ISLAMIST RADICALS IN PRISON: HOW MANY? THE US HAS FEWER CASES OF RADICALIZATION THAN EUROPE, BUT EXPERTS CALL FOR MORE STUDY AND PREVENTIVE STRATEGIES - ALEXANDRA MARKS (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, SEPTEMBER 20): The United States has the world's largest prison population, with more than 2 million inmates. It also has the world's highest incarceration rate -- 701 of every 100,000 people are in prison or jail.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0920/p03s02-ussc.html

AT WAR? THE U.S. VS. IRAN: ONE SIDE IS PLAYING FOR REAL, THE OTHER ONLY FOR TIME - MICHAEL RUBIN (OPINION JOURNAL FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIAL PAGE, SEPTEMBER 19): The Iranian leadership will say anything and do anything to buy the time necessary to acquire nuclear capability. That Foggy Bottom still advises against any strategy that might undercut the possibility of some illusionary breakthrough signals triumph not of realism but of negligence.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/fe...ml?id=110008968

WHY SANCTIONS ON IRAN WILL FAIL - HOSSEIN ASKARI (ASIA TIMES, SEPTEMBER 19): US President George W. Bush is calling for multilateral sanctions on Iran. Sanctions won't succeed in cowing Iran, but they will indeed have ominous consequences for the United States and the rest of the world.
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HI19Ak01.html

DON'T PANIC ABOUT IRAN; OFFER A DEAL - TED GALEN CARPENTER (BALTIMORE SUN, SEPTEMBER 20): It would be tragic if we ignited a terrible war merely to thwart a remote, hypothetical threat.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/o...-oped-headlines

REFLECTIONS ON 9/11- GORE VIDAL (TRUTHDIG, SEPTEMBER 19): In the last five years American behavior in the Middle East has been barbarous and will not soon be forgiven.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/200609...flections_9_11/

U.N.-DIPLOMATIC BUSH GOES TO TURTLE BAYAND SAYS NOTHING - FRED KAPLAN (SLATE, SEPTEMBER 19): The sad fact is that, even among Middle Eastern countries governed by aspiring or actual democrats, the United States is less and less a moral model. And President Bush made clear that he's not going to do anything differently.
http://www.slate.com/id/2149995/

BUSH BURIES THE LEAD: PRESIDENT'S UN SPEECH CONTAINS SIGNIFICANT AFTERTHOUGHT ON MIDDLE EAST PEACE EDITORIALS (LOS ANGELES TIMES,
SEPTEMBER 20): The buried lead in Bush's U.N. remarks about the democratization of the Middle East was his announcement of a potentially significant U.S. initiative for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-...pinion-leftrail

AFGHANISTAN: A TALE OF NEVER ENDING TRAGEDY JOHN RYAN (HUFFINGTON POST, SEPTEMBER 19)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-ryan/af...ne_b_29804.html

EUROPEAN ROLE REVERSAL - HELLE DALE (WASHINGTON TIMES, SEPTEMBER 20): In Europe, the most important source of allies for the United States, 57 percent now consider American leadership undesirable, and a mere 18 percent approve of the leadership of President Bush, this according to the poll "Transatlantic Trends 2006" released in September by the German Marshall Fund. This is why the impending exit of British Prime Minister Tony Blair is an event that could have major implications for U.S. foreign policy.
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20060919-091308-4673r.htm

Analysis: Hopes for Iraqi Leader Fading
Four months after Iraq's unity government took office, hope is turning to disappointment. Key U.S. leaders are hinting that Iraq's leaders must make hard decisions _ and soon _ if they expect American support to continue.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14924997/from/ET/

Iran's president says Bush pushing for war
President Bush's policies in the Middle East are "moving the world toward war," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday in an exclusive interview with "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14911603/from/ET/

ANTI-AMERICANISM IS PROVIDING A GLUE: THE RHETORIC FROM THE LEADERS OF IRAN, SUDAN AND VENEZUELA AT THE U.N. SHARED A THEME OF OUTRAGE AT THE U.S., DESPITE THEIR DIFFERENCES - PAUL RICHTER (LOS ANGELES TIMES, SEPTEMBER 22): Though the U.S. government has doubled its spending on public diplomacy, a poll this year by the Pew Charitable Trusts showed wide dissatisfaction with a central pillar of U.S. foreign policy, the "war against terrorism."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...-home-headlines

