. Terrorism
Monitor Special Correspondent Mahan Abedin conducted this interview in London
on January 23, 2004. TM: The first thing I want to ask you is what exactly
you understand by the name al-Qaeda? SF: For the last 2-3 years [...]
This
covert experiment in injustice
Gareth Peirce,The
Guardian, 4 Feb 2004
In the course of 12 months, 31 years ago, more than 20 innocent Irish men and
women were branded 'terrorists' and convicted by English courts. That the
evidence was false was known only to the accused and their accusers. For the
accusers, even that clarity undoubtedly became blurred, since in their [...]
(See also: Terrorising
Communities, Gareth Peirce, Eclipse, Apr-May 2003)
War in Iraq: not a humanitarian
intervention
Ken Roth, Human
Rights Watch, Jan 2004
Humanitarian intervention was supposed to have gone the way of the 1990s. The
use of military force across borders to stop mass killing was seen as a
luxury of an era in which national security concerns among the major powers
were less pressing and problems of human security could come to the fore.
Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor, Sierra Leone these
interventions [...]
2003
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Al-Zawahri
message to Pakistan army, 25 Mar 2004 (excerpts)
Richard Clarke testimony to 9/11 commission, 24
Mar 2004 (see also: highlights
with commentary)
Hamas
statement on assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, 22 Mar 2004
Abu
Hafs Al-Masri Brigades message on Madrid bombings, 12 Mar 2004
Blair speech on Iraq,
Sedgefield, 5 Mar 2004
Al-Zawahri
message to US, 23 Feb 2004 (excerpts)
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A
Saudi oppositionist's view: an interview with Dr. Muhammad Al-Massari
Mahan
Abadin, Terrorism Monitor, 4 Dec 2003
A
telephone interview conducted on November 26, 2003, by Terrorism Monitor
correspondent Mahan Abedin with the head of the London-based Saudi opposition
group, Committee for the Defence of Legitimate Rights (CDLR), Dr. Muhammad
al-Massari. (Note: TM = Terrorism Monitor and MM = Dr. Muhammad al-Massari).
TM: What kind of Islamic ideology does the Committee [...]
Sawt
Al-Jihad: the new indoctrination of Al-Qa'idat al-Jihad
Reuven Paz, The
Media Line, 26 Oct 2003
The Salafist-Jihadist groups of Qa'idat al-Jihad and its affiliated
groups, who adhere to and practice the worldview of global Jihad, have been
ideologically developed by doctrines derived from a combination between the
Egyptian Jihad, Saudi neo-Tawhid, and the globalization of Jihad, espoused by
the Palestinian Dr. Abdallah Azzam in Afghanistan. Following the death of
Azzam in [...]
This
war on terrorism is bogus
Michael Meacher,
The Guardian, 6 Sep 2003
Massive attention has now been given and rightly so to the reasons why
Britain went to war against Iraq. But far too little attention has focused on
why the US went to war, and that throws light on British motives too. The
conventional explanation is that after the Twin Towers were hit, retaliation
against al-Qaida bases in Afghanistan was a natural first step in launching a
global war [...]
The fall of the House of Saud
Robert Baer,
The Atlantic Monthly, 19 May 2003
Americans have long considered Saudi Arabia
the one constant in the Arab Middle East a source of cheap oil, political
stability, and lucrative business relationships. But the country is run by an
increasingly dysfunctional royal family that has been funding militant
Islamic movements abroad in an attempt to protect itself from them at home. A
former CIA operative argues, in an article drawn from [...]
The
illegality of war against Iraq
Rabinder Singh and
Charlotte Kilroy,
Solicitors' Journal, 21 Mar 2003
By the time you read this article, the UK Government will probably have
embarked with the US on an attack against Iraq which has not been authorised
by a fresh resolution of the United Nations Security Council. If they do so,
in our view they will be acting in contravention of international law. On 17
March 2003 the Attorney-General issued a written statement to the House [...]
2002
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Bin
Laden message to US, 18 Oct 2003
Bin
Laden message to Iraqis, 18 Oct 2003
Bin Laden
message on September 11th attacks, 10 Sep 2003
Attorney-General
statement on legality of war against Iraq, 17 Mar 2003
Bin
Laden sermon for Eid, 16 Feb 2003
Bin Laden
message on Iraq, 11 Feb 2003
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