After September 11, 2001 << Click to refresh page

The links below open various web pages I believe to be valuable or informative about the current terrorism crisis, Afghanistan, US policies, and related matters. Please send me links to other useful material. Spelling of names and some non-English words may be inconsistent below. Sources do not agree on ways to transliterate Arabic and other languages into English. I have sometimes copied my sources and sometimes chosen a spelling that seemed right at the time. The collection is organized into seven sets of links to articles and web sites plus one link to a page of news sources. Within each section the articles are roughly chronological by date of publication with more recent ones first.

By Christmas, 2001, the scope and depth of the ``after September 11'' story has grown so large that I cannot keep up - not that I was really keeping up before. Consequently, the coverage as we enter 2002 is especially spotty.

``War on terrorism''

• ``5000 TNSM volunteers killed in Afghanistan'' - Pakistan News Service article describes heavy losses among Pakistani tribal volunteers fighting with the Taliban, updated on 2001-12-31
• ``MI5 blunders over bomber'' - Nick Paton Walsh, Kamal Ahmed and Paul Harris update the shoe-bomber story in The Observer for December 30, 2001
• ``Up close at Tora Bora'' - Hilary Andersson reports for the BBC's From Our Own Correspondent series, 22 December, 2001
• ``Tribal leader warns of war over US raids'' - report in Dawn dated 24 December 2001
• ``US friendly fire 'kills allies of new Kabul regime''' - Andrew Gumbel and Kim Sengupta report for The Independent, 22 December 2001. The Agence France Presse bulletin, citing the Afghan Islamic Press, published in Dawn is ``65 killed as US planes bomb Afghan convoy'', while Behroz Khan's story in The News International says ``80 tribal elders killed in US bombing''. The New York Times version of the event is headlined ``Convoy Containing Suspected Taliban Leaders Hit by Airstrike'' and reported by Amy Waldman, who also describes the swearing-in of the interim government.
• ``New Arrangement of Forces and Possibilities of Attack on Iraq'' - report from the Tehran Times International Desk, December 20, 2001
• ``13 Killed as War Prisoners Revolt at Afghan-Pakistani Border'' - Douglas Frantz reports in New York Times for December 19, 2001
• ``Hopes of finding bin Laden fade as fighters flee'' - Richard Lloyd Parry and Andrew Buncombe describe the situation on 18 December 2001 for The Independent. The same issue includes ``Fears of strike on Somalia from bases in Kenya'' - Alex Duval's assessment of a possible next move in the war.
• ``Al-Qaeda defeated in Tora Bora, says Powell'' - report from The News International, December 17, 2001
• ``Tora Bora falls, but no bin Laden'' - Philip Smucker reports on the fall of the cave-riddled mountain region and the apparent escape of Mr. Bin Laden for the Christian Science Monitor dated December 17, 2001
• ``Blair blocks EU from warning Washington not to widen war'' - The Sydney Morning Herald article from press agency dispatches, December 17, 2001
• ``Death comes in a little yellow package'' - Hamish McDonald reports for The Sydney Morning Herald on the consequences of showering parts of Afghanistan with two kinds of yellow packages, one nutritious and the other lethal, story dated December 17, 2001
• ``Bin Laden 'trapped in mountain cave with escape routes blocked''' - Richard Lloyd Parry reports from Tora Bora on the al-Qa'ida fighters' last stand, for The Independent, 15 December 2001. This is Mr. Lloyd Parry's account the next day: ``Hamlet without the prince at Tora Bora: The endgame''.
• ``Bin Laden 'trapped in mountain cave with escape routes blocked''' - Richard Lloyd Parry describes the tightening ring around the last Taleban/al-Qa'ida resistance in the mountains south of Jalalabad for The Independent, 15 December 2001
• ``Americans 'covered up massacre of 200 Taliban''' - Justin Huggler reports for The Independent, 15 December 2001
• ``Battle for Bin Laden's barren refuge'' - Damian Grammaticas reports from the scene on the last portion of the military campaign against Mr. Bin Laden's mountain stronghold for the BBC, 14 December, 2001
• UNH Professor Marc Herold's research into the 3700 civilian casualties caused by US bombing in Afghanistan, the number calculated from reports in the world's reputable press sources (downloadable Excel spreadsheet file)
• ``Strikes on Somalia 'unjustified''' - according to this BBC report, 10 December, 2001
• ``Karzai brokers deal after weekend of chaos'' - Catherine Philp reports for The Times of London, December 10 2001. Saleem Shahid tells the story for Dawn in ``Jirga resolves stand-off: Gul Agha named Kandahar governor.''
