New Yorker article on Egyptian origins of Al Qaeda's leadership, 2 June 2008

British scholar ordered deported for downloading US gov web file on AQ, from The Independent, May 2008

Max Holland, "Commission Confidential", at WashingtonDecoded.com, reports (30 Jan. '08) Philip Shenon will report in a forthcoming book [The Commission] that the 9/11 panel’s executive director, Philip Zelikow, engaged in “surreptitious” communications with presidential adviser Karl Rove and other Bush administration officials during the commission’s 20-month investigation into the 9/11 attacks.  Zelikow had worked (and co-authored) with Condi Rice in the Bush (41) NSC, and on the transition team in 2000-01 where he worked against Richard Clarke -- yet he recused himself from only a small part of the investigation.  "Shenon’s narrative is built from extensive interviews with staff members and several, if not all, the commissioners. He depicts Zelikow as exploiting his central position to negate or neutralize criticism of the Bush administration so that the White House would not bear, in November 2004, the political burden of failing to prevent the attacks." 

9/11 Commission Report outlines, revised | 9/11 Rept. Summary, revised 

2007: numerous official documents emerged, but these are best found on FAS.org site.

Official Documents, 2006:

Senate Report on Iraq Prewar Intelligence, Sept. 2006 (via AP)

Pentagon Report to Congress on Stability and Security in Iraq, Aug. 2006 (via AP)

Congressional Research Service Report on Appropriations, April 2006 (via AP)

National Strategy for Victory in Iraq, Nov. 2005 (via AP)

Prewar Iraq Intel Doubts Raised (via AP)

Iraq Survey Group: Key Findings on WMD (via AP)

Robin Toner and Marjorie Connelly, "0/11 Polls Find Lingering Fears in New York City, NY Times, 7 Sep. '06 

Carl Hulse and Marjorie Connelly, "Poll Shows a Shift in Opinion on Iraq War", NY Times, 23 Aug. '06 

Linda Robinson, Men on a Mission: U.S. Special Forces are retooling for the war on terror. Here's their plan.  US News, Sunday, 3 Sep. '06

Jay Tolson, Accepting 'The New Normal': We mourned, united, and adapted. But five years after 9/11, we are divided once again. US News, Sunday, 3 Sep. '06

Michael Otten, "How We Remember," Time, 8 Sep. '06 [note: a personal memoir, less suitable for discussion]

Sameer N. Yacoub, "65 Bodies Found in Latest Iraq Bloodshed," Associated Press via US News, 13 Sep '06. [see especially the second half comments on federalism]

Aircraft Bomb plot thwarted," Daily Telegraph (UK), 10 Aug '06

USA Today article, July '06: Air Force Lab pulls funding from TX law school professor (ex green beret) of policy research into new restrictions in state laws on FOIA releases.

Army information operations in Iraq, though useful, are not being executed well.  See "Information Operations in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom -- What Went Wrong?" by Major Joseph L. Cox, US Army School of Advanced Military Studies, Fort Leavenworth, May 2006 (134 pages, 3.6 MB PDF):   http://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/cox.pdf

For argument against Sen. Kit Bond's '06 revival of the US Senate bill to apply criminal penalties to disclosure of classified information, see "Law Would Go Against Ideals of Free Society," Kansas City Star, August 4 (free but intrusive registration required):  http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/15192641.htm

Protection of civil airliners from shoulder -fired missiles is elusive.  See "Department of Homeland Security Counter-MANPADS Program Summary, Report to Congress Detailing Phases I and II Findings of the Counter-MANPADS Program," DHS Science and Technology Directorate, July 31, 2006:     http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/dhs/manpads.pdf

See "Airline Anti-Missile System Years Away" by Leslie Miller, Associated Press, July 31: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-5985901,00.html

Extensive background on MANPADS proliferation:
     http://www.fas.org/asmp/campaigns/MANPADS/MANPADS.html

New CRS REPORTS, July-Aug. '06 (thanks to Steve Aftergood, FAS.org):

"The Department of Defense Rules for Military Commissions: Analysis of Procedural Rules and Comparison with Proposed Legislation and the Uniform Code of Military Justice," updated July 25, 2006:   http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL31600.pdf

"Hamdan v. Rumsfeld: Military Commissions in the 'Global War on Terrorism'," July 6, 2006: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RS22466.pdf

"Military Tribunals: Historical Patterns and Lessons," July 9, 2004:  http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32458.pdf

"Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses," updated July 31, 2006:     http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL32048.pdf

"Israeli-Arab Negotiations: Background, Conflicts, and U.S. Policy," updated July 25, 2006:  http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33530.pdf

"Lebanon," updated July 24, 2006:  http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33509.pdf