'RESPONSE FROM SENATOR FEINGOLD' - RUSS FEINGOLD (BELOIT DAILY NEWS, WI, SEPTEMBER 20): We risk offending peaceful Muslims around the world by using the phrase linking their religion with fascism. In fact, when Karen Hughes, the President's own Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy, was asked about this phrase, she said she doesn't 'use religious terms because I'm afraid that people do hear them wrongly around the world.'
http://www.beloitdailynews.com/articles/20...tters/let05.txt

JUST SHUT UP - DIANA WEST (WASHINGTON TIMES, SEPTEMBER 22): Just read through George W. Bush's address to the world body. "Islamic fascists" are out. "Extremists who use terror as a weapon to create fear" are in. We probably have presidential pal and roving ambassador Karen Hughes to thank for Mr. Bush's discreet-to-the-point-of-incomprehensible talk.
http://www.washtimes.com/functions/print.p...21-085730-9234r

THE POPE'S DIVISIONS - REUEL MARC GERECHT (OPINION JOURNAL FROM THE WALL JOURNAL EDITORIAL PAGE, SEPTEMBER 21): We need to stop treating Muslims like children, and viewing our public diplomacy with Islamic countries as popularity contests.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/fe...ml?id=110008973

U.S. RESEARCHER URGES MEASURABLE INFORMATION WAR ON EXTREMISM: MARSHALL CENTER SPEAKER DISCUSSES COLD WAR-STYLE INFORMATION STRATEGIES - VINCE CRAWLEY (WASHINGTON FILE, SEPTEMBER 21): Raphael Perl, a specialist in international affairs for the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS), proposes using Cold War-style information and containment strategies to prevent the spread of Islamic extremism, and recommends immediate action to start gathering data on public diplomacy efforts in Muslim communities worldwide.
http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display....elwarC0.5602228

PART TWO: WHAT IF THE PRESIDENT REQUESTED YOUR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVICE? - ALVIN SNYDER (UNITED OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CENTER ON PUBLIC DIPLOMACY, PUBLIC DIPLOMACY BOG, SEPTEMBER 21): Here is more from those who played along with our fantasy of receiving a call from the president -- this or any president -- who then asks advice on how to improve America?s public diplomacy.
http://uscpublicdiplomacy.com/index.php/ne...plomacy_advice/

WHY THE FIREBRANDS GET HEARD - EUGENE ROBINSON (WASHINGTON POST, SEPTEMBER 22): For all its talk about public diplomacy and spreading the U.S. gospel throughout the world, the Bush administration does an appallingly lousy job of it.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2101512_pf.html

OUR ENEMY, THE STATE MICHAEL ROSEN (TSC CENTRAL, SEPTEMBER 22): It's universally recognized that our public diplomacy is a shambles.
http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=092206D

CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS - CARLOS ALBERTO MONTANER (WALL STREET JOURNAL, SEPTEMBER 21): To think that just because a journalist participates in a VOA program and receives $100 he will sell his conscience to the government is to have a terrible opinion of journalists.
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB1158...6035469583.html
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THANK YOU, AMERICA - TOM ENGELHARDT (NATION, SEPTEMBER 20): Kurdistan Development Corporation is the "official investment site" http://www.kurdistancorporation.com/ for Kurdistan, the Other Iraq. So the semi-autonomous government of Kurdistan has put up money to thank the Bush administration in its time of need. But this "thank you" campaign is being run by an "A-list" Republican PR firm, Russo, Marsh, and Rogers. Now, the Pentagon is plugging "the Other Iraq" by sending out glowing press releases about its latest trade fair, as is the Voice of America. Is the Bush administration, in essence, using our money to thank itself?
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=123403

THE MISSION: RECONCILE AMERICA AND THE WORLD - CORINE LESNES (LE MONDE, FRANCE, SEPTEMBER 20): Created officially in 2003, Business for Diplomatic Action now contains representatives of McDonald's, Microsoft and Exxon. The overseers of the business world are worried that they can no longer escape the decline in America's image.
http://www.watchingamerica.com/lemonde000099.shtml
LINK MAY NOT BE ACCESSIBLE
ARTICLE IN FRENCH AT
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/imprimer_element...0-814917,0.html

IT'S 1938 ALL OVER AGAIN: A DECISIVE BATTLE - MICHAEL NOVAK (NATIONAL REVIEW, SEPTEMBER 21): The only way our enemies can win is through psychological warfare, by way of the media.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=N2E4Z...GVlMWZjMjk2MDc=

CLASH OF VISIONS OVER CIA INTERROGATIONS: CAN THE BROAD TERMS OF THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS BE MORE CLEARLY DEFINED WITHOUT WEAKENING THEM? - WARREN RICHEY (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, SEPTEMBER 21)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0921/p03s03-uspo.html