• ``Alliance launches attack on al-Qa'ida stronghold'' - Associated Press dispatch in The Independent, 10 December 2001
• ``Scramble to cut off Taliban escape routes'' - Luke Harding, Nicholas Watt, Julian Borger, and Peter Beaumont report for The Guardian, December 8, 2001
• ``We saw bin Laden on horseback directing troops, say opposition'' - Richard Lloyd Parry describes progress in the attack on Tora Bora and a possible bin Laden sighting, in the Independent for 08 December 2001.
• ``In no man's land, Arab fighters spread terror'' - Patrick Cockburn reports on the fast-changing consequences of the fall of Kandahar for The Independent, 08 December 2001
• ``'The Taliban rule is finished' says Karzai as Kandahar falls'' - Patrick Cockburn and Andrew Buncombe report for The Independent on the end of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, 07 December 2001. The Dawn story, ``Taliban agree to surrender Kandahar: Power transfer begins today,'' on the event is by M. Ismail Khan. The Afghan Islamic Press story, ``Mullah Omar gave up,'' carried by the Pakistan News Service includes some battle news. The Times of India says that, ``Kandahar handover was orderly, says witness,'' in the December 07, 2001 issue. Kathy Gannon's report for The Independent, ``Taliban forces surrender Kandahar and flee,'' paints a more chaotic picture.
• ``Anti-Taliban forces claim advance in Tora Bora'' - Pakistan News Service update concerning the attack on Mr. bin Laden's possible refuge, updated on 2001-12-06
• ``Aid agency pulls out of Jalalabad'' - Pakistan News Service report on the move by Doctors Without Borders due to anti-Western feelings caused by US air strikes, updated on 2001-12-06
• ``Day one of battle for Tora Bora: Ambush, retreat and ignominy'' - Richard Lloyd Parry describes the start of the battle for the al-Qa'ida stronghold for The Independent, 06 December 2001
• ``Major terrorist attempt foiled'' - Pakistan News Service report about possible Al Qaeda members captured with an anti-tank rocket in Karachi, updated on 2001-12-06
• ``Camel Sparks Alert at U.S. Base in Afghanistan'' - story in the Tehran Times, December 6, 2001
• ``Eastern commanders prepare for showdown with Arabs at Tora Bora'' - Out There News reoirt from Peshawar, Pakistan, 5 December 2001
• ``Anti-Taleban fighters close in on caves'' - BBC update on the advance towards the Tora Bora cave complex and Richard Lloyd Parry's report of at least 120 people killed in recent bombing, 4 December, 2001. Meanwhile, ``US denies bombing civilians'', according to Pentagon spokesman Admiral John Stufflebeem in this BBC report with the same date
• ``A village is destroyed. And America says nothing happened'' - Richard Lloyd Parry describes the consequences of US bombing of Kama Ado, Afghanistan, in The Independent for 04 December 2001. Parry also reports that, ``US troops [are] close in on bin Laden hideaway'' in the same issue.
• ``Warlords bring new terrors'' - Paul Harris describes disorder in the Pashtun south of Afghanistan in The Observer for December 2, 2001
• ``Taliban who escaped the fort of death' - Luke Harding describves a sobering encounter with Qila-e-Janghi survivors in The Observer for December 2, 2001
• ``Secret US plan for Iraq war'' - Peter Beaumont, Ed Vulliamy and Paul Beaver report for The Guardian for December 2, 2001. ``Will Iraq be next? What the experts say'' offers analysis on this possible extension of the war in the same issue.
• ``Fort revolt: What really happened?'' - report pulling together what was known to BBC reporters at 15:22 UTC on 29 November, 2001. In this Guardian story, ``Catherwood tells of narrow escape'', Maggie Brown describes Andrea Catherwood's experience as a journalist covering the outbreak of the revolt, November 30, 2001.
• ``How our Afghan allies applied the Geneva Convention'' - Justin Huggler tells an ugly story about the fate of Taliban prisoners at Qalai Janghi, in The Independent, 29 November 2001. Pakistan News Service reports that Amnesty International will investigate the prisoner deaths in this story updated on 2001-11-29.
