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<\/td><\/tr><\/table>\nSome freedoms gone for good? -- Wired News<\/i><\/b>
\n\nCongressional leaders have assured the American people that the most invasive sections of the anti-terrorism bill\n signed into law by President Bush today will expire in 2005. But Declan\nMcCullagh points out that many of the bill's most intrusive measures are\nhere to stay: for example, he reports, \"police will have the permanent ability\nto conduct Internet surveillance without a court order in some circumstances,\nsecretly search homes and offices without notifying the owner, and share\nconfidential grand jury information with the CIA.\" <\/p> \nThe fabric of war -- The Boston Globe<\/i><\/b>
In a move Pakistani\nofficials are touting as payback for their support of the US-led bombing\nof Afghanistan, the Bush administration may soon ease limits on textile imports\nfrom Pakistan. Sue Kirchoff reports that US textile manufacturers aren't\ntoo happy about that. \"Why in the world does the textile industry have to\nbe the industry that's the donor here?\" asks Douglas Bulcao, deputy executive\nvice president of the Textile Manufacturers Institute. \"Why can't the response\nto Pakistan be aid, where all the taxpaying citizens share in the burden?'' \n <\/p> \nAnthrax American-made? -- New Scientist<\/i><\/b>
While several\nAmerican officials have theorized that Iraq may have produced the anthrax\nstrain being used in attacks in the US, Debora MacKenzie reports that the\ngerm is most likely home-grown. \"(T)he bacteria used in the attacks is not\na strain that Iraq, or the former Soviet Union, mass-produced for weapons,\"\nwrites MacKenzie. \"In fact, it is either the same strain the US itself used\nto make anthrax weapons in the 1960s, or close to it.\" The strain could have\nbeen obtained from many repositories in the US, notes MacKenzie. <\/p> \nSaudi mufti: Killing unbelievers not OK -- BBC News<\/i><\/b>
In\nwhat passes for good news these days, Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti, Sheikh\nAbdulaziz al-Shaikh, has issued a religious ruling banning the killing of\nnon-Muslims in Islamic countries, reports Frank Gardner. The ruling is a\ndirect counter to Usama bin Ladin's exhortations that Muslims to do exactly\nthat. but the Saudi religious leader's comments may not carry a whole lot\nof weight. The Grand Mufti is closely connected to the Saudi government,\nwhich many Saudis and other Muslims distrust, notes Gardner. <\/p> October 25, 2001<\/b><\/p> \nIsraeli muscle for the FBI? -- National Review<\/i><\/b>
The FBI\nsays the terrorist suspects it has in custody aren't talking, perhaps because\nthey're not scared of being tortured. For this reason, Michael Ledeen reports,\nbureau officials are thinking of sending the suspects to friendly Arab countries,\nsuch as Egypt or Morocco, where the fear of more vigorous interrogation will\nmake them speak up. Not so fast, says Ledeen. While the US might be \"hampered\"\n by constitutional protections and lacking in interrogators fluent in Arabic\nor versed in Islamic culture, Israel is not, Ledeen notes. \"There are scores\nof Israelis who have all these skills, and many of them are now retired,\nand would be delighted to help us,\" Ledeen argues, noting that the use of\nIsraeli interrogators would also have \"immense psychological advantages.\" \n <\/p> \nThe fight for radio supremacy -- Index on Censorship<\/i><\/b>
Tony\nCallaghan and Rohan Jayasekera say radio remains Afghanistan's \"most vital\ninformation link,\" and argue that the October 8 bombing of a Taliban radio\nstation was just the beginning of a battle for control of the Afghan airwaves.\nThe intentional bombing of a civilian radio station -- in this case, the\nTaliban-run Radio Voice of Shari'a -- would normally violate international\nlaw, but Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld scoffs at the idea that it wasn't\na military target. \"They cannot be considered to be free media outlets. They\nare mouthpieces of the Taleban and those harbouring terrorists,\" Rumsfeld\nclaims. Meanwhile, Callaghan and Jayasekera report, the US military is using\na fleet of six radio broadcasting planes to serve up programming that includes\n\"traditional Afghan music, blood-curdling threats to the Taleban and soothing\nmessages to the local populace in Dari and Pashto.\" <\/p> \nBerkeley paper in hot water ... again -- The Daily Californian<\/i><\/b>
\nAn advertisement in The Daily Californian<\/i>, the student newspaper\nof the University of California at Berkeley, garnered so much attention that\nthe issue rapidly disappeared from newspaper racks - stolen by protesters.\nThe ad, titled \"End States Who Sponsor Terrorism,\" was placed by the Ayn\nRand Institute. Some Berkeley residents were so angered by the ad's appearance\nthat they stole 1,000 copies of the paper, replacing them with a flyer calling\nfor a boycott of The Daily Californian<\/i>.\n\n<\/p> <\/p> October 24, 2001<\/b><\/p>\nUS attacks on Afghan soil an all-male affair -- Washington Times<\/i><\/b>
