Special Summit Set On Charter for IraqViews Outside the Committee Are Sought

By Ellen Knickmeyer and Robin Wright, Washington Post Foreign Service, July 27, 2005; Page A16

BAGHDAD, July 26 -- Drafters of a new constitution have summoned leaders of Iraqi religious, ethnic and political blocs to an emergency national summit this week in an attempt to hash out the toughest, deadlocking issues in reshaping the country, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Tuesday.
U.S. officials in Washington said the gathering will take place Thursday and Friday, if enough leaders -- particularly members of Iraq's Sunni Arab minority -- agree.
Humam Hamoudi, chairman of the constitution-writing committee, has called for the forum, and U.S. officials said the aim is to bring in leaders from outside the committee, particularly Sunni Arabs. The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.

NOTE: Additional news from Fox News (via AP), "Kurds Won't Back Down From Federalism,"

July 27, 2005

Abu Ghraib Dog Tactics Came From GuantanamoTestimony Further Links Procedures at 2 Facilities

By Josh White, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, July 27, 2005; Page A14

Military interrogators at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq learned about the use of military working dogs to intimidate detainees from a team of interrogators dispatched from the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to court testimony yesterday.
One interrogation analyst also testified that sleep deprivation and forced nudity -- which were used in Cuba on high-value detainees -- later were approved tactics at Abu Ghraib. Another soldier said that interrogators would regularly pass instructions to have dog handlers and military police "scare up" detainees as part of interrogation plans, part of an approved approach that relied on exploiting the fear of dogs.

US majority doubts America will win Iraq war -poll

Reuters, Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:21 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A majority of the U.S. public doubts the United States will win the war in Iraq and believes the Bush administration deliberately misled Americans over Iraq's weapons capabilities, according to a USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll.
The poll in Wednesday's USA Today also showed that despite the doubts, a majority believes it was right to send troops to topple Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
It was the first time that the poll found that more than half of Americans -- 51 percent -- believed the administration was deliberately misleading when it asserted that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, USA Today said.

NOTE: A link to the USA Today article.

US failed to plan for post-war Iraq-report

Reuters, Wed Jul 27, 2005 1:47 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An independent assessment of the tumult in Iraq led by two top former presidential advisers found the Bush administration had been unprepared for post-war Iraq and had underestimated the number of troops needed in a miscalculation that helped fuel the insurgency.
The report by a Council on Foreign Relations task force, released on Wednesday, concluded that the failure to prepare properly for the period after the war had given "early impetus for the insurgency" now gripping the country.
The task force was headed by two former national security advisers, Democrat Samuel "Sandy" Berger and Republican Brent Scowcroft, and presented a bipartisan critique of the Bush approach.

NOTE: A link to the report, "In the Wake of War: Improving U.S. Post-Conflict Capabilities" by Brent Scowcroft, Samuel R. Berger, & William L. Nash, Council on Foreign Relations, July 27, 2005 (pdf).

Iraq's al Qaeda says it killed Algerian envoys

Reuters, Wed Jul 27, 2005 1:58 PM ET

ALGIERS/DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda in Iraq said on Wednesday it killed two kidnapped Algerian envoys because of their government's support for the United States.
The killings were confirmed by the office of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. "The hostage takers have cowardly assassinated our two representatives in Baghdad, Ali Belaroussi and Azzedine Belkadi, thus carrying out their despicable threats despite all the appeals and exhortations launched everywhere for their liberation," the president's office said.
Guerrilla strikes have driven diplomats from the Iraqi capital, undermining the U.S.-backed government's efforts to gain support among Arab countries. On Monday Algeria pulled its last diplomatic staff out of its embassy in Baghdad.

U.S. Moves to Defuse Afghan Tension

Fox News, via AP, Wednesday, July 27, 2005

KABUL, Afghanistan — U.S. military officials moved to defuse tension after a riot outside their main base by handing six villagers accused of being bombmakers over to local Afghan authorities, officials said Wednesday.
The riot — unusual in an area that has been largely peaceful and pro-American — was sparked Tuesday after U.S. forces detained the suspected insurgents in raids on their homes. Demonstrators said they were angry that U.S. troops arrested the villagers without consulting local authorities.
More than 1,000 protesters chanting "Die America!" and throwing stones tried to break down a gate at the Bagram base, where thousands of U.S. and other foreign soldiers live behind razor-wire fences and land mines left from Afghanistan's civil war.

'Millennium bomber' gets 22 years

BBC News, Wednesday, 27 July, 2005, 17:49 GMT 18:49 UK

Ahmed Ressam, the Algerian man convicted of plotting to blow up Los Angeles airport five years ago, has been sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Ressam was arrested as he crossed the US-Canadian border with explosives on the eve of the new millennium.
He was convicted in 2001 of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act and smuggling explosives, but was not sentenced because he was helping the authorities.
He stopped co-operating in 2003 after being placed in solitary confinement.

In Surprise Visit to Baghdad, Rumsfeld Prods Iraqi Leaders

By ERIC SCHMITT, The New York Times, Published: July 27, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 27 - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld urged Iraqi political leaders today to settle their differences and agree on a new constitution quickly, and to exert more influence with Syria and Iran to force them to end support for the insurgency here.
Speaking to reporters en route to an unannounced visit here, Mr. Rumsfeld laid out a remarkably blunt prescription for what Iraqi leaders must do in the coming weeks and months to ensure that a stable, secure and popularly elected government survives, and to allow American troops to begin to withdraw.
Mr. Rumsfeld declined to say when conditions would permit that drawdown to start. But the top American commander here, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., reaffirmed to reporters his statement in March that the Pentagon will be able to make "some fairly substantial reductions" in troops by next spring if the political process remains on track and Iraqi forces assume more responsibility for securing their country.

Poll: Americans' views of Islam warming: London attacks failed to spark U.S. backlash against religion or followers

By Alex Johnson, Reporter, MSNBC, Updated: 4:41 p.m. ET July 26, 2005

The deadly July bombings in London put Americans on alert but created no backlash against American Muslims or Islam, according to a poll released Tuesday. The poll also showed a decline in the percentage of Americans who believe Islam is more violent than other religions.
The survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life was conducted after the July 7 attack on subways and buses in London killed 52 people, leading U.S. authorities to tighten security at transportation facilities. The attack was blamed on four British Muslims, leading some Islamic commentators and others to express concern that Muslims in general could be targeted for retribution.

NOTE: A link to the full report, "Views of Muslim-Americans Hold Steady After London Bombings: Fewer Say Islam Encourages Violence," The Pew Research Center, July 26, 2005 (pdf).

Gunmen kill 17 in Baghdad bus ambush

By Peter Graff and Waleed Khalid, Reuters, Tue Jul 26, 2005 2:41 PM ET

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - About 10 gunmen emptied their automatic rifles into a bus carrying Iraqi workers from a factory west of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing up to 17 people, police and hospital sources said.
Police said 12 people had died in the attack on the bus, but a source at one hospital said it had received 17 bodies.
"We were on the bus going home. Two cars with about 10 insurgents opened fire on us. We don't know why: we are just workers," said Adil Zamal, being treated for multiple gunshot wounds to the back at the An Noor hospital, which received about 20 wounded patients from the attack.
"We fell to the floor. They just kept shooting and shooting until they ran out of ammunition," he said.

New U.S. Envoy Will Press Iraqis on Their Charter

By DEXTER FILKINS and JAMES GLANZ, The New York Times, Published: July 26, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 25 - The new American ambassador to Iraq waded into the debate over its constitution on Monday, signaling that the United States would work to guarantee the rights of Iraqi women and to blunt the desires of ethnic and religious factions pushing for broader autonomy in the new Iraqi state.
With less than three weeks to go before the country's permanent constitution is supposed to be completed, the new ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, indicated that the United States would play an active and, if need be, public role in brokering what he called a "national compact" among the country's ethnic and sectarian groups.

NOTE: More information from MSNC.com (via AP), Updated: 2:34 p.m. ET July 26, 2005
"Iraq constitution may erode women's rights: Draft proposal would limit rights in marriage, divorce and inheritance."

U.S. Officials Retool Slogan for Terror War

By ERIC SCHMITT and THOM SHANKER, The New York Times, Published: July 26, 2005

WASHINGTON, July 25 - The Bush administration is retooling its slogan for the fight against Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, pushing the idea that the long-term struggle is as much an ideological battle as a military mission, senior administration and military officials said Monday.
In recent speeches and news conferences, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the nation's senior military officer have spoken of "a global struggle against violent extremism" rather than "the global war on terror," which had been the catchphrase of choice. Administration officials say that phrase may have outlived its usefulness, because it focused attention solely, and incorrectly, on the military campaign.
Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the National Press Club on Monday that he had "objected to the use of the term 'war on terrorism' before, because if you call it a war, then you think of people in uniform as being the solution." He said the threat instead should be defined as violent extremists, with the recognition that "terror is the method they use."