"European Approaches to Homeland Security and Counterterrorism," July 24, 2006:  http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/RL33573.pdf

"China and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missiles: Policy Issues," updated July 17, 2006:  http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RL31555.pdf

"Banning Fissile Material Production for Nuclear Weapons: Prospects for a Treaty (FMCT)," July 14, 2006:  http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RS22474.pdf

"North Korean Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States," updated July 6, 2006:    http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RS21473.pdf

"International Small Arms and Light Weapons Transfers: U.S. Policy," updated June 27, 2006:    http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/weapons/RS20958.pdf

Senator Christopher Bond (R-Missouri) reintroduced legislation 2 Aug. '06 to criminalize the unauthorized disclosure of classified information, the measure formerly sponsored by Senator Richard Shelby in the FY 2001 Intelligence Authorization Act that was vetoed by President Clinton in November 2000. http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2006/08/bond080206.html

In March 2006 the ODNI issued policies to consolidate Intelligence Community reporting of leaks and is now preparing to issue a Community-wide directive on [unauthorized] disclosures."  See (at page 8): http://www.fas.org/irp/dni/prog072706.pdf

National security whistleblowers testified before the House Committee on Government Reform in February '06, and the record has been published.  See "National Security Whistleblowers in the post-9/11 Era: Lost in a Labyrinth and Facing Subtle Retaliation," February 14, 2006: http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2006_hr/whistle.html

The National Security Whistleblowers Coalition:  http://www.nswbc.org/

An interagency task force that conducted an inventory of so-called Sensitive But Unclassified control markings recently identified 164 distinct marking systems for controlling unclassified information, according to Grace Mastalli, who co-chaired the task force. -- FAS.org secrecy newsletter, 2 Aug. '06

House committees would receive more information for intellligence oversight from the Intelligence committees under a proposed bill, the "Intelligence Oversight Act" (H.R. 5954) here: http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2006_cr/hr5954.html

"The Need to Know: Information Sharing Lessons for Disaster Response," House Committee on Government Reform, March 30, 2006: http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2006/infoshare.html

"Plane Clothes: Lack of Anonymity at the Federal Air Marshal Service Compromises Aviation and National Security," House Judiciary Committee investigative report, May 25, 2006: http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2006/plane.pdf

"The Terrorist Threat from Shoulder-Fired Missiles," House Committee on International Relations, March 30, 2006: http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2006_hr/manpads.pdf

"Report on Activities and Programs for Countering Proliferation and NBC Terrorism, Counterproliferation Program Review Committee," US DOD, Volume I, Executive Summary, May 2006:

http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/nbcterror2006.pdf

"Department of Defense Chemical and Biological Defense Program, Annual Report to Congress," March 2006 (8.5 MB PDF): http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/cbdp2006.pdf

Nathan Thornburgh, "Gitmo.  How to Fix It," Time Magazine, 10 July 2006, p.22, on Hamdan v Rumsfeld ruling (US Supreme Court).  Argues for the White House working with Congress (on statutory authority for tribunals); repatriating the small fish; processing the habeas cases; living by the Geneva rules; and lifting the veil of secrecy.

The Congressional Research Service's report on "Protection of National Security Information," revealing the limited basis of statutory protection for classified information, June 30, 2006, has been posted to the FAS.org web site: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/secrecy/RL33502.pdf

US Army & US Marines' revised counterinsurgency manual, final draft, has been posted to the FAS.org website of the Federation of American Scientists. It emphasizes a hearts and minds campaign, strengthening the host government's apparatus, and the paradoxes of using force.  Examples come from the US in the Philippines, the British in Northern Ireland, T.E. Lawrence's classic works on the Arab revolt, and the pacification program in Vietnam; examples of insurgencies include Mao's (political) strategy, Che's foco (military) strategy, and the North Vietnamese.  Insurgents have the initiative and adapt quickly to tactics, using intimidation and propaganda at least as much as militiary force.

See Aryn Baker, "Deadly Notes in the Night", on the Afghan front, inside the Taliban's latest intimidation campaign, Time Magazine, 10 July 2006, p.38.

House Homeland Security Report on Bioterror weapons, 2006. [Local]

The genocide in Rwanda, 1994.  Maps | Links

Memory Hole used FOIA to obtain documents on State Dept's 2003 Future of Iraq project, which forecast problems ignored by military planners in actual war; a set of official documents posted.  "These documents were released in paper format by the Department of State on 10 Feb 2006 in response to FOIA request 200304121NEA1, filed 18 Oct 2003 by Russ Kick."

Excerpts of World Book Encyclopedia entry on terrorism.

