Georgian planning flaws led to failure
Georgia made an over-confident assumption of its combat capabilities when it began operations against the breakaway region of South Ossetia and it underestimated the scale of the Russian response. Georgia's first tactical blunder was also its most serious strategic setback. - Richard Giragosian (Aug 19, '08)

Confident Iran sings its own tune
Irish crooner Chris de Burgh, of Lady in Red fame, was reportedly denied a permit to perform in Iran, saying much about how strong Tehran feels in its dealings with the West, whether on grand issues like its nuclear program, or smaller ones, such as a pop concert. It is also feeling good about its policies in Iraq. - Sami Moubayed (Aug 19, '08)

In Afghanistan, blurred lines cost lives
Killings of aid workers have moved Afghanistan's civilian and military groups, both national and international, to sign an unprecedented agreement on their roles and functions. The pact could be a huge step for civil-military relations in conflict situations or, like hundreds of other documents produced by the international community, it could gather dust in academic archives. - Aunohita Mojumdar (Aug 19, '08)

US setback over rendition 'poster child'
A federal appeals court in New York last week decided to rehear a lawsuit filed by Maher Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian who was detained in 2002 and flown to Jordan and Syria, where he was held for 10 months and allegedly tortured. As it has done in the past, Washington may invoke the "state secrets privilege" to avoid political embarrassment. (Aug 19, '08)

China's dueling national identities
The Chinese government - and most of the Chinese people - view the Beijing Olympics as a long-awaited chance to display pride in the "new China". But if China cannot face criticism without being excessively defensive, positive patriotic impulses may quickly transform into negative nationalist feelings. (Aug 19, '08)

SUN WUKONG
China share values limp off the track
As China's Olympic athletes, doubtless strengthened by national pride, win record numbers of gold medals, the country's retail stock investors are seeing their savings drain away amid a plunging market. Blaming foreigners for the losses is an unpleasant side effect. - Wu Zhong

China turns tap on
currency flows
Beijing, long concerned with restricting the flow of funds out of the country, is now seeking to limit speculative inflows through a batch of new measures. Critics argue that a stronger currency would do a better job. - Olivia Chung

Myanmar exchange
scam fleeces UN
Myanmar's military junta, which wants more overseas funds to rebuild the country after the devastation of Cyclone Nargis, is profiting from a dual exchange rate that may have cost the United Nations as much as US$10 million in losses. - Brian McCartan

THE BEAR'S LAIR
The new cold war era
The redrawing of the political map with Russia's invasion of Georgia signals the onset of a new cold war. The economic consequences that will follow are extensive. They also mean that, with will and competence, victory for the West should be much quicker and easier this time round.- Martin Hutchinson

Tariq Ali
Pakistan After Musharraf

Gary Leupp
Russia's Georgia Campaign and the Expansion of NATO

Uri Avnery
The Anger, the Longing, the Hope

Missile Defense: Washington and Poland just moved the World closer to War - by F. William Engdahl - 2008-08-15 The most dangerous move towards nuclear war the world has seen since the 1962 Cuba Missile crisis. Wag the Dog: How to Conceal Massive Economic Collapse - by Ellen Brown - 2008-08-14 The President's Plunge Protection Team had come to the rescue "Naval Blockade" or All Out War Against Iran? - by Michel Chossudovsky - 2008-08-13
War in the Caucasus: Towards a Broader Russia-US Military Confrontation? - by Michel Chossudovsky - 2008-08-10 Georgia was "encouraged" by NATO and US military officials.

Russia Never Wanted a War - Mikhail Gorbachev, New York Times
US Must Choose Between Russia and Georgia - Sergey Lavrov, WSJ
From Prague Spring to Velvet Revolution - Adam Michnik, Japan Times
The Real China Threat - Robert Samuelson, Washington Post
Supersize Moi? The French and McDonald's - Hugo Rifkind, The Times

Goodbye Musharraf, hello Taliban

As if to reinforce an influential think-tank's latest warning that efforts to contain the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan are failing, 10 French soldiers have been killed and a US base brazenly attacked. The roots of the problem can be traced to Pakistan, where, during the watch of pro-West Pervez Musharraf, militants gained a solid foothold. With the former president gone, and the government in Islamabad virtually paralyzed, the militants can only get stronger. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Aug 20, '08)

Bush buried Musharraf's al-Qaeda links
Former president of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf's cozy relationship with the US earned him lavish political and economic benefits. But behind the public support, the George W Bush administration covered up the Musharraf regime's involvement in the Abdul Qadeer Khan nuclear export scandal and its deals with al-Qaeda.- Gareth Porter (Aug 20, '08)

US falters on NATO's failure
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's bluster over stopping Russia in its tracks rings hollow. Russia has drawn a line in the sand and short of destabilizing Europe, there is practically nothing the US can do about it, especially given the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's pussy-footing. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi (Aug 20, '08)

Kosovo comes back to bite the US
The question of "Who shot whom first?" has been called "irrelevant" by a US official as Washington scrambles to pin blame on Russia for the Georgian conflict. But the US should have known its past support for Kosovo would be cited as an international precedent. (Aug 20, '08)

Hostage Europe
blind to Iran energy
The unfolding events in Georgia underline Europe's self-inflicted dependence on Russia for energy supplies. A reduced willingness to blindly follow US policy on Iran would help it break free from Moscow's grip. - Hossein Askari

new take on 'democratizing' China
A conference of international pro-democracy activists has called for a new strategy to promote democracy in China. An integrated approach, based on democracy assistance agencies located within the region, may be the way to go. - James Gomez (Aug 20, '08)

Goodbye Musharraf, hello Taliban

As if to reinforce an influential think-tank's latest warning that efforts to contain the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan are failing, 10 French soldiers have been killed and a US base brazenly attacked. The roots of the problem can be traced to Pakistan, where, during the watch of pro-West Pervez Musharraf, militants gained a solid foothold. With the former president gone, and the government in Islamabad virtually paralyzed, the militants can only get stronger. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Aug 20, '08)

Bush buried Musharraf's al-Qaeda links
Former president of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf's cozy relationship with the US earned him lavish political and economic benefits. But behind the public support, the George W Bush administration covered up the Musharraf regime's involvement in the Abdul Qadeer Khan nuclear export scandal and its deals with al-Qaeda.- Gareth Porter (Aug 20, '08)



