11.16.2001
MO: The current situation in Afghanistan is related to a bigger cause - that is the destruction of America.
BBC: What do you mean by the destruction of America? Do you have a concrete plan to implement this?
MO: The plan is going ahead and, God willing, it is being implemented. But it is a huge task, which is beyond the will and comprehension of human beings.
If God's help is with us, this will happen within a short period of time; keep in mind this prediction.
No, it's not the set-up for a joke. Those smart folks over at RAND have a new book out: Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy. It's about how terrorists, activists, criminals and others are increasingly using networked forms of organizations:
The term netwar refers to an emerging mode of conflict (and crime) at societal levels, short of traditional military warfare, in which the protagonists use network forms of organization and related doctrines, strategies, and technologies attuned to the information age. These protagonists are likely to consist of dispersed organizations, small groups, and individuals who communicate, coordinate, and conduct their campaigns in an internetted manner, often without a precise central command. Thus, netwar differs from modes of conflict and crime in which the protagonists prefer to develop formal, stand-alone, hierarchical organizations, doctrines, and strategies as in past efforts, for example, to build centralized movements along Leninist lines. Thus, for example, netwar is about the Zapatistas more than the Fidelistas, Hamas more than the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the American Christian Patriot movement more than the Ku Klux Klan, and the Asian Triads more than the Cosa Nostra.
The whole thing is available on-line. They've added a afterword on Al-Qaeda and 9/11, using their theoretical framework to examine our current conflict. Has anyone out there studied cellular automata, complex systems theory, "charodic" organizations, etc.? Do they have anything to tell us about the war, about how terrorists organize themselves?
Thanks again to Mike Watkins for the link.
So now our government has the right to put suspects in jail, without charge, seemingly idefinitely, and not release any information on their status or even their names. We can revoke attorney-client privilege. We can try suspects in secret military tribunals. What's next? Government agents in Ford Falcons? You don't have to be paranoid, libertarian, or a pacifist to be concerned about this. Nat Hentoff has a good article in the Voice about how this legislation was pushed through without legislative review. But some in Congress are questioning the need for military tribunals. And William Safire opines that Bush has taken "dictatorial power to jail or execute aliens."
11.15.2001
Kudos to our friend and neighbor Lynn Harris for her piece in today's Times about our friend and neighbor Chris Kalb's mp3-powered roadtrip to PulpCon. We know she'll write about Ben next, right?
In 1867, after the Civil War, the FDNY raised money to buy a new fire truck for Columbia, SC (which had largely been burnt down). Columbia promised that "should misfortune ever befall the Empire City" they would return the favor. Now the kids of White Knoll Middle School have raised $447K to buy a new truck for Ladder 101 in Red Hook. Ain't that grand?
[Thanks to MeFi for the story.]
11.14.2001
The robot cat and dog are so...so...so last week.� For the latest in Japanese robot technology see the recently unveiled (no Kabul women puns please) humanoid robot from Honda.� He walks down stairs alone,or in pairs, he�uses tools and bows in a traditional Japanese manner.� See it all in RealVideo or QuickTime here.
[NB: Is it just me, or do they look like Transformers?]
Sony's Aibo may be the standard for artificial pets, but it still looks like a souped-up version of Doctor Who's K-9. (OK, I'm a geek.) I mean, would you really want to pet plastic? What you really want is something cuddly. As further proof that cats are superior to dogs, these folks in Japan have created a furry robotic cat:
As of yet, the robot cats have not yet released their plans to take over the world.
And, in further is-it-real-or-isn't-it news, you might want to check out your ability to tell one from the other by taking the Fake or Foto? quiz. I got six out of ten right. Darn those crafty CG wizards!
Well, maybe it was a "strategic rout," or perhaps a good strategic move to make in face of a likely defeat: head for the hills. The folks at Stratfor again on why the Taliban's retreat makes strategic sense (for them, that is.) At least it gives us some idea of what comes next.
