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By July-August 2001, it was clear that something dramatic was about to happen.
Pepe Escobar, our "Roving Eye", was
traveling in Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan. The rumor was that
US forces were about to use Pakistan to launch a raid into Afghanistan.
Escobar's article, published by Asia Times Online on August 30, 2001, was
headlined Get
Osama! Now! Or else ... Our Karachi correspondent, Syed Saleem Shazad,
was meanwhile filing articles like Osama
bin Laden: The thorn in Pakistan's flesh (August 22, 2001) ...
November 2004
High-tech failure against terror
The US is deeply committed to network-centric warfare, which relies heavily on
"sending secret intelligence and stratagems instantly to soldiers in battle".
But the wisdom of investing billions of dollars for fighting such warfare when
America's chief adversary - global terrorist groups - is primarily
low-tech-based has to be questioned. - Ehsan Ahrari (Nov
29, '04)
Pentagon pinpoints
propaganda failures
A high-level panel appointed by Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld has
reported that al-Qaeda and radical Islam are winning the propaganda war against
the US - and why: the Bush administration's Middle East policies, its failure
to understand the Muslim world and its ineptness with new communication
technologies. - Jim Lobe
US arms Thais
against terrorism
Sensitive to growing concerns in Thailand that
ongoing violence in the country's Muslim-majority south will spread to tourist
playgrounds such as Phuket, which is frequented by Americans and other
Westerners, the US Defense Department has trained and equipped Thai police in
preparation for a possible Bali-style terrorist attack. - Richard S Ehrlich
(Nov 19, '04)
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THE ROVING EYE
The Sunni-Shi'ite
power play
Under the current US-imposed timetable for Iraq, the Shi'ites
will be in power after elections scheduled for next January. This will
leave a Shi'ite-dominated government to combat a widespread Sunni res  istance
movement with only a ragged bunch of guerrilla-infiltrated Iraqi security
forces. - Pepe Escobar
Battle
plans unravel
The US is faced with the choice of leaving Fallujah and allowing the "rebel"
government that has ruled it since April to return to power, or allow the
resistance to take power in other cities. Either option will leave the US in a
significantly worse position than it was in before the attack. -
Michael Schwartz
What happened to hearts?
A Vietnam-era
phrase that has regained currency is "winning hearts and minds". But as
the US lays waste to places like Fallujah, the "heart" has gone out of this
particular cliche. Now, in its desperate attempt to keep the January elections
on schedule, the US will settle for "winning minds". - Jonathan Schell
(Nov 19, '04)
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Resistance looks beyond Fallujah
Fallujah might
have "fallen", but the resistance will continue, at the same time working for
the establishment of a political movement involving Iraqi exiles for the
liberation of the country from foreign domination. - Syed Saleem
Shahzad (Nov 18, '04)
THE ROVING EYE
Counterinsurgency run amok
In counterinsurgency, success means destroying the environment, physical and
social, that supports the enemy. Take away the "water" and the "fish" will die.
This strategy led to indiscriminate bombings in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
This is what's happening in Fallujah. But it won't work, because the "fish" are
developing more complex, distributed network structures. - Pepe Escobar
(Nov 17, '04)
TERROR
UNTAMED
After Arafat, the
shadow of bin Laden
With the death of Yasser Arafat, no
leader has emerged who is capable of controlling Palestinian anger and turning
the people away from the path of terrorism they have followed for nearly four
decades. As a result, there is a real danger of the "al-Qaedization" of the
Palestinian struggle. - B Raman
Tackling
the threat of al-Qaeda
If the US fails to stabilize Afghanistan and Iraq, and if it is unable to alter
the perception of itself favorably, the Islamic revolutionary movement - in
particular al-Qaeda - will grow and become more of a threat to the US homeland
and its interests abroad. (Nov 17, '04) |
Ticking time-bomb in Asia
Asia's relentless pursuit of nuclear energy is causing sleepless nights for the
anti-terrorism community as the security focus shifts from rogue states to the
equally sinister back door of individual opportunism. Few Asian states have
safeguards to prevent the illicit export of nuclear materials. - Alan Boyd
(Nov 17, '04)
THE ROVING EYE
Masters of war
The US has declared that Fallujah has been "liberated". But the city
is celebrating with no cries of joy - with no cries at all: only with the
stench of tons of explosives, and the stench of decomposing bodies. - Pepe
Escobar (Nov 16, '04)
 The
other face of 'success'
Overwhelming
force
The Fallujah operation signifies a clean
break from the philosophy of "lighter", "leaner" military forces coveted by the
Pentagon, and a dramatic return to the doctrine of "overwhelming force"
advocated by the State Department. - Pan Hu (Nov 16,
'04)
SPENGLER
The
assassin's master sermon
Horrified as they may be by the thought, Westerners have something to learn
from the letter that Mohammed B pinned with a knife to Theo van Gogh's corpse
after he murdered the Dutch filmmaker this month. The message: antagonistic
modes of faith underlie the conflict between the West and the Islamic world.