OUR TORTURER-IN-CHIEF: UNTIL BUSH TOOK OFFICE, THE U.S. HAD NO PROBLEM DEFINING WHAT IS CRUEL AND INHUMAN - ROSA BROOKS (LOS ANGELES TIMES, SEPTEMBER 22)
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commen...omment-opinions

WHERE TORTURE GOT HIM: BUSH'S EFFORT TO GUT THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS HAS ANTAGONIZED THE MILITARY, SPLIT REPUBLICANS, AND UNDERCUT HIS WAR ON TERROR - SIDNEY BLUMENTHAL (SALON, SEPTEMBER 21): Bush's standoff on torture threatens to leave no policy whatsoever -- and threatens to leave his war on terror in a twilight zone beyond the rule of law.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/20...ture/print.html

A BAD BARGAIN - EDITORIAL (NEW YORK TIMES, SEPTMBER 21): Here is a way to measure how seriously President Bush was willing to compromise on the military tribunals bill: Less than an hour after an agreement was announced yesterday with three leading Republican senators, the White House was already laying a path to wiggle out of its one real concession.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/22/opinion/...agewanted=print

INTERROGATORS LEFT OUT IN THE COLD: WHITE HOUSE LEGAL AND POLITICAL MISSTEPS LED TO AN UNNEEDED DUEL OVER DETAINEES - DAVID IGNATIUS (WASHINGTON POST, SEPTEMBER 22): Senator McCain and the White House should have agreed long ago on a clear legal framework for the CIA officers asked to do the dirty work.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2101509_pf.html

HYPOCRISY AMONG TORTURE OPPONENTS - MARIE COCCO (TRUTHDIG, SEPTEMBER 20): We already have convinced the world that we are ruthless hypocrites who?ve abandoned the values we want others to embrace.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/200609...ocrisy_torture/

FUTURE SHOCK: EVIDENCE OF PLANS TO TORTURE US DEMONSTRATORS R.J. ESKOW (HUFFINGTON POST, SEPTEMBER 20)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/fut...-o_b_29911.html

IS THIS TORTURE? - THE USA SHOW "THE 4400" FEATURED THIS DRAMATIZED DEPICTION OF "WATERBOARDING" IN WHICH VICTIMS ARE MADE TO FEEL AS THOUGH THEY ARE DROWNING (TRUTHDIG, SEPTEMBER 20)
http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/20060...s_this_torture/

THE GUANTANAMO 14 - R. EMMETT TYRRELL JR. (WASHINGTON TIMES, SEPTEMBER 22): If aggressive interrogation has prevented further September 11-type events, no practice thus far revealed is beyond the pale.
http://www.washtimes.com/functions/print.p...21-085721-1451r

NEARLY 6,600 CIVILIANS KILLED IN IRAQ IN TWO MONTHS: UN AFP (YAHOO!NEWS, SEPTEMBER 20)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060920/wl_mi...fp/iraqunrestun

HOME RAIDS PROVOKE INCREASED UNREST IN IRAQ - DAHR JAMAIL WITH ALI AL-FADHILY (ANTIWAR.COM, SEPTEMBER 21): Renewed raids at Iraqi homes by joint U.S.-Iraqi security forces are angering Iraqis -- while failing to improve the worsening security situation.
http://www.antiwar.com/jamail/?articleid=9723

NEW TERROR THAT STALKS IRAQ'S REPUBLIC OF FEAR - PATRICK COCKBURN (INDEPENDENT, SEPTEMBER 22): The state of terror now gripping Iraq is as bad as it was under Saddam Hussein.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle...icle1696153.ece

THE FIXER MEETS HIS MATCH: JAMES BAKER'S IRAQ STUDY GROUP IS SUPPOSED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO FIX THE IRAQ WAR AND CONVINCE THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION TO ACCEPT THE PLAN. TO DO THE FIRST PART, THE GROUP MAY LIKELY ADVOCATE WITHDRAWAL. THE SECOND PART IS ANYONE'S GUESS - ROBERT DREYFUSS (AMERICAN PROSPECT, SEPTEMBER 20)
http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?sectio...articleId=12035

IRAQ - MY PLAN TO GET US OUT! CARL JEFFERS (HUFFINGTON POST, SEPTEMBER 20)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-jeffers...s-_b_29889.html