\n While female military personnel are fighting in the skies over Afghanistan,\nthey have yet to see action on the ground, reports Rowan Scarborough. The\nlimited attacks staged on Afghan soil are being handled by all-male \"special\noperations\" units. While there are women working with special operations\ngroups on psychological warfare and other non-lethal endeavors, federal law\nprohibits them from joining ground combat missions. \nMarketing America to Muslims -- Newsday<\/i><\/b>
Concerned about\nthe less-than-favorable perception of America in many Muslim nations, the\nState Department is talking to the Advertising Council, a non-profit group\nthat does ad campaigns for national causes, about a marketing campaign to\nrestore the nation's tarnished brand image, reports William Douglas. Talk\nabout a tough sell. \"They could have the prophet Muhammad doing public relations\nand it wouldn't help,\" scoffs Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab American\nNews. <\/p> \nA Taliban foe explains why they won -- Omaid Weekly<\/i><\/b>
In\nan interview with the self-described \"most widely read Afghan publication\nin the world\" shortly before he was assassinated last September, former Northern\nAlliance commander Ahmed Shah Masood offers an enlightening take on how the\nTaliban gained control in Afghanistan, and why they've since lost popularity.\nKey factors in their early success, according to Masood: good slogans and\nindirect US support. \t <\/p> October 23, 2001<\/b><\/p>\nFrom Green Beret to terrorist -- Raleigh News and Observer<\/i><\/b>
\n Despite his open disdain for America, Egyptian immigrant Ali Mohamed was\naccepted into the US Army, trained with the elite Green Beret unit, and became\nan informant for the FBI -- before going on to help bomb US embassies in\nAfrica in 1998. Mohamed later passed on his special forces training and knowledge\nof the US to other members of al-Qaida, report the News and Observer's<\/i>\n Joseph Neffand and John Sullivan. The FBI \"did a lousy job of managing him,\"\na former CIA official tells the reporters. \"He was holding out on them. He\nhad critical information years ago and didn't give it up.\" \nA Capitol offense -- Judicial Watch<\/i><\/b>
As government agencies\nstruggle to explain why they failed to immediately test and treat postal\nemployees who processed anthrax-laden letters to Congress, the conservative\nnonprofit law firm Judicial Watch is launching the inevitable push for litigation:\nIt's offering to represent any postal worker who file lawsuits \"against the\npolitical elite for putting his or her life in jeopardy.\" <\/p> \nFingering terrorists -- New York Post<\/i><\/b>
\n\nThe first-person account of the New York Post employee who contracted cutaneous anthrax on her middle finger. \n\n\n\n<\/p> <\/p> October 22, 2001<\/b><\/p>\n\nJerry Falwell wants your support -- Americans United for Separation of Church and State<\/i><\/b>
Only weeks after apologizing for saying that gays, \"abortionists,\"\nand the ACLU were partly to blame for the Sept. 11 attacks, televangelist\nJerry Falwell is now using the controversy that ensued as a fundraising hook,\naccording to Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a watchdog\ngroup. According to a release issued by the watchdog group, an Oct. 4 appeal\nsent out by Jerry Falwell Ministries accuses the media, \"liberals, and especially\ngay activists\" of unfairly smearing Falwell's name, further claiming that\nthe organization has lost $500,000 in income since the terror attacks. \"Falwell\nhas gone from apologizing for his hateful remarks to trying to cash in on\nthem,\" says Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of AUSCS. \n\nCan the war withstand the humanitarian crisis? -- Stratfor.com<\/i><\/b>
The deepening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan will rapidly\nerode support for the US-led bombing of Afghanistan, according to Stratfor.com,\na Texas-based strategic forecasting group. International aid organizations\nare already calling for a halt in the bombing, and the Stratfor.com analysis\nsuggests that the United Nations \"will likely voice similar criticisms as\nwinter sets in and member states seek a culprit for ensuing starvation in\nAfghanistan.\" <\/p> \n\nThe stimulus package, unwrapped -- Opensecrets.org<\/i><\/b>
With the economy seeming to slacken by the day, Congress is\nmulling a set of targeted tax cuts for businesses. Total cost to taxpayers:\nas much as $100 billion. The Center for Responsive Politics provides this\nbreakdown of which industries are in line for which breaks -- and how much\nthey've given to the politicians who will decide whether they get such favors.\n <\/p> <\/p> Compiled by MotherJones.com staff.<\/p><\/td><\/tr>\n<\/table>\n
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