About this site: Launched in October 2001, this warlog's purpose is to demonstrate the folly of the War On Terror by taking articles only from wire feeds and mainstream news organizations, including FOX.

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NOVEMBER 2002

Rocket Slams Into Area Near East Kabul 11/27

A rocket slammed into an area near the Finance Ministry in the eastern part of the city Tuesday, and international peacekeepers said they were investigating. There were no immediate signs of casualties or damages

Smugglers, politicians and spies move al-Qaeda, Taliban fugitives 11/27

A murky network of smugglers, politicians and spies is moving money to Taliban and al-Qaeda fugitives, secreting their operatives out of the region and ferrying others in, according to intelligence officials and a former Taliban commander.

Several al-Qaeda men have left Afghanistan for Algeria in recent days, Fazul Rabi Said Rahman, a former Taliban corps commander, told The Associated Press in an interview yesterday. A European intelligence source says others are slipping quietly into the region, and the numbers are on the increase.

What will be the trigger for war? 11/27

UN weapons inspectors begin their work in Iraq today, launching a tense new chapter in the confrontation with Saddam Hussein in which war and peace are likely to hinge on the legal interpretation of two words: "material breach".

A very public wargame 11/27

Washington dispatch: As the military build-up continues in the Gulf, Julian Borger sees US forces preparing for house to house combat.

Sceptics have reason to doubt the divided Iraqi opposition 11/27

This time, however, the sceptics have much more reason to doubt. First, the Iraqi opposition has failed to appoint a credible alternative leader to Saddam. Even though his downfall may be only weeks away, it remains deeply divided and lacks a common purpose.

There is no credible military force on the ground to take on the Iraqi Armed Forces and this time the fighting will have to be carried out on land and in the air by the United States.

Shoulder-launched missile threat 11/26 (MP3)

The World's Tony Kahn speaks with journalist Paul J. Caffera who wrote an article for Salon.com about how shoulder-launched missiles are deadly against lumbering commercial jets. Caffera says they are cheap, portable and terrorists in the U.S. may already have them.

Pentagon Papers' Ellsberg Sees Deja Vu in Iraq 11/26

"I believe they (the U.S. government) are very smart. They would have to be very stupid to believe that this (attacking Iraq) would reduce the chances of terrorism. It will increase it sharply."

Welcome to al-Qaeda Town 11/26

On a remote stretch of Afghanistan's border with Pakistan sits a thriving bazaar crammed with grimy shops and simple houses. Locals know it as Angurada, but it might as well be called al-Qaeda Town. In an audacious show of force by an organization that is supposed to be on the run, al-Qaeda, according to U.S. and Afghan officials, has claimed the hamlet as its own and is using the redoubt as a base for attacks on U.S. forces. Strangest of all, this is happening in Afghanistan proper, where the U.S. military has, in theory, freedom of action to move against al-Qaeda.

In Afghanistan, Paying for War is Easier than Paying for Peace 11/26

Joseph Biden (D-DE) remarked that the aid would help keep Afghanistan "from sliding back into chaos and becoming a haven for terrorists again." But a close look at what is happening on the ground reveals that it might be too late to stave off chaos and keep terrorism at bay. Afghanistan is far from stable. U.S. troops in Afghanistan are being fired on by Al Qaeda an average of three times a week. There has been a ten-fold increase in opium production in the past year, and the drug lords are Northern Alliance leaders and U.S. allies who helped oust the Taliban.

Al Qaeda, Taliban Sympathizers Strike U.S. Camps 11/26

Three U.S. camps in Afghanistan came under Taliban and/or al Qaeda fire Nov. 24. There were no U.S. casualties in any of the incidents.

'Warthogs' Aid in Afghan Ground War 11/26

The best plane for firing 30mm depleted uranium rounds.

Bush lauds Saudis' role in terror war 11/26

President George W. Bush's spokesman praised Saudi Arabia on Monday as a "good partner in the war on terrorism," despite accusations that the wife of the Saudi ambassador to the United States might have indirectly given financial support to Sept. 11 terrorists.