That's for fighting the Taliban. But what about fighting terrorism? If bin Laden's goal is to foment Islamic revolution throughout the world, I think these recent developments aren't good for him. It's one thing to say Afghanistan is being attacked because its goverment is fundamentalist. It's another to claim that the Taliban is the true goverment of Afghanistan, while they are fighting a guerilla war and while the people are shaving their beards in triumph. (Note to Gillette: get some razors included in those care packages. I can see the commercials now.)
So what do we think? Are the Taliban's days numbered? Will forging and supporting a government in Kabul turn out to be more difficult than rousting the Taliban from the capital? I think that it may be difficult to forge a goverment that is (1) accepted by the Average Afghani, and (2) isn't seen as anti-Islam in the wider Islamic world, and (3) is palatable to Pakistan. The fact that the Northern Alliance entered Kabul despite promises to keep out, and their alleged killing of POWs (whether or not it's true, people will believe it), and we're already having trouble with (2) and (3). Stay tuned.
The Telegraph reports that OBL has admitted that he's behind 9/11. Not too different from what he's said before -- that the terrorism was justified -- except for the switch to "we" instead of "them." Uh-oh, pronoun trouble.
In the video, bin Laden says: "The Twin Towers were legitimate targets, they were supporting US economic power. These events were great by all measurement. What was destroyed were not only the towers, but the towers of morale in that country."
The hijackers were "blessed by Allah to destroy America's economic and military landmarks". He freely admits to being behind the attacks: "If avenging the killing of our people is terrorism then history should be a witness that we are terrorists. Yes, we kill their innocents and this is legal religiously and logically."
Bin Laden goes on to justify his entire terror campaign. "There are two types of terror, good and bad. What we are practising is good terror. We will not stop killing them and whoever supports them."
He directly threatens the lives of President Bush and Mr Blair. "Bush and Blair don't understand anything but the power of force. Every time they kill us, we kill them, so the balance of terror can be achieved." He also calls on all Muslims to join him. "It is the duty of every Muslim to fight. Killing Jews is top priority."
11.13.2001
As far as I can tell the first comparison between our present war and The Simpsons.� I am surprised it took this long:
I can appreciate why the press is impatient � how could they not be, when they're covering this war in real-time? And I know the press needs to be skeptical. But what drives me nuts is how they seem to think the day-to-day setbacks are much more important than they are.
One of my favorite scenes in The Simpsons (as longtime readers know) is when Homer is selected to join a space-shuttle mission. News anchor Kent Brockman is scheduled to interview the shuttle crew while Homer and the rest of the crew are in orbit. But just before they "switch live" to the craft, there's a mishap on board. Homer, unaccustomed to weightlessness, has smashed an ant farm they brought with them. When Kent Brockman cuts to the live feed from the shuttle, the garden-variety ants float by the TV-camera lens � momentarily appearing gigantic. Then, they lose the picture.
Brockman, like so many TV newsmen, responds instantly with his gut impressions: "Ladies and gentlemen, er, we've just lost the picture, but, uh, what we've seen speaks for itself. The Corvair spacecraft has been taken over � 'conquered', if you will � by a master race of giant space ants. It's difficult to tell from this vantage point whether they will consume the captive earthmen or merely enslave them. One thing is for certain, there is no stopping them; the ants will soon be here. And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. I'd like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to... toil in their underground sugar caves."
More on why the press et al. should give war a chance:
A hilarious account from a BBC correspondent of a Northern Alliance martial-arts demonstration:
An urn was held over one person's head and after a good few flailing and failing kicks it finally broke, sending a flapping mass of feathers crashing to the ground. It was a pigeon, with the Northern Alliance flag attached to its leg. It was meant to soar into the sky, full of symbolism. But the clearly dazed bird had no intention of leaving terra firma. Someone tried to give the pigeon encouragement by throwing it way up into the air. It came back to earth with a deathly thud and was hastily removed.
USO, eat your heart out.
