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By July-August 2001, it was clear that something dramatic was about to happen.
Pepe Escobar, our "Roving Eye", was
traveling in Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan. The rumor was that
US forces were about to use Pakistan to launch a raid into Afghanistan.
Escobar's article, published by Asia Times Online on August 30, 2001, was
headlined Get
Osama! Now! Or else ... Our Karachi correspondent, Syed Saleem Shazad,
was meanwhile filing articles like Osama
bin Laden: The thorn in Pakistan's flesh (August 22, 2001) ...
July 2004
Pakistan
caught in terror tit-for-tat
Any satisfaction that Islamabad may get from capturing one of the US's most
wanted al-Qaeda operatives, linked to the 1998 attacks on American embassies in
Africa, is tempered by the killing of two Pakistanis at the hands of militants
in Iraq. By siding with the US, Pakistan, or any other country, will pay a
price. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Jul 30, '04)
Tug-of-war over
Uzbekistan
Should a Muslim army be created to help with security in Iraq, the US would
certainly turn to Uzbekistan for troops. Russia is doing all it can to prevent
this from ever happening. - Sergei Blagov
(Jul 30, '04)
Iran,
Turkey see eye to eye on Kurds
As Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ended talks in Iran, reports
indicated that the two countries had reached an agreement on cooperation
against left-wing Kurdish separatist militants. There were scant details,
though, on what that cooperation might entail. (Jul
30, '04)
Iraq draws a bead on 'enemy' Iran
 Iraqi
Defense Minister Hazim Shalan al-Khuzai's outburst at Iran, calling it Iraq's
"first enemy", indicates not only problems in relations between the two
countries, but also a lack of unity among members of the Iraqi government. The
Iraqis do appear, however, to have a common approach on old foe Syria.
(Jul 29, '04)
Much more to come in Iraq hostage
crisis
The abduction of two Pakistanis in Iraq sends a message to Muslim countries
that their nationals will not be spared if they collaborate with the United
States. The spate of recent hostages seized, meanwhile, could be the beginning
of many more to come, with hundreds of foreigners unaccounted for in the
country. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Jul 28, '04)
THE ROVING EYE
Clinton clinches the deal
He's still The Big Dog: in his inimitable style, former US president Bill
Clinton managed to sell to Democratic Party faithful the stiff senator from
Massachusetts, John Kerry, as a strong leader worthy of the White House. But
missing from the Clinton pitch was Iraq, because, unlike the Iraqi resistance,
Democrats - including Kerry - don't have any more idea what to do about it than
George W Bush. - Pepe Escobar (Jul 28, '04)
US paints Pakistan further
into a corner
Washington appears blinded by Pakistan going along with anti-terror measures,
but this was done under duress, and Pakistan's military oligarchy fully
embraces the use of Islamic extremism to realize strategic goals, especially in
Kashmir. For the US to favor India in this environment is to threaten the peace
process. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Jul 27, '04)
The fallacies of military
transformation
A leaked report by military pundits questions the belief that the US's early
successes in Iraq can be attributed to a transformed lighter, high-tech force.
By overlooking the Iraqis' failure to capitalize on coalition vulnerabilities,
the US may perilously be exaggerating technology's potential. - David
Isenberg (Jul 27, '04)
SPENGLER
When Grozny comes to
Fallujah
 Do
not be surprised to see three or four divisions of the Russian army
in Iraq's Sunni Triangle before year-end, with an announcement just prior
to the US presidential election in November. The logic for such a
development is compelling, and all would benefit from a Russian scorched-earth
offensive except, of course, the population of Fallujah.
