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Craig, at BookNotes, referred to a posting that I did earlier today under the title "unintended consequences" (You will have to scroll down. Sorry. So much going on.) Thanks Craig. I then sent him an email in response to his comments on a Dave Winer post which he posted on BookNotes. Thanks again Craig. Below is my email. It states how I feel about what is happening and what we, as citizens, must do. "You're with us or against us." Were that it was as simple as that. I went through this 30 years ago. "America, love it or leave it." I love America. I hold America to very high standards. The standards of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. Give up those two documents and you no longer have America. Give up those two documents and what's the point? How can we say we are fighting for freedom if we're willing to give up freedom? Two countries in the 1930s gave up freedoms for security: Germany and Italy. Where did that get them?
... It's our responsibility, as citizens of this country, to support America. That may mean supporting our leaders. It may mean not suporting our leaders. Who was the greater patriot - Richard Nixon or Daniel Ellsburg who, for those who don't remember, released the Pentagon Pagers? I put my money on Ellsburg. We must not confuse our appointed politicians with America. Bush is not America. We are. All of us.
Currency takes flight, fear gains currency Regardless of the business-as-usual air in much of the country, there is no mistaking the strong and steadily growing element of fear in Pakistani society.
Businessmen are wringing their hands in despair as they watch their foreign partners take flight. The hectic activity in corporate law firms engaged in Pakistan’s multi-billion-dollar privatisation programme is grinding to a halt. Banks are reporting increased foreign currency withdrawals while multinationals are evacuating their foreign staffers.
"Is this a war against all terrorism," asked the BBC correspondent. Powell: Yes. President Bush sees this as a campaign that goes after terrorism as a curse in the face of society. Question: So that would include Irish terrorism, Kashmiri terrorism and Basque terrorism?
Powell: I think that is correct. Any organization that is interested in terrorist operations to overthrow legitimate governments, democratically elected governments, or governments that represent the will of their people is a threat. We should go after them. This is not new for the United States. We recently designated the real JRA, a terrorist organization. We have done the same thing with three organisations in Colombia, the FARC, the ELN and recently their paramilitary, the AUC. So who decides if a government is legitimate? The U.S.? And who overthrew the democratically elected government of Allende in Chile? The U.S. Remember, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. The U.S. can now brand any freedom fighters as terrorists if they are trying to remove themselves from the yoke of a government doing Washington's bidding. Also remember that our founding fathers were terrorists. What do you think the Boston Tea Party was? They were using terror to overthrow a legitimate government.
Tuesday I posted the following article: Hijacking Clues May Be Red Herrings
The terrorist cells demonstrated incredible sophistication and coordination in preparing and executing the attacks, but they left an astonishing amount of clues in their wake -- some that may lead to accomplices still operating in the United States. It is possible the perpetrators intentionally left some incriminating material to divert FBI attention, making it easier for additional terrorists to leave the country or carry out further operations. The attackers knew how to avoid detection by the National Security Agency and other technical intelligence outfits while organizing outside the United States. They also knew how to avoid suspicion once in the United States. That means they had a sophisticated understanding of how U.S. intelligence works and the discipline to avoid triggering suspicion.
It is nearly unbelievable that an organization capable of carrying out such a complex operation would leave behind relatively obvious evidence. Even though the suicide hijackers had little to lose, they would want to delay the FBI's investigation -- and the inevitable U.S. military response Today I come across this: Terrorists’ trade in stolen identities
Had FBI agents bothered to ask college lecturers in South Wales about the terrorist bomber they supposedly taught over a decade ago, then security chiefs would have realised how Osama bin Laden had carefully created a generation of impostors. thanks to MetaFilter The article assumes that bin Laden was responsible for this. There may be another answer. Less than three hours after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the US media and security apparatus began to level accusations at Saudi dissident Osama Bin Laden, holding him responsible for the greatest terrorist operation in American history. In a matter of days, the accusation had crystallised into a semi-official pronouncement, with President Bush declaring to the public that Bin Laden is the principal suspect. And in no time at all the American administration decided to wage a large-scale war on those it describes as terrorists: Bin Laden and the extremist Islamist organisations that surround him or share his beliefs. Nobody knows precisely how far this war will extend beyond the borders of Afghanistan, whose government shelters Bin Laden along with many Islamists of various nationalities, most of whom, however, are "Arab Afghans."