Iraq al Qaeda posts video of Algerian diplomats-Web

Reuters, Tue Jul 26, 2005 12:18 PM ET

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iraq's al Qaeda group posted a video of two kidnapped Algerian diplomats on Tuesday, after it vowed to kill them, according to an Internet posting.
The video showed two blindfolded men. One of them identified himself as Ali Belaroussi, the chief of the Algerian mission. "I live in the capital Algiers," he said. The other man said he was Azzedine Belkadi.
A statement from Al Qaeda in Iraq accompanying the video, which showed no militants, said their "confessions" would be posted soon.
Al Qaeda, led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has said it would kill the two diplomats and said this would be "the fate of the ambassadors and the envoys of all infidel governments."
Algerian minister of state without portfolio Bouguerra Soltani said the government was hopeful of a positive outcome.

About 50 Taliban Killed in Afghan Clashes

Fox News, via AP, Tuesday, July 26, 2005

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — About 50 suspected Taliban (search) militants were killed in fighting with U.S. and Afghan forces in southern Afghanistan (search), a provincial governor said Tuesday.
The fighting late Monday in Uruzgan province's Dihrawud district came during an offensive against a rebel camp, which had been used as a base for attacks in neighboring areas, Gov. Jan Mohammed Khan (search) said.
About 25 suspected Taliban insurgents were captured during the clash, and Afghan forces were still finding the bodies of rebels at the scene of the fighting on Tuesday, he said.

Report: Bin Laden Cocaine Plot Fell Through

By Dan Mangan - NYPost.com, Fox News, Tuesday, July 26, 2005

WASHINGTON — Usama bin Laden tried to buy a massive amount of cocaine, spike it with poison and sell it in the United States, hoping to kill thousands of Americans one year after the Sept. 11 attacks, The Post has learned.
The evil plot failed when the Colombian drug lords bin Laden approached decided it would be bad for their business — and, possibly, for their own health, according to law-enforcement sources familiar with the Drug Enforcement Administration's (search) probe of the aborted transaction.
The feds were told of the scheme earlier this year, but its existence had never been made public. The Post has reviewed a document detailing the DEA's findings in the matter, in addition to interviewing sources familiar with the case.

Controversy dogs terror tribunals

Pentagon vows the wartime hearings will be fair, but critics worry about secret testimony, By Peter Grier, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor, July 26, 2005

WASHINGTON – Long-stalled military trials of terror suspects at Guantánamo Bay may soon restart, but debate over their fairness remains as intense as ever
To Pentagon officials, the planned US approach is at least as fair as the international tribunals in Rwanda and Yugoslavia. In those proceedings, prosecutors can appeal not-guilty verdicts, for instance. That won't be possible in the US process.
But critics complain that the US tribunals can keep evidence secret from the accused - something that would never be tolerated in the domestic justice system. And revelations about US prisoner abuse have caused some to question the military's overall handling of detainees, including their plans for prosecutions.
"There is a lack of confidence in the people who put this together," says Stephen Saltzburg, a George Washington University law professor and director of the National Institute of Military Justice.

Van Gogh killer jailed for life

BBC News, 26 July, 2005, 09:52 GMT 10:52 UK

A Dutch court has sentenced a 27-year-old radical Islamist to life in prison for the November murder of controversial film-maker Theo van Gogh.
Mohammed Bouyeri, who has joint Dutch-Moroccan nationality, had made a courtroom confession and had vowed to do the same again if given the chance.
The murder in Amsterdam stunned the Netherlands. The court ruled that it was a terrorist act.
The judge said the murder had triggered "great fear and insecurity" in society.
"The murder of Theo van Gogh provoked a wave of revulsion and disdain in the Netherlands. Theo van Gogh was mercilessly slaughtered," said Judge Udo Willem Bentinck.

US can keep Kyrgyzstan air base

BBC News, Tuesday, 26 July, 2005, 10:48 GMT 11:48 UK

The US has been told it can keep its airbase in Kyrgyzstan as long as it is needed for operations in Afghanistan.
But the Kyrgyz defence minister said that once the situation improved, US forces would no longer need to stay on.
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is on a tour of Central Asia - a trip said to be in response to pressure on the US to withdraw from bases in the region.
About 1,000 US soldiers are stationed in Kyrgyzstan, and the US also has an airbase in neighbouring Uzbekistan.
These bases are a vital hub for ferrying supplies to US forces in Afghanistan, and providing refuelling services for US aircraft.

NOTE: More information available at posted

"Rumsfeld secures temporary deal in Central Asia: Kyrgyzstan agrees the US can use key base as long as needed for Afghan operations," By Matthew Clark | csmonitor.com, July 26, 2005 at 12:30 p.m.

Angry Afghans confront US force

BBC News, Tuesday, 26 July, 2005, 16:54 GMT 17:54 UK

At least 1,000 protesters have staged a demonstration outside the main US base of Bagram in Afghanistan.
The demonstrators, chanting "Die America", were angry at the arrest of a number of villagers on Monday night. Some threw stones at military vehicles.
Piles of tyres were burned on the main road near the base, sending clouds of black smoke billowing over the area.
Eyewitness say US troops fired warning shots at the demonstrators. The US military are denying this.

U.S. Report Faults Iraqi Police Screening

Washington Post, via Associated Press, Tuesday, July 26, 2005; Page A16

Iraq's police force has suffered from inadequate recruiting and screening of candidates, apparently even allowing some insurgents to join, a U.S. report said yesterday.
Even so, the study by the inspectors general at the Defense and State departments said the effort to build up Iraq's police agencies has been a qualified success.
In a written response, the military said it is addressing most of the concerns raised by the study. The investigation concluded in April, and Pentagon officials said many of the proposed changes are already being implemented.

NOTE: A link to the the report, "Interagency Assessment of Iraqi Police Training," by the Department of State and Department of Defense Inspectors General, July 25, 2005 (pdf).

Democrats Offer Lines of Attack for '08 Race

By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ, The New York Times, July 26, 2005

COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 25 - In the wake of terrorist attacks abroad, a procession of potential Democratic presidential candidates raised sharp questions on Monday about the Republican leadership's handling of national security.
The Democrats, including Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, also sharply criticized Republican fiscal policies, denouncing the rising national debt after the booming economy of the years when Bill Clinton was president. They spoke at a meeting of the Democratic Leadership Council, a prominent group of moderates who helped send Mr. Clinton to the White House in 1992.
The gathering here in Ohio, one of the most-contested states in last year's election, offered a glimpse of what may be the line of attack that Democrats will employ against Republicans between now and 2008.

U.S. Pushes Anti-Terrorism in AfricaUnder Long-Term Program, Pentagon to Train Soldiers of 9 Nations

By Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post Staff Writer, Tuesday, July 26, 2005; Page A01

N'DJAMENA, Chad -- The U.S. military is embarking on a long-term push into Africa to counter what it considers growing inroads of al Qaeda and other terrorist networks in poor, lawless and predominantly Muslim expanses of the continent.
The Pentagon plans to train thousands of African troops in battalions equipped for extended desert and border operations, and to link the militaries of different countries with secure satellite communications. The initiative, with proposed funding of $500 million over seven years, covers Algeria, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Nigeria, Morocco and Tunisia -- with the U.S. military eager to add Libya if relations improve.

Scared out of our minds

By Nassim,Nicholas Taleb - The New York Times, IHT, JULY 26, 2005

GLASGOW I was visiting London last Thursday when a second wave of attacks hit the city, just two weeks after the traumatic events of July 7. It is hard to avoid feeling vulnerable to this invisible enemy who does not play by known or explicit rules. Of course, that is precisely the anxiety that terrorists seek to produce. But its opposite - complacency - is not an option.

The truth is that neither human beings nor modern societies are wired to respond rationally to terrorism. Vigilance is easy to muster immediately after an event, but it tends to wane quickly, as the attack vanishes from public discourse. We err twice, first by overreacting right after the disaster, while we are still in shock, and later by under-reacting, when the memory fades and we become relaxed.

Terrorism exploits three glitches in human nature, all related to the management and perception of unusual events. The first and key among these has been observed over the last two decades by neurobiologists and behavioral scientists, who have debunked a great fallacy that has marred Western thinking since Aristotle and most acutely since the Enlightenment. That is to say that as much as we think of ourselves as rational animals, risk avoidance is not governed by reason, cognition or intellect. Rather, it comes chiefly from our emotional system.

Patients with brain lesions that prevent them from registering feelings even when their cognitive and analytical capacities are intact are incapable of effectively getting out of harm's way. It is largely our emotional toolkit, and not what is called "reason," that governs self-preservation.

Terror shifts Muslim views

By Dan Murphy | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor, July 26, 2005

CAIRO – The next day they helped organize an antiwar protest in Cairo that brought tens of thousands of Egyptians onto the streets; it evolved into the biggest public attack on President Hosni Mubarak's rule since he came to power in 1981.Mr. Mashad says that protest, which tied the anger at the US invasion to the aspirations for democratic change at home, is one of his proudest moments.
But that was March 20, 2003. Today, the voices of Mashad and activists in other Arab capitals are largely mute when it comes to Iraq.
They still fervently oppose the US presence. But they are increasingly put off by the brutal tactics used by the insurgency against civilians. Similarly, many Muslims are angry over the tactics used by terrorists in the name of Islam.
When the American invasion of Iraq began, Adel al-Mashad and his activist comrades sprang into action.

Can US, Britain 'win' in Iraq?: Expanding insurgency, signs of civil war have some experts asking the question out loud.

