The New York Times reported last night that the Patriot Act was going to be passed, as the motion to reject its renewal was rejected 96-3... Earlier today, the Senate handed the administration a victory as it voted, 96 to 3, not to hold up the Patriot Act to incorporate changes urged by Senator Russell D. Feingold, the act's most persistent critic. Mr. Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin, said he wants to make the Senate debate several more days on the bill, and under the Senate's rules he...

"I am for socialism, disarmament, and ultimately for abolishing the state itself as an instrument of violence and compulsion. I seek social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class, and sole control by those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal. --ACLU founder Roger Baldwin Peggy Lamson, "Roger Baldwin: Founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, A portrait" Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1976, p.192 Now from The American President , the finest two-hour infom...

Found this article at the Independent.co.uk : It is complete garbage, and I'll tell you why after the article. George Bush considered provoking a war with Saddam Hussein's regime by flying a United States spyplane over Iraq bearing UN colours, enticing the Iraqis to take a shot at it, according to a leaked memo of a meeting between the US President and Tony Blair. The two leaders were worried by the lack of hard evidence that Saddam Hussein had broken UN resolutions, though pr...

Here's responsible statesmanship of the worst kind. Jacques Chirac, President of France and the guy with his finger on the button of France's nuclear arsenal, threatened to use nuclear weapons in response to any terrorist attack on France that originated from abroad. For example, after a 9/11-type attack on French soil, the retaliation would be a nuclear strike on Afghanistan. Chirac showing his tough, manly side. From today's Washington Post : French President Jacques Chirac s...

Here's an unexpected turn of events. He claims that despite al-Qaeda's preparations for fresh US attacks, he wants to sue for peace. He claims that he's got several projects underway and the only way we can prevent them from happening is to accede to bin Laden's demands. He claims that he doesn't want to fight any more, but can we take it at face value? From Yahoo News : Osama bin Laden warned that al Qaeda was preparing new attacks inside the United States, but said the group was op...

In a classic example of "preaching to the choir", Al Gore spoke on MLK Day regarding Bush and wiretapping before a forum of members of the Liberty Coalition, a civil liberties advocacy group, and the American Constitution Society for Law and Public Policy, a liberal legal group. They were on the edge of their chairs while Gore reviled the Bush Administration for what he deemed to be an utter disregard for the Constitution and the laws of the US. From AXcessNews.com : In speaking before...

The Palestinian Authority has purged itself, at least temporarily, of the influence of Hamas. Hamas, for those of you JUsers out there who don't know, is a terrorist organization funded largely by Syrian, Lebanese, and Iranian interests against Israel. From Australia's The Age : Whatever one's perception of Hamas and its activities, it has risen as a credible alternative to the secular Palestine Liberation Organisation, which led the Palestinian nationalist movement from the middle o...

Why hasn't Al Qaeda attempted an large CBRN attack, given the group's M.O of "spectacular" mass casualty attacks against symbolic targets? I have my ideas, but they are speculative. Could be any one of a number of factors: 1) They can't get one into a strategic location. Since 9/11, security around high-value American targets has increased many-fold. Metal detectors are almost ubiquitous in Washington DC these days. I've never felt safer riding the Metro. Even airliners transiting...

What are the most significant technical constraints, political constraints, and psychological inhibitory constraints against CBRN use by terrorist networks? How might these be enhanced? So, what's stopping the terrorists? Holding them back from doing the unthinkable, the devastating, the inevitable? The biggest factor is the damage caused. CBRN weapons inflict mass casualties upon a large area, and the psychological damage is even more widespread. CBRN give a huge payoff with minim...

What role did ideology play in Iran's support for terrorism in the aftermath of the 1979 revolution? What, if anything, has changed since then with respect to ideology? The success of the Islamic Revolution caused a kind of manifest destiny for the new Iranian clerical elite. Their ultimate desire was to export Islam until the entire world was one mighty caliphate. Iran, unfortunately, was a weakling at the playground; in addition to the other more secular Arab nations, there was a...

Should Hezbollah be considered a terrorist organization in that it provides services to the public and participates in electoral politics? The words: "Absolutely!" spring quickly to mind. And here's why... With apologies to Forrest Gump, Terrorist is as terrorist does. The bombings of the Marine barracks in Beirut was attributed to them, along with a decades-long campaign against the West and Israel (Bynam 84-5). So despite the fluffy niceties of political correctness and t...

I do believe that the longer people just accept that this is the way the 'east' thinks...and this is the way the 'west' thinks...then we are in for even more milennia of stuck in the mud progress. But it's so much easier to pigeonhole one culture (especially the opposing culture in a war) as being beyond (or beneath) reason. If we truly believe that the Muslim people of the world are bitter and irreconcilable, then we better just kill them all off and poof! No more threat. But to enga...

From the Chicago Tribune, January 5, 2007: Consider The Irony Of Guantanamo Bay By Thomas P. Sullivan What an irony, what a contradiction! Although the trial may have been flawed and the execution precipitous, the Iraqi government afforded a mass murderer, Saddam Hussein, basic rights before judgment was pronounced. Hussein was presented with written charges, provided the assistance of lawyers, the government was required to introduce proof to support its charges through competen...

Evaluate the assertions by Ehrlich and Liu that differential population growth rates between Israelis and Palestinians “may exacerbate the conditions that breed terrorism.” What information do they provide that supports their contention that the different rates do actually contribute to terrorism? Potential terrorists are predominantly young adult males (Ehrlich & Liu 2002). Ehrlich and Liu cite that with poverty, a general lack of responsibility, and general indifference towards mor...

Evaluate Hoffman’s conclusion that the PLO was a model for certain types of terrorist groups. What types of groups? What were the features of the PLO and its actions that seem to have been adopted by other groups? Hoffman was quite explicit in how the PLO's efforts have been emulated in regional and international terror groups. Their ruthless efficiency in 1972 Munich made the whole world stand up and take notice. "The undivided attention of some four thousand print and radio journa...