Saudis Face U.S. Demand On Terrorism 11/26

A National Security Council task force is recommending an action plan to President Bush that is designed to force Saudi Arabia to crack down on terrorist financiers within 90 days or face unilateral U.S. action to bring the suspects to justice, senior U.S. officials said yesterday.

Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

In an age of biowarfare, US sees new role for nukes 11/26

Bush administration mulls resuming nuclear testing and developing tactical warheads to deal with threats like Iraq.

and:

Among the issues being discussed by US officials and the experts who advise them in this era of stateless terrorism and other forms of "unconventional warfare" are these: The resumption of nuclear weapons testing; ambivalence over controlling chemical and biological weapons at a time when advancing technology offers new opportunities to control the battlefield; and the possible development of tactical nuclear bombs to go after the kind of hardened targets that more than 70 countries - especially Iraq - now use to hide their most threatening weapons.

White House has asked Iran for help in Iraq invasion 11/26

The Bush administration has had indirect contacts with the government of Iran in hopes of persuading it to assist, or at least stay neutral, in a U.S. invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in neighboring Iraq, according to American officials.

U.S. Fails to Curb Its Saudi Oil Habit, Experts Say 11/26

Nearly a dozen years after the Persian Gulf war, when reliance on Saudi supplies prompted calls for the United States to diversify its sources of oil, America remains as dependent as ever on the Saudis, according to government and industry officials.

A Lawn Sign In My Neighborhood

nuke iraq

Attacks on U.S. Citizens Spark Fear 11/25

In Kuwait, two American soldiers are shot on a quiet stretch of desert highway. In Lebanon, an American nurse is murdered at a clinic. In Jordan, a U.S. diplomat is gunned down in his front yard.

As U.S. soldiers prepare for possible war with Iraq, and as violence continues in American-allied Israel and the Palestinian territories, a series of attacks on Americans in the Middle East has sparked fears that even friendly nations like Kuwait are no longer enclaves of safety.

Senator Says Attack on U.S. Likely 11/25

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Richard Shelby, an eight-year veteran of the Senate Intelligence Committee, warned Americans on Sunday to expect another major attack from al-Qaida terrorists.

"Oh, absolutely. It's going to happen," Shelby said on NBC's Meet the Press.

US pulls out Karzai's military bodyguards 11/25

Special forces who foiled assassination attempt on Afghan leader replaced by private security guards

Assassination Attempt Is Stopped in Kabul 11/25

Afghan intelligence officials said today that they had thwarted an assassination attempt originally intended for President Hamid Karzai when they captured a man wired with explosives near the defense minister's house in Afghanistan's capital on Friday.

CIA agents try to buy intelligence 11/25

The CIA has handed out tens of millions of dollars in unmarked bills in recent months to foreign intelligence contacts in the hunt for Osama bin Laden and other top al-Qaeda leaders, US officials and former CIA members say.

Just as the CIA gave several hundred million dollars in $US100 bills to warlords to help motivate and arm ground forces in the war in Afghanistan, agents have been given stacks of US currency to spend in Yemen, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia the Philippines and elsewhere.

Bush Likens Hussein to Nazis and Communists 11/25

President George W. Bush on Saturday compared the dual threat of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and global terrorism to the oppression of Nazism and communism, telling citizens in Romania and Lithuania that the newest dangers facing the world will meet the same fate as those of the past.

Senators Assail Saudis 11/25

Senior Democratic and Republican senators assailed the government of Saudi Arabia today for refusing to strike out against extremism within the kingdom and for failing to cooperate fully with American efforts against Al Qaeda and other Islamic terror networks.

FBI suspects al-Qa'eda link to Saudi royals 11/25

The FBI is investigating whether the Saudi royal family gave funds to two of the al-Qa'eda terrorists who attacked the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

Princess Haifa al-Faisal, daughter of the late King Faisal and wife of Prince Bandar, Saudi ambassador to Washington and a friend of the Bush family, sent tens of thousands of dollars to a family linked to a man helping the two hijackers establish themselves in America.

Saudi envoy's wife unwittingly sent cash to hijackers 11/25

THE FBI is investigating how funds from a senior member of the Saudi Royal Family found their way indirectly to two of the September 11 suicide hijackers.