By Tom Regan, csmonitor.com, posted July 25, 2005 at 11:30 a.m

As the number of suicide bombings in Iraq has risen dramatically, and as insurgents return to areas from which they had been driven by coalition forces in previous months, more terrorism and security experts are asking if Iraq has become an "unwinnable war" for the US and its coalition partners.
John Burns writes in Sunday's New York Times that "events are pointing ever more the the possibility" that Iraq is entering a period of civil war. Mr. Burns points out that the number of killings in the past week and a half in Iraq has quickened at such a pace that many Iraqis now believe that a civil war has already started.

The rise of a jihadi suicide culture: Saturday's bombings in Egypt come as more terrorists adopt a tactic that is now commonplace in Iraq.

By Dan Murphy | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor, July 25, 2005

CAIRO – Sharm el-Sheikh. London. Casablanca. The men who carried out the terrorist bombings in each of these cities came from dramatically different backgrounds.
In London, the attackers were lower middle-class Britons. In Casablanca in 2003, they were all from one of the city's poor neighborhoods. And in Sharm el-Sheikh Saturday - although the investigation into the deadliest terror attack in Egyptian history is just getting under way - local officials say there are indications the attackers have links to an attack here last October carried out by a cell of working-class Egyptians.
While some counterterrorism experts say evidence may eventually link all of these attacks to the core of Al Qaeda's leadership suspected of hiding along the Pakistan-Afghan border, the diverse backgrounds of the presumed attackers underscore a shift: The culture of Islamist suicide bombers is becoming more commonplace, as is the defining of civilians as "enemies."

Iraq Sunnis to rejoin constitution talks

Peter Graff, Reuters, Mon Jul 25, 2005 4:33 PM ET

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Sunni Arabs said on Monday they would rejoin talks to hammer out a new constitution for Iraq, in the hope of rescuing a political process that has been severely strained by unrelenting bloodshed.
The Sunnis walked out of the talks last week after one of their committee members was gunned down near a restaurant.
At crisis talks on Monday they secured pledges of better security and a probe into the assassination.
"We will definitely return tomorrow," said Saleh Mutlaq, spokesman for the Sunni umbrella group Iraqi National Dialogue, which slain committee member Mujbil al-Sheikh Isa belonged to.
Abdul Nasser al-Jenabi, a committee member from another Sunni group, also said its demands had been met. The speaker of parliament announced the compromise in signed statement.

Israel angered at Pope's anti-terror sermon

Dan Williams, Reuters, Mon Jul 25, 2005 3:28 PM ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel demanded the Vatican explain on Monday why Pope Benedict failed to mention a deadly Palestinian attack in a sermon voicing sympathy for other nations struck by Islamist suicide bombers.
Addressing Italian faithful on Sunday, Benedict deplored the "death, destruction and suffering in countries including Egypt, Turkey, Iraq and Britain," and asked God to "stay the hands of assassins ... driven on by fanaticism and hate." Israel's Foreign Ministry said it summoned the Vatican ambassador to ask why the sermon had not mentioned a July 12 suicide bombing by the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad that killed five Israelis.
"The Pope's omission of this incident cries out to the heavens," the ministry said in a statement.

The new Al-Qaeda uncovered

Matt Cottingham, Assistant Producer, The new al-Qaeda, BBC News, Thursday, 21 July, 2005, 15:00 GMT 16:00 UK

The ingredients are simple: widespread anger at US-led policies in the Middle East, the proliferation of information about bomb-making on the internet and the ability of Islamist extremists to blend into Western society. This potent cocktail has created the new al-Qaeda, the subject of Peter Taylor's new BBC Two television series.

US troops wounded in Afghanistan

BBC News, Monday, 25 July, 2005, 07:17 GMT 08:17 UK

Six American soldiers have been injured in an attack in eastern Afghanistan, US military officials have said. They were ambushed on Sunday while travelling in a convoy in the eastern province of Kunar. In a separate incident, three policemen were wounded when a bomb exploded on the road leading to the airport in the capital, Kabul. There has been a spate of attacks in eastern and southern Afghanistan blamed on Taleban and al-Qaeda militants.

The Best Army We Can Buy

DAVID M. KENNEDY, a professor of history at Stanford and the author of the Pulitzer-Prize winning "Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945," is working on a book about the American national character, July 25, 2005, TThe New York Times

THE United States now has a mercenary army. To be sure, our soldiers are hired from within the citizenry, unlike the hated Hessians whom George III recruited to fight against the American Revolutionaries. But like those Hessians, today's volunteers sign up for some mighty dangerous work largely for wages and benefits - a compensation package that may not always be commensurate with the dangers in store, as current recruiting problems testify.
Neither the idealism nor the patriotism of those who serve is in question here. The profession of arms is a noble calling, and there is no shame in wage labor. But the fact remains that the United States today has a military force that is extraordinarily lean and lethal, even while it is increasingly separated from the civil society on whose behalf it fights. This is worrisome - for reasons that go well beyond unmet recruiting targets.

Licking and Salting War's Open Wounds

By ALLISON HOPE WEINER, The New York Times, Published: July 25, 2005

LOS ANGELES, July 24 - This show doesn't have a lawyer plunging to her death down an elevator shaft. It doesn't have a foul-mouthed cop making broadcasting history by mooning more than 20 million viewers. What it does have - and what makes it unmistakably a Steven Bochco production - is plenty of button-pushing. It's called "Over There," and it's a television drama that takes direct aim at the single most polarizing subject in the United States right now: the war in Iraq.
Mr. Bochco's show, making its debut on Wednesday night at 10 on the FX cable channel, tracks a squad of eight young American soldiers (played mostly by unknowns like Josh Henderson, Luke MacFarlane and Lizette Carrion) as they battle insurgents in the blazing deserts outside Baghdad (actually, it the show is shot outside Los Angeles, near Lancaster, Calif.) while their families wrestle with their own challenges at home. Mr. Bochco pointedly avoids plotlines about the politics of this war; most center on more intimate human dramas, like one black soldier's distrust of authority and his white superiors. The show is bound to shock and awe viewers just the same.

NOTE: More early coverage of 'Over There.'

• "Baghdad blues: Over There," Steven Bochco's new American-troops-in-Iraq series, uneasily walks a difficult line — just like its characters." By Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, July 27, 2005.
• "The Drama of Iraq, While it Still Rages," By ALESSANDRA STANLEY, The New York Times, July 27, 2005.
• "Bringing It Home: The Honesty and Tension Of FX's 'Over There' Compensate for Its Flaws." By Tom ShalesWashington Post Staff Writer, July 27, 2005; Page C01

Saudi envoy calls for stepping up bin Laden hunt

Reuters, Sun Jul 24, 2005 8:51 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's next ambassador to Washington said on Sunday that more military forces and equipment should be deployed in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader who remains at large.
The comments by Prince Turki al-Faisal, in an interview with CNN's Late Edition, follow bombings in Egypt and London claimed by groups saying they were linked to al Qaeda.
"We know that he (bin Laden) is in an area that is very difficult to pursue him in and, therefore, more assets and people and equipment are required," said Turki, slated to replace Prince Bandar bin Sultan as Saudi envoy to Washington after Bandar's resignation last week.

'Shoot-to-kill' policy to remain

BBC News, Monday, 25 July, 2005, 01:25 GMT 02:25 UK

Police leaders say they will not abandon their "shoot-to-kill" policy and warn more innocent people could be killed in the fight against terrorism.
The message came after Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, was shot dead by officers after being mistaken for a suicide bomber.
Met Police Chief Sir Ian Blair said "shoot-to-kill in order to protect" would continue, despite the "tragedy".
Police are still questioning three men in connection with Thursday's attacks.

The London Bombings: For al-Qaeda, Steady as She Goes

By Michael Scheuer, Terrorism Focus, Volume 2, Issue 14 (July 22, 2005)

The 7 July 2005 detonation of four nearly simultaneous explosions in London's transportation system -- killing 55 and wounding 700 -- were the latest attacks in a campaign against U.S. allies announced by al-Qaeda deputy chief Ayman al-Zawahairi in 2002. At that time, al-Zawahiri stated that an al-Qaeda campaign was underway to punish nations assisting the United States in either Afghanistan, or which might assist in the pending invasion of Iraq, "Some messages have already been sent to the deputies [allies] of America, so that they may restrain themselves in getting entangled in this Crusader assault," al-Zawahiri said in September 2002. "The Mujahid youth had already sent messages to Germany and France. However, if these doses are not enough, we are prepared with the help of Allah to inject further does." [1]
On July 7, al-Qaeda did indeed ‘inject' more lethal doses in its campaign against U.S. allies. Since al-Zawahiri's statement, he or Osama bin Laden have warned twenty-three countries against cooperating with the United States in Afghanistan or Iraq. Among the countries are: Turkey, Australia, South Korea, Kuwait, Egypt, the UK, France, Germany, Jordan, and Canada. [2] To date, the twenty-three named states have suffered attacks of one sort or another. While not all can be linked directly to al-Qaeda, ties to the group are clear in the most destructive attacks -- Bali, Istanbul, Madrid and now, London. (One would have to have absolute faith in coincidence to argue al-Qaeda had no hand in the others.) As always for al-Qaeda, a threat made yields an attack executed. These attacks have not just damaged the targeted country, but, in al-Zawahiri's words, "[l]et those who collaborate with the United States know that America cannot protect itself, let alone others. [3]

