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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) ...
November 10-October 11,
2002
Islamism, fascism and
terrorism (Part 2)
Substitute religious for racial purity, and most ideological and organizational
precepts of Nazism are essentially identical to the later precepts of the
Muslim Brotherhood. Marc
Erikson traces
the Brotherhood's collaboration with fascism from the present-day brains behind
al-Qaeda to the era of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem during World War II.
(Nov 7, '02)
Religious parties hostage
to radical Islam
The recent success of Muslim parties in
mainstream politics in Turkey and Pakistan, for example, is being widely hailed
as a success for democracy. This might be so. But the development comes with a
twist - the new politicians will be powerless in the face of the very extremist
forces on which they have turned their backs. - Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Nov 7, '02)
At the UN, a bullet in
the 'material breach'
With negotiations over a war resolution
now in their final phase, the five permanent UN Security Council members are
re-examining the precise placement of every word and comma. But overlooked in
all the wordplay is what might arguably be the resolution's most important
clause: Paragraph 5. - Paul Belden
(Nov 7, '02)
 Full
text of the US-proposed UN resolution
Indonesian military's
links to terror
Aceh, West Papua, and now Bali - the
bloody trail of terrorism through the Indonesian archipelago has for decades
borne the hallmarks of the country's highly politicized armed forces.
- Tom Fawthrop (Nov 6,
'02)
Islamism, fascism and
terrorism (Part 1)
Links between neo-Nazis and the radical ideology of Islamism
have surfaced since the terrorism of September 11, 2001 - an event that was
celebrated by both groups. But fascism and Islamism have an 80-year history of
collaboration based on shared ideas, practices and perceived common enemies -
Marc Erikson
(Nov 4, '02)
New champions of the war
cause
With public support in the United States for an
invasion of Iraq falling, a group of influential right-wingers with close ties
to the Pentagon will soon launch a new campaign to drum up backing for ousting
Saddam Hussein. (Nov 5, '02)
COMMENTARY
Flawed
blueprint for 'war for peace' doctrine
The ideologues and enforcers of the frontier justice that
distinguishes US foreign policy nowadays trace their motivation to the
conservative, interventionist internationalism of Teddy Roosevelt - hardly a
justification in the 21st century for their designs on Iraq.
(Nov 5, '02)
COMMENT
Two wet dreams, one
nightmare
The pleasureable yet ephemeral illusions of both the political left
and right are not going to save us from the horribly real nightmare that
awaits. We must wake ourselves up now and deal with reality, not fantasy. -
Robert L Adams (Nov 1,
'02)
THE ROVING EYE
China,
Russia and the Iraqi oil game
When it comes to Iraq, it's all about
the oil. Everybody knows that. But it's that very knowledge - especially on the
part of reluctant UN Security Council members Russia and China - that's the
most potent card in George W Bush's hand right now. - Pepe Escobar
(Oct 31, '02)
APEC terrorized by Bush's tunnel vision
Osama bin Laden and
his ilk carried the day at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, abetted
by the tunnel vision of George W Bush and the hypocrisy of Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo. Instead of concentrating on how to expand the prosperity
of their 2.5 billion constituents, this unique but increasingly irrelevant
forum worried about such things as stronger airliner cockpit doors. - Gary
LaMoshi (Oct 30,
'02)
How to beat
Iraq without a fight
Contrary to popular opinion, military containment is
already working in Iraq, a new US security report argues. Not only that, but
the very presence of an unfettered UN inspections regime there would be
tantamount to achievement of the professed aim of the Bush administration:
Iraqi disarmament. - David Isenberg
(Oct 30, '02)
'Evil rogues' of different
stripes
If North Korea, Iran and Iraq are all part of an
"axis of evil", logic would suggest they should be treated the same. Yet
clearly that is not the case, as recent US dealings with North Korea have
shown. Inconsistent? Perhaps, but the fact is that sometimes multilateral
diplomacy is the best option, even for the Bush administration. - Ehsan Ahrari
(Oct 30, '02)
EXCLUSIVE
One
day in the life of Chechnya's Grozny
Brutality beyond belief, fear and
suspicion, interspersed with moments of humdrum normalcy. It's just another day
in Grozny as Chechen citizens go about their daily business in the war-ravaged
capital, reports Alix de la Grange in this exclusive dispatch.