WHY WE ARE REALLY IN IRAQ: BUSH DRAGGED THE U.S. TO WAR SO THE GOP COULD WIN MIDTERM ELECTIONS -- AND THE PRESS WENT ALONG FOR THE RIDE -- ARGUES THE NEW YORK TIMES' FRANK RICH - GARY KAMIYA (SALON, SEPTEMBER 21): "How do you run as a vainglorious 'war president' if the war looks as if it's winding down and the number one evildoer has escaped?" The answer: Wag the dog. Attack Iraq.
http://www.salon.com/books/review/2006/09/21/rich/print.html

WIN-WIN-WIN-WIN SITUATION - MICHAEL KINSLEY (WASHINGTON POST, SEPTEMBER 22): If you trace the concept of "victory" in Bush's remarks on Iraq, and those of subordinates, you discover a war that was won 3 1/2 years ago and today has barely started.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2101511_pf.html

US TROOPS IN IRAQ ARE TEHRAN'S 'HOSTAGES' - GARETH PORTER (ASIA TIMES, SEPTEMBER 22): The underlying reality in Iraq, which the Bush administration does not appear to grasp fully, is that the United States is now dependent on the sufferance of Iran and its Iraqi Shi'ite political-military allies to continue the occupation.
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HI22Ak01.html

WE'RE NOT GOING TO IRAN - ROBERT DREYFUSS (TOMPAINE.COM, SEPTEMBER 20): Suddenly, stabilizing Iraq -- and minimizing the political fallout from Iraq at home -- may be more important to the Bush administration than sparking yet another conflagration in the region.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/09/2...ing_to_iran.php
LINK MAY NOT BE ACCESSIBLE

LESSONS FROM U.N. WEEK - DAVID BROOKS (NEW YORK TIMES, SEPTEMBER 21): With America exhausted by Iraq, with the threat of Iranian sanctions dissolving before our eyes, Western policy is drifting toward the option that most resembles passivity.
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/09/21/opini...agewanted=print
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HUGHES: FIXING U.S. IMAGE MAY TAKE YEARS - ANNE GEARAN, AP (SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, SEPTEMBER 28): It may take decades to change anti-American feelings around the world that have been aggravated by war in Iraq, U.S. policy toward Israel and America's "sex and violence" culture, said the State Department official in charge of dealing with the U.S. image abroad, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...&type=printable

RICE, THE RETURN OF THE BAD COP? - SHMUEL ROSNER (HAARETZ, SEPTEMBER 26): A few weeks ago, a pro-Israel activist complained bitterly about the damaging influence of Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes on U.S. policy. On the whole, this is a complaint that should not come as a surprise. Hughes is in charge of improving the American image around the world, including the Arab world; and during her visits to Arab capitals, she hears, and then reports at home, that the U.S. has no chance of improving its position as long as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains unresolved.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/rosnerB...listSrc=Y&art=1

RECONSIDER FUNDING FOR UNITED NATIONS - EDITORIAL (WHEELING NEWS REGISTER, WV, SEPTEMBER 28): Congress might better divert some of the billions that now go down the U.N. rat hole instead to defense and U.S. public diplomacy efforts abroad.
http://www.news-register.net/editorials/ar...articleID=11012


KEITH OLBERMANN TAKES A LOOK BACK AT BUSH'S FIRST MONTHS IN OFFICE LEADING UP TO 9/11 - (CROOKS AND LIARS, SEPTEMBER 27): Commentator Olbermann: "On January 25th, five days after Mr. Bush took office, counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke sent Rice a memo, attaching to it a document entitled 'Strategy for Eliminating the Threat... of al Qaeda. It was, Clarke wrote, 'developed by the last Administration to give to you...[incorporating] diplomatic, economic, military, public diplomacy and intelligence tools.'"
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/09/27/k...ding-up-to-911/


BLUEPRINT FOR AN AMERICAN EMPIRE - GREG GRANDIN (ALTERNET, SEPTEMBER 27): To confront an adversarial press, tame a presumptuous Congress, and make inroads on college campuses, the Reagan administration orchestrated a sophisticated and centralized "public diplomacy" campaign that deployed techniques drawn from both the PR world and the intelligence community.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/41972/

U.S. SENATE PASSES NEW DETAINEE RULES - KATE ZERNIKE (INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 28): The U.S. Senate approved a measure on Thursday on the interrogations and trials of terrorism suspects, establishing far-reaching rules to deal with what President George W. Bush has called the most dangerous combatants in a different type of war.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/09/29/ame....0929detain.php