Zarqawi's declining ideological support among Islamists

Stephen Ulph, Terrorism Focus, July 22, 2005, Vol 2, Iss 14

In the wake of the kidnapping and assassination of the Egyptian ambassador to Baghdad, Ihab al-Sherif, condemnation for the military policies of al-Qaeda in Iraq came from an unexpected source. The two major militant Islamist organizations in Egypt, al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya and al-Gihad, launched an attack on Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaeda group, accusing it of "fighting the Shi'a and the Kurds more than fighting to liberate Iraq." The statement, published on the jihadi forum al-Sakifa on July 14, noted how "the strategic mistakes committed by al-Qaeda when it followed this path [including the assassination of the ambassador] in combating the occupation are clear to everyone… it is built upon impossible aims and targets." It lamented how al-Qaeda's strategy was not limited to removing the occupier, "but an attempt to wipe out the Shi'a or remove them from the political map, despite their numerical majority in Iraq, and similarly for the Kurds."
The groups' statement also, in its way, repudiated the connection between al-Qaeda's targeting strategy and the nationality of the victims, arguing it amounted to little more than killing "those that disagreed with their strategies without distinction...whether or not their governments supported the occupation." The statement asks where does al-Qaeda's intelligence lie if it heaps up enemies and their forces around them, and goes on to ask why al-Qaeda "cannot learn from its past mistakes" citing the futility of its previous attacks on Egyptian or American targets, which changed nothing, but rather "lead to the killing and expulsion of members of Islamist groups in general — and of al-Qaeda in particular — to the fall of Muslim Afghanistan and the occupation of Iraq." It also lamented the result of its actions, which was to "make the average Muslim opposed to Islamist groups and cast doubt upon their credibility in changing their societies for the better" [www.alsakifa.net].

'Enemies of humanity' quote raises Iraq PR questions

News release quotes from unidentified Iraqis are virtually the same
CNN, Sunday, July 24, 2005; Posted: 5:13 p.m. EDT (21:13 GMT)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. military on Sunday said it was looking into how virtually identical quotations ended up in two of its news releases about different insurgent attacks.
Following a car bombing in Baghdad on Sunday, the U.S. military issued a statement with a quotation attributed to an unidentified Iraqi that was virtually identical to a quote reacting to an attack on July 13.
After questioning by news media, the military released the statement without the quotation.
Lt. Col. Clifford Kent, spokesman for the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division, said use of the quote was an "administrative error." He said the military was looking into the matter.

Bin Laden Likely Still in Control, Say Experts

Fox News, Via AP, Sunday, July 24, 2005

WASHINGTON - Usama bin Laden is still in control of the Al Qaeda terror network and he or his lieutenants may have sponsored the terror bombings in London and Egypt this past week, say counter-terrorism experts in the United States.
However, the group appears to be suffering as a result of operations in Iraq, the experts added.
On Saturday, terrorists struck without warning in Egypt's popular seaside tourist area of Sharm el-Sheik. Three bombs produced chaos, fear, and a death toll of 88 people.
In London, three bombs were detonated at three separate locations on the subway and another explosion went off on a bus on Thursday. Two weeks prior, a similar series of attacks ended up killing 56 people. Authorities say the incidents in London and Egypt are the deadliest terrorist attacks ever seen in those countries.

Bomber strikes Baghdad police station, killing at least 20

IHT, via The Associated Press, SUNDAY, JULY 24, 2005

BAGHDAD A suicide car bomber driving a truck loaded with explosives slammed into a Baghdad police station Sunday, killing at least 20 people and wounding another 30, police said.
The attacker detonated his deadly charge at the Rashad police station in the eastern neighborhood of Mashtal around 2:50 p.m., said Capt. Mahir Abdul Satar. The vehicle crashed into concrete barriers surrounding the police station.
Six cars, including two police cars, were seen burning and several nearby shops were damaged, police officials said. Body parts lay scattered throughout the explosion area.

General: Hard-hit Taliban recruiting children: Recent fighting reportedly has disrupted Taliban's structure

MSNBC.com, via AP, Updated: 3:56 a.m. ET July 24, 2005

KABUL, Afghanistan - Fierce fighting in recent months has devastated the ranks of the Taliban, prompting the rebels to recruit children and force some families to provide one son to fight with them, a U.S. commander said Saturday.
The fighting has fractured the Taliban’s command structure, preventing the militants from regrouping, even though there has been an upsurge in violence, Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya, the U.S. military operational commander in Afghanistan, told The Associated Press in an interview.
Despite the setback — more than 500 rebels have been killed since March — the militants are likely to step up attacks in the lead-up to crucial Sept. 18 legislative elections, he said.

Defying U.S. Efforts, Guerrillas in Iraq Refocus and Strengthen

By DEXTER FILKINS and DAVID S. CLOUD, The New York Times, July 24, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 23 - They just keep getting stronger.
Despite months of assurances that their forces were on the wane, the guerrillas and terrorists battling the American-backed enterprise here appear to be growing more violent, more resilient and more sophisticated than ever.
A string of recent attacks, including the execution of moderate Sunni leaders and the kidnapping of foreign diplomats, has brought home for many Iraqis that the democratic process that has been unfolding since the Americans restored Iraqi sovereignty in June 2004 has failed to isolate the insurgents and, indeed, has become the target itself.
After concentrating their efforts for two and a half years on driving out the 138,000-plus American troops, the insurgents appear to be shifting their focus to the political and sectarian polarization of the country - apparently hoping to ignite a civil war - and to the isolation of the Iraqi government abroad.
And the insurgents are choosing their targets with greater precision, and executing and dramatizing their attacks with more sophistication than they have in the past.

Many Bombs but Links Are Unclear

By DOUGLAS JEHL, The New York Times, Published: July 24, 2005

WASHINGTON, July 23 - First came Bali, then Riyadh, Casablanca and Istanbul, then Madrid, Taba, London, and now, Sharm el Sheik, all sites in the last three years of major terrorist attacks involving big bombs aimed at soft targets.
In each case, the attack was quickly described by authorities as having "the hallmarks of Al Qaeda," in the sense that it involved synchronized strikes or sophistication in planning. But to date, none have been traced to Osama bin Laden, the fugitive leader of Al Qaeda, or to other pivotal leaders of what American officials now call Al Qaeda Central, to distinguish from its offshoots, admirers and those who its successes have simply inspired.
No one can yet say who was ultimately behind the attacks in London's Underground trains and double-decker buses this month, although the four dead bombers and a handful of other suspects have been identified. The question of who was responsible for the attacks on Saturday in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt's most cosmopolitan Red Sea resort, appears even more of a mystery.

NOTE: The above cites the following work by Paul R. Pillar, the National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia, "Counterterrorism after Al Qaeda" Published in The Washington Quarterly, volume 27, no.3, Summer 2004, pp 101-113.

Democrats spotlight CIA leak in radio address

Reuters, Sat Jul 23, 2005 2:33 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats attacked President Bush's response to a top aide's role in outing a CIA operative on Saturday, turning their radio address over to an ex-agent critical of his actions.
Larry Johnson, a former CIA agent and registered Republican, accused Bush of flip-flopping on his promise to fire anyone at the White House implicated in the leak and said Americans deserved better.
"We deserve people who work in the White House who are committed to protecting classified information, telling the truth to the American people, and living by example to the idea that a country at war with Islamic extremists cannot focus its efforts on attacking other American citizens who simply tried to tell the truth," Johnson said.

Qaeda claims kidnap of Algerian envoy in Iraq

Michael Georgy, Reuters, Sat Jul 23, 2005 11:04 AM ET

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility on Saturday for the kidnap of the chief of the Algerian mission in Baghdad, stepping up pressure on the new government struggling to quell relentless guerrilla violence.
"Algeria rushed to obey the crusaders by sending its envoy to Iraq ... did you not learn from the fate of the ambassador of the Egyptian tyrant?" asked the statement on an Islamist Web site frequently used by the group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda's leader in Iraq.
Algerian mission chief Ali Belaroussi, 62, and attache Azzedine Belkadi, 47, were snatched by gunmen in Baghdad on Thursday near the north African country's mission.
"A foreign ministry crisis cell is active and we are closely following the situation. But right now we have no comment (on al Qaeda's statement)," Algeria's Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdelhamid Chebchoub said.

Army Likely to Fall Short in Recruiting, General Says

By ERIC SCHMITT, The New York Times, Published: July 24, 2005

WASHINGTON, July 23 - The Army's top personnel officer acknowledged this week that the service will probably miss its recruiting goal this year, the first public admission by a senior Army official and a stark reminder of the Iraq war's impact on enlistments.
The officer, Lt. Gen. Franklin L. Hagenbeck, said in testimony to the House Armed Services military personnel subcommittee on Tuesday that an improving economy, competition from private industry and an increasing number of parents who are less supportive of military service meant that the active-duty Army, as well as the Army Reserve and Army National Guard, would fall short of their annual quotas.
"We will likely miss recruiting missions for all three components," said General Hagenbeck, voicing publicly what many senior Army officials have said privately for weeks.
The Army has not missed its annual enlistment quota since 1999, when a strong economy played havoc with recruiters' efforts.