In fact the accusation is ill founded on a number of counts. Some of the doubts concerning Bin Laden's alleged role in the operation relate to the nature of violent Islamist organisations, including Bin Laden's own Al-Qa'ida (The Base), and their actual capabilities. Other doubts relate to the circumstances and details of the attacks themselves. thanks to follow me here... Also reported Tuesday: US 'planned attack on Taleban' A former Pakistani diplomat has told the BBC that the US was planning military action against Osama Bin Laden and the Taleban even before last week's attacks.
Niaz Naik, a former Pakistani Foreign Secretary, was told by senior American officials in mid-July that military action against Afghanistan would go ahead by the middle of October.
Things aren't adding up.
Interview with Robert Fisk at Beirut Airport in Lebanon Hill: Can I talk to you about Osama Bin Laden? I don't know whether you are in favour of him becoming public enemy number one at the moment but I do know that you have met him and I wonder if you could give me some kind of insight into, first of all, is he capable of this. Fisk: Well, I've been trying to explain this in my own paper, the London Independent over the last few days and I'm not sure. We haven't actually seen the evidence that directly links him to not just an atrocity but a crime against humanity that took place in New York and Washington. On the other hand, the Afghan connection seems to be fairly strong.
thanks to Robot Wisdom
A couple of things on a lighter note. Warner Bros. Plans Re-Release of Kubrick's '2001'
Warner Bros. film studio on Thursday said it will release a digitally enhanced version of director Stanley Kubrick's classic meditation on man and machine, "2001: A Space Odyssey'', in movie theaters this October. The re-release premieres Oct. 5 at the Cinerama Theater in Seattle. Subsequent engagements will follow at the Castro Theater in San Francisco, the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood and The Uptown in Washington, D.C. And why, might you ask, is it premiering in Seattle? When "2001: A Space Odyssey'' was first released, it played at the Cinerama Theater in Seattle. And a geeky teenager saw it and loved it. In recent years the Cinerama Theater had fallen on hard times but that geeky teenager purchased the theater a couple of years ago and restored it to its former gaudy splendor. That geeky teenager is Paul Allen of Microsoft fame. Rumors first appeared this spring about this release and, although the venue hadn't been announced, the local opinion was that it could only play in one theater - the Cinerama Theater. I guess Paul felt the same way. thanks to Wired Whales evolved from strange wolf-sized creatures that lived on land in modern-day India and Pakistan more than 50 million years ago, and their closest relatives today are cows, camels and giraffes, experts say.
thanks to MetaFilter
unintended consequences All the talk is about going in and getting Osama bin Laden. Aside from the questions that have been raised as to whether he directed these attacks and the questions that have been raised about being able to find terrorists (if it was that easy the British would have shut down the IRA years ago) there are the questions of unintended consequences. Ignoring the unintended consequences is part of the reason we are where we are in Afgahnistan. We supported the Islamic fundimentalists in overthrowing the Soviets and then just walked away and let the country devolve into today's situation. Getting tough with terrorists is fine as far as it goes. What thought is being given beyond the military solution? What thought is being given to picking up the pieces after bin Laden is gone?
Afghanistan facing humanitarian disaster thanks to Red Rock Eater Digest If Taliban fell, who would rule in Afghanistan? If a U.S.-led force were to attack Afghanistan and the ruling Taliban became the latest in a succession of regimes to fall, it would stir up a cesspool of drugs, guns and terror that could only be avoided if the country's political future were mapped out as carefully as the targets of war, experts here warn. thanks to Red Rock Eater Digest And what are the Russians going to do when the US is done and leaves? Russian troops and armour mass on Afghan border The Kremlin is pouring troops, tanks, and military equipment on to the border with Afghanistan in anticipation of an American onslaught on the Taliban regime. thanks to Red Rock Eater Digest And don't forget...we have our home grown terrorists.
U.S. Measures May Incite Domestic Terror In the wake of terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, the U.S. government is moving quickly to create a new Cabinet-level agency for homeland defense and ease restrictions on law enforcement agencies. But while these measures may prove effective against foreign attacks, they may also lead to increased domestic terrorism. Just wondering if any of our fearless leaders are thinking beyond the end of their gun barrels.