(Nov 16, '04)
Collective punishment,
regrettable necessity
Fallujah was always defiant toward Saddam Hussein. Now the US has reduced its
civilian population to a bunch of "insurgents". The rationale invoked is
"regrettable necessity". What is never mentioned is the real objective:
collective punishment. - Pepe Escobar (Nov
12, '04)
Four solutions
for Fallujah
Of the many possible outcomes to the battle
of Fallujah, four seem most plausible, including one that might be viewed most
positively by the Bush administration. The other three may seem less palatable,
but they are based on historical precedents and not wishful thinking. The wild
card in the crisis, of course, is the Iraqi people themselves. - Mark LeVine
(Nov 12, '04)
Resistance blueprint
The former head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence,
Lieutenant-General Hamid Gul, no stranger to resistance movements, tells Syed
Saleem Shahzad the chilling implications of events in Iraq. (Nov
12, '04)
Malaysia silent on
Muslim retaliation
Malaysia's condemnation of the crackdown on Muslim protesters in
southern Thailand has been more vocal than elsewhere - with one group calling
the incident "a Holocaust of the modern era". Those same voices, however, have
been silent on the issue of retaliation against non-Muslims, suggesting
Malaysia has a long way to go to fulfill its self-proclaimed tag as a
progressive and moderate Islamic nation. - Ioannis Gatsiounis
(Nov 12, '04)
BOOK REVIEW
America
undressed
The Empire Has No Clothes: US Foreign Policy Exposed by
Ivan Eland
Eland skillfully and with wit lays out in detail the follies of America's
current course of action in its foreign policies, which are taking it steadily
further away from its historical roots as a republic. - David Isenberg
(Nov 12, '04)
 THE
ROVING EYE
A thousand
Fallujahs
Five years ago the Russians totally destroyed Grozny, the Chechen capital, yet
today Chechen guerrillas are still trapping Russian troops in a living hell
there. The same scenario will be replayed in Fallujah - and countless towns and
cities across Iraq. - Pepe Escobar (Nov 11,
'04)
SPEAKING FREELY
To fight or not to fight
Any US victory in Fallujah will be hollow. The damage to the city and civilian
deaths will mobilize more Iraqis against the occupation and the Sunni
population will become further alienated from the political process, writes Amir
Butler. Not so, suggests Joseph Wang, who reasons that the
assault on Fallujah is a regrettable necessity to improve what is already a bad
situation. (Nov 11, '04)
At
best, a hollow victory
A
regrettable necessity
Death behind
the wheel in Iraq
Since the beginning of the invasion of Iraq, suicide bombers have exacted a
high toll on US-led forces and Iraqis. But unlike in Palestine, where humans
alone are strapped with explosives, Iraq's insurgency has its own weapon of
choice - the car bomb, a much more efficient way to inflict damage. - Sudha
Ramachandran (Nov 11, '04)
THE ROVING EYE
Satan
hides in a hospital
One of the first targets of the US offensive into Fallujah was the general
hospital, which has been secured. Other targets include those used to spread
information, such as telephones. But the resistance fighters have been
preparing for this onslaught for months. They have a battle plan, and it
doesn't end in Fallujah. - Pepe Escobar (Nov 10, '04)
Pyrrhic victory in Iraq
Like the United States' original invasion of Iraq, the Fallujah operation
is based on a mix of deliberate disinformation, illusions, wishful thinking and
inept psywar. It will be only a continuation of the bleeding of Iraq, and of
the US. - B Raman (Nov 10, '04)
A cry from the mosque
Fallujah has a long military tradition, to which can be added its
religious importance as the biggest concentration point for Salafi radicals
since the 19th century. With the military side now under attack, the religious
elements have launched a battle cry of their own that could reverberate across
Iraq. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Nov 10, '04)
THE ROVING EYE
The
real fury of Fallujah
The Pentagon is selling Operation Phantom Fury as a battle of good against evil
to root out "terrorists" in the "militant stronghold" of Fallujah. Yet there
could not be a more tragic exercise in futility - to destroy Fallujah in order
to "save" it. This is the road for civil war. - Pepe Escobar
(Nov 9, '04)
Phantom victory
While no one doubts that the US-led assault on Fallujah will result in the city
being "retaken", the final outcome will inevitably mark a major setback in
stabilizing the country ahead of January elections. - Jim Lobe
(Nov 9, '04)
Fighting in an urban jungle