U.N. to Define Terrorism as Part of Reforms

FoxNews, via AP, Saturday, July 23, 2005

UNITED NATIONS — U.N. diplomats have revised their blueprint for reforming the world body to include a definition of terrorism, indicating nations are moving toward consensus on a contentious global issue.
World leaders are to consider the plan at their summit in September and, if approved, the definition could break the impasse over a comprehensive treaty against terrorism.
The United States strongly supports such a treaty, which has been stalled for years over the question of what constitutes a terrorist. The debate has focused on the Arab-Israeli conflict and the argument that one nation's terrorists are another's freedom fighters.

White House Aims to Block Legislation On Detainees

Josh White and R. Jeffrey Smith, Washington Post, Saturday, July 23, 2005; Page A01

The Bush administration in recent days has been lobbying to block legislation supported by Republican senators that would bar the U.S. military from engaging in "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" of detainees, from hiding prisoners from the Red Cross, and from using interrogation methods not authorized by a new Army field manual.
Vice President Cheney met Thursday evening with three senior Republican members of the Senate Armed Services Committee to press the administration's case that legislation on these matters would usurp the president's authority and -- in the words of a White House official -- interfere with his ability "to protect Americans effectively from terrorist attack."
It was the second time that Cheney has met with Senate members to tamp down what the White House views as an incipient Republican rebellion. The lawmakers have publicly expressed frustration about what they consider to be the administration's failure to hold any senior military officials responsible for notorious detainee abuse in Iraq and the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

What We Saw in London

Stephen J. Hadley is the national security adviser & Frances Fragos Townsend is the homeland security adviser, The New York Times, Published: July 23, 2005

THE British people suffered another attack this week, one that fortunately caused far less damage than the horrible events of July 7. But as they did earlier this month, the people of London responded bravely. Their courage over these harrowing few weeks reminds us that those who love freedom have prevailed against such evil before and can do so again.
The London attacks vividly demonstrated the challenge we face. As President Bush has said: "The terrorists need to be right only once. Free nations need to be right 100 percent of the time." We need all citizens, everyone who loves freedom, to join in the fight. And in this fight, the people the terrorists most want to dominate - the people of Islam - will be our most important allies.
Muslims are the prize the terrorists hope to claim. They are also the victims of the terrorists, for suicide attacks have likely killed and wounded more Muslims than people of any other faith. It is their religion that the terrorists invoke to justify these evil acts, and so Muslims themselves are in the best position to expose the terrorists' lies. They are increasingly doing exactly that, as the 500 Muslim leaders who signed a declaration condemning the July 7 bombings bravely showed.

Government Defies an Order to Release Iraq Abuse Photos

By KATE ZERNIKE Published: July 23, 2005

Lawyers for the Defense Department are refusing to cooperate with a federal judge's order to release secret photographs and videotapes related to the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal.
The lawyers said in a letter sent to the federal court in Manhattan late Thursday that they would file a sealed brief explaining their reasons for not turning over the material, which they were to have released by yesterday.
The photographs were some of thousands turned over by Specialist Joseph M. Darby, the whistle-blower who exposed the abuse at Abu Ghraib by giving investigators computer disks containing photographs and videos of prisoners being abused, sexually humiliated and threatened with growling dogs.

Dozens killed in Egyptian blasts

BBC News, Saturday, 23 July, 2005, 03:17 GMT 04:17 UK

At least 49 people have been killed and more than 130 wounded in a string of bomb attacks in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
The first explosion took place in the Old Market area, popular with tourists.
Other blasts followed in the nearby area of Naama Bay, which is packed with hotels. One blast tore off the front of the four-star Ghazala Gardens hotel.
Britons, Dutch, Qataris, Kuwaitis and Egyptians were among the casualties, police sources said. Police sources said initial investigations suggested there had been at least four and possibly seven car bombs.

Pentagon seeks higher age limit for recruits

Reuters, Fri Jul 22, 2005 11:19 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Faced with major recruiting problems sparked by troop deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon has asked Congress to raise the maximum age for U.S. military enlistees from 35 to 42 years old.
The request, sent to lawmakers this week, would apply to all active duty branches of the military services, said Air Force Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, a Pentagon spokeswoman, on Friday. But it is aimed chiefly at the active duty Army, which has fallen far short of recruiting goals this year, by adding millions of potential enlistees.
The Army has provided most of the 140,000 U.S. ground troops in Iraq and has also relied heavily on part-time soldiers from the National Guard and Reserve for year-long deployments there.
Krenke said the active duty Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, which are meeting their recruiting goals, were unlikely to change their current policy of declining to accept recruits older than 35.

Why Do They Hate Us? Not Because of Iraq

By OLIVIER ROY Published: July 22, 2005, The New York Times

WHILE yesterday's explosions on London's subway and bus lines were thankfully far less serious than those of two weeks ago, they will lead many to raise a troubling question: has Britain (and Spain as well) been "punished" by Al Qaeda for participating in the American-led military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan? While this is a reasonable line of thinking, it presupposes the answer to a broader and more pertinent question: Are the roots of Islamic terrorism in the Middle Eastern conflicts?
If the answer is yes, the solution is simple to formulate, although not to achieve: leave Afghanistan and Iraq, solve the Israel-Palestine conflict. But if the answer is no, as I suspect it is, we should look deeper into the radicalization of young, Westernized Muslims.
Conflicts in the Middle East have a tremendous impact on Muslim public opinion worldwide. In justifying its terrorist attacks by referring to Iraq, Al Qaeda is looking for popularity or at least legitimacy among Muslims. But many of the terrorist group's statements, actions and non-actions indicate that this is largely propaganda, and that Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine are hardly the motivating factors behind its global jihad.

Giving the Hatemongers No Place to Hide

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN Published: July 22, 2005, The New York Times

I wasn't surprised to read that British police officers in white protective suits and blue gloves were combing through the Iqra Learning Center bookstore in Leeds for clues to the 7/7 London bombings. Some of the 7/7 bombers hung out at the bookstore. And I won't be surprised if today's bombers also sampled the literature there.
Iqra not only sold hatemongering Islamist literature, but, according to The Wall Street Journal, was "the sole distributor of Islamgames, a U.S.-based company that makes video games. The video games feature apocalyptic battles between defenders of Islam and opponents. One game, Ummah Defense I, has the world 'finally united under the Banner of Islam' in 2114, until a revolt by disbelievers. The player's goal is to seek out and destroy the disbelievers."
Guess what: words matter. Bookstores matter. Video games matter. But here is our challenge: If the primary terrorism problem we face today can effectively be addressed only by a war of ideas within Islam - a war between life-affirming Muslims against those who want to turn one of the world's great religions into a death cult - what can the rest of us do?
More than just put up walls. We need to shine a spotlight on hate speech wherever it appears. The State Department produces an annual human rights report. Henceforth, it should also produce a quarterly War of Ideas Report, which would focus on those religious leaders and writers who are inciting violence against others.

'Mixed grade' for government following 9/11

Panel member disappointed with lack of improvements in U.S. security
MSNBC, via AP, Updated: 3:17 p.m. ET July 22, 2005

WASHINGTON - The vice chairman of the Sept. 11 commission gave the federal government a "mixed grade" Friday on its performance in following through on recommendations the panel made to improve America's security.
"We're getting better at this," said commission co-chairman Lee Hamilton, a former congressman from Indiana. "But we still haven't proved we are safe."
Hamilton, a Democrat, said the series of terrorist attacks in London on July 7, followed by less-serious bombings this week, demonstrated that in the war on terrorism, "the enemy is patient, they are skillful. Sometimes they make mistakes. They're very good at exploiting our vulnerabilities."

House votes to extend Patriot Act

Body approves measure overwhelmingly; Dems voice civil liberties concerns
MSNBC, via AP, Updated: 10:16 p.m. ET July 21, 2005

WASHINGTON - The House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to extend the USA Patriot Act, the nation’s main anti-terrorism tool, just hours after televisions in the Capitol beamed images of a new attack in London.
As similar legislation worked its way through the Senate, House Republicans generally cast the law as a valuable asset in the war on terrorism. Most Democrats echoed that support but said they were concerned the law could allow citizens’ civil liberties to be infringed. Following more than nine hours of debate, the House approved the measure 257-171.
The bulk of the back-and-forth centered on language making permanent 14 of 16 provisions that had four-year sunset, or expiration, provisions under the original law, which Congress passed overwhelmingly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

US reports 3,400 violations of restricted airspace

By John Crawley, Reuters, Thu Jul 21, 2005 8:23 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pilots violated U.S. airspace restrictions nearly 3,400 times from mid-September 2001 to the end of 2004, with most of the incidents involving the no-fly area around Washington, D.C., according to a congressional report on Thursday.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted gaps among key agencies in coordinating the response to aircraft that stray too close to government centers, landmarks, nuclear plants, and areas that are temporarily off limits.
Nearly 90 percent of airspace violations are committed by private pilots, who may be trying to avoid bad weather or are unaware of the restrictions, it said.