U.S. Military Chief in Georgia 11/25

The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff met with Georgia's president and other top officials Sunday to review Washington's anti-terrorist training program in the former Soviet republic.

US speeds tally of Iraq offenses 11/25

The US prepares its case for war, aiming to keep Saddam Hussein from using a Dec. 8 deadline to delay UN process.

WAR, WHATEVER 11/21

GEORGE Bush's top security adviser last night admitted the US would attack Iraq even if UN inspectors fail to find weapons.

Dr Richard Perle stunned MPs by insisting a "clean bill of health" from UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix would not halt America's war machine.

US forms Iraqi opposition army 11/21

A 5,000-man force is being recruited, fueling more feuding among Iraqi opposition groups.

US backs down on rift over no-fly war 11/21

Britain and America yesterday tried to close a rift over claims in Washington that Iraqi attacks on allied aircraft patrolling the "no-fly zones" could trigger war.

Air Patrols Over Iraq Heat Up 11/21

Saudi-based U.S. fighters are playing a psychological game with Hussein.

Rumsfeld Takes Aim at Annan Over 'No-Fly' Zones 11/21

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Tuesday took aim at U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who said the Security Council did not back a U.S. charge that Baghdad was already violating a new U.N. resolution on Iraq.

Bush threatens attack over 'lies' 11/21

George Bush has threatened to unleash a military assault on Iraq if Saddam Hussein continues to deny possessing banned weapons of mass destruction.

Saudis admit to al-Qaida threat as 100 are held 11/21

Saudi Arabia, normally reluctant to admit to an al-Qaida presence on its soil, conceded yesterday that it had detained more than 100 people and questioned 700.

Britain prepares 30,000 troops to answer US call for coalition force 11/21

THE three Armed Forces can officially start gearing up for war after the United States formally asked for a British contribution to a “coalition of the willing” to fight Iraq.

Wary Iraqis View Inspectors as U.S. Pawns 11/21

As U.N. experts prepare to conduct their first weapons inspections here in almost four years, undertaking a mission that could determine whether the United States launches a war against President Saddam Hussein, many Iraqis -- official and not -- sound just as skeptical about the process as the Bush administration.

Prepare the Daisy Cutters Once More

Afghanistan's New Terror Camps 11/20

Three Qaeda recruits tell NEWSWEEK they're training again for terror in Afghanistan

Columbia Pictures readies Afghan war film 11/20

In what would be Hollywood's first take on the war in Afghanistan, Columbia Pictures is developing a film about the cavalry exploits of U.S. commandos fighting the Taliban on horseback.

Warnings of Afghan civil war 11/20

A Pakistani involved in making Afghan policy for much of the past 30 years warns of civil war in that country if U.S. forces pull out before a more broadly based government is put in place.

Pentagon Plans A Redirection In Afghanistan 11/20

In a major restructuring of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, the Pentagon plans to disperse teams of combat soldiers, civil affairs specialists and Afghan troops around the nation to help secure the countryside and boost reconstruction efforts, defense officials said yesterday.

War crimes arrest blow to Iraqi opposition 11/20

DANISH police arrested last night an exiled Iraqi general tipped as a possible replacement for President Saddam Hussein. He faces charges that he was responsible for killing thousands of Kurds in a chemical weapons attack 14 years ago.

Iraqis 'staggered' by exhaustive list of demands from UN inspectors 11/20

Mattress and slipper factories among sites Blix weapons team insists on examining

Ready and Willing, but Are They Able? 11/20

Iraq's Kurds want to help oust Hussein. But the U.S. has worries — such as the fact that the rebels rarely train using bullets.

Reserves turning into active force 11/20

If the United States goes to war with Iraq, a large part of the military burden will be shouldered by civilians.

By the tens of thousands they will leave their jobs and families to serve with the U.S. military for as long as they're needed, which in some cases might mean a year, or possibly two, away from home.

G.I.'s Train on Iraq's Border 11/20

The United States Army has quietly doubled the number of its troops in Kuwait and is practicing offensive operations against Iraq close to the border with Saddam Hussein's forces.

US asks UK to mobilise troops for Iraq: Minister 11/20

The United States has formally asked Britain to mobilise troops for a possible deployment in Iraq, British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said on Wednesday.