• ``Colours of the cornered chameleon are changing rapidly, Taliban style - Robert Fisk describes the situation in Chaman, on the Afghan border with Pakistan for The Independent, 27 November 2001
• ``Bloodbath at Afghan fort'' - Angus Roxburgh describes the scene at Qala-e-Jhangi fort after the apparent revolt of Taliban prisoners of war for the BBC, 27 November, 2001
• ``End Massacre of POW's in Mazar: Musharraf'' - report on Pakistani leader's statement, from the Pakistan News Service updated on 2001-11-27
• ``MSDF ships head for anti-terror campaign'' - The Asahi Shimbun reports on the dispatch of three additional Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force ships to participate in the war, 11/26/01
• ``Blood, tears, terror and tragedy behind the lines'' - Robert Fisk reports from Taliban-held Kandahar province for The Independent, 26 November 2001
• ``Taliban Uprising Mars Alliance Advance on Kunduz'' - Olga Petrova and Duncan Pitcairn describe events in General Dostum's prison citadel for Reuters, November 25, 2001. ``Carnage in Afghan prison revolt'' is the BBC account of the event.
• ``The siege of Kunduz is a defining moment for us all'' - Fergal Keane examines the chances for good and ill behavior as the Taliban's northern stronghold comes under increasing pressure, in The Independent for 24 November 2001
• ``US Warplanes Using Chemical Weapons on Kunduz'' - article from a pro-Jihad source, 23 November 2001
• ``Taliban Beaten by Afghans, Not U.S. - Iran Cleric'' - Reuters report on a view from Tehran, November 23, 2001
• ``Hundreds of bodies found in Mazar'' - International Committee of the Red Cross report 600 deaths following Taliban defeat according to the BBC, 23 November, 2001. ``Kunduz Battle Rages, Mystery Over Taliban's Omar'' is a related report from Reuters, and ``Up to 600 bodies found in Mazar-e-Sharif'' is a short account of the ICRC report from the Pakistan News Service.
• ``Battle Without Borders: The War Against Terror'' - an extensive web resource from WorldPress.org offering views from many Asian counties.
• ``Shocking images from Afghanistan'' - upsetting photographs of civilian casualties which Pakistan News says ``would probably never appear on US Media,'' updated on 2001-11-21 08:44:45
• ``Britain may be forced to withdraw troops '' - Richard Norton-Taylor, Patrick Wintour, and Julian Borger report on the confusing position of Britain's overt military presence in Afghanistan in The Guardian for November 21, 2001. ``Allies 'split': Fact or fiction?'' is a related BBC report on the complexities and tensions arising as the war situation unfolds, 20 November, 2001.
• ``With the Taliban as they prepare for last stand'' - Jonathan Steele reports from near Kandahar for The Guardian, November 20, 2001
• ``Our friends in the North are just as treacherous and murderous'' - Robert Fisk suggests that, ``When our Northern Alliance boys go on a killing spree, we have to take responsibility,'' in The Independent for 19 November 2001
• ``Should the West take this new policy seriously?'' - Robert Fisk comments on Mullah Mohammed Omar's recent interview on the BBC Pushtu service, in The Independent for 16 November 2001
• ``Pressure grows on Kandahar'' - BBC report dated 15 November, 2001, 12:13 UTC
• ``Hazaras march on Kabul'' - David Loyn and William Reeve describe stresses within the Northern Alliance after the fall of Kabul, BBC report 15 November, 2001, 08:11 UTC
• ``A city of spiritual beauty broods in the rubble'' - Robert Fisk reflects on Kandahar then and now, in The Independent for 15 November 2001
• ``Taliban Negotiating Surrender of Kunduz, Their Last Stronghold in Afghanistan's North'' - Dexter Filkins reports for the New York Times, November 15, 2001
• Three Times of India reports on the shifting situation, November 15, 2001
  • ``Taliban retake key Afghan province''
  • ``Tribals raise banner of revolt against Taliban''
  • ``Pakistan moves troops, tanks to Afghan border''
• ``UN confirms massacre at Mazar by NA Forces and describes security situation as unsatisfactory'' - Pakistan News Service report updated on 2001-11-15 05:00:41 UTC
• ``People's Resistance Reason for Alliance Victory: Rafsanjani'' - an Iranian perspective on the Northern Alliance victory, Tehran Times, November 15, 2001
• ``Victorious Alliance says: We don't want your peacekeepers'' - Ewen MacAskill, Luke Harding, Patrick Wintour and Julian Borger report on the military and political situation for The Guardian, November 15, 2001
• Three Dawn reports on the shifting situation, November 14, 2001
  • ``Northern Alliance plans polls in two years: Osama, Omar war criminals: Abdullah''
  • ``Revolt, fighting in Kandahar''
  • ``Factional fights break out in Mazar-i-Sharif''
• The fall of Kabul, 12-13 November 2001
  • ``Kabul Liberated: Mullah Omar Flees to Pakistan'' - Tehran Times article about the Taleban retreat from Kabul and other cities, November 14, 2001
  • ``UN officials urge parties in Afghanistan to respect human rights'' - expression of concern urging all involved in Afghanistan to abide by humanitarian principles after reports of killings by United Front forces, November 13, 2001. The UN press briefing by Stephanie Bunker and others provides some details about possible atrocities and problems with humanitarian aid.