Pentagon report: Iraq democracy still on track: Evaluation of Iraq cites progress, omits withdrawal date for U.S. troops

MSNBC, via AP, Updated: 4:36 p.m. ET July 21, 2005

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon told Congress Thursday that Iraqi insurgents are failing to derail the move toward democracy but remain "capable, adaptable and intent" on carrying out lethal attacks aided by a continuing inflow of foreign terrorists.
Its 23-page report — the most comprehensive public assessment yet by the military establishment of progress in Iraq — was more than a week overdue. In it, the Pentagon cited progress on political, economic and security fronts. But it did not say how soon Iraqi security forces will be sufficiently trained to defend the country without the direct assistance of American troops.
U.S. officers have developed a method of calculating the combat readiness of the approximately 76,700 Iraqi Army troops, but the Pentagon said it "should not and must not" publicly disclose specific data.

NOTE: The Pentagon Report, "Report to Congress: Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq" is available via defenselink.mil.

Blasts hit London again, 2 weeks after train bombs

By Gavin Haycock and Matthew Bigg, Reuters, Thu Jul 21, 2005 2:17 PM ET

Four small coordinated explosions hit London's bus and underground train network on Thursday, injuring one person, exactly 2 weeks after bombers killed more than 50 people in the British capital.
The attacks took place at around 1 p.m. (1200 GMT), briefly terrifying passengers fearing a repeat of the carnage of July 7.
But it soon became clear they had either failed altogether or lacked the lethal sophistication of the earlier bombs.
London police chief Ian Blair told reporters: "We know that we've had four explosions or attempts at explosions."
He said it was clear the devices had been intended to kill, but some appeared not to have gone off properly and only one person had been reported injured.

UK bombs meant as carbon-copy, may be same group
By Mark Trevelyan, Security Correspondent, Reuters, Thu Jul 21, 2005 1:50 PM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Four attempted bombings on London's transport system on Thursday look like an intended carbon-copy of attacks that killed 56 people two weeks ago and may be masterminded by the same group, security analysts said.
They put forward two main scenarios behind the latest blasts, which were much smaller than the previous ones, and did not cause any fatalities.
The first, more benign explanation, was that the attacks were carried out by "imitative amateurs" intent on mounting a copycat strike by targeting three underground trains and a bus in a cross-formation across the city.
The second, more worrying, was that the same group behind the suspected al Qaeda-linked attacks on July 7 had struck again, albeit with far less devastating effect.
Police refused to be drawn on which was more likely

Two Algerian diplomats abducted in Baghdad: At least 15 people killed in attacks across country

MSNBC, via AP, Updated: 3:45 p.m. ET July 21, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two Algerian diplomats and their driver were dragged from their car by gunmen Thursday in Baghdad in the latest abductions apparently aimed at scaring off Muslim governments supporting the U.S.-backed Iraqi administration.
Gunmen in two cars stopped the vehicle carrying charge d'affaires Ali Belaroussi and another diplomat near the al-Sa'a restaurant in the upscale Mansour district, which is home to many embassies, and took the men away, police officials said.

House to Take Up Patriot Act Extension

By ERIC LICHTBLAU and SCOTT SHANE, The New York Times, July 21, 2005

WASHINGTON, July 20 - After months of political maneuvering, the House is set to open debate Thursday on the future of the sweeping antiterrorism law known as the USA Patriot Act, as the Bush administration pushes to solidify support for the law and Democrats sought to impose new restrictions.
The House vote on whether to extend the government's counterterrorism powers will be the first time either chamber of Congress has considered the act as a whole since it was passed by wide margins just weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks. Officials expect daylong debate on the House floor on Thursday, with a vote probably Friday. The Senate must still consider competing versions of its own.
The House appears likely to make main parts of the act permanent, but in what form remains unclear. The Rules Committee met into the night on Wednesday to consider dozens of amendments offered by Democrats to impose more limits on the government's surveillance powers in terrorism investigations.

The Rural War

Robert Cushing is a retired University of Texas sociologist. Bill Bishop, a reporter for The Austin (Tex.) American-Statesman, is writing a book on political segregation, The New York Times, July 20, 2005.

WHICH American communities pay the highest price for the war in Iraq? A look at the demographics of soldiers killed reveals that Iraq is not the war of any one race or region. Rather, it is rural America's war.
Altogether, a nearly equal percentage of Americans aged 18 to 54 live in counties with a million or more inhabitants as live in counties of 100,000 or fewer. And yet, of the soldiers who have died in Iraq, 342 came from densely populated counties while 536 came from smaller ones. Derived from Pentagon and census data, this chart shows the Iraqi war death rates for every 100,000 people ages 18 to 54 by the size of their county's population.
The difference is visible not just in the size of a soldier's county of origin, but also in its location. Counties disconnected from urban areas tend to have higher death rates, regardless of population size. Small rural counties have a death rate nearly twice that of counties that have the same population but happen to be part of metropolitan areas.

House votes against early Iraq withdrawal

Jim Abrams, Associated Press Writer, Boston Globe, July 20, 2005

WASHINGTON --Calls for an early withdrawal from Iraq are a mistake that will only embolden terrorists, the House resolved Wednesday. The resolution drew opposition from Democrats, who said it implied that questioning President Bush's Iraq policies is unpatriotic.
The measure, approved 291-137, says the United States should leave Iraq only when national security and foreign policy goals related to a free and stable Iraq have been achieved.
"Calls for an early withdrawal embolden the terrorists and undermine the morale" of U.S. and allied forces and put their security at risk, the amendment to a State Department bill reads.

Iraqis Not Ready to Fight Rebels on Own, U.S. Says

By ERIC SCHMITT, The New York Times, July 21, 2005

About half of Iraq's new police battalions are still being established and cannot conduct operations, while the other half of the police units and two-thirds of the new army battalions are only "partially capable" of carrying out counterinsurgency missions, and only with American help, according to a newly declassified Pentagon assessment.
Only "a small number" of Iraqi security forces are capable of fighting the insurgency without American assistance, while about one-third of the army is capable of "planning, executing and sustaining counterinsurgency operations" with allied support, the analysis said.
The assessment, which has not been publicly released, is the most precise analysis of the Iraqis' readiness levels that the military has provided. Bush administration officials have repeatedly said the 160,000 American-led allied troops cannot begin to withdraw until Iraqi troops are ready to take over security.

The Mother of All Connections

A special report on the new evidence of collaboration between Saddam Hussein's Iraq and al Qaeda. by Stephen F. Hayes & Thomas Joscelyn, The Weekly Standard, July 18, 2005, Volume 10, Issue 41

FOR MANY, the debate over the former Iraqi regime's ties to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network ended a year ago with the release of the 9/11 Commission report. Media outlets seized on a carefully worded summary that the commission had found no evidence "indicating that Iraq cooperated with al Qaeda in developing or carrying out any attacks against the United States" and ran blaring headlines like the one on the June 17, 2004, front page of the New York Times: "Panel Finds No Qaeda-Iraq Tie."
But this was woefully imprecise. It assumed, not unreasonably, that the 9/11 Commission's conclusion was based on a firm foundation of intelligence reporting, that the intelligence community had the type of human intelligence and other reporting that would allow senior-level analysts to draw reasonable conclusions. We know now that was not the case.
John Lehman, a 9/11 commissioner, spoke to The Weekly Standard at the time the report was released. "There may well be--and probably will be--additional intelligence coming in from interrogations and from analysis of captured records and so forth which will fill out the intelligence picture. This is not phrased as--nor meant to be--the definitive word on Iraqi Intelligence activities."
Lehman's caution was prescient. A year later, we still cannot begin to offer a "definitive" picture of the relationships entered into by Saddam Hussein's operatives, but much more has already been learned from documents uncovered after the Iraq war. The evidence we present below, compiled from revelations in recent months, suggests an acute case of denial on the part of those who dismiss the Iraq-al Qaeda relationship.

Clarke widens terror net

· Index of Islamist militants may lead to UK bans and deportations
· Plea bargain plan to encourage jailed terrorists to turn informers
Michael White, Richard Norton-Taylor and Alan Travis, The Guardian, July 21, 2005

The home secretary, Charles Clarke, yesterday widened the worldwide net that will allow him to exclude or deport from Britain Islamist militants whose inflammatory language or behaviour is judged to foment or provoke terrorism.
He told MPs that intelligence, foreign and home office staff would compile a database of individuals which may lead to them being refused entry to the UK, or even being removed. Civil liberties groups last night said that they were alarmed by the list's catch-all nature.
Under the plan, a systematic index will be drawn up of what the home secretary called "unacceptable behaviours". Included on it will be anyone preaching, running a website or writing articles which are "intended to foment or provoke terrorism"

Bush pledges 'unprecedented' spending on security in U.S

Brian Knowlton, International Herald Tribune, July 21, 2005 President George W. Bush, in his most extensive comments on homeland protection since the bombing attacks in London, promised significantly higher spending on U.S. transit and port security and vowed that "these terrorists will not shake our will." "We're spending unprecedented resources to protect our nation," Bush said during a visit to a marine terminal at the port of Baltimore. "We will not let down our guard."
Following the July 7 attacks in London, which killed 56 people aboard three trains on the London Underground and on a double-decker bus, critics here noted that U.S. homeland security spending was skewed strongly toward protection of airports and commercial aviation, with far slighter emphasis on protecting rail and subway facilities.
Bush, in a speech billed as primarily a defense of the Patriot Act, which bolsters law-enforcement powers against terror suspects, offered an extensive defense of efforts by the administration to protect ports and mass transit facilities.

