Counterterrorism: Shifting from 'Who' to 'How

Nov 06, 2009 - Counterterrorism: Shifting from 'Who' to 'How' November 4, 2009 | 1918 GMT Global Security and Intelligence Report By Scott Stewart and Fred Burton In the 11th edition of the online magazine Sada al-Malahim (The Echo of Battle), which was released to jihadist Web sites last week, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leader Nasir al-Wahayshi wrote an article that called for jihadists to conduct simple attacks against a variety of targets. The targets included "any tyrant, intelligence den, prince" or "minister" (referring to the governments in the Muslim world like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen), and "any crusaders whenever you find one of them, like at the airports of the crusader Western countries that participate in the wars against Islam, or their living compounds, trains etc.," (an obvious reference to the United States and Europe and Westerners living in Muslim countries). Related Special Topic Pages Surveillance and Countersurveillance Terrorist Attack Cycle Al-Wahayshi, an ethnic Yemeni who spent time in Afghanistan serving as a lieutenant under Osama bin Laden, noted these simple attacks could be conducted with readily available weapons such as knives, clubs or small improvised explosive devices (IEDs). - 1 Comment

Who Killed California?

Oct 15, 2009 - by Troy Senik http://nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/who-killed-california My apologies for having nothing originally in this post.  The text was here but didn't show up. Apparently this article is too long to be printed here, at about 11 pages.  It is nevertheless worth reading, unless, as someone has already done, you have made your  mind up what to believe before reading. - 29 Comments

Max Blumenthal on Fresh Air

Sep 14, 2009 - I know this is long and a little weird because its in interview format, but I thought this was great when I heard it the other day. This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. - 4 Comments

A Dangerous Delusion

Sep 04, 2009 - A Dangerous Delusion We go to war to defend our interests, not to encourage democracy. By Andrew C. McCarthy Right after 9/11, Pres. - 3 Comments

To get the ball rolling, Steph

Dec 30, 2008 - Logic tells us that there must be a first cause. The question what that first cause is, and can we ever define it? What do we know? - 55 Comments

The Cheney Fallacy

May 24, 2009 - Jack Goldsmith, The New Republic Published: Monday, May 18, 2009 Why Barack Obama is waging a more effective war on terror than George W. Bush. Former Vice President Cheney says that President Obama's reversal of Bush-era terrorism policies endangers American security. - 9 Comments

The Learning Curve (Rediscovering counterinsurgency in Iraq. )

May 07, 2009 - The Learning Curve Rediscovering counterinsurgency in Iraq. by Mackubin Thomas Owens Baghdad at Sunrise A Brigade Commander's War in Iraq by Peter R. Mansoor Yale, 416 pp., $28 Some years ago, the late Carl Builder of RAND wrote a book entitled The Masks of War, in which he demonstrated the importance of the organizational cultures of the various military services. - 1 Comment

Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle update: February 2009 (something no longer discussed)

Feb 05, 2009 - Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle update: February 2009 By DJ ElliottFebruary 5, 2009 9:04 AM The February 2009 updates to the Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle are now available at the ISF OOB homepage. The updates and key information from the release of the December 2008 9010 Quarterly Report to Congress was addressed separately and will not be addressed in this update. The significant changes to the Order of Battle that occurred in January are summarized below. - 0 Comments

Scientific Pretense vs. Democracy

Apr 14, 2009 - Scientific Pretense vs. Democracy By Angelo M. Codevilla “We will restore science to its rightful place…” —Barack Obama Unpacked, this sentence means: “Under my administration, Americans will have fewer choices about how they live, and fewer choices as voters because, rightfully, those choices should be made by officials who rule by the authority of science.” Thus our new president intends to accelerate a trend a half-century old in America but older and further advanced in the rest of the world. - 0 Comments

Older Mom = Smarter Kid; Older Dad...

Mar 09, 2009 - Children of older fathers do less well in IQ tests Mon Mar 9, 2009 8:14am EDT ((I'm sure there are studies that raise other questions - I just liked this today)) HONG KONG (Reuters) - Children of older fathers appear to perform less well in intelligence tests during infancy and childhood, a study by researchers in Australia shows. In contrast, the study found that children with older mothers tended to gain higher scores in the same tests designed to measure the ability to think and reason, including concentration, learning, memory, speaking and reading skills. Men and women are having children later particularly in developed countries. - 0 Comments