US falters on NATO's failure
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's bluster over stopping Russia in its tracks rings hollow. Russia has drawn a line in the sand and short of destabilizing Europe, there is practically nothing the US can do about it, especially given the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's pussy-footing. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi (Aug 20, '08)

Kosovo comes back to bite the US
The question of "Who shot whom first?" has been called "irrelevant" by a US official as Washington scrambles to pin blame on Russia for the Georgian conflict. But the US should have known its past support for Kosovo would be cited as an international precedent. (Aug 20, '08)

Repression before reform in Malaysia
In Malaysia, an influential Catholic newsletter faces closure, an inter-ethnic forum on religious freedom has been forcibly disrupted and a popular book on Islam banned. The growing repression has only intensified an opposition movement bidding to topple the government by next month. (Aug 20, '08)

SPEAKING FREELY
A new take on 'democratizing' China
A conference of international pro-democracy activists has called for a new strategy to promote democracy in China. An integrated approach, based on democracy assistance agencies located within the region, may be the way to go. - James Gomez (Aug 20, '08)



US faces up to life without Musharraf
Cornered by politicians baying for his blood and out of favor with the George W Bush administration, Pervez Musharraf had little option but to serve the "supreme national interest" and vacate the presidential palace. Washington believes it already has the Pakistani military and political leaders in Islamabad on side. Now it needs to ensure that the third asset needed in this crucial "war on terror" arena - the presidency - is filled by "their" man. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Aug 19, '08)

Georgian planning flaws led to failure
Georgia made an over-confident assumption of its combat capabilities when it began operations against the breakaway region of South Ossetia and it underestimated the scale of the Russian response. Georgia's first tactical blunder was also its most serious strategic setback. - Richard Giragosian (Aug 19, '08)

In Afghanistan, blurred lines cost lives
Killings of aid workers have moved Afghanistan's civilian and military groups, both national and international, to sign an unprecedented agreement on their roles and functions. The pact could be a huge step for civil-military relations in conflict situations or, like hundreds of other documents produced by the international community, it could gather dust in academic archives. - Aunohita Mojumdar (Aug 19, '08)

On The Edge
Russian threats of dismembering Georgia were stupidly ignored by EU and US meddling in Russia's spheres of influence and near abroads. Kosovo was the icing on the cake and finally forced Ivan's hand. ... This episode neatly wraps up Russia's immediate concerns with its western and southern flanks in Europe and the Caucasian region, freeing Russia's hands to deal with the remnants of US power projection in central Eurasia and Chinese penetration in its energy markets and reserves in the 'stans. ...
Robster Go to the readers' forum topic,
Background to a mini-war in the Caucasus

NATO Paralysis - Washington Times editorial
This is What NATO is For - Daily Telegraph editorial
Russia Earns Distrust - Globe and Mail editorial
West Must Acknowledge Russia's Danger - Miami Herald opinion
Putin is Teaching the West a Lesson - New York Post opinion
Not a Cold War - National Review opinion
Sarkozy in Kabul, French will 'Stick it Out' - Associated Press
Brown in Afghanistan, Praises UK Troops - The Times
West Must Commit to Securing Peace in Afghanistan - The Australian editorial
Afghanistan on Fire - New York Times editorial
The Taliban's Big Lie - Toronto Star editorial
Criminal-Terror Nexus in Afghanistan - Counterterrorism
From Tbilisi to Taliban - Washington Times opinion
The Perils of Pakistan - Washington Post editorial
US Better Off Without Musharraf - Wall Street Journal opinion
Fear and Opportunity in Pakistan - Boston Globe opinion
Iraq's Displaced - Washington Times opinion
Iraq's Oil Progress - Weekly Standard opinion
Russia's Syrian Gambit - The Times editorial
More Bombings in Algeria - Washington Post
Philippines Cancels Deal With Rebels - Reuters
London's Terror Bank - Wall Street Journal editorial
The Internet is a Gateway to Jihad - Kings of War
New UN Al Qaeda Assessment Imminent - Ubiwar
Turkey Moving Away From the West? - Voice of America
Venezuela's Weak Strongman - Weekly Standard opinion
Africa: News Good Enough to Bury - New York Times commentary

Muslim Girl Wishes Material Girl a Happy 50th by Mona Eltahawy
I became a feminist in Saudi Arabia, Mads, and our exceedingly at odds wardrobes united us in that feminism because I learned that you and I -- back then at least -- were two sides of one coin.
more...

New Players in the Arab Sands and Urban Shadows by Rami G. Khouri
In the evolving Arab world, a “triumph of Arab sectarianism, security services, and commercialism” dominate societies and localities. To see it, walk around in different neighborhoods and engage with those who stop and question you.
more...

Stop and Smell the Roses in Pakistan by Mona Eltahawy
For years Pakistan has been home to much that ails the Muslim world -- coups, dictatorship, militancy, and corruption. Let’s recognize it now as home to judges and lawyers who won their stare-down with the dictator.
more...

Tripoli and Middle East Currents by Rami G. Khouri
Tripoli in northern Lebanon exemplifies the complex forces that drive Lebanon and the Middle East region.
more...

Russia Renewed by Patrick Seale
Russia is challenging America’s international supremacy -- emboldened by the fact that, under George Bush, the United States also behaves as it pleases, without regard to others, or to international law.
more...

Geopolitical Chess: Background to a Mini-war in the Caucasus by Immanuel Wallerstein
It appears that the United States has been sorely mistaken in assuming it has some kind of superpower privilege in its game of geopolitical chess with Russia.
more...

Crisis Looms in U.S.-Pakistan Relations by Patrick Seale
The U.S. “war on terror” against the Taliban not going well, political hustings in the United States and Pakistan (with the possible impeachment of Musharraf) and Pakistan’s concerns about India, all factor into a growing problematic relationship.
more...