Yemen Searching for Survivor of U.S. Airstrike 11/20

Yemen said today that its security forces were looking for a suspected al Qaeda member who narrowly escaped a missile attack by an unmanned CIA plane that killed six of his comrades earlier this month.

Saddam already defying UN, says White House 11/19

The White House last night began to build its case that Saddam Hussein was already defying the United Nations.

U.S. Includes No-Fly Zone in Iraq U.N. Resolution 11/19

None of the other 14 members of the U.N. Security Council, including Britain, believe the no-fly zone is included in the resolution, much less a possible cause for a violation.

As arms inspectors arrive, row erupts over US smears 11/19

The United Nations chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, yesterday accused hawks in Washington, who are bent on going to war with Iraq, of conducting a smear campaign against him.

Blix bears brunt of hawks' frustration 11/19

The claims by Hans Blix, the chief weapons inspector, that he has been the target of a smear campaign by Pentagon hawks is the culmination of months of tension at the heart of the Bush administration about the UN inspection team.

U.S. Discusses Aid for Turkey to Defray Costs of an Iraq War 11/19

The United States has begun discussions about compensating Turkey for economic losses and other costs likely to be incurred in a U.S.-led war against Iraq, according to American and Turkish officials.

A year after Taliban, little change 11/19

"There is no difference between then and now," says Selab, a medical student. "The only difference is that under the Taliban, we had to wear a turban and a beard."

U.S. Government Says Afghan Security Situation Is 'Volatile' 11/19

Afghanistan's security situation is "volatile and unpredictable" and the authorities have a limited ability to maintain order, the U.S. State Department said.

Bin Laden Tape Seems Genuine 11/19

United States intelligence officials have concluded that a recently recorded audiotape that was broadcast on an Arab television network last week is genuine and contains the voice of Osama bin Laden, apparently ending months of debate in the government over whether the elusive terrorist leader is still alive.

Al-Qaeda cells spread across Europe 11/19

COUNTER-TERRORIST operations in Britain have uncovered a “lattice network” of al-Qaeda-linked cells involved in plotting attacks throughout Europe.

US troops are losing battle of the bulge 11/18

AS AMERICAN troops prepare for war in Iraq a report is about to reveal that more than half of them are overweight.

A panel of nine medical experts commissioned by the Pentagon is expected to say that 53.9 per cent of US military personnel over the age of 20 would be classified as too fat to fight under federal obesity standards.

Saddam pays Gaddafi $3 billion to give his family safe haven in Libya 11/18

SADDAM HUSSEIN has made secret plans for his family and leading members of his regime to be given political asylum in Libya in the event of a war with America or a successful internal coup in Baghdad.

How a suitcase full of dollars finished off the Taliban 11/18

It was not the terrifying US 'daisy-cutter' bombs that defeated the Taliban. Nor was it the warlords of the Northern Alliance. Instead, it was a man armed only with a suitcase stuffed with dollar bills.

US Afghan ally 'tortured witnesses to his war crimes' 11/18

The United Nations has found evidence that a leading Afghan warlord and strong ally of the US tortured witnesses to stop them testifying against him in a war crimes inquiry, a senior UN source said last night.

Losing Control? 11/18 (via Cursor)

If the U.S. has won the war in Afghanistan, maybe somebody should tell the enemy it's time to surrender.

Islamist parties prepare to share power in Pakistan 11/18

Pakistan's largest political parties are this week expected to agree a new coalition government including hardline Islamist clerics, ending three years of military dictatorship.

US must disarm: Carter 11/18

The former United States president Jimmy Carter says the US, which has taken the lead in urging such countries as Iraq and North Korea to destroy their weapons of mass destruction, should also disarm.

"One of the things that the United States Government has not done is to try to comply with and enforce international efforts targeted to prohibit the arsenals of biological weapons that we ourselves have," Mr Carter told CNN.

U.S. Is Laying the Groundwork for Possible Military Action 11/18

The Bush administration is initiating a series of diplomatic and military steps that must be completed before the United States could go to war in Iraq, American and allied officials say.