Overt assistance from Pakistan may bring dire consequences
As the United States plans its military response to last week’s terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the role of Pakistan — and the position of the country’s unelected military leader, General Pervez Musharraf — have become key questions. JID investigates and warns that, should the general fall as a result of offering overt support to the USA in its campaign against the Taliban, the consequences – both for the US-led alliance and the entire region – could be potentially catastrophic.
The end of liberty
How big a war? As President Bush singled out Afghanistan's Taliban regime Thursday as a potential military target, there is increasing speculation that the United States may launch some kind of attack against Iraq as part of its amorphous new war against global terrorism. With Bush holding a far-ranging mandate from Congress in the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a group of hawks within the administration have renewed their call for the head of Saddam Hussein.
So...we have civilians with no war experience, representing the Defense Dept., wanting an expanded war and an ex-General with war experience, the Secretary of State, wanting to be careful about this. I'm glad Powell is there.
Angry protests in Pakistan brought parts of the country to a virtual standstill today as demonstrators rallied behind Islamic groups. thanks to BookNotes Chinese Working Overtime to Sew U.S. Flags At the Shanghai Mei Li Hua Flags Co., office director Wu Guomin has received orders for more than 500,000 flags from customers in the United States in the week since the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. "I guess because we make so many of these things you could say we feel a little closer to the situation there," Wu said as he fingered an American flag. "We're working day and night." thanks to The Liberal Arts Mafia
Three Things We Learned A second insight revealed by the awful gaping hole in the Manhattan skyline was how ill-served we have been by a politics that perpetuates the illusion that we are all on our own and, in particular, that holds the institutions of public service in contempt. For two decades, politicians of both parties have celebrated the pursuit of private gain over public service. Shrinking government has become a preoccupation of political leaders through deregulation, privatization, and cuts in public services.
One result is that the U.S. is the only major nation that leaves airline and airport security in the hands of private corporations, which by their very nature are motivated to spend as little as possible. So the system was tossed in the lap of lowest-bid contractors who hired people for minimum wages. Training has been inadequate and supervision extremely lax. Turnover was 126 percent a year and the average employee stayed in airline security for only six months. Getting a job at Burger King or McDonald's might represent upward mobility for the average security worker. In an anti-government political climate the airline corporations were able to shrug off the government inspections that consistently revealed how easy it was to bring weapons on board. The competition for customers sacrificed safety to avoid any inconvenience. How else to explain the insane notion that a 3-1/2 inch knife blade is not a weapon?
thanks to Ethel the Blog
Why wasn't public safety a Washington priority?
If counterterrorism had been an industry doling out large contributions to politicians on both sides of the aisle and hiring powerful Washington lobbyists to plead its case, our political leaders would have leapt into action -- pushing through legislation to ensure our airports were secure and our intelligence operations actually collecting intelligence.
Everywhere, those responsible for security are asking finance ministries how terrorists can move money around the globe to finance their activities without being detected. The answer they are getting is that it is ludicrously easy when there are no controls on the movement of capital and when tax havens operate with the frontier mentality of the wild west. As a result, we now have frantic attempts by governments to strengthen the rules against money laundering, which will involve far stricter regulation and enhanced powers for those fighting financial crimes to uncover the details of suspicious transactions. thanks to also not found in nature
thanks to BookNotes
Remember Microsoft? While we're on the subject of license enforcement, let me throw in a term one alert reader just spotted in the license for FrontPage 2002. "You may not use the Software in connection with any site that disparages Microsoft, MSN, MSNBC, Expedia, or their products or services ... " the license reads in part. Good thing InfoWorld doesn't use FrontPage 2002 to post this column, I guess. So let's see: Microsoft is trying to control how customers use OEM software, trying to control when customers upgrade its products, trying to control when customers upgrade their hardware, and trying to control what customers say about Microsoft. I think I see a pattern.