(Jul 26, '04)
Russia sticks with Iran
Despite heavy international pressure, especially from the US, Russia refuses to
back off from its nuclear dealings with Iran. Clearly Moscow is concerned with
the commercial aspects of engaging the ayatollahs, but more sinister factors
relating to oil could also be in play. - Sergei Blagov
(Jul 26, '04)
COMMENTARY
Democracy a tool in neo-con
hands
Neo-conservatives in the US have long professed a devotion to democracy. The
question, however, is whether democracy promotion, especially in the Arab
world, ranks anywhere near as high in their policy priorities as their
commitment to Israel's security. - Jim Lobe (Jul 26,
'04)
Arroyo basks in hero's aura,
keeps her job
Former hostage Angelo de la Cruz has returned home from Iraq
to a hero's welcome in the Philippines. He has become the symbol of the 8
million Filipinos working overseas. Meanwhile, President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo has been hailed for her decision to give in to Iraqi
insurgents so de la Cruz's life could be spared, but her decision was
likely based on more personal motives. - Leslie Davis
(Jul 26, '04)
A failure of
imagination
Bureaucratic solutions won't fix US intelligence, and
for that and other reasons the 9-11 Commission's report, like the Senate report
on pre-Iraq intelligence, is ultimately useless. Much as in business, it's
unconventional initiative informed by superior knowledge and insight, a
contrarian attitude, and the ability to spring surprises and act decisively
that succeed in intelligence. -
Marc Erikson (Jul 23, '04)
Pentagon
on the defensive
The national
security overhaul recommended by the 9-11 Commission's final report would
include a new national intelligence directory in the White House. The Pentagon,
and its chief, Donald Rumsfeld, in particular, has bitterly fought such
proposals before, and is sure to do so again. -Jim
Lobe (Jul 23, '04)
Fears of a dialogue of
the deaf
The final report by the bipartisan commission investigating
September 11 will be remembered for taking the high road and for its thoughtful
recommendations on how to prevent a repeat of the tragedy. But on the vital
issue of tackling al-Qaeda by sharpening America's message to the Islamic
world, the report gets fuzzy. -
Ehsan Ahrari (Jul 23, '04) |
PART
7: Radicals in the ashes of democracy
 A
range of graphic video discs glorify the success in winning back Fallujah from
the Americans, but hijackings and kidnappings continue, with the finger pointed
at the increasingly marginalized and lawless mujahideen: the US war in Iraq,
meant to democratize the region, has instead radicalized it. This is the
concluding article in the series.
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US now linked to 'vigilantes' in
Afghanistan
With the makings of a major scandal, US-led anti-terrorism officials, after
repeated denials, have admitted that they had contact with the three US
civilians on trial in Afghanistan accused of kidnapping and torturing suspected
Afghan resistance fighters. (Jul 23, '04)
India makes a case for release of
hostages
With the capture and threatened beheading of three of its citizens by militants
in Iraq, India joins a long list of countries that have been thrown into a
hostage crisis. Delhi believes, though, that it has convincing arguments for
the trio to be released. - Siddharth Srivastava (Jul
22, '04)
COMMENT
Lies and human blunders
Were the failures and mistakes before the attacks of September 11, 2001, and
during the subsequent lead-up to the Iraq war excusable? Maybe not, but in the
context of history, they are understandable and not necessarily evidence of
malevolence or dishonesty. History is full of honest human mistakes. - Reuven
Brenner (Jul 22, '04)
Unlearned lessons
from Waziristan
 In
their hunt for al-Qaeda, Islamabad and Washington have embarked on a dangerous
path that has already put them on a collision course with tribals along the
Pakistan-Afghanistan border, especially in South Waziristan. Yet the two
countries are determined to continue down this path regardless, reports Syed
Saleem Shahzad in the concluding part of a series on Pakistan's tribal
areas. (Jul 21, '04)
Musharraf's
Achilles' heel
Despite troubles with tribals over foreign fighters in South
Waziristan, Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf is turning his
attention to the southwestern frontier of Balochistan, a potential economic and
regionally strategic diamond. But the tribal-nationalist resistance down south
has a few dynamics of its own. - Ammara
Durrani (Jul 21, '04)
Another square-off over Iran
Two influential new reports offer ammunition to both the pro- and anti-Iran
camps in the Bush administration. But even if the neo-cons win this battle, the
question remains just how far they are prepared - or capable - of making their
dislike known to Tehran. - Jim Lobe (Jul
21, '04)
COMMENTARY
Iraq's transition to
dictatorship
Those who believed that the transition of power in Iraq would be the occupation
under another name were mistaken. The future of the country is, indeed, falling
into the hands of Iraqis, and they are poised to create forms of order and
disorder that were never envisaged by Pentagon planners.