Bush's War Cabinet is riven by feuding 11/18

FURIOUS arguments and personal animosity within President Bush’s War Cabinet, in which Colin Powell, the Secretary of State, is frequently at odds with the Administration’s leading hawks, have been vividly detailed in a book.

See also: full text.

Forget Iraq - Part II

Pakistan's N. Korea Deals Stir Scrutiny 11/13

The Bush administration has evidence that suggests Pakistan assisted North Korea's covert nuclear weapons program as recently as three months ago, much later than previously disclosed, according to sources in the administration and on Capitol Hill.

Europe lacks moral fibre, says US hawk 11/13

Richard Perle, a leading Pentagon adviser on Iraq, last night launched an extraordinary tirade against Europe which he accused of losing its moral direction and providing succour to Saddam Hussein.

Iraq move increases chemical war fear 11/13

IRAQ is stockpiling a powerful antidote to nerve agents, fuelling fears that the country intends to use chemical and biological weapons against invading forces, US officials say.

Officials Question FBI Terror Readiness 11/12

History suggests retaliatory strikes are likely. During the Persian Gulf War, the number of terror attacks tripled. Intelligence analysts believe a backlash this time would be much stronger.

An unclassified version of a recent National Intelligence Estimate, which includes the opinions of all U.S. intelligence agencies, predicted that an invasion of Iraq would prompt Hussein "to become much less constrained in adopting terrorist actions," including enlisting the aid of extremists.

Hussein would likely set aside his differences with terrorist groups and "might decide that the extreme step of assisting Islamic terrorists in conducting a weapons-of-mass-destruction attack against the United States would be his last chance to exact vengeance by taking a large number of victims with him," the report predicted.

The intrigue behind the drone strike 11/12

"This is why is it so difficult to make deals with the United States," says Brig. Gen. Yahya M. Al Mutawakel, the deputy secretary general for the ruling People's Congress party in Yemen, who broke his country's official silence on the issue in an exclusive interview. "This is why we are reluctant to work closely with them. They don't consider the internal circumstances in Yemen. In security matters, you don't want to alert the enemy."

Bush dishes out licences to kill on a wide front 11/12

US President George W Bush has authorised a variety of people in his administration to launch attacks like the missile strike that killed six suspected al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen last week.

Hawk-dove split reopens 11/12

Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, argued in a recent meeting that a transitional authority in Iraq should be headed by an American who would report to him, an unnamed senior official told the Wall Street Journal.

The State Department is calling for an interim government led by the United Nations or another international body, to avoid fuelling Arab fears that America is staging a land grab or installing a puppet regime in Baghdad.

Iraq Up. Pakistan On Deck?

Al-Qaida Leaders Said in Pakistan 11/12

U.S. intelligence believes most of al-Qaida's surviving leaders have relocated to Pakistan, although a few have slipped away to countries in Asia and North Africa, defense and counterterrorism officials say.

Leaking plans for a rolling war 11/12

The Pentagon has drawn up plans for an invasion of Iraq which are based on a concept of "rolling war". The idea would be to seize three areas of Iraq - the south, the north and the west - and use them as staging points to threaten Baghdad in the hope that this would precipitate an internal collapse of the Iraqi regime.

The shape of an Iraq invasion 11/12

... the plan appears to reflect a compromise between what insiders say was the civilian Pentagon leadership's desire for an innovative war plan relying heavily on air power and Special Operations Forces, as well as possibly Iraqi opposition forces – and Central Command chief Gen. Tommy Franks' concern with deploying a large enough ground force to handle worst-case scenarios, such as drawn-out urban warfare.

US warns war on Iraq may start before Christmas 11/12

"We're not going to wait until February to see whether Iraq is co-operating or not."

Western majors still chasing Iraqi oil 11/12

They controlled Iraqi oil flows until Baghdad showed them the door 30 years ago. Now the Western multinationals are longing for a second shot at Iraq's vast untapped oilfields when the country is free of U.N. sanctions.

U.S.-French rift on Iraq: a feud that wasn't 11/12

The debate on Iraq at the United Nations was less a great diplomatic battle than a complex negotiation in which the United States was content to let France play a self-conferred role of guardian of peace and multilateralism, confident that the strategic payoff sought by the French from more than a month's discussion in the Security Council meshed in the short term with American intentions.

