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 War
and Terror
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Dystopian secrecy
fuels clueless wars
Bradley Manning, WikiLeaks' source inside the US Army, has done more to make Americans safer than the Navy SEAL unit that assassinated Osama bin Laden. As his trial proceeds to its foregone conclusion, the greatest threat to the United States is not terrorism but secrecy and the clueless foreign policy that Manning helped expose.. - Chase Madar
(Jun 12, '13)
How to pre-convict an American Muslim
From manufactured "plots" and outsourced "confessions" to mental tortures designed to skirt the boundaries of legality, domestic US justice for terror suspects has evolved to match the Guantanamo detention center's grey system of pre-punishment and pre-conviction. In the world of special administrative measures, the George W Bush-era of "taking the gloves off" is still being pushed to the limit. - Victoria Brittain
(Jun 11, '13)
THE ROVING EYE
Meet the 'Friends of Jihad'
That about 70% of the Syrian people support President Bashar al-Assad is something the "Friends of Syria" prefer to trample under the nearest Persian rug. As Western governments - notably Britain and France - "lead from behind" to play the Sunni-Shi'ite divide, all they are promoting is perpetual petro-war by proxy. - Pepe Escobar
(Jun 5, '13)
Drone death would hit
Pakistani Taliban hard
 The death of key Pakistani Taliban commander Wali-ur Rehman Mehsud in a US drone strike would be a big blow to the militants. The as yet unverified killing of the deputy leader would deprive the Taliban in Pakistan of a key strategist and operative capable of navigating politics, raising funds, and carrying out major attacks. - Abubakar Siddique
(May 30, '13)
Afghanistan: Is it really the end game?
Given the fragility of the Afghan government and army, and the skepticism rising over the bloody and expensive Afghan conflict's legacy, most would expect the United States to place extra effort into securing a safe withdrawal and military and economic transition. Yet instead of pursuing the inclusive dialogue needed to prevent chaos, Washington is relying on a "shoot and talk" strategy that's consistently failed.
- Conn Hallinan
(May 30, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Islamabad faces drone dilemma
Placing limits on Pakistan's cooperation with the US in the use of drones to fight the Taliban would ease
intense political pressure over the issue for the incoming Nawaz Sharif government, but the resultant power vacuum in the northwest would enable the militants to regroup and inflict maximum damage on the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
- Sajjad Ashraf
(May 29, '13)
A warning shot for Turkey-Qatar axis
Limited US condemnation of the Reyhanli bombing in Turkey suggests Washington, like its ally Saudi Arabia, is frustrated with how Turkey and Qatar are pursuing their agendas in Syria, especially their arming of groups linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. Like a recent blast targeting a Qatari delegation in Somalia, the Reyhanli bombing seems targeted to warn Ankara off.
- Alper Birdal and Yigit Gunay
(May 29, '13)
Naming a nameless war
George W Bush's "Global War on Terror" ended long ago, banished from the lexicon of his successor, while Barack Obama's pledge last week to give new definition to the scope of the now nameless conflict doesn't stand scrutiny. Washington seems in as little hurry to come up with a name as it does to end the war. Names and dates matter, and might actually explain what's going on. - Andrew J Bacevich
(May 29, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
America's truth-seeking drone program
Hunting militants through morally and legally questionable bombing missions hardly provides real justice to the victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. The same international laws are broken by the drone program purportedly intended to protect American soil from foreign enemies seeking to eliminate its citizens. - Elliot Saunders
(May 24, '13)
Nuclear terror in the Middle East
Projections of the millions who would be killed in an Israeli nuclear strike on Iran's capital are as frightening as the knowledge that the US is powerless to derail a war path set by two countries committed to conflict. In a world awash in nuclear weapons, a detonation would cause suffering on an almost unimaginable scale, perhaps nowhere more so than in Tehran. - Nick Turse
(May 14, '13)
Drone strikes on trial in Pakistan
A High Court declaration in Pakistan that Central Intelligence Agency drone strikes are war crimes comes as US critics of the strikes increasingly call into
question the lack of legislative or judicial pressure to curb the executive powers used in launching the unmanned aircraft. For many, the lack of transparency suggests that the administration is well aware the drone program breaks international law. - George Gao
(May 13, '13)
Fear envelops Pakistan elections
The mounting death toll from the Pakistani Taliban's campaign of terror in the last days before the country's general election and the switch in targets to include both secular parties and the leading Islamist contender have created a chaotic climate of fear surrounding the May 11 vote. That is exactly what the Taliban wanted as punishment for candidates and voters taking part in a democratic process the banned militants have branded "un-Islamic". - Syed Fazl-e-Haider
(May 9, '13)
THE ROVING EYE
Israel rescues
Mujahid Obama
Israel's bombing of Syrian army installations near Damascus is an act of war, and a timely one for President Barack Obama, just when the "red line" charade was reaching fever pitch and he had to choose between the US "exercising restraint" or "directly involving itself" in the Syrian war. - Pepe Escobar
(May 7, '13)
THE ROVING EYE
The Islamic Emirate of Syriastan
 As Islamic brigades answer al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri's call to form an Islamic Emirate in Syria, Syrian jihadists, with a little help from Western weapons, are preparing an annex to Iraqi jihadis. Baghdad sees the writing on the wall: as a direct consequence of divide and rule Sunni-against-Shi'ite games the Americans have been encouraging for 10 years now, the stage is set for a civil war, Syria-style, in Iraq.
- Pepe Escobar
(Apr 12, '13)
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ATol Specials
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Syed Saleem Shahzad reports on
the Afghan war from the Taliban side
(Dec '06)
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How
Hezbollah defeated Israel
By
Mark Perry and
Alastair Crooke
(Oct '06)
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Mark Perry and
Alastair Crooke
talk to the 'terrorists'
(Mar, '06)
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The evidence for and against Iran's alleged
nuclear weapons program
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Nir Rosen goes inside the Iraqi
resistance
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Nir Rosen rides with the 3rd
armored cavalry in western Iraq
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Islamism, fascism and
terrorism
by Marc Erikson
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For earlier articles go to:
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