Iraqi constitution in trouble as Sunnis walk out

Michael Howard, The Guardian, July 21, 2005

Iraq's constitution, a key plank of America's exit strategy, was in turmoil yesterday as Sunni members of the drafting committee walked out, Kurdish leaders said they could live without a deal, and women's groups balked at a proposal to give a strong role to Islamic law.
Iraqi legislators also complained that US and British officials were interfering because they were keen for the August 15 deadline to be met.
The 13 Sunni Arab members of the 71-strong drafting committee walked out after the assassination on Tuesday of two colleagues outside a Baghdad restaurant."
The environment in Iraq isn't right for anyone to get work done," council member Salih al-Mutlaq said.

U.S. a Battlefield, Solicitor General Tells Judges

Case of Man Held 3 Years Without Trial Focuses Attention on Administration's Anti-Terror Policies, By Tom Jackman, Washington Post Staff Writer, July 20, 2005; Page A09

July 19 -- A top government attorney declared Tuesday that, in the war on terror, the United States is a battlefield, and therefore President Bush has the authority to detain enemy combatants indefinitely in this country.
Solicitor General Paul D. Clement's comments came as a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit is considering whether to overturn a lower court ruling that Jose Padilla should be charged with a crime or released. In 2002, Padilla, a former Chicago gang member and Muslim convert, was taken into custody by the military and has been held without trial since.

U.S. says militants planning attacks in Saudi

By Dominic Evans, Reuters, Wed Jul 20, 2005 1:59 PM ET

RIYADH (Reuters) - The United States warned its citizens in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday that militants were planning fresh attacks in the world's biggest oil exporter.

A statement issued by the U.S. embassy in Riyadh said it had no specific details about possible targets or timing of the attacks but advised Americans to keep a low profile.
Saudi Arabia has been battling a two-year wave of violence by supporters of Saudi-born al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden trying to expel Westerners from the country and destabilize the pro-Western royal family.
"The American embassy in Riyadh advises all American citizens living in Saudi Arabia that it has received indications of operational planning for a terrorist attack or attacks in the kingdom," an embassy statement said.
"The embassy has no specific information concerning timing, target or method of any possible attack(s).

Muslims question congressman's comment on Mecca

Reuters, Wed Jul 20, 2005 1:56 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. congressman who suggested the United States might consider bombing Muslim holy sites, including Mecca, has drawn apology demands from U.S. Muslim and Arab groups but rejected a request to meet with one leading organization.
Rep. Tom Tancredo made the comment on July 14 in answer to a radio host's question about a possible response to any hypothetical nuclear terrorist attack on the United States.
"If this happens in the United States and we determine that it is the result of extremist fundamentalist Muslims, you could take out their holy sites," the Colorado Republican said.
"You're talking about bombing Mecca?" the host asked.
"Yeah," Tancredo responded, according to an audio excerpt posted online by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based group. A spokesman for the congressman confirmed the substance of Tancredo's remarks.

Military Options in Iraq: Testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Anthony H. Cordesman, Arleigh A. Burke Fellow in Strategy, Center for Strategic and International Studies, July 18, 2005 (pdf)

One key issue in answering questions is whether they are the right questions to ask. Let me begin my testimony by stating that the “options” and questions the Committee has asked us to address are not necessarily the right options and questions. There are five major reasons why this is the case.
First, the questions as presented in the form of the four “options” do not really describe options, and include mixes of different issues and questions. As a result, the answers to each option have to mix positive and negative responses that are not directly connected. In my responses, I have chosen to address each question separately.
Second, from a purely military perspective, the Committee does not address what may be the most important option, or set of issues, affecting the current US effort in Iraq: Whether the mix of Iraqi military, regular police (those on the street or in stations, in traffic or on highways, and at the borders), and police units (Emergency Response Unit and Special Police; the latter include Special Police Commandos, Public Order Brigades and the Mechanized Police Brigade) that is gradually coming on-line in combat-ready form will be effective in replacing Coalition forces, how soon this is likely, and what kind of (and when) reductions in US and allied forces will be possible.

U.S. 'wants Kurdish rebels seized'

CNN, Tuesday, July 19, 2005; Posted: 8:42 a.m. EDT (12:42 GMT)

A Turkish military official says the United States has ordered the arrest of Kurdish rebel leaders in Iraq, a Turkish news agency reported.
Turkey has long urged Iraq and the U.S. to take firm action to stop Turkish Kurdish guerrillas based in Iraq from crossing into the country.
Deputy Chief of Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug was quoted by the news agency Anatolia Tuesday as saying the U.S. gave direct orders that leaders of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) be arrested in northern Iraq.

'Terrorism'? Who's to say?: Informed sources

National Post, July 19, 2005 (posted at CBC watch)

What follows is a memo distributed to CBC staff describing the CBC policy on use of the word 'terrorism.'

'Terrorist' and 'terrorism': Exercise extreme caution before using either word.
Avoid labelling any specific bombing or other assault as a "terrorist act" unless it's attributed (in a TV or Radio clip, or in a direct quote on the Web). For instance, we should refer to the deadly blast at that nightclub in Bali in October 2002 as an "attack," not as a "terrorist attack." The same applies to the Madrid train attacks in March 2004, the London bombings in July 2005 and the attacks against the United States in 2001, which the CBC prefers to call "the Sept. 11 attacks" or some similar expression. (The BBC, Reuters and many others follow similar policies.)
Terrorism generally implies attacks against unarmed civilians for political, religious or some other ideological reason. But it's a highly controversial term that can leave journalists taking sides in a conflict.
By restricting ourselves to neutral language, we aren't faced with the problem of calling one incident a "terrorist act" (e.g., the destruction of the World Trade Center) while classifying another as, say, a mere "bombing" (e.g., the destruction of a crowded shopping mall in the Middle East).

Gunmen Kill 2 Sunnis on Iraqi Constitution Panel

By KIRK SEMPLE, The New York Times, July 19, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 19 - In a setback to Iraq's fledgling democratic process, two Sunni Arab participants in the committee mandated to draft Iraq's constitution were assassinated this afternoon on a busy street in central Baghdad, officials said.
Two Sunni Arab participants in the committee mandated to draft Iraq's constitution and a bodyguard were assassinated this afternoon on a busy street in central Baghdad.
Mejbil al-Sheikh Isa and Damin al-Obeidi were ambushed while they were riding in a car that was taking them from a meeting of committee members, officials said, adding that a bodyguard accompanying them, Aziz Ebrahim, was also killed in the attack.

Survey: 25,000 civilians killed in Iraq war: 42,500 injuries also recorded by Iraq Body Count

CNN, Tuesday, July 19, 2005; Posted: 11:09 a.m. EDT (15:09 GMT)

Nearly 25,000 civilians have been killed since the start of the Iraq war, according to a group that tracks the civilian death toll from the conflict.
The Iraq Body Count -- a London-based group comprising academics and human rights and anti-war activists -- said on Tuesday that 24,865 civilians had died between March 20, 2003 and March 19, 2005.
The group said 42,500 injuries were recorded as well.
"Our data has been extracted from a comprehensive analysis of over 10,000 press and media reports published since March 2003. Our accounting is not complete: only an in-depth, on-the-ground census could come close to achieving that," the group said.

NOTE: A link to the report, A Dossier of Civilian Casualties in Iraq: 2003 - 2005, available from Iraq Body Count (pdf).

U.S. Criticized on Iraq Rebuilding

Iraqi and international officials contend that Washington's effort is not moving fast enough. More loans are pledged for reconstruction, By T. Christian Miller, LA Times Staff Writer, July 19, 2005.

AQABA, Jordan — In language both sharp and subtle, Iraqi and international officials on Monday criticized the U.S.-led rebuilding effort for moving too slowly to improve the lives of Iraqi citizens.
Meeting for a donors conference at this Jordanian resort town sandwiched between desert cliffs and the placid Red Sea, the officials announced the expected approval of $4 billion in loans from Japan and the World Bank to help speed reconstruction.
They said the United States' $18.4-billion effort had fallen short of restoring essential services such as power, water and sanitation. The criticism reflected a growing belief in Iraq and elsewhere that the Bush administration had bungled the reconstruction by giving billions to private corporations to tackle major infrastructure projects.

Afghan warlord convicted by Old Bailey jury

By Sally Pook, News Telegraph (London), (Filed: 19/07/2005)

In the first successful prosecution of its kind in the world, a former mujahideen commander from Afghanistan who settled in Britain was convicted at the Old Bailey yesterday of waging a campaign of torture and kidnap in his homeland.
Faryadi Sarwar Zardad ordered the torture of civiliansThe Crown Prosecution Service said the historic conviction clearly demonstrated that there was "no hiding place" for torturers and hostage takers. Faryadi Sarwar Zardad, 42, controlled a key road that connected Pakistan with the Afghan capital, Kabul, via the Khyber Pass. He set up military checkpoints that enabled him to steal money and goods from travellers.