What we can expect from Microsoft in the future is more of the same. Every move the company makes seems to take us one step closer to a world where it is Microsoft that makes the decisions, not the customer. If we didn't know it already, it's pretty clear now that the courts aren't going to restrain Microsoft from controlling its market. The only one who can do that is the person starring back at you in the mirror.
thanks to MetaFilter
It is one of the wildest places on earth. High in the mountain passes vehicles are useless and in winter the snow is neck deep. Then there are the Afghans, devastatingly effective guerrilla fighters, says ex-SAS man Tom Carew. And he should know - he fought alongside them against the Soviet army. Welcome to Afghanistan, a land not conquered since Alexander the Great.
thanks to BookNotes
Lost in America, Closer to Home Bush keeps calling what we are in “a war.” Has anyone told him that the more he keeps using this word, the more HE puts US in jeopardy? A “war” implies that two sides are participating in an action to kill as many of the other side as possible. Bush and the pundits use the word like it’s a one-sided deal, like we’re going to be the only ones doing the bombing. War means we bomb them, then they bomb us. That’s what war is, you idiots. We strafe Afghanistan, then the terrorists drop a canister of chemical weapons in the New York subway. We send in a group of commandos and wipe out a camp of Muslims, they take out the Sears Tower. All of you who are screaming for war: are you prepared to pay the price, to take thousands of more casualties? Because, my big, macho-talking friends, THAT is what this kind of war would be like. America is a complex and open society with a massive and intricate infrastructure that is fragile and vulnerable and susceptible to easy attack and disruption. IT CAN BE BROUGHT DOWN WITH A BOXCUTTER. Let me repeat that:
IT CAN BE BROUGHT DOWN -- IT CAN BE BROUGHT TO A TOTAL STANDSTILL -- BY A BOXCUTTER!
If making war on terrorists were simple, the forces of the I.R.A. and E.T.A. would have been smoked out and hunted down long ago. But terrorist organizations are not nation-states that can be vanquished in conventional war. To have defeated the I.R.A. in the 1970's, the British government would have had to adopt policies — like the internment of all Republican suspects — that could not easily have been reconciled with liberal ideas of justice. Nor should it be forgotten that the lion's share of the money that financed the I.R.A. campaign of violence came from the United States. Not even the most extreme Unionists were prepared to bomb Boston in retaliation.
a cautionary tale On the Sept. 16 I posted the following: "Clear Channel, the world’s largest radio network, has sent out a list of some 150 "lyrically questionable" songs by everyone from the Animals to the Zombies to its radio stations, recommending that the songs not be aired." The statement is true. The operative word is "recommending". However, as this traveled from blog to blog, even showing up in Slate and the New York Times, "recommending" was often seen as a ban from corporate offices. Zoe had received email that told something else and she found this site that clarifies Clear Channel's actions. Claim: Clear Channel Communications banned their American radio stations from playing specified songs in order to avoid offending listeners. Status: False.
Origins: It's not unusual in a time of sadness and mourning such as the one following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. that radio and television stations temporarily suspend the airing of material -- programs, songs, advertisements -- that might be considered insensitive or in bad taste. Just as an airline wouldn't show in-flight films featuring airplane crashes, especially after a particularly horrible airliner accident, so entertainment outlets generally opt to temporarily dispense with material dealing with death and disaster in the wake of terrible real-life events. So, many radio stations have recently invoked voluntary moratoriums on songs which refer to airplanes, crashes, violence, and death in their lyrics or titles. Other than some rather questionable choices of songs, the only thing remarkable about this list is that so many sensation-hungry news outlets have attempted to spin it as an outrageous mandate by Clear Channel to "ban" certain songs from the airwaves. Not only news outlets but also blogs. My only relief is that I posted it with the term "recommending". I will admit that I saw this as a ban and spoke to others, about this, in those terms. It is important, *very* important, now that we continue to seek out the full story. It's easy to jump to conclusions in these emotional times.