Unlike Afghanistan, guerrillas in Fallujah do not have a mountainous terrain
where they can hide from intense US air and ground bombing. Neither do they
have underground bunkers, nor jungles, as in Vietnam. But they do have warrens
of houses. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Nov
9, '04)
Fanning
the flames of resistance
As US-led forces tighten their grip on Fallujah, Muslims in many countries are
becoming motivated to take up arms in Iraq in support of the resistance, in
particular from Saudi Arabia, where leading clerics have openly given their
support to anti-US forces. - Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Nov 8, '04)
No carrots, all
stick in Iraq
The Bush administration is clearly intent on attacking Fallujah, the net result
of which will be an escalating confrontation with Muslim countries and peoples
that will only widen further the gulf that already exists between the US and
Muslims in general. - Dilip Hiro (Nov 8, '04)
Al-Qaeda kingpin gets
away in Pakistan
All indications were that Pakistan was about to deliver al-Qaeda's
number three to the United States this week. But at the last moment the hunt in
the port city of Karachi went dead. - Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Nov 4, '04)
China's Uighurs trapped at
Guantanamo
The US wants to free some Uighur prisoners, originally from China's
far west Xinjiang, from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. But repatriating them would
mean almost certain persecution, while granting them US asylum would
undermine US-China ties. And no other country wants them.
(Nov 4, '04)
The rise and fall of
Fallujah
Fallujah is significant because it represents violent defiance to
the US and the interim Iraqi government, and also because it is facilitating a
convergence in the language and tactics of the insurgents. From this
perspective, a US-led assault on Fallujah is inevitable. This will please the
neo-Ba'athists no end. - Mahan Abedin
(Nov 3, '04)
India and the
road to Osama
Word that Osama bin Laden may be hiding in the northern regions of
Pakistan-occupied Kashmir has triggered a deluge of speculation that the
al-Qaeda boss may be planning to venture into Indian territory, if he hasn't
already. If this is indeed the case, the US will have to rethink its "war on
terror" strategy with Pakistan. - Siddharth Srivastava
(Nov 3, '04)
Ba'asyir trial:
Wrong war, wrong place
The Western fixation on alleged Jemaah
Islamiah leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, currently on trial for a second set of
terrorism charges, gives Indonesians more reason to believe the "war on terror"
is actually a war on Islam and makes it harder for Indonesia to confront more
pressing problems. - Gary LaMoshi (Nov
3, '04)
The
trial and the future of Jemaah Islamiah
Thai dilemma over Muslim anger
Southern Thailand, which has seen a rise in Muslim anger against the government
this year, now faces the danger of a situation similar to that prevalent in the
southern Philippines and elsewhere in the region, where pan-Islamic ideas are
creeping in from their spawning grounds in Pakistan and Bangladesh. - B Raman
(Nov 3, '04)
SPENGLER
What
Osama might have told America
 Everyone
is talking about rejuvenated Osama bin Laden's videotape, but television
channels aired only four minutes of it. What was in the remaining 14 minutes?
Plenty, according to Spengler. By the time an American child reaches the age of
18, he will have seen on television 40,000 murders and 200,000 other acts of
violence. And plenty of sex. This is why Islam will prevail, and why it doesn't
matter whom Americans vote for. (Nov 2, '04)
Bush or Kerry, Osama's
unmoved
By re-establishing his preeminence, and changing his rhetoric, Osama
bin Laden makes it clear that the target is not America per se, but recruiting
the Muslim masses for jihad. A George W Bush victory will not change this. Nor
will a John Kerry victory. - Pepe Escobar (Nov 2,
'04)
Bin Laden adds
his spin
Osama bin Laden's spinmasters have maneuvered his entry into the
living rooms of millions of US homes as a third party in the presidential
debate. But just like George W Bush and John Kerry, bin Laden raises more
questions than answers. - B Raman
(Nov 2, '04)
Thais fear more
mayhem
The Thai government's tough tactics against violence in the deep
south are alienating many moderate Muslims there. More mayhem, blood and death
are likely if militants mount a brutal response to last week's carnage, which
could also severely test relations with the country's Muslim-majority
neighbors. - David Fullbrook (Nov 2,
'04)
Religious divide grows
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