In The News

Pentagon Prepares a Futures Market on Terror Attacks

Carl Hulse July 29, 2003
A bizarre new strategy in the war on terrorism is emerging from the headquarters of the US military. The Pentagon is creating an online futures market to predict the likelihood of terrorist attacks and assassinations. With the explicit aim of predicting the effects of US involvement in the Middle East, the program's website will begin registering traders on Aug. 1, and trading will begin...

Painted into a Corner

Omayma Abdel-Latif July 25, 2003
The exclusion of Muqtada Al-Sadr, the 32-year-old activist who enjoys a large following among sections of the Iraqi Shi’ites, from the US-sponsored Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) has sparked massive demonstrations protesting the legitimacy of US occupation in the country. Although Shi’ite Muslims, the majority in Iraq, want political representation, they, along with the Sunnis, worry that IGC’s...

Imperial Perspectives

Edward Said July 25, 2003
The perspective of the imperial power is inevitably distorted but nonetheless shapes the way the power rules, argues Edward Said in this opinion piece for Egypt's Al-Ahram Weekly. Said maintains that every empire, including America's, tells itself that its mission is benign, that its mission is "certainly not to plunder and control but to educate and liberate the peoples and...

Take Mexico Instead

Abdel-Moneim Said July 21, 2003
If colonial ambitions are really the reason America invaded Iraq, why did it choose such a far-flung and relatively resource poor country, asks Egyptian political scholar Abdel-Moneim Said. Why not invade Mexico or Canada? They're closer, wealthier, and just as poor a military match for the superpower. According to Said, America would have every reason to invade these countries if it only...

Is Iraq Becoming a New Vietnam? - Part Two

Timothy Carney July 16, 2003
Seen by a veteran US diplomat with long years in Indochina and a recent stint as an adviser in occupied Iraq, the scene in Saddam Hussein's former stronghold is worrisome but not hopeless. Timothy Carney notes the challenges before the provisional American authority and the issues that have fueled Iraqi discontent. Cultural insensitivity and the tactical clumsiness of a foreign occupying...

Real IRA bomb expert nabbed in West Bank

Abraham Rabinovich July 15, 2003
British intelligence sources have helped Israeli officials arrest an alleged bomb expert suspected to be a trainer of Palestinian militants. The suspect is linked to the Real Irish Republican Army, a more hawkish faction that does not accept the ceasefire of 1998 in Northern Ireland. Although it is quite common to see Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland supporting two different sides in...

US Rebuffs Iran Offer of Nuclear Talks

Guy Dinmore July 14, 2003
Although Iran has indicated its willingness to open direct talks with the US regarding its nuclear program, the Bush administration has not shown any interest. The Administration seems content to work with Europe and Japan to keep economic pressure on Iran. This latest offer of talk is seen as an invitation by the Iranian government to open the door to a wide discussion of contentious issues...