The West is history: M's clinch division as Moyer wins 18th
106 wins - 40 losses The best ever through 146 games
1906 Cubs 111-35
commentary
On the road to New York I continue to be amazed at the large number of people -- both on the radio and those we run into -- who are completely opposed to some half-cocked military response to what has happened. No matter what the media tells you or shows you, I am convinced there is a majority of Americans who, though they want justice and want to be protected from further attacks, do not want George W. Bush to start sounding like Dr. Strangelove. Speaking of Strangelove, this past week began with one of the most powerful pieces on "60 Minutes" in a long time. They laid it all out: How the United States -- and specifically Henry Kissinger -- plotted to overthrow the democratically-elected president of Chile in the early 1970s. The plot succeeded, President Allende was assassinated, and thousands of other Chileans were brutally tortured and murdered. Today, many within the new government of Chile would like to put Kissinger on trial for these acts of terrorism. Do you think the United States will give him up? thanks to BookNotes war Bush given conflicting advice; some aides want U.S. to topple governments
Powell, seeking to build and hold an international coalition against terrorism that includes many Muslim nations, is urging caution, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. That view is not shared by the Pentagon's civilian leadership. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and others have argued for a far more sweeping U.S. response, including a strategic-bombing campaign and aid for Iraqi opposition groups to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the officials said. The military is the one urging caution? What is this world coming too? Oh yeah...They remember Vietnam.
Pakistan Primer Facing heavy U.S. pressure, Pakistan pledged this weekend to give its "full support" to finding and punishing the perpetrators of last week's terrorist attacks. But before putting Delta Force commandos on the next flight to Peshawar, the United States ought to consider whether it is asking Pakistani president and army boss Gen. Pervez Musharraf to do too much. In a worst-case scenario, public discontent with any U.S. intervention could sow disastrous instability in a nation already fractured by sectarian strife and armed with as many as 30 nuclear bombs. thanks to Red Rock Eater Digest What happens if a suicide bomber drives a jumbo jet into one of America's 103 nuclear power reactors? What happens if a fire fed by thousands of tons of jet fuel roars through a reactor complex--or, worse, through the enormous and barely-protected containment pools of spent nuclear fuel found at every such plant? World Trade Center Mossad officials traveled to Washington last month to warn the CIA and the FBI that a cell of up to 200 terrorists was planning a major operation, according to a report in the Sunday Telegraph here yesterday. thanks to Ethel the Blog Who did it? Foreign Report presents an alternative view Israel’s military intelligence service, Aman, suspects that Iraq is the state that sponsored the suicide attacks on the New York Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington. Directing the mission, Aman officers believe, were two of the world’s foremost terrorist masterminds: the Lebanese Imad Mughniyeh, head of the special overseas operations for Hizbullah, and the Egyptian Dr Ayman Al Zawahiri, senior member of Al-Qaeda and possible successor of the ailing Osama Bin Laden. thanks to MetaFilter Engineers Tackle Havoc Beneath Trade Center As a staff engineer for the Port Authority in 1967, Mr. Tamaro helped build the World Trade Center's basement, a 16-acre, 70-foot-deep hole in the ground that until last Tuesday housed seven levels of shopping, parking and, at the very bottom, the PATH train station. Now he and others are concerned that debris from the collapse of the twin towers might be the only thing supporting the walls of that giant hole against the pressure of muck and water and dirt on the outside. news Foreign news cutbacks are not a recent phenomenon. National newspapers and magazines have shut scores of overseas bureaus in recent years. The cutbacks not only save money for the beancounters but reflect an editorial decision-making process that judges Americans' need to know based on focus groups. This tool of advertisers and political consultants has declared that "serving the public" means more stories about cars, celebrities and cures that don't involve pain. Forget foreign affairs. thanks to SmirkingChimp.com At least we have other options now. We can use news sources where our foreign news is their local news. Again, go to Points of view from Central Asia, as suggested by Scripting News readers.. other In Hubbert's Peak, Deffeyes writes with good humor about the oil business, but he delivers a sobering message: the 100-year petroleum era is nearly over. Global oil production will peak sometime between 2004 and 2008, and the world's production of crude oil "will fall, never to rise again." If Deffeyes is right--and if nothing is done to reduce the increasing global thirst for oil--energy prices will soar and economies will be plunged into recession as they desperately search for alternatives Cannabis 'dramatically improves pain relief' Results from Britain's first clinical trial of cannabis as a medicine show that it has a dramatic impact on controlling patients' pain. thanks to Scitech daily Review This gives women the opportunity to see what men have to go through. It's important to pick the right urinal. thanks to weblog wannabe
The last entry before the WTC attack was Freddy Garcia pitching an 8 inning shutout over the Angels. Tonight Freddy Garcia pitched a 9 inning shutout over the Angels to win 4-0. The Mariners are 105-40. Maybe something is back on track.
