In The News

Al Qaeda Talking Heads

Fawaz A. Gerges May 11, 2006
Just after Iraqi leaders chose a new prime minister and president, the leaders of Al Qaeda – Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi – hurriedly released a series of statements to the media. The media blitz represents the most concerted effort to date by Al Qaeda leadership to articulate its investment in the ongoing conflict in Iraq – and suggests that a viable government,...

How Not to Fight Terrorism

David Cole May 9, 2006
The high-profile trial of Zacarias Moussaoui has concluded, and the result, after four years, is a life sentence – which Moussaoui was prepared to accept when the proceedings began. In the intervening years, the US government sought to prove that Moussaoui was the 20th hijacker set to participate in the 9/11 attacks and blocked his access, with questionable legality, to witnesses and other...

Think Again: International Courts

Helena Cobban May 8, 2006
Human-rights activists envision international courts as a source for justice and peace. Author Helena Cobban, however, questions the worth of international courts, especially when cases are prolonged as in the case of Slobodan Milosevic, former president of Serbia. In Rwanda, the court has spent more than $1 billion prosecuting about 25 cases from the 1994 genocide. Cobban says the court...

Request Stokes Debate Over Yale Student With a Taliban Past

Alan Finder May 8, 2006
Impoverished Afghanistan was racked by war for 10 years after the Soviet invasion in 1979. Sayed Rahmatulla Hashemi’s formal education ended with the fourth grade, and he learned English from aid workers. The brutal Taliban regime soon took control over the nation, and with minimal skills, Hashemi worked as a translator and then diplomat for the Office of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan. After...

Mideast Money Pinch

Yasmine El-Rashidi May 5, 2006
Middle East investors and shoppers are bypassing travel, education or health care in the US for friendlier opportunities in Asia and Europe. In March, the US rejected acquisition of operations for six US ports based on security concerns, but even before that, Saudi tourism to the US was down 75 percent in 2004 from 1999. Obtaining US visas has become more complicated for Arabs since 9/11, with...

The Problem Is: Iran Does Pose a Threat in Every Way Iraq Did Not

Jonathan Freedland May 4, 2006
After pursuing false threats in Iraq, the US and UK may have trouble convincing other countries to sanction or attack Iran. Regularly threatening Israel and boasting about every nuclear breakthrough, Iran’s president certainly does not hesitate in helping the US and UK make a case that the nation is a menace. Yet leaders in the world’s fourth largest oil producer insist that the nuclear research...

A Setback for Democracy

Dilip Hiro May 4, 2006
Before the US-led invasion of Iraq, states throughout the Middle East had been loosening some controls, particularly in the economic and communication spheres. Increasing internet use and lively broadcasts from Aljazeera satellite TV gradually encouraged economic and political debate. But increasing debate did not automatically lead to representative government or elections. As chaos reigns in...