(Jul 20, '04)
Allawi gambles on appeasement
Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, in lifting the US-imposed ban on a newspaper
belonging to Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, is hoping to broaden his
government's support in the face of ongoing violence.
(Jul 20, '04)
Pakistan: Stage set for final
showdown
After
helplessly watching the Pakistani army's two failed missions to root out
foreign fighters, the US will lend its ally in this "war on terror" some
much-needed muscle - and intelligence - in the next campaign. The militants are
not sitting still, though, reports Syed Saleem Shahzad in the second
part of a series on Pakistan's tribal areas. (Jul
20, '04)
Saudi Arabia's double-edged amnesty
The poor response to Saudi Arabia's month-long amnesty to militants is exactly
what the authorities wanted as it gives them justification to crack down even
harder. The ranks of the militants, though, are being swelled by fighters
returning from Iraq. - Sudha Ramachandran
(Jul 20, '04)
The legacy of Nek Mohammed
In
killing former Taliban commander Nek Mohammed, the Pakistani army scored a
major hit in its US-instigated campaign against Afghan resistance and foreign
fighters. But Nek had already laid the foundations for new jihadi groups in
both Afghanistan and Pakistan, reports Syed Saleem Shahzad in
the first part of a series on Pakistan's tribal areas.
(Jul 19, '04)
Pakistan: Payback
time
With President George W Bush running out of
time, and Pakistan short of excuses, Islamabad will have to honor two pledges
to the US: send troops to Iraq, and deliver a "high-value" terror suspect. - Seema
Sirohi (Jul 19, '04)
Afghans get to
vote, sort of
With the Bush administration determined to have
some sort of closure in Afghanistan before the United States' November
presidential elections, Afghans will be rushed to the polls in October to vote
for their own new president. National elections, though, will only take place
next year, a situation fraught with danger. -
Sudha Ramachandran (Jul 16, '04)
$18m slap on the
wrist for Uzbekistan
Washington's
decision to trim US$18 million in aid to Uzbekistan follows warnings over the
government's human-rights record, but the move more likely signals that the
US's need for its ally in the "war on terror" is not as pressing as it once
was. - Jim Lobe
(Jul 16, '04)
THE ROVING EYE
The new
Saddam
In Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, Washington has exactly the man it wants
in Iraq. But such 19th-century-style colonialism gambits are doomed. - Pepe
Escobar (Jul 15, '04)
While NATO dithers, Iraq burns
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization's pledge to help train
and equip Iraqi troops is stalled in procedural matters, even as the country
battles a new wave of violence that includes the killing of the governor of
Mosul. (Jul 15, '04)
SPEAKING FREELY
Saudi Arabia: A
nation in turmoil
Saudi Arabia has had some success against al-Qaeda in the country.