The best ever
All the pictures are up for Amaranth's show on TestingTesting last night. I also put links directly to Joanne's and Derek's new songs that came out of this weeks events.
Difficult though it may be for the Americans to admit, they seem now to be suffering the consequences of nearly fifty years of neo-colonialist dominance in the Middle East. There is a way out of this mess, but it means that we in the rich world - and the United States in particular - need to face up to some uncomfortable realities. thanks to BookNotes If Bush wants an invasion, it could become more costly than Vietnam And what about those mines? If the Americans are even contemplating a ground force, it can enter only from Pakistan the most dangerous main supply route it would be possible to find and up the Kabul Gorge from Jalalabad. But the Russians seeded the perimeters of Jalalabad, Kandahar, Khost and Herat with anti-armour mines. There are, in Afghanistan today, more than 10 million mines. They lie in fields, on mountainsides, beside roads, around the big cities, along irrigation ditches. On average, between 20 and 25 Afghan men, women and children are blown up by mines every day even if we take the lower figure, this indicates 73,000 civilian casualties from these mines in the past 10 years alone. Afghanistan: A Nightmare Battlefield In a war against Afghanistan, the world's only superpower would be aligning the most sophisticated, high-tech military weaponry ever developed against mud barracks, mountain caves, a few hundred artillery pieces and a savvy foe able to melt into the khaki folds of an already devastated landscape. thanks to Red Rock Eater Digest
US 'planned attack on Taleban' Niaz Naik, a former Pakistani Foreign Secretary, was told by senior American officials in mid-July that military action against Afghanistan would go ahead by the middle of October. ??????!
thanks to MetaFilter
I've added two links under the navigation bar. Zoe sent me this link from MoveOn.org. Our elected representatives are being inundated with the war message. They need to hear that there are others who feel differently. Points of view from Central Asia, as suggested by Scripting News readers. This is a list of on-line news publications from Central Asia - Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Israel, Russia, Iran, United Arab Emirates. More are being added. Read some of them. There is another world out there.
Monday's TestingTesting was special. Joanne, of the TestingTesting House Band, wrote a song about 9-11. Derek also had a new song. Amaranth was great and eveyone ended the show with "Blowin' in the Wind". Now there is an anthem I can get behind. The sound is up. Pictures coming. Good night.
Something to think about... Hijacking Clues May Be Red Herrings
The terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon Sept. 11 practiced near-perfect operational planning, coordination and execution before their mission but left behind obvious evidence leading to other operatives who may have supported the hijackings. This begs the question of whether these evidence trails were intentionally left in order to distract U.S. law enforcement from other terrorists. thanks to Red Rock Eater Digest
THE IRAQ CONNECTION.
In the immediate aftermath of Tuesday's attacks, attention has focused on terrorist chieftain Osama bin Laden. And he may well be responsible. But intelligence and law enforcement officials investigating the case would do well to at least consider another possibility: that the attacks--whether perpetrated by bin Laden and his associates or by others--were sponsored, supported, and perhaps even ordered by Saddam Hussein. There is, however, one analogy that does not seem to have occurred to anyone: the burning of the Reichstag. The anti-Arab and anti-Moslem hysteria that has followed around the globe in the wake of the catastrophe simply calls out for comparison with the events of the 1930s. The U.S. authorities immediately started the search for the guilty among Arabs, Osama bin Laden cropped up almost immediately as prime suspect and alternative versions have barely been entertained. In the minutes immediately following the explosions, it seems there was no doubt whatsoever regarding the "Arab" source of the attacks. However, the more evidence and arguments adduced in support of the "Arab version," the more shaky it seems to become. In a television appearance immediately after the explosions, the well-known pundit Vyacheslav Nikonov noted that the guilty would undoubtedly be found, and if not, they would be "nominated," adding cynically: "It would be in Russia's interest if the Taliban and bin Laden were nominated."
To give him his due, Alexander Gordon -- who spoke on two TV programs -- pointed out that it could be far-right militia groups (such as those behind the Oklahoma City bombing) and not Islamic terrorists at all. Analysts have emphasised how easy it would be to carry out each individual element of the terrorist operation: smuggling knives aboard a plane, breaking into the cockpit, etc. However to coordinate all these actions in different parts of the country without making a single serious blunder is devilishly hard.