Latest American airstrikes pave way for an invasion 11/12

AIRSTRIKES on Iraqi air defence targets by American and British bombers are beginning to show a pattern that fits neatly into the war plan devised by the Americans for toppling President Saddam Hussein.

See Graphic: Attacks Soften Up Saddam's Defences

Coalition forces under fresh attack in Afghanistan 11/11

Up to 15 rockets have been fired at Coalition forces in south-eastern Afghanistan in what the US military said Monday was an unusually well-organised attack.

Chickenhawk Prez: You Fought So I Didn't Have To

In Visit to Vietnam Memorial, Bush Thanks Veterans 11/11

As he draws the nation closer to war, President Bush honored America's veterans Monday with a somber, rain-soaked visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Playing the Expectations Game

Only matter of time before US hit by terrorists: Ridge 11/11

US President George Bush's Homeland Security Adviser Tom Ridge said in an interview with the BBC broadcast on Sunday that it was only a matter of time before America was again attacked by terrorists.

US will attack without approval 11/11

The Bush administration yesterday said it would not wait for the UN security council to approve an attack on Iraq if it fails to comply with weapons inspections, casting new light on leaked battlefield scenarios.

What might trigger a war with Iraq? 11/11

From the US perspective, for now it boils down to something like a Supreme Court justice's famous definition of pornography: "You know it when you see it."

Building a War: As Some Argue, Supply Lines Fill Up 11/11

An army marches on its stomach, Napoleon famously observed. There is no more voracious military stomach than the U.S. armed forces. And since the war on terrorism began with Americans fighting in Afghanistan, the Defense Department has moved with notable agility to extend its globe-girdling capacity to march. It is this massive buildup of military capabilities -- and the way it ropes in reluctant partners, sometimes publicly and sometimes privately -- that shows where senior officials in the Bush administration are headed.

Attack on Iraq begins to seem inevitable 11/11

THE UNITED STATES emphasised its belief yesterday that President Saddam Hussein would fail the United Nations Security Council’s “disarm or else” test, making a military strike against Iraq seem inevitable.

We're not spies, says inspection chief 11/11

The previous inspections team, Unscom (UN special commission), which served in Iraq from 1991 to 1998, was regularly accused by Iraq of containing US spies. There were suspicions about British, French and Russian agents being involved too, and, indirectly, the Israeli intelligence service, Mossad.

Although the accusations were denied at the time, the involvement of at least the CIA was later confirmed by the UN, by the US administration and by former weapons inspectors.

Iraq No-Fly Zone Patrols Become Rehearsal for War 11/11

Daily patrols of no-fly zones over Iraq by U.S. and British aircraft have become a dress rehearsal for war and a chance to dent Baghdad's military in the run-up to battle, pilots say.

Retire and grow some balls.

Great Read:

Afghan War Faltering, Military Leader Says 11/8

The U.S. military is losing momentum in the war on terrorism in Afghanistan because the remnants of al Qaeda and the Taliban have proven more successful in adapting to U.S. tactics than the U.S. military has to theirs, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said this week.

Al Qaeda Remains Most Serious Threat, U.S. Says 11/8

"Al Qaeda remains our most immediate and serious threat despite the damage we have done to their network in Afghanistan and elsewhere," Ridge said in a speech at King's College, London.

Many Afghan Refugees Do Not Want to Go Home 11/8

The United Nations is continuing its intensive effort to repatriate Afghans who fled decades of war. Since March, 1.7 million Afghans have returned. But many more remain in exile, including 1.5 million in neighboring Pakistan alone, many of whom do not want to go home for economic and security reasons.

Dealing with a "Yugoslavia with nuclear arms" 11/8

So the US now faces the stark choice of having hostile Islamist parties call the shots or bailing out the woman it had scorned till last month at the expense of its favoured dictator.

"Let's just say it's not the most comfortable situation right now," an administration official conceded on background. "We are clearly stuck between a rock and a hard place."

Bush Signal: The Time to Act Is Now 11/8

President Bush gave notice to the United Nations and to the American people today that the political season is over and that the time has come to disarm Saddam Hussein — and that it may take war to accomplish that goal.