(Oct 29, '02)
Dangerous thresholds
crossed in Moscow
Russia's use of a chemical weapon in responding to the Chechen
attack on a Moscow theater has alarming implications for both future
terrorist and military operations. Meanwhile the root cause of the Chechen war
- Russia's misrule - is forgotten after the ill-conceived terrorism played into
President Putin's hands. - Stephen Blank
(Oct 29, '02)
A chilling inheritance of
terror
Dead men tell no tales. But the kin of
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was gunned down in a shootout with Pakistani police
in Karachi last month, have a story to tell: The leading al-Qaeda operative was
deeply involved in reinforcing links with Southeast Asian militant
organizations, and a whole new terror offensive is on the cards. - Syed Saleem
Shahzad (Oct 29, '02)
THE ROVING EYE
Al-Qaeda's
global franchise
From Karachi to Yemen to Washington to
Moscow - and now to Amman in Jordan - al-Qaeda is back, and it appears to be
everywhere. But is Osama bin Laden's terror franchise chain really as global as
it seems, or is the war on terror - as more and more moderate Muslims are
beginning to suspect - merely an excuse by the West to make war on Islam? - Pepe
Escobar (Oct 29, '02)
Bin Laden's terror wave
2
The supertanker Limburg, Bali and now
Moscow - incidents that unmistakably bear the fingerprints of Osama bin Laden
and al-Qaeda - and all intelligence indications are that there will be another
large-scale "strategic" terrorist strike within the next few months. - Marc
Erikson (Oct 28, '02)
SPENGLER
Do
not click on this link
Civilizations are fighting for their
existence and the tragic consequences may well be with us for the next half
century. There can be no turning back, except on the part of the "evil
messenger", who begs readers to skip this article.
(Oct 28, '02)
THE ROVING
EYE
Chechnya: The
struggle will go on ...
Russian President Vladimir Putin ensured that the Chechen
rebels at the center of the Moscow theater hostage drama received their wish
for martyrdom - but in the process he also ensured that the Chechen struggle
for independence will continue unabated. - Pepe Escobar
(Oct 28, '02)
Indonesian military
makes a comeback
The military, not the police or politicians, has the intelligence
apparatus necessary to carry out Indonesia's war against terrorism efficiently.
However, the new urgency after the Bali bombings has led to the
appointment of military men to key positions of political power, feeding
fears of a return to the abuses of the Suharto era. -
Richel Langit (Oct 28, '02)
Saddam and the Yugoslav
link
The Yugoslav government has fired its offical in charge of arms
procurement and forced the dismissal of the head of Yugoimport, the country's
major arms exporter. The firm has also been ordered to close its Baghdad
office. But if the moves are aimed at heading off suspicions as to the extent
of underground Yugoslav and Serbian military assistance to Saddam Hussein, they
are a failure. - David Isenberg
(Oct 25, '02)
Doctor, all's not well in Pakistan
The detention in Pakistan - at the behest of the US - of a
doctor known for his close relations with Osama bin Laden and Islamic militants
has given Pakistan's emerging alliance of religious parties its first test of
power. So far, it has passed with flying colors. - Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Oct 25, '02)
Chechen peace process held hostage
No matter which way the theater hostage crisis in Moscow pans
out, any negotiated settlement of the Chechen crisis will be less likely than
ever before, while Russia's already strained relations with Georgia - accused
of harboring Chechen rebels - can only be affected for the worse.