The problem, though, is not just the growing menace of terrorism, but a system
that is in urgent need of reform, coupled with a power struggle in the ruling
elite that is spawning many new Osama bin Ladens. - Swati Parashar
(Jul 15, '04)
Why the media
failed Americans
How could such a poorly thought-through policy as the invasion and
occupation of Iraq have been so blithely accepted, even embraced, by so many
members of the US media? What happened to the press's vaunted role, so
carefully spelled out by the Founding Fathers of the United States, as a
skeptical "watchdog" over government? - Orville Schell
(Jul 15, '04)
THE ROVING EYE
The Islamic
emirate of Fallujah
By intimidation, by force of arms and with full support of the
mosques, Fallujah is now a haven of order and security in Iraq. American troops
are out, as are foreigners. Strict Islamic law is in, and the gun-toting
leaders see their city as a model for the rest of the country. It's not exactly
what America had in mind. - Pepe Escobar (Jul
14, '04)
Iraq post for
Pakistani has India in a tizz
The appointment of a Pakistani as the new United Nations envoy to Iraq - ahead
of the more fancied candidate from India - has riled Delhi on several levels,
the most serious of which is potential damage to the peace process with
Islamabad. - Siddharth Srivastava (Jul 14, '04)
CIA becomes a
political football
President George W Bush is likely to nominate soon a
successor to the hapless former director of the Central Intelligence Agency,
George Tenet. The problem is the administration does not have a candidate who
can be confirmed by the Senate relatively easily and still be acceptable to
neo-conservative hawks. Jim Lobe looks at the three leading
contenders for the job. (Jul 13, '04)
Logging on to terror.com
From recipes on how to concoct poisons to bomb-making
instructions, the Internet provides militants with an easy way to spread
propaganda and organize attacks. And for the terrorist-in-waiting, bedtime
stories on how to be a good little "martyr" are at a mother's fingertips. -
Sudha Ramachandran (Jul 13, '04)
Pakistan faces its jihadi demons
in Iraq
Both Islamabad and Washington have been guilty of
soft-peddling on the Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani jihadi group mostly active in
Kashmir. But with Pakistani troops and the jihadis on a collision course in
Iraq, the danger of distinguishing between "good" and "bad" terrorists has
become all too real. - Kaushik Kapisthalam
(Jul 13, '04)
SPENGLER
America is not an
empire
Goethe argued that the first sin was sloth, and this view accounts quite
well for the sin of imperialism - whole continents have been ruined to maintain
their conquerors in idle luxury. By the same token, it is meaningless to speak
of an "American Empire" when Americans incline to sloth less than any other
people in the industrial world. (Jul 12, '04)
Arms suppliers scramble into Iraq
After being blocked for 14 years from selling arms to Iraq, international
dealers are breaking down the doors to get into the country now that the United
Nations' embargo has been lifted. And with billions of dollars at stake, some
companies are already crying foul. (Jul 12, '04)
Time's up in the blame
game
The second and most important part of the US Senate Intelligence
Committee's report on the culpability of the Bush administration's invasion of
Iraq will not be released until after November's elections, in effect depriving
Americans of their right to judge elected officials on the basis of their
performance. - Ehsan Ahrari (Jul
12, '04)
COMMENTARY
Iraq: Who's in the
driver's seat now?
For the US's neo-conservatives, Iraq was just a pit stop on the way through the
Middle East, and a year ago it would have been laughable that a ragtag Iraqi
insurgency could find itself in the driver's seat, steering the Bush
administration toward disaster in November. - Tom
Engelhardt (Jul 12, '04)
Turncoats, terror in Pakistan's
tribal areas
Despite the pro-Taliban religious parties in Pakistan's tribal
areas surprisingly falling in line with the government on the need to drive
foreign fighters from the area, militancy, far from easing, has intensified,
and all the signs point to an eruption that will spread deep into Afghanistan.
Syed Saleem Shahzad sets the scene for
an upcoming ATol series. (Jul 9, '04)
Pentagon shuns Asia for
Canberra
In a bid to escape the diplomatic heat over its revised
forward defense strategy, the US has bypassed Southeast Asia in favor of three
new military bases in northern Australia. But the heat is now on Canberra, as
the base deal coincides with an agreement to deploy several facilities as part
of the US missile defense umbrella. - Alan Boyd
(Jul 9, '04)
Rebels have Yemen on the hop
In recent weeks more than 200 people have been killed in clashes between
Islamic rebels and Yemeni government forces, setting off divisive political and
religious squabbles in a country keen to portray itself as a stable and
reliable ally of the US in the "war on terror". (Jul
9, '04)
BOOK REVIEW
A case against self-annihilation
Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance by Noam
Chomsky
Despite the specificity of its subtitle, this book looks beyond US foreign
policy, and is most rewarding when read from a global point of view. Indeed,
Chomsky explicitly frames the whole issue of US foreign policy as a matter of
broad evolutionary concern at the planetary level. - Piyush Mathur
(Jul 9, '04)
US Christian Right's grip on
Mideast policy
The Christian Right constitutes nearly one out of seven American voters and
determines the agenda of the Republican Party in about half of the states. With
this growing influence, the Christian Right cannot be ignored, especially when
it comes to the Middle East. (Jul 7, '04)
Bush and the Muslim predicament
The push for democracy in the Middle East comes from an American president
widely viewed in the region as being one-sided, which perhaps explains much
about Washington's recent failures there. - Ehsan Ahrari
(Jul 7, '04)
US: Patriotic pride and fear
The means the Bush administration has used to fight global terrorism have given
people with hidden agendas opportunities to take advantage of public trust.