Musharraf not the problem, or solution

Washington has shown with India it doesn't need a military dictator to influence a South Asian country's policies or power. It can do the same with the civilian government in Pakistan now that former president Pervez Musharraf is out of the picture. With Afghanistan and the Taliban-led insurgency, it is the US's policies that dictate events, with or without Musharraf. - M K Bhadrakumar (Aug 21, '08)

Afghan numbers don't add up
From the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to think-tanks, the consensus is that more troops must be sent to Afghanistan to counter the spiraling insurgency. The emergence of warlords on the side of the Taliban, though, has added a new dimension to the struggle, and one which cannot easily be countered by placing more boots on the battlefield. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Aug 21, '08)

The mystery of Aafia Siddiqi
The resurfacing in a United States jail of Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqi, who inexplicably vanished along with her three children in Karachi in 2003, has only deepened the mystery of her absence. The US believes she's a terrorist caught red-handed in Afghanistan. Her family see her as a "fun-loving people's person" caught in a bizarre nightmare. (Aug 21, '08)

Prachanda's journey begins in Beijing
By attending the Summer Olympic's closing ceremony in Beijing, Nepal's Prime Minister Prachanda will set a precedent for relations between his country and its two most powerful neighbors. The newly appointed former revolutionary may have embarked on a course to reduce Nepal's dependence on India, but his sincerity is another matter. - Dhruba Adhikary (Aug 21, '08)

Apocalypse later
It's the year 2016 and a professional futurologist looks back at some unfortunate predictions made in 2008. He explains how the Chicken Littles were just as far from the mark about dramatic change as the Panglossian utopians, and that a different kind of apocalypse, the slow-motion kind, is what really happened to the world. - John Feffer (Aug 21, '08)

Hong Kong loves China's diving divas
The paparazzi are all abuzz as Kenneth Fok Kai-kong, the playboy grandson of legendary tycoon Henry Fok Ying-tung, pursues mercurial Chinese diving star Guo Jingjing in the latest highly publicized coupling of the Hong Kong elite and mainland diving superstars. Some say it is a perfect symbiotic match. - Kent Ewing (Aug 21,

Economies in Asia
meet gravity
Asian economies are losing their vibrant growth as they feel the impact of slowdowns in the United States and Europe. Intra-Asian trade will offer little in the way of an alternative stimulus, while further reforms are overdue, and much needed, in India and China.

Georgia invasion worsens Russian downturn
Russia's stock markets were looking in bad enough shape before the country's invasion of Georgia. The cross-Caucasus intrusion and the range of possible consquences has added ominously to the uncertainty that investors hate. - R M Cutler

Don't cry for Doha
The recent collapse of the Doha Round of trade talks raised misplaced cries that an opportunity was being lost to lift millions of people out of poverty. The round was based on a myth. Reforms happen because countries find greater openness to be in their best interest.

Predator state calls the shots
The all-too-visible predatory nature of contemporary US governance is quintessentially linked to corporations. Yet attempts to change this uniquely American phenomenon may push voters to a closer embrace of the predators. - Thomas I Palley

Joanne Mariner
The Military Commissions, So Far

Wajahat Ali
Descent Into Chaos: an Interview with Ahmed Rashid on Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Taliban

Ron Jacobs
Georgia and Historical Farce

Rostam Purzal
The Left and Iran

Examining Legal Regimes to Combat Terrorism in Near East & South Asia

By Andrew Cochran


On July 22 and 23, I attended a conference co-hosted by the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University and the Inter-University Center for Legal Studies at the International Law Institute, titled, "Lifting the Fog of Law: Legal Regimes to Combat Terrorism in the Near East and South Asia” in Washington. The conference brought together 70 experts from the U.S., North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia came together to exchange views on the effectiveness of legal regimes in those regions as a foundation upon which to build national and international counter-terrorism efforts. Both hosting organizations are known for their objective analyses of and experience in CT policy, and we have co-sponsored numerous panels with the co-director of the Inter-University Center, Dr. Yonah Alexander (see a summary of our last such panel held in May). With their permission, I am posting a summary of the proceedings' main points:

"Multiple insights into the traditions for dealing with violent actors and the various national legal regimes under discussion resulted from the conference. These insights will be fully addressed in the edited volume that will result from this event. There were, however, some overarching issues that bear mentioning here.

a. Context Matters: In the international arena, law and legal frameworks are to a great extent the product of the cultural environment from which they originate; and they have evolved on different tracks over time in response to individual situations. It is a difficult task to reconcile differences in legal systems with such divergent origins and underlying rationales, even where interests are shared and common threats menace.

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b. Remarkable Continuity: Despite this variation in legal and moral traditions, however, there is remarkable consistency across borders regarding what is being done in domestic legislation to combat political violence broadly and terrorism in particular. Regardless of how a given provision was expressed or justified in a particular state or tradition, acts of terrorism are outlawed on their own merits in all the nations examined at this conference and, one might argue, in virtually all jurisdictions able to make law and to make law binding.

c. National vice Transnational / Continuity vice Universality: This continuity, however, is difficult to translate into universally accepted rules when one leaves domestic settings and enters international ones. In the transnational environment, there is no authority that can make law or make law binding, at least not in the sense that we understand sovereign state authority. Adherence to rules and norms is voluntary and understanding of what is lawful or not has no essentially common cultural basis.

d. Questions Remain: While there is considerable agreement that war and war-like acts can and should be rule-governed, and that these rules can be agreed to and followed even in international settings like, for example, the law of armed conflict between states, this conference demonstrated that questions still remain about whether a government can fight terrorism effectively if it or its people politically agree with the goals of groups that violate the rules that govern violence and whether the methods used to achieve goals can be separated from the cause, from the goals themselves. There are no definitive answers to these questions but they must be addressed in order to further international cooperation to confront terrorism."

« Close It

August 21, 2008 10:00 AM Link

Transnational Jihad, Supremacism, and Cold War Tactics

By Jeffrey Imm


In facing new threats, a fundamental focus must be on defining the identity of such threats and an associated awareness of the need to change our governmental and policy strategies accordingly. If the threats are not clearly identified and defined, the consequences are a series of desperate, fractured tactical efforts to address aspects of the threats as perceived by diverse governmental organizations, without a coordinated strategy. Such a tactical-centric approach to new threats would predictably draw upon old paradigms and processes used in addressing older, previous threats.

This remains the primary challenge to America in dealing with Jihad. Without defining Jihad's ideological basis, desperate governmental leaders and policy analysts revert to using outdated tactical measures that are focused on regional threats and Cold War statist measures. Without a strategy defining the ideological threat, government and policy leaders are confused, misguided, and frightened, and offer half-measure tactics. In today's America, this combination of factors has resulted in the current ambiguous "war on extremism."