(Oct 25, '02)
Economic terrorism in
Indonesia
Security is essential to the well-being not only of Indonesia, but
of neighboring countries, and efforts by the Jakarta government to stop
terrorism in the wake of the Bali blasts are welcome. But at the same time, the
chronic headaches afflicting business in Indonesia - unreliable electricity,
water shortages, corruption - cannot be ignored. - Tony Sitathan
(Oct 25, '02)
COMMENTARY
Prairie
fire of terror spreads to Moscow
A prairie fire of jihadi terrorism is spreading across the
world, from Delhi and Karachi to Bali and now Moscow, where Chechen rebels
have taken hundreds of hostages at a theater. One year after the start of
Operation Enduring Freedom, are the US and the rest of the world even dimly
aware of the nature of Osama bin Laden's International Islamic Front and the
seriousness of the threat? - B Raman
(Oct 24, '02)
Indonesia between
Bush and bin Laden
Militant Islam has traditionally found less support in Indonesia
than in the Middle East and South and Central Asia. But that could change in
the wake of the Bali bombings if the governments of Indonesia and the United
States do not balance carefully their desire to suppress terrorism and the need
to nurture the stabilizing force of moderate Islam. - Ehsan Ehrari
(Oct 24, '02)
Bali fallout: Picking
up the pieces
So far the signs are encouraging that in the wake of the October 12
atrocity in Bali, Indonesia will at last join the war against terrorism. But
any number of scenarios, such as a Western-led attack on Muslim Iraq, could
again give Indonesia's radicals the upper hand. - Bill
Guerin (Oct 24, '02)
HEY, JOE
The
Philippines' bumbling terror war
Bombings and other mayhem are not new to the Philippines, but now it
is popular to blame them all on shadowy international terrorist conspiracies.
Even minor functionaries have become anti-terrorism experts, with the
result that the peace and order situation has gone completely out of control. -
Ted Lerner (Oct 22, '02)
Terror link shakes
Malaysian coalition
A United Nations report pointing to alleged links between Malaysia's
ruling coalition and al-Qaeda has stirred up a furor, but some analysts say the
Malaysian authorities are getting a taste of what they themselves have dished
out through the harsh Internal Security Act. - Anil Netto
(Oct 22, '02)
COMMENT
Indonesia: The demons remain
Bali is still the magical Island of the Gods it was before October
12, even if the tourists have temporarily fled. But the sad fact is that four
years after the fall of president Suharto's authoritarian regime, Indonesia's
evil spirits remain in power. - Gary LaMoshi
(Oct 22, '02)
Muslims
watch as Bali accusations play out
BLOOD MONEY
On
the terrorists' global money trail
In the short term,
"following the money" can go a long way toward disrupting terrorist cells and
networks, and thereby help prevent future terrorist attacks. But real and
sustainable success will be achieved only over the long term as key countries
make fundamental changes to their legal and regulatory structures. This
concludes a two-part excerpt from a report on terrorist financing by the
US-based Council on Foreign Relations. (Oct
22, '02)
COMMENTARY
Pakistan
and the North Korea connection
With North Korea apparently coming clean
on its nuclear program, the US is only now accusing Pakistan of supplying
critical equipment for the program, when strong indications of Islamabad's
apparent complicity must have been known to Washington some time ago. -
B Raman (Oct 21, '02)
PYONGYANG WATCH
Bonhomie to bombshell: goodbye,
goodwill
The seminar on Europe-North Korea relations had gone well. The North Korean
delegation had stressed their country's commitment to outreach and reform,
including nuclear inspections in due course. Then Wednesday's announcement by
Washington of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program ruined the party - and Aidan
Foster-Carter's day off. (Oct 21, '02)
Long live the US-DPRK Agreed
Framework
The announced admission by North Korea that it has broken promises
not to conduct a nuclear weapons program was supposedly the death knell of
Pyongyang's Agreed Framework with the United States. But that agreement had
already been in effect killed off by both sides long before this week. So
what's next? Surely a new, updated Agreed Framework.
(Oct 18, '02)
Nuke admission puts US in
tight spot
The George W Bush administration, preoccupied with Iraq while
Washington's Northeast Asian allies are forging ahead toward detente with
Pyongyang, has been caught wrong-footed by North Korea's admission that it has
a nuclear weapons program. (Oct 18, '02)
Too little,
too late against terrorism
The long-standing denial by Indonesian officials of the existence of
terrorist networks in the country was blasted to bits in Bali last weekend. Has
Jakarta learned its lesson? Draft anti-terror legislation indicates that it has
not. Meanwhile, fear, anger and religious and ethnic hatred threaten to destroy
Bali's image as a place of security and peace. - Richel Langit
(Oct 18, '02)
ANALYSIS
Well, wouldn't you know it!
