TERRORIST MEDIA DENIAL

Denial is an often useful innate human trait. Few of us would be able to function in the present if we did not put out of mind many unpleasant realities – such as our inevitable death. The Woody Allen character in the movie "Annie Hall" stated the comic extreme version of not using the denial mechanism when, as a child he refused to do his homework because in 5 billion years the sun would explode, "So, what’s the use?"

But when a person, or a society, denies emerging or imminent dangers, the peace of mind it gains will be extremely (more…)

DUDE, WHERE’S MY CIVIL WAR?

BAGHDAD.  I’m trying. I’ve been trying all week. The other day, I drove another 30 miles or so on the streets and alleys of Baghdad. I’m looking for the civil war that The New York Times declared. And I just can’t find it.

Maybe actually being on the ground in Iraq prevents me from seeing it. Perhaps the view’s clearer from Manhattan. It could be that my background as an intelligence officer didn’t give me the right skills. And riding around with the U.S. Army, looking at things first-hand, is certainly a technique to which The New York Times wouldn’t (more…)

CONDI TAKES RUSSIA TO THE WOODSHED

This Monday, March 6, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit Washington to discuss the Middle East. Today, March 3, a high-ranking delegation of Hamas will visit Moscow at President Vladimir Putin’s invitation, to meet with Lavrov. A coincidence?  Hardly.   

Russia aggressively courts Iran and Hamas.  Last week, Russia negotiated in Tehran on establishing a uranium-enrichment joint venture, which will supply nuclear reactor fuel to the Islamic Republic.    

Moscow claimed success, while Iran conditioned the deal on security guarantees. It is doubtful in the extreme if Teheran will agree to inspection of all its nuclear sites – which should (more…)

THE DEAL ON DUBAI

In Dubai, everyone refers to their ruler, Emir Mohammed Bin Rashid al-Maktoum, as "MBR."  Just to give you an idea of how he is into tourism not terrorism, here’s a quick story.

He has closed circuit television in his private office.  And what are the cameras trained on?  Immigration/passport control lines at the airport.  If MBR sees the lines are getting too long, he picks up the phone and orders more personnel to reduce the lines.  Again, his focus is tourism not terrorism.

The US Navy docks its ships at Dubai more often than at any other non-US port in (more…)

Chapter Twenty-Two: BETWEEN THE SMOKING MOUNTAIN AND THE SLEEPING WOMAN

The next morning, Cortez assembled the Cholulan caciques, commanders, nobles, and priests, together with the Tlaxcalan commanders, in the freshly swept courtyard.  Mounted on his horse, he had the Mesheeka ambassadors standing on one side, and Malinali on the other.  Behind him were arrayed his officers, resplendent in polished armor, and a contingent of Totonac warriors led by Mamexi, all in their finest feather headdresses.  Cortez began speaking to the Cholulans sternly:

"Two days ago, the king of Cholula was guilty of a great treachery, which he and his followers paid for with their lives.  The entire city of (more…)

YES, VIRGINIA, HOLLYWOOD REALLY DOES HATE AMERICA

During the last few weeks some movies have come out that are, in effect, a plea for the case of terrorists. Steven Spielberg’s "Munich" is one of them. (A little known fact is that there was a 1986 TV movie, ‘Sword of Gideon,’ based on the same book, Vengeance, that Spielberg borrowed from freely.)

In "Munich," the murders of the 11 Israeli Olympians are treated as, well, sort of understandable, given the feelings and anxieties of the Palestinians who committed the terrorist act.

Those Israelis, in turn, who have vowed to avenge the murders are depicted as morally not so (more…)

ILLEGAL WIRETAPPING WON WORLD WAR II

As a former intelligence officer who spent 23 years at the CIA, I am an intelligence history buff.  So it is that the current media frenzy over "illegal NSA telephone taps" has an interesting precedent.

The New York Times and the Democrat Party are waging a campaign against Bush Administration electronic surveillance (misnamed "taps," by the way) of Al Qaeda communications with its contacts here in America.  Their goal is for the Democrats to gain control of Congress this November, and impeach President Bush for the "crime" of "domestic spying."

Let’s ask the New York Times editors if they would (more…)