To effectively deal with the war of ideas that Jihad represents, American government and policy leaders must honestly and clearly define the enemy ideology, and reject regional and statist tactics that are designed for a different enemy than we are fighting today.


The Regional Conflict Perspective to Jihad

On August 18, 2008 in the southern Philippines, new Jihadist atrocities were committed against the Philippine people, leaving 39 dead. News reports stated that "[s]ome of the civilians were hacked to death by machetes and there were reports that some were used as human shields during the violent rampage." This is the latest in a Jihadist struggle that has reportedly claimed 120,000 lives in the past 30 years in the southern Philippines - equivalent to forty 9/11 attacks. Yet this Jihadist atrocity does not get major mainstream news coverage, because of a counterterror position that is prevalent throughout much of America's intelligence agencies and analysts, which views Jihad in the Philippines as an isolated, regional conflict that has no links to Jihadist terrorism elsewhere in the world.

Analysts have remained focused on the geographical and ethnic issues in the Philippine Jihad struggle on the southern most Philippine island of Mindanao, which is 63 percent Christian, but where Islamic supremacists seek to have a segregated, separate territory. In fact, to try to achieve peace by accommodating segregationist goals of such separatists, the Philippine government created an Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) which has its own separate government (that the other Philippine citizens have to support 98 percent of its economy). The latest violence is the result of a Philippine Supreme Court decision that defies the Islamic ARMM territory from having the "right" to assimilate new cities and provinces to expand its separatist territory. The Philippine's Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) jihad attacks have been defended by terrorist leader Abdurahman Macapaar who threatens total war on the Philippine citizens and states that "in the eyes of Allah we are not terrorists," calling for "Islamic justice in Mindanao." The horror of the Jihadist atrocities in the Philippines is lost on the U.S. Ambassador to Philippines Kristie Kenney who urges the Philippine government to negotiate with this same MILF organization, and dismisses the latest attacks as merely "a few bad days."

The "regional conflict" perspective is so embedded among many policy analysts that there is no linkage between the Islamic supremacist ideology inspiring the Philippines Jihad resulting in 120,000 dead, the ongoing terror attacks (Jihad and Communist) in India with an estimated 60,000+ dead (TOI report, BJP report), the ongoing Jihad attacks in Thailand since 2004 with 2,700 dead, the thousands dead from Jihad in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the steady stream of Jihadist terror plots and Islamic supremacist abuses in the United Kingdom and Europe. The standard argument remains that a solution to this global threat must analyze the needs of the local communities in each area to find ways to discourage "extremism." Moreover, since the victims are not in Iraq, they get minimal to no American mainstream media news coverage, except for wire news reports. Jihadist terror that has resulted in hundreds of thousands dead in other regions of the world is just not "news" to many American media outlets.



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Why American Government Leadership Doesn't Confront Jihad's Supremacist Ideology

On July 13, 2008, the Washington Post published a column by former CIA member Glenn Carle who stated "[w]e do not face a global jihadist 'movement' but a series of disparate ethnic and religious conflicts involving Muslim populations, each of which remains fundamentally regional in nature and almost all of which long predate the existence of al-Qaeda." This denial of anything "global" about Jihad and Islamic supremacism is the mantra of the mainstream media, intelligence agencies, government leaders, and too many in the counterterrorism community.

The idea that the Islamic supremacist ideology that is at the root of the women murdered by the Taliban in Pakistan on August 20, 2008 (crushing one of their faces) -- is the same Islamic supremacist ideology that drove MILF Jihadists to dismember innocent Philippine citizens on August 18, 2008 -- does not make sense to a policy world that view threats by regions, not by ideologies. Moreover, both U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson and U.S. Ambassador to Philippines Kristie Kenney have given credibility to proponents of this supremacist ideology in these countries. Ambassador Patterson has met with pro-Taliban, pro-Sharia leaders such as JUI-F's Maulana Fazlur Rehman to promote "free and fair elections." Ambassador Kenney has called for negotiations with MILF a day after MILF's jihadists were burning down buildings and dismembering Philippine citizens. This is who is representing America in the eyes of Islamic supremacists in these nations, which is another reason for the increasingly brazen acts by Jihadists in both countries.

To further prevent any confrontation of such an ideology, not only are threats specific to region, they are also considered to be nothing more than "extremism," as stated in the 2008 National Defense Strategy Report authorized by Secretary Gates. The ambiguous term "extremism" provides politically correct coverage that a "threat" has been acknowledged while allowing agencies to still deny the nature or identity of the threat. A threat that cannot defined, however, is certainly not a strategy.

Yet in facing other supremacist threats, America's counterterror analysts and governmental leaders did not take this tactic of creating barriers to ideological confrontation by creating regional categories and blurring the identity of the supremacist groups. This phenomenon is unique to the denial and fear of confrontation only when it comes to Islamic supremacism.


Why Denial is Not Part of American Historical Success against Supremacist Terror

Imagine the howls of outrage and disbelief from the majority of the American public and the mainstream media if 20th century counterterror analysts argued that white supremacist terrorism in Alabama was based on isolated incidents and local issues that were separate and different from white supremacist terrorism in Mississippi, in Michigan, on the West Coast, etc. Imagine how incredulous the public would be if analysts claimed if you had not spoken with whites in each of those community areas that you had no ability to recommend actions against white supremacism. Imagine the confusion if our government leaders had recommended that we not use the term "white supremacism" for fear that the very term would incite other whites to violence. Imagine the protests if analysts supported groups who praised scholars that supported segregationist policies or justified actions by white supremacist groups.

Yet these are precisely the failing tactics that American governmental and policy leaders are using and recommending regarding "extremism" (aka Islamic supremacism).

If 20th century counterterrorist and government leaders had used such tactics, we would have lost the war on white supremacism, and America would not have shown the courage of its convictions in defending the natural law that "all men are created equal." In fact, America's leadership was able to confront white supremacist ideology on a holistic, strategic basis, as a crushing, national effort against white supremacism throughout America in the 1960s through the 1980s. While that war continues today, the strength of national 20th century white supremacist ideology was smashed by a national relentless confrontation to every aspect of it that continues in cities, homes, offices, and public places today. As a result, the majority of the American public and mass media has zero tolerance for such white supremacism.