RUSHING OFF A CLIFF EDITORIAL (NEW YORK TIMES, SEPTEMBER 28): Last week, the White House and three Republican senators announced a terrible deal on this legislation that gave Mr. Bush most of what he wanted, including a blanket waiver for crimes Americans may have committed in the service of his antiterrorism policies. Americans of the future will know that in 2006, Congress passed a tyrannical law that will be ranked with the low points in American democracy, our generations version of the Alien and Sedition Acts.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/28/opinion/...agewanted=print

DON'T SUSPEND HABEAS CORPUS: ANY BILL THAT DENIES THAT BASIC RIGHT TO DETAINEES SHOULD BE REJECTED - EDITORIAL (LOS ANGELES TIMES, SEPTEMBER 28)
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-...-opinion-center

HABEAS CORPUS, R.I.P. (1215 - 2006) - MOLLY IVINS (TRUTHDIG, SEPTEMBER 28/COMMON DREAMS): With a smug stroke of his pen, President Bush is set to wipe out a safeguard against illegal imprisonment that has endured as a cornerstone of legal justice since the Magna Carta.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0928-20.htm

OUTSOURCING TORTURE EDITORIAL (BOSTON GLOBE, SEPTEMBER 28): If the United States would adhere to its "high standards" in dealing with Muslims, it might look to them for assistance against Islamic extremists. Instead, Congress and President Bush risk torturing detainees and embittering their communities.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial...torture?mode=PF

ACCOUNTING FOR THE DETAINEES - WILLIAM H. TAFT IV (WASHINGTON POST, SEPTEMBER 27): Some years ago the United States was a leading voice in deploring regimes that "disappeared" their opponents. It's time to reestablish our credentials as a critic of this practice.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2601143_pf.html

A FAIR, SAFE WAY TO CLOSE GUANTANANAMO - MAX PAUL FRIEDMAN (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, SEPTEMBER 27): Conditional release for those who do not appear dangerous, trials for those who do: This approach worked during WWII and can be refined now.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0927/p09s01-coop.html

WHAT IRAQIS WANT: ONCE MORE WITH FEELING MARC LYNCH (ABU AARDVARK, SEPTEMBER 27): A large majority of Iraqis do, in fact, want American troops out as soon as possible.
http://abuaardvark.typepad.com/abuaardvark...iraqis_wan.html
SEE ALSO
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/28/poll.iraq/
http://www.antiwar.com/lobe/?articleid=9762

IRAQI JOURNALISTS ADD LAWS TO LIST OF DANGERS - PAUL VON ZIELBAUER (NEW YORK TIMES, SEPTEMBER 29): Under a broad new set of laws criminalizing speech that ridicules the government or its officials, some resurrected verbatim from Saddam HusseinVs penal code, roughly a dozen Iraqi journalists have been charged with offending public officials in the past year.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/29/world/mi...agewanted=print

IRAQ CONTRACTOR'S WORK IS FURTHER CRITICIZED - 13 OF 14 PROJECTS FOUND WANTING BY AUDIT - GRIFF WITTE (WASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER 29): The contractor that botched construction of a $75 million police academy in Baghdad so badly that human waste dripped from the ceilings has produced shoddy work on 13 out of 14 projects reviewed by federal auditors, the top official monitoring Iraq's reconstruction told Congress yesterday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2801048_pf.html

IRAQ AT THE GATES OF HELL: GEORGE BUSH'S IRAQ IN 21 QUESTIONS - TOM ENGELHARDT (TOMDISPATCH, SEPTEMBER 28): Iraq is the tragedy of our times, an event that has brought out, and will continue to bring out, the worst in us all. It is carnage incarnate.
http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=125142

THE MYTHS AND REALITIES OF IRAQ - NIKOLAS GVOSDEV AND RAY TAKEYH (BOSTON GLOBE, SEPTEMBER 29): The problems that the American invasion was to avert have only grown worse.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial...of_iraq?mode=PF

STAY THE COURSE IN IRAQ? WHAT COURSE?: IF IRAQ IS THE CENTRAL FRONT FOR THE WAR ON TERROR, IT'S ONLY BECAUSE THE WAR THERE HAS MADE IT SO - DANIEL SCHORR (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, SEPTEMBER 29)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0929/p09s02-cods.html