UN set for vote on Iraq 11/8

The Security Council of the United Nations has confirmed that it will finally vote on a US draft resolution for disarming Iraq on Friday.

Damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't 11/8

The resolution to be adopted by the UN Security Council will give an ultimatum to Saddam Hussein that will lead to his political emasculation if he complies or the crushing of his regime by military means if he does not.

Bush's key targets: Iraq and terrorism 11/8

While Bush sketched over domestic aims - bolstering a sagging economy, making tax cuts permanent, providing prescription drug benefits to the elderly - reporters' questions and Bush's comments returned repeatedly to the question of Iraq and the looming possibility of a U.S. attack, should it be deemed necessary to force President Saddam Hussein to disarm.

Invading Iraq, U.S. soldiers vulnerable 11/8

Preparing to face chemical and biological weapons for the first time in 85 years, U.S. troops sent into Iraq will carry equipment that leaves them vulnerable to an attack.

South America's 'tri-border' back on terrorism radar 11/8

The area of South America known as the tri-border region, which drew the attention of antiterrorism experts after September 11, has again become a point of concern.

The Future Prime Minister of Pakistan? 11/7

Maulana Fazlur Rahman, chief of pro-Taliban religious group Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and top Pakistani Islamic cleric, won big in last month's elections on an anti-American ticket, has links with Libya, a rogue state by U.S. standards, and counts Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar among his friends.

Arabs Watch Polls for Message on Iraq 11/7

Arabs said Wednesday they believe that Republican success in the U.S. midterm election will hasten the day when President Bush launches military action against Iraq.

Iraq proves magic word for many candidates 11/7

If you want to see how seriously U.S. voters were taking the impending invasion of Iraq in yesterday's elections, take a look at Georgia. There, a triple-amputee Vietnam veteran and war hero with impeccable political credentials was soundly defeated by a man who sneaked out of fighting in Vietnam, a reversal of traditional loyalties that was apparently propelled, like many other contests yesterday, by the looming Iraq conflict.

'Ambiguities' dog US text on Iraq 11/7

... as diplomats discussed the draft at a closed-door meeting in New York on Wednesday, French President Jacques Chirac phoned his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and the two agreed that "ambiguities" in the draft must be resolved.

Top Turkish General Advises U.S. to Avoid Iraq War 11/7

The chief of Turkey's powerful armed forces was quoted on Wednesday as saying the United States should avoid a war in neighboring Iraq but that differences with Washington over the issue could be ironed out over time.

US braces for retaliation after Yemen assassination 11/7

Even those who applauded the (Predator) strike said it was sure to inflame militant Muslims, including those belonging to the al-Qaeda network, and expose US diplomats and other overseas officials to possible retaliation. On Tuesday the US said it was closing its embassy in Yemen to the public indefinitely amid fears it might become a target for an attack to retaliate for the killings.

Judges 'concerned' over Camp X-Ray detention 11/7

America may have infringed the basic principles of law by detaining a British citizen captured in Afghanistan in a "legal black hole", the Court of Appeal said yesterday.

Election Results: Good News for the Warlog!

White House Maps Ambitious Plans 11/6

... Bush, for better or worse, will come close to having sole ownership of the war on terrorism, military action in Iraq, the federal budget, government spending and the economy.

War and Politics: Islamists Gain Votes as U.S. Acts 11/6

"The population in Turkey, the population in Pakistan or the population in Morocco did not vote for Islamic parties just because they believe they have the capacity to solve social and economic problems," Muhammad Darif, a professor of political science at the Hassan II University law school at Mohammedia, Morocco, said in a telephone interview.

"Arab and Muslim populations think the war against terrorism is nothing but a war against Islam, the culture of Islam, the Arab culture," Professor Darif added. "The Islamist parties have been able to exploit this."

Islamists on brink of power in Pakistan 11/6

An Islamist cleric with Taliban sympathies was last night poised to become Pakistan's next prime minister after the country's religious groups agreed to form a coalition government with an alliance dominated by Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's party.

New U.N. text preserves U.S. option to strike Iraq 11/6

The United States has offered a new revised resolution, to be introduced on Wednesday, that would expand the role of the U.N. Security Council but still provide legal cover for an attack against Iraq.