The question must be asked why American government leaders and policy analysts are now using tactics that fail to acknowledge our successes in fighting supremacism in the past.


Cold War Tactics to Fight Statists When Faced With Supremacists

In planning tactics against Jihad, an incorrect analogy gaining popularity in counterterrorism communities is the comparison of Islamic supremacism to the gradual Cold War efforts against Communism where some were encouraged to move from Communism to "Socialism" to merely being left-wing, as the nature of far-left statists evolved over decades. But looking at the evolution of a statist ideology in the same way as looking at an identity-based supremacist ideology (based on race, religion, etc.), is simply erroneous from both an ideological and a historical perspective.

I have previously pointed out that while there are some similarities in the activist nature of both the ideologies of Communism and Islamic supremacism, the latter has a true transnational activist appeal in that Islamic supremacism is not targeted merely at the transformation of states, but is targeted at the transformation and assimilation of individuals on a global basis.

All supremacist ideologies seek the transformation of individuals and their behavior, but the activist nature of Islamic supremacism is more dangerous in that it seeks assimilation as well as transformation of individuals. White supremacist Americans sought to impact the behavior of black Americans based on their supremacist ideology, but they never sought to convert them into white supremacists. Aryan supremacists sought to impact the behavior of Jews, but also did not seek to convert them into Aryan supremacists either. This is a boundary inherent in race-based supremacism.

But Islamic supremacism has no such boundaries either of state or of individual converts. Islamic supremacism has no limitations on assimilating others under its ideology. Islamic supremacism has the singular goal of total assimilation or submission of those not assimilated.

Therefore, not only are Cold War statist-based tactics not applicable to such a supremacist challenge, but also the regional categorization of threats is not applicable to such a supremacist challenge. In short, America's predominant policies and tactics for fighting the Jihadist enemy are designed to fight a completely different enemy altogether. This inability by government leaders to recognize such shortcomings leaves America totally exposed in the war of ideas against Islamic supremacists. While the Islamic supremacist ideology behind Jihad is activist like Communism, the strategic lessons that need to be learned from history must be drawn from wars on identity-based supremacist ideologies.

Those who would seek to argue for cold war tactics against Al-Qaeda believe that the same Cold War approach to fighting Communism in shades of grey to "de-radicalize" individuals will work for supremacist ideologies as well. The challenge is that such tactical arguments fail to recognize that there are no "grey areas" in a supremacist ideology; it is a truly binary challenge.

Andrew Cochran's July 23, 2008 posting of a commentary by Professor Rabbi Daniel M. Zucker, Chairman of "Americans for Democracy in the Middle-East," states:

"We need to understand the mentality of our fanatic fundamentalist enemies. Life is totally black or white for them -- there are no shades of grey. Surviving a battle with the superior forces of their enemy is seen as a victory by them -- proof that we in the West are too soft to defeat them ultimately."

Yet those who would pursue Cold War tactics make the argument that by persuading individuals to take steps away from Islamic supremacist violence that we are winning a war of ideas. This argument believes that such "de-radicalization" successes can be demonstrated: (1) if an individual goes from actively supporting Al-Qaeda to "merely" supporting "defensive jihad" in Afghanistan and elsewhere, (2) if an individual goes from Jihad to political Islamism, (3) if an individual goes from terrorism to Wahhabism, Salafism, Khumeinism, or (4) if an individual still supports Islamic supremacism but is more a polite public "citizen" about their views. The "de-radicalization" theorists claim that such changes demonstrate western values winning a gradual war of ideas. In fact, this is only a change of tactics by supremacists, not a change in support for supremacist ideology at all.

A number in the counterterrorism community are comfortable with this incorrect argument that ignores the binary nature of supremacism, as such tactics suggest that persuasion (as opposed to confrontation) can be used to avoid inciting individuals to Jihadist terrorism and preventing them from "radicalization." Today's counterterrorism community is particularly vulnerable to this self-deception, due to its inherent focus on preventing terrorist violence, rather than a primary focus being the homeland security of our values of equality and liberty that defines America's identity.


The Cold War Thinking That Equality and Liberty is Someone Else's Fight

In addition to the failed government and policy perspectives focused on fighting an enemy different from Islamic supremacism, the actual change in the American sense of responsibility in our national defense is impacted by the Cold War history.

Of all the pernicious wrong-headed approaches that continue to be carried over from the Cold War, the worst of the Cold War ideas that are still alive in America is that our national security is someone else's fight. The approach during the Cold War in dealing with a communist, statist enemy with clearly defined military, troops, and weapons, such as the USSR, was to maintain a centralized, paternalistic military command.

The logical idea was that such centralized national security gave America the technology and the intelligence to fight a statist enemy with nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles. While this tactical strategy was focused on the long term war with that specific enemy, the unintentional impact was that Americans became dependent on a centralized military and intelligence infrastructure to take on the majority of the burden of such a fight. After the elimination of the military conscription in 1973 (with a brief return in 1980), the call for the citizens to make a personal, significant sacrifice was blurred to only seeking tax dollars for volunteer military personnel and contracted equipment.

But with the 9/11 jihadist attack on America's homeland, many of us hoped that these attitudes had changed. To some extent, attitudes have changed among some Americans. Individuals around the nation have risen to the ideological challenge in researching Jihad and debating the war of ideas.

However, the majority of the American public has yet to fully realize that the battle in dealing with Islamic supremacism is truly their war and their personal responsibility, requiring their personal sacrifice and commitment. To a society used to being "led" by analysts, politicians, experts, mainstream media, this American public still has not yet grasped that it has to do its own research, reach its own conclusions, and tell its government representatives (in detail) what it seeks to have done to win this war. Some in a baby-boomer post-Cold War society find this terribly unfair. After all, isn't this the government's job? The simple answer is yes, if we want to lose the war against Islamic supremacism. Because what such government leaders and analysts have clearly demonstrated is that they are taking the wrong path, and academia, the media, and many analysts are keeping us on that wrong path.

In a representative democracy, fighting against supremacism and defending our values of equality and liberty is everyone's fight. The Cold War is over. It is time for America's baby-boomers to grow up. This is our generation's challenge and defining moment.


