] "The streets will run with blood," and "America will
] mourn in silence" because they will be unable to count
] the number of the dead, a man claims on the video.
]
] The terrorist's face is concealed by a headdress, and he
] speaks in an American accent, making it difficult to
] identify the individual.
]
] Individual is college educated, either American born or
] raised in the U.S.
]
] The U.S. is actively seeking to identify the individual.
] Adam Gadhan - aka Adam Pearlman of Southern California -
] remains the chief candidate but another still unknown
] individual may be possible.
]
] Pearlman was highlighted by the FBI in May as an
] individual most likely to be involved in or have
] knowledge of the next al Qaeda attacks.

Search Memestreams for more information on Gadahn, a former metal head from California who turned to Islam. I don't know how the hell they determine if someone is "College Educated" from a few minutes of video. I got a better then average verbal on the SAT in the 7th grade. In any event, I'll have to reinterate Rattle's take on this:

"Hear that America? Heavy Metal music leads to terrorism. Really. This is the proof we have been looking for."

DRUDGE REPORT: Metal Head Islamist prepared to strike America

] There have been rumors about a possible invasion of
] Pakistan but this is the first time this strategy of the
] U.S. is exposed. This is a very dangerous plan which will
] have unimaginable severe consequences and will put the
] survival of the world at stake.
]
] "There is no doubt that the U.S. is the biggest enemy of
] Islam and the Muslims.

Courtesy of Elonka, this is an extremely preverse review of Friedman's new book, filled with factual inaccuracies and anti-american spin. I didn't really consider his book in terms of how pissed off islamists might interpret it.

MEMRI: A Saudi review of Friedman's America's Secret War

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to have a chat with an Army Sergeant who had returned to the States from a one year tour of duty in Iraq. It was my first opportunity to really sit down and talk face to face with someone from one of the combat zones, and I had a thousand questions for him. I did my best to just listen to what he had to say without comment, so often it wasn't so much a discussion as a debriefing. I did check with him several times as to whether or not he was comfortable talking about things, but he said it was fine, and actually somewhat therapeutic.

I'd like to share some of the things that he said. I agreed with some of it, and disagreed with some, but I'm going to do my best to present the information here, as he said it...

I offer this here in my memestream not to make any particular kind of point (as I said, I agree with some stuff he said, and disagree with other stuff), but just to share my notes from the chat. Overall, it was a fascinating conversation, and I was very grateful for the opportunity to see Iraq through this soldier's eyes.

- Elonka

Conversation with a Soldier Back from Iraq

The 30 minute video here is not to be missed.

America's Secret War - George Friedman - Author interviews

In the book, George Friedman identifies the United States' most dangerous enemies, delves into presidential strategies of the last quarter century, and reveals the real reasons behind the attack of 9/11-and the Bush administration's motivation for the war in Iraq. It describes in eye-opening detail America's covert and overt efforts in the global war against terrorism.

Stratfor's George Friedman has a new book. It will be released on October 5, 2004. Here you can read the preface and prologue as well as chapter summaries.

This web site also includes a 30 minute video interview with George Friedman. It's available at

http://www.americassecretwar.com/GFIntrvFull.mpg

JLM managed a pre-release copy of this. Its well written/a fast read. Unfortunately it seems mostly a history. It puts things in perspective, but it creates more questions then it answers.

America's Secret War

] Inside the Bush administration policymaking apparatus,
] there is strong feeling that U.S. troops must leave Iraq
] next year. This determination is not predicated on
] success in implanting Iraqi democracy and internal
] stability. Rather, the officials are saying: Ready or
] not, here we go.

If we walk out and leave the place for dead we'll produce another Iran.
Will the U.N. help us now that we've made this mess? Can they do so effectively? Would the people in Iraq view them more legitimately as a security force? Do they have the strength to take the insurgents on when we don't?

Quick exit from Iraq is likely

] According to the TSA's official prohibited items list,
] anyone who brings any banned item to a screening
] checkpoint, even accidentally, may be criminally or
] civilly prosecuted. Even items that are not specifically
] listed, but could be considered dangerous, are illegal.
]
] Harrington was not arrested, but she was charged with
] carrying a concealed weapon - a first-degree misdemeanor
] punishable by as much as a year in jail and a $1,000
] fine.
]
] Even without a criminal charge, though, Harrington still
] faced a civil fine.

So, if you happen to show up at the airport with any object that is deemed dangerous, regardless of how innoculous you think it is and whether you're willing to do away with it, you will be detained on the spot, and you face thousands of dollars in fines and up to a year in prison.

Well, at least we're doing a good job in Iraq...

Hillsborough: Tourist's crime? Toting bookmark

] Of all of the different views that have now come to be
] associated with the neoconservatives, the strangest one
] to me was the confidence that the United States could
] transform Iraq into a Western-style democracy, and go
] on from there to democratize the broader Middle East. It
] struck me as strange precisely because these same
] neoconservatives had spent much of the past generation
] warning about the dangers of ambitious social
] engineering, and how social planners could never control
] behavior or deal with unanticipated consequences. If the
] United States cannot eliminate poverty or raise test scores
] in Washington, dc, how does it expect to bring democracy
] to a part of the world that has stubbornly resisted it and is
] virulently anti-American to boot?

This is apparently the key essay in which Fukuyama nailed the
administration to the wall on Iraq. The lay reader is a little out
of context here as its clearly an ongoing argument that he has
been having with them for years, and its steeped in the jargon
of foreign policy analysis, but I caught on quickly enough.

His arguments are clear-cut, complete, and free from the
emotional attacks of typical punditry. I also happen to agree
with him, mostly, and I don't usually agree with Fukuyama.

His suggestion that we construct a formal federal department
of nation building is both pragmatic and extremely unsettling.

Hammers tend to find nails.

Vanity is as much a sin as Avarice.

Fukuyama: The Neoconservative Moment

] "I think that anybody that thinks that you can hold
] elections in the Sunni Triangle by the end of January is
] really smoking something," military historian Frank
] Fukuyama said.

Damn, Fukuyama throws down!

CNN.com - Report finds Iraq prospects bleak - Sep 17, 2004

] Whether it did or did not, the fact that the U.S. did not
] criticize or in any way express disagreement with the
] pardons conflicts with, and in fact undercuts, the U.S.
] position against terrorism. President Bush has said over
] and over again that anyone who supports a terrorist,
] anyone who harbors a terrorist, is a terrorist.

Bush family shows its double standard: South Florida Sun-Sentinel