This is where "social fantasy systems" come into play, a psychologist explains
to Ritt Goldstein. (Jul 7, '04)
Playing politics, Afghan style
Man of letters, former exile, and now presidential candidate in Afghanistan's
upcoming elections, Latif Pedram, on a swing through Europe, tells Safa Haeri
what he believes needs to be done in the country, and confirms that the Taliban
are very much in the picture. (Jul 6, '04)
Battle for Afghanistan's air
waves
In "radio-centric" Afghanistan, about 37% of the population, or 7.5 million
Afghans, listen to the radio, which is an important tool in reshaping the
country. Everyone from warlords, religious conservatives, the Taliban and aid
workers has been quick to see opportunities, or threats.
(Jul 6, '04)
Pakistan in a squeeze over Iraq
 In
return for the financial and diplomatic support of the US and for being
designated a major non-NATO ally by Washington, Pakistan is likely to bow to
heavy pressure and send a significant number of troops to Iraq. There
are doubts, though, that even Muslim soldiers will be spared the anger of
the resistance. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Jul
2, '04)
The meaning of Saddam's
trial
There is little doubt that Saddam Hussein will be sentenced to death; this is
the fate of losers or bad guys in the Middle East. However, Saddam's trial, his
life or death are no longer relevant for continued political stability or the
return of civility or democracy in Iraq: only the Iraqis will determine these
issues. - Ehsan Ahrari (Jul 2, '04)
The screaming 'idiot' in the  middle
of Iraq
Hashida Shinsuke, a veteran Japanese combat reporter who
survived Vietnam, Cambodia and imprisonment by the Khmer Rouge, then Burma,
Bosnia, Israel-Palestine and Afghanistan, died in Iraq in late May when
insurgents attacked his car. Adam Leibowitz describes him, citing
excerpts from his book on covering the Iraq war and its aftermath.
(Jul 2, '04)
US leaves Iraq running on empty
 Besides
handing over sovereignty to an interim government in Iraq this week, the United
States also passed on an economy committed to massive preapproved
reconstruction contracts and heavy debt. As for oil, there's the missing US$20
billion in revenues to deal with. (Jul 1, '04)
Fahrenheit
9/11: Factual or Saudi-bashing? In his storming
documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, director Michael Moore attacks Saudi
Arabia, a country many Americans love to hate these days and which in a number
of ways has become a scapegoat. At the same time, Moore is oblivious to the
question of Israel. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi
The 'prop-agenda' war
"Perception management", "truth projection" or "segmented reality". Call it
what you will, it's propaganda by any other name and it is aimed at influencing
people. And as one commentator puts it, "The American public succumbed more to
stupid propaganda tricks than did the rest of the world."
(Jul 1, '04) |
A deluge of bad advice and
statistics
With criticism flying from all directions, the
Bush administration has made public a flood of documents and statistics in an
attempt to regain the initiative in all things relating to Iraq and the "war on
terror", including a revised version of a report on the patterns of terrorism
after the first was found to contain dubious data. (Jul
1, '04)
Saddam in the dock
Saddam Hussein and 11 of his former senior associates were due finally to be
charged on Thursday with crimes against humanity. Although it will be many
months before the deposed dictator actually goes on trial, his defense lawyers
are already calling crying foul. (Jul 1, '04)
The 'pretty' face of Indian
terrorism
 The
shooting death of a 19-year-old girl with links to terrorism by police has
caused a furor in India, with people unable to comprehend what led the middle
class student to lead a double life. But this is not an isolated incident,
highlighting the growing number of women involved in terrorist-related
activities. - Siddharth Srivastava (Jul
1, '04)
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