I'm trying to get back into the reality of getting some work done. It's not easy but deadlines help. TestingTesting, the Internet webcast I do, is on tonight. I have the site set up and ready to go. Now to get everything else done for the show. Cleaning up my living room (where we do the show) is a high priority. Join us tonight at TestingTesting for the healing of music. Amaranth will be playing as well our own TestingTesting House Band. Guestbook in your comments during the show (instructions on the TestingTesting Show Page.)
CIA's Tracks Lead in Disastrous Circle So, we've come full circle. The CIA, which originally helped train Osama bin Laden and many of the other terrorists who have turned against us, now will have its powers expanded to do more of the same. Of course, the CIA did not traffic with Islamic fanatics on its own initiative but was following a policy proclaimed by President Reagan of support for "the valiant and courageous Afghan freedom fighters."
There's something absurd in the sentiment of congressional leaders, who the New York Times reported Sunday "have concluded that American spy agencies should be allowed to combat terrorism with more aggressive tactics, including the hiring of unsavory foreign agents." When did the CIA stop hiring "unsavory" agents? Like Bin Laden, the CIA recruited "freedom fighters" from throughout the Islamic world to overthrow the secular government in Kabul that was backed by the Soviets. Ironically, under our new president, U.S. policy even had tilted toward the view that we could work with the Taliban thugs who have harbored Bin Laden, as evidenced last May when U.S. drug enforcement officials visited the country and celebrated that regime's success in limiting opium production. "Taliban's Ban on Poppy a Success, U.S. Aides Say" was the New York Times headline, with glowing endorsements from U.S. officials. The story reported, "The sudden turnaround by the Taliban, a move that left international drug experts stunned ... opens the way for American aid to the Afghan farmers who have stopped planting poppies. On [May 17], Secretary of State Colin L. Powell announced a $43-million grant to Afghanistan in additional emergency aid to cope with the effects of a prolonged drought. The United States has become the biggest donor to help Afghanistan in the drought." Powell issued a statement that the U.S. would "continue to look for ways to provide more assistance to the Afghans." thanks to SmirkingChimp.com So it appears that the US is the biggest supporter of the Taliban. Maybe we should start with bombing Washington. At least we know where that is. Another thing...A commonly used definition of insanity is doing something over and over again, that always gets the same results, but expecting something different each time. It was actions of our government that got us into this mess. Now they want to do even more of what they have been doing all along.
Local points of view on the war that's building in Central Asia, suggested by Scripting News readers. Links to on-line papers from Pakistan, India, and Iran. A part of the world we don't read about so it must not exist.
Dawn (Pakistan)
Clear Channels List of Songs with Questionable Lyrics Clear Channel, the world’s largest radio network, has sent out a list of some 150 "lyrically questionable" songs by everyone from the Animals to the Zombies to its radio stations, recommending that the songs not be aired. Some of the songs:
The Beatles "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds thanks to wood s lot
US puts the hard word on allies
AS the United States geared up for war, Secretary of State Colin Powell warned other countries that Washington would judge them by their willingness to help in an alliance against the attackers. "This has become a new benchmark," Mr Powell said yesterday, "a new way of measuring the relationship and what we can do together in the future and what kind of support we can provide to you across the whole range of issues and activities. "If they are simply unresponsive, and we deem that unresponsiveness to be contributing to additional terrorism or to the fertile ground in which terrorism thrives, that will certainly affect the kind of relationship we're going to have with them." Mr Powell spoke to senior ministers of governments worldwide - including Japan, India, Algeria, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Morocco, Portugal, Syria, Bahrain, Egypt, Brazil, Qatar, Kuwait and South Korea - to press his case for action against extremist organisations. thanks to Red Rock Eater Digest
bully n. One who hurts or intimidates weaker or smaller people.