Sets of links from Project on Defense Alternatives:

Terrorism, counter-terrorism, homeland security: http://www.comw.org/tct
Defense Strategy Review: http://www.comw.org/qdr
Chinese Military Power: http://www.comw.org/cmp
Revolution in Military Affairs: http://www.comw.org/rma
Occupation Distress: http://www.comw.org/od
War Report (Iraq & Afghanistan): http://www.comw.org/warreport
PDA publications index: http://www.comw.org/pda/pub-list.html
PDA Military, War, & Peace Bookmarks: http://www.comw.org/pda/milbkmrk.html

CNN, "IRA vows to end armed campaign", excerpts, 28 July 2005

Lewis extensively quoted in newspaper article about the London bombings.

7/7/05: Terrorist bombs exploded in London train stations and on a double-decker bus.  Hundreds were wounded, some killed.  Al Qaeda is suspected. 

Paul Krugman, "The War President", excerpts of column, NY Times, 28 June 2005. Argues media have not held W. Bush to account for the decision to go to war. 

APSA Task Force on Political Violence and Terrorism: http://www.apsanet.org/section_571.cfm

"[A]ims of this task force:  first, to clarify what political scientists know on the subject; and, second, to covey this knowledge in a way that makes it accessible  and useful to the media, policy-makers, an informed public....  The scope of the Task Force inquiry includes civil wars, riots, protest, terrorism, guerrilla warfare, insurgency, communal and ethnic or religious violence, genocide; and government reliance on violence or force to quell resistance from nonstate organizations or civilian populations:  in short, political violence short of interstate warfare. We are concerned with violence that takes place within the boundaries of a given state and with the transnational dimensions of civil violence and terrorism."

Amitai Etzioni, "Pre-empting Nuclear Terrorism in a New Global Order"

Official 9/11 Commission Report on Terrorism

Official (Duelfer) Report on Weapons of Mass Destruction Oct '04, NY Times summary.

Al Qaeda Convention Parody, from Onion. (Thanks to Ken Garrett.) 

State Dept briefs on progress in Iraq: 29 Sep 04 weekly [PPT]; Fact sheet (summary). [PPT] 

Dunn, Michael M. "Great Speeches/Articles on National Security Policy." Excellent list of links to Bush security policy articles.

Report, June 2004, on The bombed "Wedding Party". 

Gen. Zinni's remarks to Marine Corps Assoc on strategic needs, Sep 2003 [PDF].

Jim Lacey, "The Men Who Won the War" (Iraq, '03)

Robert A. PAPE, "The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism," American Political Science Review, (Aug 2003) 97:343-361.

Telegraph (UK) War on Terrorism Index.  Timeline.

William M. Arkin, "Special Ops No Model for Military" [hard vs soft path for SOF.]

Powell, speech on Iraq, to UN, 5 Feb. 2003

US Sec. State Powell, Worldwide Caution, Feb. 2003, and

State Dept., PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ALERT, "MEDIA/OPINION ABROAD", 10 Feb 2003.

Military briefing Feb. 2003 on suicide bomber threat. [PPT file]

Rooney, France's Unpaid Debt. Feb. 2003.

Bush, State of Union 2003

Articles on Middle east, Iraq especially, from e-mail.

LaFranchi, "US Unpopular."  Dec 2002

Robert Fisk, "With runners ..." Dec 2002

The Forum, issue contents on "Homeland Security" (Berkeley e-Press, Dec 2002).

Total Info Awareness System (domestic surveillance) 

Bin Laden's Message to America, Nov 2002 

DOD, After Action Report, Battle of Takur Ghar (PDF) (Special Forces action in Afghan mountains 

Ralph Peters, "Hobbling Into War." 

DCI George Tenet, Testimony 6 Feb 2002 

Janda on Terrorism [Local Contents; p.1; p.2; p.3; p.4.] 

Tony Cordesman, After Action Report (PDF) 

Naylor, In the Line of Fire (Under Mortar Attack), ABC News 

Johnathan White, text, Chaps 01, 02, 03 (Wadsworth, 2001) 

Stanton on Just War 

Johnson on Just War

Oxford, Stanford & Yale Alliance, 9/11 Links 

Bush speech 

British P.M.'s Evidence against Bin Laden 

British Foreign & Commonwealth Office 

Newspaper report (link) on HC forum. 

Krauthammer 

Chomsky 

Weinberg 

TJ's Story of SAR (removed) 

Dobbs on Osama 

Carew, via BBC 

Fans' Pages on UK Special Forces (amateur) 

Johnson on military options 

Niva on Middle East violence 

Ansary on Afghans 

Graff on Soviet war w/Afghans 

Scholarly Articles from APSA | 

Selected Images: 

Jingoistic humor & images | 

Saturday Night Live, De Niro's terrorism briefing (Win Media Player video file).

DoD Bombing Damage Images (PDF, 2MB, slow) |