Israel quietly helping U.S. prepare for war with Iraq 11/6

Israel is secretly playing a key role in U.S. preparations for possible war with Iraq, helping train soldiers and Marines for urban warfare, conducting clandestine surveillance missions in the western Iraqi desert and allowing the United States to place combat supplies in Israel, according to U.S. Defense and intelligence officials.

RAF joins US planes in dummy attacks 11/6

Britain and America have stepped up the covert air war over Iraq with RAF fighter and tanker aircraft supporting US Navy ground attack aircraft making practice bombing runs on Iraqi targets.

Antiwar views split along generation gap 11/6

Upsetting stereotypes of Vietnam-era protests by flower-draped co-eds and flag-waving veterans, younger Americans are more likely to support the use of military force against Iraq than are senior citizens, recent surveys suggest.

Killing probes the frontiers of robotics and legality 11/6

The US was accused last night of summarily executing the six alleged al-Qaida members killed in Yemen on Sunday by the first act of what experts say could be a new age of "robotic warfare".

Silent killer changes rules of engagement 11/6

The James Bond-style technology employed means these officers can be thousands of miles away from the actual scene of the strike. James Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.Org, a military think-tank in Washington, said the drone had probably taken off from a short runway in Djibouti, across the Red Sea from Yemen, where there has been a steady build-up of US special forces in recent months. But he said it was very likely the drone was actually flown and the missile fired by officers at CIA headquarters. "They are literally flying it like a normal aircraft," he said. "There are reports that when the drones were used in Afghanistan, they were 'flown' from Langley."

See also: Graphic - Predator Blasts Way to Future Wars

Yemen Killing Based on Rules Set Out by Bush 11/6

The lethal missile strike that killed a suspected leader of Al Qaeda in Yemen was carried out under broad authority that President Bush has given the C.I.A. over the past year to pursue the terror network well beyond the borders of Afghanistan, senior government officials said today.

Robotic warfare leaves terrorists no hiding place 11/6

A new era of combat has dawned, where death is delivered by an unseen hand from hundreds of miles away

US rapped for backing warlord 11/5

There has been criticism of the United States-led coalition for continuing to support an Afghan warlord who activists say is the enemy of human rights.

Turkey, too, sees gains by Islamists 11/5

From Pakistan to Morocco to Bahrain, cracks appear in the mosque-state wall.

Push us at your peril, Powell warns Saddam 11/5

America will show zero tolerance to any hesitation from Iraq in submitting to a new United Nations weapons inspection regime, the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, warned yesterday. A decision to go to war could come "within weeks", he added.

CIA Missile in Yemen Kills 6 Terror Suspects 11/5

A missile fired from an unmanned CIA surveillance aircraft over Yemen killed six suspected Al Qaeda operatives, including one of the terrorist network's most senior figures — a man the United States had hunted for years, U.S. officials said Monday.

U.S. troops, once the Persian Gulf's heroes, face resentment as Iraq war talk heats up 11/5

American soldiers once seen as liberators face growing resentment from many Persian Gulf Arabs who tie the troops to hated U.S. policies toward Israel and Iraq or fear they're here to stay.

Attack Iran the day Iraq war ends, demands Israel 11/5

ISRAEL’S Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has called on the international community to target Iran as soon as the imminent conflict with Iraq is complete.

Germany: al-Qaida Still Recruiting 11/5

Osama bin Laden is probably alive and his al-Qaida terrorist network still recruits followers in Europe, the head of Germany's intelligence service said Monday.

Must Listen:

Mideast Politics 11/4 (Real Audio, 7:20)

NPR interview with Rami Khouri, former editor of the Jordan Times and Youssef Ibrahim, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Ibrahim says the "War on Terror" has helped Al Qaeda and the "Arab Basement" get bigger as secularists who would normally be with us are now our enemies.

Also from Ibrahim:

Bush's Iraq adventure is bound to backfire, where he says, "Al Qaeda, according to the CIA and the Pentagon, is reconstituting itself. In fact every Middle East and Muslim affairs expert is saying that Al Qaeda's ranks will be fattened by new recruits right now and will have more of them when the United States attacks Iraq."

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NOVEMBER 2002