Why Confrontation is Essential in Fighting Supremacism

Confrontation is unpleasant. Engagement is an easy sell to a confused, misinformed, frightened, uninspired, poorly led public. To American government leaders trying to develop tactics around "extremism," the rat hole of engagement with an undefined ideology or enemy actually sounds better at government meetings and political discussions than the dreaded idea of "confrontation." In our political world, Americans constantly seek "engagement," because we believe that we can somehow persuade others of our viewpoints. We fail to understand that this perspective is unique to pluralistic democracies that value equality of opinion and ideas, and that value liberty of freedom of speech and press.

Moreover, American history is not a popular subject with collegians or with political analysts, especially in considering world issues. America's pluralistic outlook to the world drives us to seek answers based on other experiences in the world and balance our views based on other ideologies. This willingness to be relativist on other cultures and values is usually laudable in an open-minded, creative nation.

However, when it come to dealing with Islamic supremacism, American leaders fail to recognize America's own successes in dealing with supremacist ideologies and fail to recognize that there are supremacist cultures that are fundamentally inimical to natural laws of equality and liberty. Supremacism is not a negotiating, relativist culture. There are no half-measures with supremacism. Fighting supremacism is a life or death matter for America's culture and for the defense of equality and liberty.

History shows that in fighting supremacist ideologies, only confrontation works. White supremacists were not persuaded to change their views on segregation and equality - they were confronted by force and by law. Aryan supremacists were not persuaded to change their views on Jewish individuals, homosexuals, and others - they were confronted by military force. Change in those who supported supremacist ideologies was not the result merely of arguments and fine words in literature and the press; changed happened due to direct confrontation. History shows that supremacists are not readily argued away, bought away, or persuaded away from their ideology in a process of "de-radicalization"; supremacists can change their tactics from time to time to allow non-supremacist authorities to let down their guard, to allow for rebuilding and infiltration, and to develop other less obvious tactics of recruitment. A supremacist's change in tactics is not the same as a change in ideology - a war of ideas that merely seeks to change supremacist tactics, not fight in defense of equality, is not a "war of ideas" at all -- and is merely a plea to be "left alone."

American counterterrorism analysts need only to consult their own national history for lessons on fighting supremacism. The 1869 federal grand jury declaration that the Ku Klux Klan was a terrorist group did not end white supremacist activism in America. The 1929 arrest of Ku Klux Klan leaders by the FBI did not end white supremacist activism in America. The 1960s arrest of Ku Klux Klan leaders by the FBI did not end white supremacist activism in America. Arrests of Ku Klux Klan terrorists, arguments to persuade white supremacists to change, none of these alone were sufficient to break the back of the white supremacist ideology. Consistent, total, and unwavering confrontation was required. What American history demonstrated was that there were no shades of grey in fighting white supremacism. Tolerating some supremacist activities merely allowed for the re-growth of other more violent supremacist activities to rise up again. It took America 100 years to learn this vital lesson that there are no "half-way" measures in defending equality and there are no "half-way" measures in fighting supremacism. Why is this costly, painful lesson ignored by those leaders who are responsible for fighting Islamic supremacism today? Because we are allowing them to ignore these lessons. Our government is representative of its people; it is past time that American citizens concerned about Islamic supremacism speak out on the imperative need to use lessons from our history in confronting today's challenges on Islamic supremacism.



A Solution in Defying Supremacism with Equality

Equality is the one thing that supremacists can not and will not tolerate. The natural law that "all men are created equal" is America's strongest weapon against supremacists of every kind.

A proof of this is found in previous efforts of supremacist organizations to attempt to infiltrate and influence the American people. White supremacists could not and would not tolerate equality. When they were losing the war, they offered the segregationist compromise of "separate-but-equal" schools, public facilities, etc. Aryan supremacists also could not tolerate equality. The Nazi German American Bund that sought to infiltrate America did their best to pretend to be patriotic, complete with a birthday celebration to George Washington, and calls for "liberty." But the Nazi Aryan supremacists could not address the idea of equality, it choked in their throats.

In Europe, the continuing publicity by courageous women against Islamic supremacism has led to similar fractioning of Islamic supremacists. Even now, in the UK, Islamic supremacists are offering similar "separate-but-equal" new "rights" for women using a new charter under Sharia law (when British women already have equal rights under British law). The vast and obvious inequalities between men and women in Islamic supremacism are recognized as a fault line in the supremacists' global campaign. Of all the strategies that Americans should be concentrating on, the vital need to publicize the failure of Islamic supremacism when it comes to women's rights is the most promising near-term topic in the war of ideas.

Equality has been a threat to Islamic supremacists around the world and in international organizations. It is their greatest fear and is America's strongest weapon. But in promoting equality as a measure against Islamic supremacism, it must be understood that such confrontation will require a more aggressive war of ideas. Our respect for equality in a diverse nation is something that Islamic supremacists must attack. In fact, a nation dedicated to equality is indeed Islamic supremacists' greatest threat.

Those who seek to solely avoid additional violence will discourage this confrontation. Those who seek to demonstrate the courage of their convictions on equality and liberty will demand it.


Why Equality Will Defeat Supremacism

A supremacist society is dependent on its rigidity, conformance, and limited perspective in defining WHAT IS based on reinforcing the supremacist perspective. A supremacist society is dependent on its lie of a singular superiority of identity to control its populace. Without defending its lie of superiority, a supremacist society will crumble. When challenged by others who don't accept its supremacist ideology, a supremacist society will either crush those who don't conform, or if it is weak, it will call for so-called "separate-but-equal" segregation until it can gain more strength.

A nation dedicated to ensuring equality creates a transformational society. An egalitarian society utilizes its infinite diversity, creativity, and unlimited vision to define what COULD BE based on it acceptance of equality as a fundamental value. An egalitarian society can weather any storm and can transform its skills, talents, and focus to meet the needs of overall population. Its basis in the natural law of equality gives it transformational advantages over any other society. The concept of "separate-but-equal" segregation of the population is illogical in an egalitarian society which draws its strength from its diversity and unlimited ability to use its population in endlessly diverse combinations and permutations to promote human liberty and progress.