INFIDEL DOCUMENTS - FOUAD AJAMI (WALL STREET JOURNAL, SEPTEMBER 28): We needn't give credence to the assertion of President Bush -- that the jihadists would turn up in our cities if we pulled up stakes from Baghdad -- to recognize that a terrible price would be paid were we to opt for a hasty and unseemly withdrawal from Iraq.
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB1159...6922176290.html
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100 DEAD IN IRAQ ON THURSDAY; INCLUDING 60 BODIES FOUND IN BAGHDAD (INFORMED COMMENT: THOUGHTS ON THE MIDDLE EAST, HISTORY, AND RELIGION, SEPTEMBER 29): Bush accused the Democrats of being the party of "cut and run," on Thursday. But when you are losing a guerrilla war, you should begin considering an orderly retreat. Otherwise you will be stuck in an ever worsening quagmire.
http://www.juancole.com/
(scroll down link for item)

A WAR WE HAVE TO WIN - JEFF JACOBY (BOSTON GLOBE, SEPTEMBER 27): Has US military action in Iraq inflamed the global jihad? Undoubtedly. But just imagine how galvanized it would be by a US retreat.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial..._to_win?mode=PF

FIGHTING THEM OVER THERE: IRAQ IS NOT A BREEDING GROUND FOR TERRORISTS, IT'S A DUMPING GROUND - LEE SMITH (WEEKLY STANDARD, SEPTEMBER 28): We should start to see Iraq the way Arab regimes see such jihad-zones, as a far away place for Muslim fanatics to go and die.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Publ...12/745vhonu.asp

IRAQ AND JIHAD -- A CONSENSUS SURFACES: THE CONTINUING SPREAD OF ISLAMIST TERRORISM AROUND THE WORLD -- CITED IN AN INTELLIGENCE REPORT -- IS UNLIKELY TO ALTER BUSH'S COURSE - PETER GRIER (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, SEPTEMBER 28)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0928/p01s02-usfp.htm

OF COURSE IRAQ MADE IT WORSE - DANIEL BENJAMIN AND STEVEN SIMON (WASHINGTON POST, SEPTEMBER 29): The invasion of Iraq was the wrong answer to the terrorist challenge, for which we will pay a high price for years to come.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6092801455.html

TERRORISTS' 'EXCUSE DU JOUR': IF THERE WERE NO IRAQ WAR, EXTREMISTS WOULD JUST FIND ANOTHER RALLYING CRY - JONAH GOLDBERG (LOS ANGELES TIMES, SEPTEMBER 28)
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-...inion-rightrail

NEW WOODWARD BOOK SAYS BUSH IGNORED URGENT WARNING ON IRAQ - DAVID E. SANGER (NEW YORK TIMES, SEPTEMBER 29): As its title indicates, "State of Denial" by Bob Woodward follows the storyline of an administration that seemed to have only a foggy notion that early military success in Iraq had given way to resentment of the occupiers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/29/washingt...agewanted=print

TWO WARS, ONE MISSION: FAVORING THE 'GOOD WAR' IN AFGHANISTAN OVER IRAQ IGNORES THAT THE TWO COUNTRIES' FATES ARE INTERTWINED - RICH LOWRY AND DAVID B. RIVKIN JR. (LOS ANGELES TIMES, SEPTEMBER 28)
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commen...omment-opinions

MISSING FROM THE NIE: AFGHANISTAN - PAUL SPERRY (ANTIWAR.COM, SEPTEMBER 29): The media missed the real story regarding the National Intelligence Estimate of the global terror threat. It's not what's in the declassified executive summary of the report -- Iraq, which was unavoidable -- it's what's absent from it -- Afghanistan, where the Taliban are making a frightening and bloody comeback.
http://www.antiwar.com/sperry/?articleid=9766

WHEN HAMID MET PERVEZ - EDITORIAL (NEW YORK TIMES, SEPTEMBER 29): Mr. Bush needs to focus on the real problems of Afghan security and reconstruction.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/29/opinion/...agewanted=print

AFGHANISTAN'S GOOD NEWS: SEEDS OF ECONOMIC PROGRESS - BY KARL F. INDERFURTH (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, SEPTEMBER 29)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0929/p09s01-coop.html

USE BRINKMANSHIP ON IRAN: ANY DIPLOMATIC EFFORT BY THE U.S. WON'T WORK UNLESS BACKED UP BY A CREDIBLE THREAT OF FORCE - ROBERT D. KAPLAN (LOS ANGELES TIMES, SEPTEMBER 29)
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-...inion-rightrail

IRAN'S URANIUM GLITCH: TECHNICAL TROUBLES OFFER TIME FOR DIPLOMACY - DAVID IGNATIUS (WASHINGTON POST, SEPTEMBER 29): Intelligence analysts believe that Iran is encountering technical difficulties in mastering the complex process of uranium enrichment. That means the West may have a bit more time than previously expected to pursue a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear standoff.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2801453_pf.html