Germany blocks extradition of al-Qaida suspect

Nicholas Watt in Brussels and Krysia Diver in Stuttgart, The Guardian, July 19, 2005

The pan-European fight against terrorism was thrown into crisis yesterday when Germany's highest court blocked the extradition of a suspected al-Qaida financier to Spain after rejecting an EU arrest warrant.
Mamoun Darkazanli, who has been charged in Spain with belonging to al-Qaida, walked free after the federal constitutional court ruled that the warrant was incompatible with the German constitution.
The ruling immediately raised doubts about the controversial EU arrest warrant which is opposed by eurosceptics but valued by many governments in the fight against terrorism. The warrant, one of the main counter-terrorism measures introduced in the wake of the September 11 attacks, is intended to give EU member states the right to extradite citizens charged with serious offences.

Trials for Two Gitmo Suspects to Resume

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer, The Guardian, Monday July 18, 2005 7:46 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) - Backed by a favorable court ruling, the Pentagon intends to resume shortly the military trials of two terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and to file charges against eight others.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said the ruling Friday by a three-judge federal appeals court panel was vindication of the Bush administration's approach to prosecuting suspected terrorists. Critics say the approach is flawed by inadequate legal protections.
``Proceedings will resume as soon as possible against two detainees,'' Rumsfeld said Monday without identifying them by name. Charges will be prepared against eight other suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, he said, and President Bush will be asked to declare additional detainees there eligible for military trials.

Osama bin Laden: Cornered in Kunar or Nuristan?

By Afzal Khan, Terrorism Focus (Jamestown Foundation), Volume 2, Issue 13 (July 13, 2005)


The whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and U.S efforts to capture and kill him have made many media headlines over the years, resulting in some plausible speculation and many figments of the imagination. But the June 28 U.S. military operation in Afghanistan's northeastern Kunar province may have stirred the hornet's nest of Praetorian Guards around the al-Qaeda leader, who is presumed to be ensconced in the 15,000-foot-high mountains and steep forested valleys of Nuristan province just north of Kunar, and the U.S. military may have come closer to its quarry than ever before.
That operation, which resulted in the loss of a Chinook MH-47 helicopter with 16 Special Operations Forces personnel sent to extract a four-man Navy Seal reconnaissance team trapped in the area, points to a level of sophisticated enemy activity not seen before. It was the single biggest loss of U.S. military personnel in a hostile action since Afghanistan was invaded by U.S. and Coalition forces after September 11, 2001.
The military activity in Kunar province is still ongoing with some 300 personnel involved, including Afghan government soldiers. The B-52 bombing of a suspected militant hideout on July 1 reportedly killed 17 civilians, including women and children, in Chichal village. The U.S. military has since apologized. (PakTribune.com, July 5).

ARCHIVE - US Contractors

A four-part series on tensions between American contractors working in Iraq and the U.S. military from By Liza Porteus and Fox News.
Part I, Iraq's New War Zone: American vs. American, July 01, 2005.
Part II, 'How Do You Like Your Contractor Money?', July 06, 2005.
Part III, Contractor 'Shadow Army' Adds to Iraq Stress, July 07, 2005.

Plan Called for Covert Aid in Iraq Vote

By DOUGLAS JEHL and DAVID E. SANGER, The New York Times, July 17, 2005

WASHINGTON, July 16 - In the months before the Iraqi elections in January, President Bush approved a plan to provide covert support to certain Iraqi candidates and political parties, but rescinded the proposal because of Congressional opposition, current and former government officials said Saturday.
In a statement issued in response to questions about a report in the next issue of The New Yorker, Frederick Jones, the spokesman for the National Security Council, said that "in the final analysis, the president determined and the United States government adopted a policy that we would not try - and did not try - to influence the outcome of the Iraqi election by covertly helping individual candidates for office."
The statement appeared to leave open the question of whether any covert help was provided to parties favored by Washington, an issue about which the White House declined to elaborate.

NOTE: A link to Seymour Hersh's New Yorker article, "Get Out the Vote: Did Washington try to manipulate Iraq’s election?" from the July 25, 2005 edition.

Suicide Bombs Potent Tools of Terrorists: Deadly Attacks Have Been Increasing and Spreading Since Sept. 11, 2001

By Dan Eggen & Scott Wilson, Washington Post, Sunday, July 17, 2005; Page A01


Unheard of only a few decades ago, suicide bombings have rapidly evolved into perhaps the most common method of terrorism in the world, moving west from the civil war in Sri Lanka in the 1980s to the Palestinian intifada of recent years to Iraq today. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide attacks in the United States, suicide bombers have struck from Indonesia to India, from Russia to Morocco.
Now governments throughout the West -- including the United States -- are bracing to cope with similar challenges in the wake of the deadly July 7 subway bombings in London, which marked the first time that suicide bombers had successfully mounted an attack in Western Europe.
The pace of such attacks is quickening. According to data compiled by the Rand Corp., about three-quarters of all suicide bombings have occurred since the Sept. 11 attacks.
The numbers in Iraq alone are breathtaking: About 400 suicide bombings have shaken Iraq since the U.S. invasion in 2003, and suicide now plays a role in two out of every three insurgent bombings. In May, an estimated 90 suicide bombings were carried out in the war-torn country -- nearly as many as the Israeli government has documented in the conflict with Palestinians since 1993.

Security, Terrorism and the UK

Chatam House, ISP/NSC Briefing Paper 05/01, July 2005 (Embargoed Until 00.01 Monday 18 July 2005)


In a collaborative venture, a series of briefing papers written by project leaders within the NSC Programme will be published by Chatham House (and posted on its International Security Programme web pages) over the next couple of years to summarize important research results and emerging discussion points. The theme of this initial set of briefing papers is Security, Terrorism and the UK. In the first paper, Frank Gregory and Paul Wilkinson reflect on the UK’s performance in the war on terrorism. In the second, Bill Durodié argues that more emphasis should be placed on building and using community resources in responding to terrorism, rather than focusing on technical and professional approaches that leave communities excluded. In the third paper, Adrian Guelke reflects on developments in the Northern Ireland peace process. Finally, Sarah Oates analyses the implications of the way in which terrorism has been presented in elections in Russia, the US and the UK.

Iraqi Panel Files Case Against Hussein: Deposed Leader Accused In 1982 Shiite Massacre

By Andy Mosher, Washington Post, Monday, July 18, 2005; Page A01

BAGHDAD, July 17 -- The first criminal case has been filed against former president Saddam Hussein for his alleged role in a 1982 massacre of more than 150 people, and he may be tried as early as September, the chief investigative judge of Iraq's special tribunal announced Sunday.
Hussein, who was president of Iraq from 1979 until the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, has been in U.S. custody since he was captured in December of that year. The tribunal's investigators have sifted through evidence of his alleged involvement in about a dozen atrocities committed while he was in power.
The 1982 massacre in the Shiite Muslim village of Dujail was a relatively minor incident in Hussein's reign, compared with other massacres, such as a chemical weapons attack that killed an estimated 5,000 ethnic Kurds in the northern town of Halabja in 1988, and the brutal suppression of a revolt by Shiites after the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

After Iraq attacks, calls for militias grow

At least 22 Iraqis were killed by four suicide bombs Sunday, a day after more than 90 died in an attack.
By Neil MacDonald | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor, July 18, 2005

BAGHDAD - A devastating blast south of Baghdad, the latest in a series of suicide attacks aimed at undermining Iraq's US-mentored political process, has raised the temperature between Sunni and Shiite political factions and revived dormant questions about the effectiveness of government security forces.
The attack Saturday evening, involving a tanker truck at a gas station near a Shiite mosque, killed more than 90 people and wounded more than 150 in Musayyib, a mixed Sunni-Shiite town 40 miles south of Baghdad. It was the deadliest attack since the elected government took power at the end of April.
And Sunday, four suicide car bombers in Baghdad attacked security patrols and offices of Iraq's electoral commission, killing at least 22 people. On Friday, there were at least seven suicide attacks throughout the country that killed some 30 people. This all came on the heels of last week's suicide bombing that took the lives of some 50 people, including more than two-dozen children.

Blair urges 'battle of ideas' to beat al Qaeda

By Mark Trevelyan, Reuters, Sat Jul 16, 2005 2:55 PM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Saturday the "evil ideology" of al Qaeda must be pulled up by the roots as the death toll from last week's London subway and bus bombings rose to 55.
"Within Britain, we must join up with our Muslim community to take on the extremists," Blair said in a speech in London. "Worldwide, we should confront it everywhere it exists."
Speaking nine days after four British Muslims carried bombs onto underground trains and a bus and blew themselves up along with 51 rush-hour commuters, he said: "We must pull this up by the roots."
Police on Saturday released chilling CCTV pictures of the four men walking into a railway station on the morning of the bombings to take a train to London. Dressed in casual clothes and carrying backpacks, they look like young holidaymakers.

*** The following is the full text of Prime Minister Tony Blair's speech on the London bombings, delivered at the Labour Party national conference on Saturday (via BBC News, Saturday, 16 July, 2005, 14:53 GMT 15:53 UK).