US marines land in Pakistan for attacks It said, according to unofficial reports a contingent of over 50 personnel from the Special Services Group of the US Marines' Green Seals have landed for conducting 'target oriented' operations against Bin Laden, prime suspect in the terrorist strikes in the US. thanks to Red Rock Eater Digest
It's way too late at night or too early in the morning but there is too much to say. Web logs as a news tool
Amateur Newsies Top the Pros I don't have a TV. So I watched some of the coverage at Zoe's midday Tuesday. The rest has been pretty much from the web and most of that has been from web logs, like Scripting News, Doc Searls, BookNotes, Red Rock Eater Digest, and wood s lot. They have provided me with a dizzying array of stories and sources. (Other weblogs under the navigation bar on top left of this page.) It also provided me with many voices compared to the single voice that corporate media has become. The web log has changed how we gather news. It will be even more important as the war machine gets into gear. There was an almost total control of the news, by the military, during Desert Storm. I don't think that is going to happen again. Not as long as we have our web logs. An example of the personal story, that many are linking to, that doesn't make it to the*real* news but is more real than anything coming from the talking heads. And the incredible commentary that keeps coming, not from a journalist, but from a software developer named Dave Winer at Scripting News. War Get ready for war, Bush tells America Announcing that bin Laden, the Islamic extremist believed to be hiding in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban regime, was the prime suspect behind the carnage, Bush told Americans to brace themselves for a long and potentially bloody conflict, suggesting they should expect sacrifices from their armed forces. Speculation was also mounting last night that Iraq - suspected by some of financing bin Laden's recent operations - could also be attacked. 'I will not settle for a token act,' said Bush. 'Our response must be sweeping, sustained and effective. You will be asked for your patience, for the conflict will not be short. You will be asked for resolve, for the conflict will not be easy. You will be asked for your strength because the course to victory may be long.' Military preparations are believed to be focusing on air attacks with cruise missiles, followed by the landing of special forces by helicopter - including the British SAS - into Afghanistan to dismantle bin Laden's training camps and organisation. The first attacks are anticipated within days. And this is the guy who claims Jesus is his favorite philospher. Who says he asks "What would Jesus do?". I think he forgot to ask Jesus about this one. Maybe he doesn't realize that Jesus is in the New Testament. He seems to only have read the Old Testament. Or maybe someone just read him the good parts. You know...the eye for an eye part. This is also the guy that dodged Vietnam by joining the National Guard and then not even showing up there for a year. And he has the gall to tell us that we need to brace ourselves for a long and potentially bloody conflict, suggesting we should expect sacrifices from our armed forces. Where the hell was he when sacrifice was asked of him? At least there are small voices raising questions... The country wants blood. Convinced of the conclusion we must reach, our investigators will supply our leaders with the facts they require. Nobody I have talked to is talking deterrence or defense. The only words we use are retribution and revenge. When I ask my friends how they will know when they have exacted enough revenge, I am told this is a rhetorical question. When I ask from whom they should extract revenge, they look at me as if it is obvious. I ask, even if every existing terrorist (by the broadest of definitions) is killed, what do they plan to do to those who are inspired by their martyrdom to follow them? I'm getting too old for this shit. The Matrix I spent this evening at my good friend Andrew's. It was his birthday party. It was good to get out with friends and eat their good food. Later we watched The Matrix on DVD with great surround sound. I saw it on the big screen when it came out and loved it. Tonight I felt very uncomfortable watching parts of it. When the helicopter crashes into the skyscraper and a ball of flame erupts I kept thinking about another ball of flame erupting from another skyscraper. And the realization, watching it this time, that, when balls of flame erupt from the side of a skyscraper, people are going to die. Many people. We have watched so much violence on the big and little screens. We know that it's not real and I think that we start confusing the fact that no one is really getting hurt on the screen with reality - that maybe no one is really getting hurt in real life too. At least not the hero. Recent events indicate otherwise. Young men are anxious to enlist so they can invade Afgahnistan and whup some ass. I guess every generation has to find out for itself. Not everyone runs through walls of bullets like Keanu Reeves. Read All Quiet on the Western Front or Johnny Got His Gun. An Amazon review for Johnny Got His Gun:
Reviewer: Norm McDonald from Orem Utah I guess Norm didn't get his wish. Too bad. I'm getting to old for this shit. [Disclaimer: My daughter is a Specialist in the Army and is stationed in Germany. She is in the Quartermaster Corps and supports the motor pool for a couple of attack helicopter squadrons.]
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