In The News

The Trouble with Civilian Casualty Stories

Jefferson Morley April 15, 2004
A controversy is raging between the US military and several Arab news outlets over their coverage of the siege of Fallujah. General John Abizaid, head of the US Central Command, criticized the Qatar-based Al Jazeera for portraying US military action "as purposely targeting civilians." "We absolutely do not do that, and I think everybody knows that," Abizaid said. "They...

Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Media: Anatomy of a Failure

Susan Moeller April 14, 2004
After the September 11 terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld made the decision to present terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and Iraq as a linked triple threat. Susan Moeller, professor of media and international affairs at the University of Maryland, argues that in the “stultifying patriotic climate” that followed the attacks, most mainstream...

Terrorist Chemical Threat 'Worse than Suspected'

Mark Huband April 11, 2004
Small groups of chemical weapons experts uncovered in Europe appear to have a wide network of links. Two separate groups, one arrested in a Paris suburb by French counter terrorism officials and the other uncovered by British intelligence, are both reported to have received chemical weapons training in Chechnya, Russia's breakaway republic. The group arrested in France is said to have links...

Coalition Partners Get Cold Feet

Ewen MacAskill April 10, 2004
As Shiite and Sunni Iraqis banded together to fight American and allied country troops this week, United States military forces found themselves in an increasingly uncertain environment. The political will of US allies is being tested by the deepening hostilities. When South Korean and Japanese military forces came under fire, they retreated to their compounds. But although popular sentiment...

When US Aided Insurgents, Did It Breed Future Terrorists?

Hugh Eakin April 10, 2004
Arguing against popular belief, Mahmood Mamdani, a prominent Uganda-born political scientist at Columbia University, asserts that terrorism has little to do with Islamic culture; rather, it is an outgrowth of American Cold War strategies. In this article on the New York Times, the author attempts to probe into Mamdani's thesis through other scholars' positions as well as Mamdani's...

In Mideast, Anger and Solidarity

Scott Wilson April 10, 2004
As the US started another round of military campaign in Iraq to put down insurgents, Arabs across the region are calling for stronger Muslim solidarity against the Anglo-American-led occupation, some even comparing the American operation in Iraq with Israel's actions against Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Leading Arab newspapers and TV programs in the region, including some...

Uzbeks' Anger at Rulers Boils Over

Seth Mydans April 8, 2004
The recent terrorist attacks in Uzbekistan highlight the country's overall decay and discontent. Ruled since the Soviet Union broke up in 1991 by President Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan appears mired in economic depression, and political terror: 80% of the people live in poverty and most talk as if still living under Soviet era oppression. Furthermore, lack of civil society groups, a free press...