  • ``Taliban Flight From Kabul Raises Political Stakes'' - Sayed Salahuddin and Arshad Mohammed update the story for Reuters, November 13, 2001 19:52 UTC
  • ``US allies tighten grip on Kabul'' - BBC update on events, 13 November, 2001, 18:22 UTC
  • ``Eyewitness: The liberation of Kabul'' - John Simpson's report for the BBC, 13 November, 2001, 17:39 UTC
  • ``The fall of Kabul'' - Anthony Davis reports for Jane's Defence Weekly, 13 November 2001
  • ``Northern Alliance Moves Into Kabul'' - David Rohde with Dexter Filkins report for the New York Times, November 13, 2001
  • ``Rebel Soldiers Take Taliban Prisoners'' - multimedia report from the Associated Press (requires RealPlayer)
  • ``Afghan Opposition Enters Kabul, Routs Taliban Across Nation's North'' - Paul Watson and Maura Reynolds report on the entry of United Front forces into the Afghan capital in the Los Angeles Times for November 13, 2001
  • ``Taliban Crumble in Afghanistan; U.N. Urged to Step In'' - Sayed Salahuddin and Rosalind Russell describe the fall of Kabul for Reuters, November 13, 2001
  • ``Northern Alliance enters Kabul as Taliban flee'' - James Meek, Luke Harding, and Ewen MacAskill report on the taking of Kabul by the United Front in The Guardian for November 13, 2001
  • ``Analysis: The Taleban collapse'' - Daniel Lak explains the swift fall of the student militia's rule in Kabul for the BBC, November 13, 2001, 06:05 UTC
  • ``Taliban withdrawn from Kabul as NA troops enter city'' - Pakistan News service report updated on 2001-11-13, 03:58:48 UTC
  • ``U.S. Fears Situation in Afghanistan May Get Out of Control: Koolaee'' - a report in the Tehran Times for November 13, 2001
  • ```Six plus Two' group stresses need for broad-based Afghan government'' - a report from the United Nations News centre dated November 12, 2001. ``Six plus Two'' refers to the six nations bordering Afghanistan plus Russia and the United States.
• ``Alliance giving cold shoulder to Zahir'' - Agence France-Presse report in Dawn about developments in the relationship between the former King of Afghanistan Zahir Shah and the Northern Alliance, 13 November 2001
• ``US bombings to have lasting effect: experts'' - Dawn reporter says US depleted uranium ordnance will harm people in Afghanistan long after the current war is over, 13 November 2001
• ``MSDF heads for Indian Ocean'' - The Asahi Shimbun reports on the first deployment of Japanese military forces overseas since the end of World War II, November 10, 2001
• ``Splits open in UK-US alliance'' - Ewen MacAskill and Richard Norton-Taylor examine areas of dischord between the US and Britain concerning the current crisis, in The Guardian for November 9, 2001
• ``Bin Laden wants last laugh'' - Ejaz Haider offers an opinion about Mr. Bin Laden's skill and cleverness as a terrorist leader and the direction things are going with the US response to the September attacks, in The Friday Times for November 1-8, 2001
• ``Revealed: how bungled US raid came close to disaster'' - Luke Harding in Quetta, Julian Borger in Washington and Richard Norton-Taylor report for The Guardian, November 6, 2001
• ``War nerves fray as America waits for a lucky break '' - Julian Borger suggests that things are not going well for the US/British war effort in The Guardian for November 6, 2001
• "Special forces and the reality of military operations in Afghanistan" - Charles Heyman, editor of Jane's World Armies, assesses the military situation in Afghanistan, November 5, 2001
• "Afghanistan: A Difficult War" - Ahmed Rashid reports in the Far Eastern Economic Review cover-dated November 8, 2001
• "With the Northern Alliance" - journalist Tim Judah reports from Khoja Bahaudin in northern Afghanistan in The New York Review of Books for November 15, 2001
• ``Consensus Building in Washington for a Stronger Ground Dimension in Afghanistan'' - Ariel Cohen's analysis in EurasiaNet dated November 2, 2001
• ``War in the Dark'' - Tim Judah describes the military and political situation among groups in the Northern Alliance and the Taliban as of October 31, 2001, in The New York Review of Books for November 29, 2001. ``Afghanistan: The Moving Target'' by William Pfaff examines the US war's development as of October 31, 2001, in the same New York Review of Books.