UNEASY PARTNERS: PAKISTAN AND THE UNITED STATES - EHSAN AHRARI (ANTIWAR.COM, SEPTEMBER 29)
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/ahrari.php?articleid=9764

THE MUSHARRAF EXCEPTION - ROBERT L. POLLOCK (WALL STREET JOURNAL, SEPTEMBER 29): Over the longer term, the credibility of our efforts to address the root causes of terror will require nudging Pakistan, too, back toward the democratic path.
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB1159...8500677436.html
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EMBRACE FOR A STRONGMAN: LUCKILY FOR KAZAKHSTAN'S RULER, PRESIDENT BUSH DOESN'T HEED HIS OWN SPEECHES - EDITORIAL (WASHINGTON POST, SEPTEMBER 29): The history of U.S. relations with Muslim states during the Cold War -- such as Iran and Iraq -- vividly demonstrates the shortsightedness of befriending rulers such as Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazhazstan's president.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2801673_pf.html

DON'T PLAY POLITICS WITH KAZAKHSTAN - S. FREDERICK STARR (WASHINGTON POST, SEPTEMBER 28): U.S. critics of Kazakhstan have every right to remind us that the country still falls short in many respects. But in the eyes of some Kazakhs, the United States may be a less than perfect partner as well. If either of these groups succeeds in damaging the basis of our partnership, further progress in Kazakh social policy and legal and electoral reform will be the first to suffer. And Kazakh oil will then flow mainly to China and other countries that pay their bills and ask no questions.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2601141_pf.html

KAZAKHSTAN'S NO JOKE: THOUGH LAMPOONED BY A BRITISH COMEDIAN, THE HUGE CENTRAL ASIAN COUNTRY IS AN IMPORTANT IF TROUBLED ALLY EDITORIAL (LOS ANGELES TIMES, SEPTEMBER 29): The president can have more influence over Nazarbayev by keeping him close -- and offering incentives to open his society -- than by shunning him.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-...pinion-leftrail

THE ISLAMIZATION OF MOROCCO: EXTREMISM IS DISPLACING MODERATION IN THE NORTH AFRICAN KINGDOM - OLIVIER GUITTA (WEEKLY STANDARD, OCTOBER 2)
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Publ...12/740boykt.asp

MUSLIMS' COMPLICITY WITH VIOLENCE: UNLESS IT CLAMPS DOWN VIGOROUSLY ON FANATICISM, THE ISLAMIC WORLD RISKS VALIDATING ITS WORST CARICATURES - MAX BOOT (LOS ANGELES TIMES, SEPTEMBER 27)
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commen...omment-opinions

ISLAM AND THE POPE - THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN (NEW YORK TIMES, SEPTEMBER 29): "I'm all for a respectful dialogue between Islam and the West, but first there needs to be a respectful, free dialogue between Muslims and Muslims."
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/09/29/opini...agewanted=print
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THE GRAND DELUSION - DAVID BROOKS (NEW YORK TIMES, SEPTEMBER 28): More and more people are falling for the Grand Delusion -- the notion that if we just leave the extremists alone, they will leave us alone. The blunt fact is that groups of Islamic extremists will continue to compete and grow until mainstream Islamic moderates can establish a more civilized set of criteria for prestige and greatness.
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/09/28/opini...agewanted=print
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I'M NO BUSH HATER: THERE'S A HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DISLIKING THE PRESIDENT AND DISLIKING HIS POLICIES - ROSA BROOKS (LOS ANGELES TIMES, SEPTEMBER 29): The United States is in trouble. The spread of militant Islamic extremism and WMD will pose dangers for decades to come, and global warming, disease and poverty are all serious threats.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-...inion-rightrail

WORDS VS. DEEDS: BUSH AND ISLAM - NICOLA NASSER (COUNTERPUNCH, SEPTEMBER 28): Bush accuses Islamists of forcing their version of things on others while he unsheathes his sword out and high to dictate a 21st century white man mission to convert Muslims to a version of Islam that serves U.S. interests.
http://www.counterpunch.org/nasser09282006.html

KEEPING TERRORISM AWAY - EDWARD ROYCE (WASHINGTON TIMES, SEPTEMBER 29): Five years after September 11, 2001, the view from the cave of an aging and possibly dying bin Laden is not one of victory, but of disintegrating plans for a caliphate stretching across the Islamic world. (Edward Royce, California Republican, is chairman of the House International Relations Terrorism Subcommittee).
http://www.washtimes.com/functions/print.p...28-101420-8000r