As a transformational, egalitarian society, Americans can seek to reinvent the American experience in ways that allow continuing new opportunities and liberties for fellow citizens to grow and contribute to their communities, their families, and themselves. Our societal development is based on the fundamental natural laws of individual equality and liberty. Our egalitarian ability to transform is multi-dimensional - it occurs on an individual, family, community, and national basis.

This is why supremacism will ultimately lose to America. No matter what weapons are used against Americans, no matter what attacks are made on America, its foundation in equality makes it a transformational society that allows infinite ways to defend itself, respond to attacks, rebuild and restore itself, and continue an endless war against its supremacist adversaries.

But every battle, like every journey, requires a first step. That first step for America in this war is in recognizing that it is neither "extremism" nor "terrorism" that it is fighting -- it is fighting the very idea of Islamic supremacism.

Our courage today creates the future that we leave our children tomorrow.




Sources and Other Documents:

August 20, 2008 - AFP: MILF commander declares 'all-out war'

August 19, 2008 - Australia Broadcasting Corportation: Muslim rebels kill 28 in bloody Philippines attack

August 19, 2008 - Reuters: Philippines vows strong action against rebels

August 19, 2008 - AFP: Peace talks with MILF in peril as troops hunt rebels
-- "MILF's 30-year rebellion has left more than 120,000 dead"

August 19, 2008 - AFP: US will not withdraw aid in S. Philippines despite violence

Wikipedia: Map of Philippines

Wikipedia: Mindanao

Wikipedia: Mindanao Culture

Wikipedia: Political Divisions of Mindanao

Wikipedia: Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao

Wikipedia: Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao - Economy

Wikipedia: Map of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao

Wikipedia: Supreme Court Case of Sema v. Comelec

August 19, 2008 - London Times: World news in brief: Rogue Muslims raid villages in Manila

August 27, 2007 - Times of India: India loses maximum lives to terror except Iraq
-- approximately 3,700 Indians were killed in terrorist attacks between January 2004 and March 2007

December 16-31, 2002 - BJP Today: Terrorism and India - Arun Jaitley
-- reports of 62,000 Indians killed in terrorist attacks in the 15 year period prior to December 2002

Human Rights Watch: Thailand - Militant Attacks on Civilians

January 7, 2008 - Reuters: Thailand's Muslim south grew bloodier in 2007

August 6, 2008 - New York Times: 500: Deadly U.S. Milestone in Afghan War

June 10, 2008 - Pakistan and the Growing Threat of a Sharia Mini-State - Counterterrorism Blog -- by Jeffrey Imm
-- Section 7.10. Pakistan Jihadists' Terror Attacks and Concentration on Destroying the Pakistan Government - 4,500 killed since 2006

January 6, 2008 - Pakistan Link: Fazl vows to enforce true Islamic system in country

November 21, 2007 - Dawn: US envoy meets Fazl

GlobalSecurity.org - Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA)
-- "Maulana Fazlur Rehman of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F)... enjoys the prestige of having been a defender of the interests of the Taliban in the grand Deobandi alliance mostly spearheaded by the jehadi militias"

August 20, 2008 - AFP: Taliban executes women in Pakistan

August 19, 2008 - Daily Telegraph: Islamic terror cell 'may have been plotting to attack Queen'

BritishJihad.com Listing of UK Terrorist News

International Campaign Against Honour Killings

August 8, 2008 - Daily Telegraph: New Sharia law marriage contract gives Muslim women rights

August 16, 2008 - The Sham of Women's Rights Under the Shari'a -- by D. L. Perry

July 13, 2008 - Washington Post: Overstating Our Fears -- by Glenn L. Carle

July 16, 2008 - False Reports of Jihadists "Quitting" or Abandoning Islamic Supremacism - Counterterrorism Blog -- by Jeffrey Imm

Wikipedia: September 11, 2001 attacks

NPR: Alabama - 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing

Wikipedia: Mississippi - Assassination of Medgar Evers

Daily Oakland Press: Michigan - Historic desegregation case remembered 50 years later
-- Pontiac, Michigan August 1971 bus bombing

Wikipedia: H. Tomas Padilla

Wikipedia: The Order, also known as the Bruder Schweigen or Silent Brotherhood

Wikipedia: Ku Klux Klan

Wikipedia: Ku Klux Klan -- Decline and suppression
-- 1869 federal grand jury designation of KKK as a "terrorist organization"

News on White Supremacist Ku Klux Klan Terrorist Organization

July 2, 2008 - Crossroads in History: The Struggle against Jihad and Supremacist Ideologies - Counterterrorism Blog -- by Jeffrey Imm
Alternate Web Link
-- PDF format

June 2008 - 2008 U.S. National Defense Strategy document (PDF)

July 23, 2008 - Winning the War with Islamic Fanaticism - Counterterrorism Blog -- by Andrew Cochran

July 17, 2007 - Preventing the West from Understanding Jihad - by Dr. Walid Phares







« Close It

August 21, 2008 01:00 AM Link

New Al Qaeda Message Confirms Head of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan Still Alive

By Andrew Cochran


The SITE Intelligence Group has issued a press release that a new speech is forthcoming from Al Qaeda's #2, Ayman al-Zawahiri, containing eulogies for two recently killed Al Qaeda commanders, Abu Khabab al-Masri (a.k.a. Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar) and Abu Abdullah al-Shami, an escapee from Bagram prison in July 2005 and killed last month in a U.S. strike. I posted about al-Masri's reported death on July 28, and Evan Kohlmann posted the NEFA Foundation's transcript of Al Qaeda's acknowledgement of that on August 6.

The value of this message is that it is final confirmation that the head of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, was not killed in a Pakistani strike as reported on August 12, as deduced by his signature on this message and his exclusion from the names of the eulogized. The American intel community never supported that report, as I noted in the update to my post.