• ``Escape and Evasion: What happened when the Special Forces landed in Afghanistan?'' - Seymour M. Hersh reports on the failure of the October 20th raid on Kandahar which the US military had announced to be a success, in The New Yorker for November 12 2001
• "Saifullah, man of peace, killed by American cruise missile" - Robert Fisk reports on an instance of "collateral damage" in The Independent for October 30, 2001
• "Analysis: Who is winning the war?" - BBC defense correspondent Jonathan Marcus suggests that results are unclear and that the British public's enthusiasm for the battle may wane, October 29, 2001
• "Mixed reaction to NYC peace march" - Joseph Winter reports on a peace march for the BBC, October 28, 2001
• "'The Taliban are not worried about being bombed'" - Robert Fisk reports on the effects of the US bombing of Kabul in The Independent for October 27, 2001
• "Error will produce more terror" - Hamid Mir says the US is reinforcing its folly in The Friday Times for October 26, 2001
• "War Zone Explorer" - multimedia background information about the war from The Washington Post (requires Flash 5)
• "Special Report: Attacks on Afghanistan" - updated background material on the war from the Guardian Unlimited
• "FRONTIER OF WAR: Afghanistan focus" - Sydney Morning Herald updated web page providing background on Afghanistan and the potential attack to be mounted by the USA and it's allies
• "The Rigors of Life at the Front" - Paul Watson describes a visit to United Front (Northern Alliance) soldiers on the front line near Kabul in the Los Angeles Times for October 26, 2001
• "Where the bodies are" - Geov Parrish lists more than a few incidents of civilian deaths and injuries resulting from US attacks on Afghanistan in WorkingforChange, October 22, 2001. Compare with this NPR report from John Burnett on October 23, 2001, asserting that "the U.S. bombing is extremely limited and precise."
• "Watching the war from Kabul's rooftops" - Robert Fisk in The Independent for October 18, 2001
• MediaScan/Sweden Calling DXers 2373 - see the item, "Fighting Terror" for a discussion of the Bush Administration's attempt to prevent broadcast of videotape prepared by the al-Qaida group.
• "On the War" - Stanley Hoffmann, Paul and Catherine Buttenwieser University Professor at Harvard University, offers analysis in The New York Review of Books for November 1, 2001
• "Defining a Just War" - Richard Falk, professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, writes in The Nation for October 29, 2001
• ``Parleying with the enemy over a lamb kebab'' - Anthony Loyd reports from Northern Alliance territory in The Times of London for October 17, 2001
• "West is turning to leaders with chequered histories" - Stephen Farrell and Zahid Hussain report from Islamabad in The Times of London for October 4, 2001
• Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People - President Bush on September 20, 2001
• Fidel Castro on "Infinite Justice" 22 Sept 2001 - Mr. Castro's heartfelt response to Mr. Bush's address to Congress on September 20.
• "After the attacks: America's new cold war" - Anatol Lieven, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC, reflects on the US government and it's response to the September 11 attacks (from the London Review of Books for October 4, 2001)

Terrorism/counterterrorism

• ``Fragile Freedoms'' - Part 1 by Peter Grier of a Christian Science Monitor series on US civil liberties in wartime, December 13, 2001. ``Tribunals on Trial'' by Warren Richey is part 2, dated December 14, 2001. Liz Marlantes wrote part 3, ``Bioterror: All the Rules Change'', published December 17, 2001.
• ``Terrorism and Its Consequences'' - special issue of Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, the online journal of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. The password allowing general public access to the articles (each in a .pdf file) is spssi911, which is good until March, 2001.