POW! (NOT.) - BAGNEWSNOTES (SEPTEMBER 24): While American men and women are spilling real blood in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Global War on Terror has devolved into a clown show.
http://bagnewsnotes.typepad.com/bagnews/2006/09/pow_not.html

FINAL REPORT: FORGING A WORLD OF LIBERTY UNDER LAW, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY, G. JOHN IKENBERRY AND ANNE-MARIE SLAUGHTER PRINCETON PROJECT ON NATIONAL SECURITY (SEPTEMBER 27): The basic objective of U.S. strategy must be to protect the American people and the American way of life. To achieve this goal in the 21st century, American strategy must, inter alia, be: a) integrated, fusing hard power -- the power to coerce -- and soft power -- the power to attract; adapted to the information age, enabling us to be fast and flexible in a world where information moves instantly, actors respond to it instantly, and specialized small units come together for only a limited time for a defined purpose -- whether to make a deal, restructure a company, or plan and execute a terrorist attack.
http://www.wws.princeton.edu/ppns/report/FinalReport.pdf

SECRETARY OF TURBULENCE: CONDOLEEZZA RICE TAKES THE LONG VIEW -- MAYBE TOO LONG - BRET STEPHENS (OPINION JOURNAL FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIAL PAGE, SEPTEMBER 30): The State Department itself has increased its budget for supporting Voice of America radio and TV broadcasts in Farsi. What's telling is that Ms. Rice, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, mentions none of this: Her primary method for dealing with the Iranian regime, it seems, is to deal with the regime, not to seek to change it.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/fe...ml?id=110009020

REVOLT OF THE GENERALS - RICHARD J. WHALEN (NATION, 28 SEPTEMBER): Gen. Barry McCaffrey, a hero in the 1991 Gulf War who visited Iraq and Kuwait this past spring: "U.S. public diplomacy and rhetoric about confronting Iranian nuclear weapons development [are] scaring neighbors in the Gulf."
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061016/whalen

STATE DEPT: FORGET OUR INVASIONS, LOOK AT OUR CULTURE! - SPIN OF THE DAY (CENTER FOR MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY, SEPTEMBER 29): The U.S. State Department, which has been widely criticized for ineffectual public diplomacy, recently announced its new "Global Cultural Initiative." It's a joint effort "to educate Americans and participating nations about other cultures," reports PR Week. U.S. PR czar Karen Hughes explained, "Public diplomacy isn't just the work of government. ... Every American who travels abroad or welcomes a foreign visitor can be an ambassador for America."
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5243
LINK TO PR WEEK ARTICLE (subscription required)
http://www.prweek.com/us/login/required/595577

WHO SAYS AMERICA HAS LOST ITS MANUFACTURING EDGE? WE'RE GREAT AT PRODUCING TERRORISTS - ADAM HANFT (HUFFINGTON POST, SEPTEMBER 30): So long as we're unwilling to conceive of foreign policy in anything less than Manicheistic terms, we'd be better off taking Karen Hughes' budget and using it fund more airport gel detectors.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-hanft/w...st_b_30544.html

FIXING THE US IMAGE TAKES LONG TO UNDO - (WOMBAT'S BLOG, OCTOBER 10): Karen Hughes is the friendly face that's supposed to improve our image in the Arab world. Interesting that they're sending a woman to choose Americas image in the Arab world. Would that help.
http://www.wombatburrow.org/blog/?p=88

IT'S THE POLICY, STUPID! - MUSTAPHA ZEIN (AL-HAYAT, OCTOBER 1): The US State Department wanted to propagate the extraordinary success achieved by Arabic-speaking Alberto Fernandez (Director of the Office of Press and Public Diplomacy in the Department of State Bureau of Near East Affairs and a frequent guest on Arab satellite channels), so White House "spice dealer" Karen Hughes decided to increase the American presence on Arab and European screens by 100% and create media superstars that the Arab viewer will be accustomed to.
http://english.daralhayat.com/opinion/OPED...72d6/story.html

VOICE OF AMERICA TV TO DEBUT IN AFGHANISTAN (NEWSMAX.COM, SEPTEMBER 29): The Saturday-through-Thursday newscasts, which will air in the Dari and Pashto languages in a one-hour block titled TV Ashna (Friend), will offer a new source of regional and world news to Afghanistan's emergent television market.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/9/...537.shtml?s=icp