August 20, 2008 03:59 PM Link

Georgian Crisis Is a Trap for U.S. Leadership

By Fyodor Lukyanov

This may sound strange, since most people consider U.S. President George W. Bush's foreign policy to be extremely ideological. After all, the global advancement of democracy has been his principal credo for nearly eight years. In practice, however, exporting democracy is less an ideology than it is realpolitik at its core -- an instrument for attaining geopolitical do

Russia Growls, NATO Meows - Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post
The Great Moscow Circus - Christopher Hitchens, The Australian
Ambivalent Legacy of Musharraf - Shashi Tharoor, RealClearWorld
McCain's Secret Plot to 'Kill the UN' - Johann Hari, The Independent
End of the Prague Spring - Klaus Wiegrefe, Der Spiegel

• Russia Growls, NATO Meows - Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post
• The Great Moscow Circus - Christopher Hitchens, The Australian
• Ambivalent Legacy of Musharraf - Shashi Tharoor, RealClearWorld
• McCain's Secret Plot to 'Kill the UN' - Johann Hari, The Independent
• End of the Prague Spring - Klaus Wiegrefe, Der Spiegel
• What the West Can Do in Georgia - Richard Holbrooke, Washington Post
• Europe's Dithering is Dangerous - Con Coughlin, The Telegraph
• Behind America's Shield - The Economist
• The Crackdown to Come in China - Willy Lam, Wall Street Journal
• For China's Uighurs, Games a World Away - Anna Bodner, Taipei Times
• After Musharraf, US Needs to Win Hearts - Khalil Ahmad, China Post
• Israel's Suicide Choice - Rachel Ehrenfeld, Washington Times
• Lack of Purpose Is Essence of British - Damian Whitworth,The Times
• Charles' Fantasy Farming Won't Feed Poor - Paul Collier, The Guardian
• Rise of the English Premier League - Mark Scott, Business Week

<h3 class="sub-section">Editorials</h3>

• China's 'Rise' Doesn't Garner Respect - Christian Science Monitor
• Best Way to Do Business with Russia - Financial Times
• Battlefield Widens in Afghanistan - The Guardian
• Syria and Lebanon: A Step Toward Peace - Asahi Shimbun

<h3 class="sub-section">Research and Analysis</h3>

• Terrorism Index 2008 - Foreign Policy
• Progressive Approach to US-China Ties - Center for American Progress
• Conservative Internationalism - Hoover Institution
• Social Change and Discrimination in Iraq - Middle East Institute

Syria reaps a Russian reward

After the Russian tanks rolled into Georgia, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was the first world leader to visit the Kremlin. Moscow sees a good ally in Assad, a man who realizes that the Russians are back and intends to use this to advance Syria's interests. Foremost is the peace process with Israel, which, given the events in the Caucasus, the United States might now feel compelled to support. - Sami Moubayed (Aug 22, '08)

North Korea wary of Russia's return
Russia's muscle-flexing in Georgia certainly has implications for the former satellite states of the old Soviet Union, but the impact is less clear for northeast Asia, especially North Korea, which the Soviet Union supported with enormous military and economic aid - but where Russia still arouses deep suspicions. - Donald Kirk

Militants ready for Pakistan war
Pakistan has declared all-out war on militants. This will delight the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Washington, which for many years have complained of the country's spotty record. Militants previously allowed to operate under the radar will now have to fight back. Thursday's suicide attack on an ordnance factory in which scores of people died is a portent of things to come. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Aug 22, '08)

China damned over floods
Massive dams in China exacerbated the fatal floods which recently struck Southeast Asia's Mekong River region, environmental groups claim. Sitting upstream in a position of geographical strength, China has bluntly refused to release key environmental data on the dam issue, in contrast to its broader policy of soft power to forge greater integration with the region. - Brian McCartan (Aug 22, '08)

Low-profile president stirs India
Apart from toting an AK-47 and telling women to learn karate, India's 73-year-old first female president, Pratibha Devisingh Patil, has had a quiet first year. Wisely reticent amid political crises and overcoming diplomatic gaffes, Patil has generated immense public curiosity. But a potentially explosive national election may test her political expediency. - Neeta Lal (Aug 22, '08)

Applause for Glitter's Asian exit
The deportation of British rock star and convicted pedophile Gary Glitter this week is seen as a victory against sex tourism that exploits minors. However, the prevailing image of sex predators as white men overlooks the disturbing truth that the majority of child abusers are from other parts of Asia. (Aug 22, '08)

Herculean tales from the Olympic city
With the Olympic spotlight shining brightly on Beijing, the everyday travails of some of the city's residents have come to light. In a series of interviews, Cindy Sui discovers what many Chinese, especially those who've moved from the countryside, must endure to improve their lives in the capital. (Aug 22, '08)

• Will Russia Force Rebirth of Realism? - Greg Scoblete, RealClearWorld
• America Should Take Georgia's Side - Mohammed Fadhil, WSJ
• Why Quemoy Crisis Is Relevant Today - Joe Hung, China Post
• What to Do About Pakistan - Robert Tracinski, RealClearWorld
• Olympian Political Correctness - Todd Gallagher, National Review
• Bye-Bye, Olympics Excuse - Amir Taheri, Far Eastern Econ. Review
• American Dream Replaced by China's - Martin Fletcher, The Times
• Hope for Doped Generation - Miranda Devine, Sydney Morning Herald
• Payback Time for Russia - Ramesh Thakur, Japan Times
• 'We Should Have Trampled on Georgia' - Carmen Eller, Der Spiegel

<h3 class="sub-section">Editorials</h3>

• Who Needs Russia? - Washington Post
• Russia Rampaging in Political China Shop - Der Spiegel
• Beijing Stages One Hell of a Show - Times of London
• Triumph for British Character - The Telegraph

<h3 class="sub-section">Research and Analysis</h3>

• Terrorism Index 2008 - Foreign Policy
• Progressive Approach to US-China Ties - Center for American Progress
• Conservative Internationalism - Hoover Institution
• Social Change and Discrimination in Iraq - Middle East Institute

Let's talk about World War III

Echoing World War 1, the most important elements for World War III are already in place. Russian troops can overwhelm the Georgian military, but will stand no chance against the United States unless Moscow resorts to limited use of nuclear weapons against a few US bases in Europe and aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean. It will be mainly conventional war, spiced with some nuclear mushrooms here and there. The world will not be annihilated - and there is just a chance that it can avoid this scenario altogether. - Nikolai Sokov

Go East, Uncle Sam
The Byzantine Empire extended its life by 1,000 years by cleverly balancing its interests with those of its allies and adversaries. Starting with Russia and Iran, the United States has a lot more to gain by playing the same game, rather than by being confrontational, the fault that led to the premature fall of the Roman Empire. - Francesco Sisci (Aug 25, '08)

Georgia war rooted in US 'self-deceit'
Whether Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili had encouragement from his