• ``Skepticism Over US Call To Target Iraq in Next Phase of Anti-Terrorism Campaign - Lara Parpan examines possible expansion of the war for EurasiaNet.org, 12/06/01
• ``Bioterror: What Can Be Done?" - Matthew Meselson examines the question in The New York Review of Books dated December 20, 2001
• ``Swept Up in a Dragnet, Hundreds Sit in Custody and Ask, 'Why?' - Jodi Wilgoren describes the condition of Arabs and others imprisoned by the US government on or soon after September 11, in the The New York Times for November 25, 2001
• Articles about detecting terrorist acts from Technology Review for December, 2001
  • ``Will Spyware Work?'' - Kevin Hogan assesses attempts by US security services to monitor communication networks for terror-related data
  • ``Detecting Bioterrorism'' - David Talbot examines technological responses to poison and disease attacks
  • ``Networking the Infrastructure'' - Wade Roush discusses the engineering of the national infrastructure to meet destructive attacks
  • ``Recognizing the Enemy'' - Alexandra Stikeman describes systems for automatic identification of faces using existing video surveillance
  • ``Visualize: Face Recognition'' - how computer face recognition works (from the November issue)
  • ``The Shock of the Old'' - Edward Tenner explains the failure of existing technologies and practices to detect the September attacks
  • ``Big Brother Logs On'' - Ivan Amato describes surveillance technologies (article from the September issue cited by some December articles)
• ``Is There a Good Terrorist?'' - Timothy Garton Ash reflects on the concept of terrorism in the context of current conditions (as of November 1, 2001) in Macedonia, in The New York Review of Books for November 29, 2001
• ``Al-Qaeda defiant over Bin Laden'' - BBC report on an interview with leaders of the anti-US network, 20 November, 2001
• ``The 9/11 Disappeareds'' - Miriam Ching Louie writes about victims of the September attacks who were undocumented aliens within the United States and their families' problems in the aftermath, The Nation, December 3, 2001
• ``CONYERS CHALLENGES ADMINISTRATION ON MILITARY TRIBUNALS AND OTHER ANTI-TERRORISM ACTIONS'' - press release from the office of Michigan Congressman John Conyers, Jr., November 16, 2001
• ``A Travesty of Justice'' - New York Times editorial commenting on the Bush Administration's plan to try Mr. Bin Laden in a special military tribunal, should he be captured alive, November 16, 2001
• ``White House Push on Security Steps Bypasses Congress'' - Robin Toner and Neil A. Lewis report on the Administration's abrogation of civil liberties in The New York Times for November 15, 2001
• ``What is terrorism?'' - Hani Shukrallah discusses the meaning of the word and concept in these times in Al-Ahram Weekly for 8-14 November 2001
• ``The many faces of terrorism'' - M. Abul Fazl offers a perspective in Pakistan's DAWN Magazine for November 11, 2001
• ``ISLAMIC CHARITIES: Terrorism's Tithe'' - Alkman Granitsas, Dini Djalal, and Deidre Sheehan examine the US attempt to prevent money passing to the Al Qaeda group, in the Far Eastern Economic Review cover-dated November 15, 2001
• ``Information Warfare'' - David H. Freedman discusses the vulnerability of information networks to terrorist attack in Technology Review for November, 2001
• "Hijackers' Meticulous Strategy of Brains, Muscle and Practice" - New York Times special report on the September 11 attacks, published November 4, 2001
• "Of Missiles And Terrorism" - interview with Paul Wolfowitz, U.S. deputy secretary of defence discussing military ties with China, Russia and Asia in general and addressing the problem of terrorism in the area, in the Far Eastern Economic Review cover-dated November 8, 2001
• "Strategies of Terrorism" - background briefing from Foreign Affairs in the form of web links to articles
• ``Veiled Messages of Terrorists May Lurk in Cyberspace'' - Gina Kolata reports on possible uses of steganography by Al Qaeda to hide messages in plain sight online, in The New York Times for October 30, 2001
• "FBI Terror Detentions Questioned" - Declan McCullagh and Ben Polen discuss questions raised about the many hundreds of people jailed by US authorities in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, in Wired News, October 30, 2001
• "Of Icons, Revolutionaries and Terrorists" - Salman Tarik Kureshi discusses terrorism as a political resource and its role in revolutions and liberation movements in The Friday Times for October 26, 2001
• "Ex-CIA Director Confesses U.S. Supplied Iraq With Anthrax Bacteria in 80s" - Tehran Times for October 23, 2001
• "A New Marshall Plan? Advancing Human Security and Controlling Terrorism" - Worldwatch Institute news release dated October 9, 2001, by Dick Bell & Michael Renner
• "Responsibility for the terrorist atrocities" - British Prime Minister's document (content provided by Washington, DC) detailing the evidence against Mr. Bin Laden and Al Qaida as accused perpetrators of the September 11 attacks ("HMG" stands for "Her Majesty's Government" - i.e., Tony Blair and his Ministers). See "Robert Fisk: This loose conjecture is unlikely to cut much ice with the Arab nations" for an analysis in The Independent for October 5, 2001.