George W Bush has only himself to blame if he is now called a hypocrite for
negotiating with North Korea's self-confessed nuclear arms builder Kim Jong-il
but not Iraq's Saddam Hussein. It was Bush who lumped them together. But
in strategic terms, a Middle East without Saddam is vastly more important than
a North Korea without Kim. That won't be said out loud; it's fact nonetheless.
- Marc Erikson (Oct 17, '02)
The folly of 'containing' political
Islam
Since the end of the Cold War, the West has looked warily at
the Islamic world as a potential post-Soviet threat. That fear has increased in
subsequent years, to the point where Western worries and Muslim anger are
feeding off each other. But with 52 countries claiming Islam as their official
religion, engagement makes far more sense than belligerence. - Phar Kim
Beng (Oct 17, '02)
COMMENTARY
Iraq
under US military rule?
The name of General Douglas MacArthur has been
bandied about as a model for ruling post-Saddam Iraq, but there's a problem
with this scenario: Iraq is not Japan. (Oct
16, '02)
War on terror suffers setbacks
The recent attacks in Bali and elsewhere have suggested that, despite their
defeat in Afghanistan, al-Qaeda and its supporters are far from finished, and
maybe US President George W Bush's war against terrorism is not going as well
as hoped. (Oct 15, '02)
THE BALI BOMBINGS
Indonesia: The
enemy within
Indonesian politicians, the military and the police
have all been using the "war on terrorism" to score points in their domestic
power plays. Their games have now had tragic results. And their political
machinations, using Islamic symbols, pose the greatest danger to Indonesia's
stability since the downfall of Suharto. -
Bill Guerin (Oct 14, '02)
Bali's
new Air Paradise puts off launch
The
prodigal sons return
Among the ranks who fought alongside the Taliban and al-Qaeda
in Afghanistan were a small number of jihadis from Southeast Asia, from
countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. Indications are that
these beaten warriors are, and have been, returning home - and the Bali blast
may be their work. - B Raman (Oct 14, '02)
ANALYSIS
The terror
front shifts east
The attack in Bali may trigger a dangerous series of destabilizing events in
Indonesia, whose political and economic infrastructure is already wobbly. For
both China, with its links to Indonesia's large and influential ethnic Chinese
population, and the United States, the ramifications could make the Iraqi
threat pale in comparison. - Francesco Sisci
(Oct 14, '02)
COMMENTARY
Nation is
bombed into awareness
Saturday night's devastating bombs in a prime Bali tourist area fit a
longstanding pattern of deadly, craven violence throughout Indonesia that
should have preempted any debate about whether the country has a terrorism
problem. - Gary LaMoshi (Oct
14, '02)
Related articles:
The
bin Laden and al-Qaeda of SE Asia (Feb
6, '02)
Simmering
threat of Indonesian radicalism (Sep
12, '01)
Indonesia
must confront the terror within
(Nov 29, '01)
COMMENTARY
The
lessons of Afghanistan
Getting rid of
terrorists and tyrants may be cathartic, but the process of ridding them also
carries bloody consequences for innumerable innocents. The enormous task of
America's military will be to minimize the scope of those consequences - and to
ensure that something worthwhile arises from the rubble.
(Oct 11, '02)
War on Iraq
pays no Russian dividend
The widespread belief that Washington is
making a sweet oil deal with Moscow in return for Russia's formal support of a
US attack on Iraq overlooks one crucial point - Russia simply cannot afford the
drop in oil prices that the US is seeking. - John
Helmer (Oct 11, '02)
A two-sided debate over UN
relevance
To the Bush administration, only by endorsing the use of
force against Iraq can the UN ensure its own relevance, while to many other
member states, the exact opposite is true, and only by refusing to provide any
member state with a "blank check" for invasion and occupation can the UN hope
to retain the semblance of relevance. - Alexander Casella
(Oct 11, '02)
BOOK REVIEW
Osama's
universe
Inside Al Qaeda, Global Network of Terror
by Rohan Gunaratna
The author, an intelligence expert, has put together an information-filled book
on Osama bin Laden's universe and its consequences for the world, with a few
suggestions on how to tackle the problem - which do not include a military
option. - Sreeram Chaulia (Oct 11,
'02)
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THE
AMERICAN EMPIRE