• "Annals of National Security: What Went Wrong" - Seymour M. Hersh on "the CIA and the failure of American intelligence" The New Yorker for October 8, 2001
• Rand Corporation experts on terrorism
  • "Safeguarding the Skies" - Brian Michael Jenkins in the San Diego Union Tribune for September 30, 2001
  • "Re-thinking Terrorism in Light of a War on Terrorism" - Congressional testimony by Bruce Hoffman on September 26, 2001 (PDF file)
  • "The Future Course of International Terrorism" - Brian Michael Jenkins in The Futurist for July-August 1987
• Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh responds to the September attacks
  • ``Strike Against Terror'' a view of terror and terrorism, October 19, 2001
  • ``Embracing Anger'' - transcript of a public talk at the Riverside Church in New York City on September 25, 2001
  • ``What I Would Say to Osama bin Laden'' - Anne A. Simpkinson interviews Thich Nhat Hanh for her forthcoming book From the Ashes: A Spiritual Response to the Attack on America
  • ``Cultivating Compassion to Respond to Violence: The Way of Peace'' - The Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh says, ``All violence is injustice,'' 18 September, 2001
• "The Terror" - former US Ambassador at Large for Counterterrorism Philip C. Wilcox Jr. writes in The New York Review of Books for October 18, 2001
• "In Hijacker's Bags, a Call to Planning, Prayer and Death" - Bob Woodward in the Washington Post for September 28, 2001
• "Closework: Why we couldn't see what was right in front of us" - Joe Klein in The New Yorker for October 1, 2001
• In the Next Chapter, Is Technology an Ally? - New York Times article about some technological dimensions of terrorism and security prompted by the September attack

Afghanistan and Central and South Asia

• ``They're Only Sleeping'' - Ahmed Rashid explains ``Why militant Islamicists in Central Asia aren't going to go away'' in the 2002-01-14 issue of The New Yorker
• ``Afghans in world's biggest refugee camp face disaster as winter tightens its grip'' - Kim Sengupta describes the situation near Herat, Afghanistan, for The Independent, 04 January 2002
• ``Jihadi outfits' offices raided'' - Dawn reports on Pakistan's crackdown on anti-India terrorist organizations, 31 December 2001
• ``Measles outbreak in refugee camps'' - Pakistan News Service report updated on 2001-12-31
• ``Taj Mahal to be camouflaged against attack'' - Peter Popham tells of an outcome of Pakistan-India tension in The Independent, , 30 December 2001
• ``'I saw armed men dragging away a musician. Strange, because the Taliban have been beaten' - Kim Sengupta reports from Herat for The Independent, 30 December 2001
• ``Afghan warlord given top job'' - BBC report dated 24 December, 2001
• ``Pakistani tribal areas mourn deaths in Afghanistan on Eid'' - Out There News report on the mood in tribal areas of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, 20 December 2001
• ``110 Pakistani Taliban airlifted to India'' - The News International report showing the rising tension level between Pakistan and India, December 20, 2001. See also ``US tries to restrain India, Pakistan'', ``Vajpayee says all options open'', and ``Foreign Office summons Indian diplomat'' in the same issue. For an Indian view, see ``India shows the world proof against LeT, Jaish'', ``Jaish threatens 'shocking attacks' across India'', ``Dec 13 attack suspect confirms Pak link'', and ``Cong, Opposition back govt'' in The Times of India.
• ``Diplomats strive to clear logjam over Afghan force'' - David Usborne and Kim Sengupta discuss moves at the UN to resolve the command structure of the peacekeepeing force for Afghanistan, in The Independent for 19 December 2001. ``'Let the soldiers' work begin,''' writes General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley, former commander-in-chief of Nato forces in northern Europe, for the BBC.
• ``No clue to 300,000 IDPs in Tora Bora: UN'' - The News International reports on the unknown fate of Afghan refugees in the east of the country, December 17, 2001. An article by Naveed Ahmad in the same issue of The News, ``Pakistan forcing refugees back: HR bodies'', suggests that all is not well for displaced Afghans on the Pakistan side of the border.
• ``Where Are the Women?'' - Sara Austin reviews the Bonn agreement for an interim government in Afghanistan and the prospects for women there, in The Nation for December 31, 200
• ``Broad-based rebuilding efforts for Kabul urged'' - Dawn article assessing the prospects for Afghanistan's rehabilitation, 17 December 2001
• ``US may seek increased pressure on Jihadi groups'' - Dawn report on US pressure to reduce Pakistan-India conflict, 17 December 2001
• ``Guiding a New Afghanistan'' - Maseeh Rahman discusses prospects for success of incoming Afghan leader Hamid Karzai, Far Eastern Economic Review issue cover-dated December 20, 2001
• ``America's Other Friend'' - Joanna Slater and Murray Hiebert discuss US relations with India during the struggle with terrorism in the Far Eastern Economic Review issue cover-dated December 20, 2001. FEER interviews Pakistan's President General Pervaiz Musharraf in ``Absolutely Secure'' published in the same issue
• ``Hundreds killed in Afghan faction fighting'' - Out There News report describing a clash between forces loyal to interim Afghan Defense Minister General Faheem and fighters belonging to General Mansoor Naderi who is backed by Uzbek-Afghan General Rashid Dostum, 15 December 2001
• ``Kabul's footballers gear up'' - Caroline Wyatt describes the delivery of soccer equipment to the Kabul Pamir team, for the BBC, 15 December, 2001
• ``Taliban defectors prepare for elections'' - Out There News report about plans being made by the Khuddamul Furqan Jamiat party, 13 December 2001
• ``Iran Calls For Alternative to Afghan Poppy Cultivation'' - Tehran Times, December 11, 2001
• ``Unmourned soldiers'' - Absar Alam discusses the future of the madrassas in Pakistan that had produced many fighters allied with the Taliban, in Al-Ahram Weekly, 6 - 12 December 2001
• ``Moscow Got What It Wanted in Kabul'' - according to Megan Twohey's article in The Moscow Times, December 10, 2001
• ``Choice of Karzai draws mix [sic] response'' - the Pakistan News Service describes reactions to the appointment of Hamid Karzai as interim Afghan Prime Minister, updated on 2001-12-08. ``Afghan Groups Should Not Spoil Present Golden Opportunity'' states this item in the Tehran Times for December 8, 2001.
• ``UK journalist beaten by Afghan mob'' - BBC article about attack by refugees on Robert Fisk whose reports are linked on this web site, 8 December, 2001
• ``Pakistan, Iran Ready for New Strategic Cooperation'' - Akhtar Jamal provides a description of this significant development for EurasiaNet, 12/07/01
• ``Afghan women's group asks leaders to avoid differences'' - according to this report from Out There News, 7 December 2001. OTN also offere~d this cautionary story about the concerns of a former Afghan defence minister, ``Over-representation of Tajiks will lead to civil war, fears Tanai''.
• ``No Progress For the Hungry'' - Murray Hiebert reports on the Afghan humanitarian situation as the Taliban regime comes to an end and possible US loss of attention to the problem once the outright war concludes, Far Eastern Economic Review, cover-dated December 13, 2001
• ``First cracks in accord as warlord boycotts council'' - Justin Huggler reports on divisions among Afghan factions in the aftermath of the Taliban defeat and the Bonn accord, for the Independent, 07 December 2001. See also this: ``India read Afghan wicket correctly,'' in which The Times of India gloats over the details of the agreement on an interim government structure for Afghanistan. The BBC adds a report entitled, ``Key Afghan warlords reject Bonn deal,'' dated 6 December, 2001
• ``Deal has been done, but what are the pitfalls?'' - Mary Dejevsky offers an analysis for The Independent, 06 December 2001
• ``Amnesty for all declared: No revenge, vows new chief'' - M. Ismail Khan reports for Dawn on the announcement by Afghan Prime Minister-designate Hamid Karzai, 06 December 2001. Saleem Shahid's article, ``Pakhtoon, Baloch elders hail Karzai's appointment,'' describes some response to Mr. Karzai's appointment, in the same issue.
• ``Afghan Groups Sign Landmark Deal for Post-Taleban Government'' - report from the Tehran Times, December 6, 2001
• ``Afghan factions sign landmark deal'' - BBC report on the outcome of the Bonn conference, 5 December, 2001
• ``UNHCR Warns of Rising Tension in Tribal Areas'' - reports the IRIN news organization affiliated with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 12/05/01
• ``Aid crisis as Afghan children die'' - BBC article describes aid problems as winter advances, 4 December, 2001. Jim Muir's report, ``No shelter for freezing Afghan refugees,'' tells more.
• ``Russia's Growing Presence in Afghanistan Hints at Regional Rivalry with Western Powers'' - Igor Torbakov reports for EurasiaNet.org, 12/3/01
• ``No persecution of Taliban, says Nangarhar official'' - reports Wahdat from Islamabad, Pakistan, 3 December 2001
• ``NIFA urges Northern Alliance to end 'repression' in northern Afghanistan'' - Out There News report about action by the National Islamic Front of Afghanistan, 2 December 2001
• ``Forbidden love spells death in lawless Kabul'' - examines an upsurge in 'honour killings' and pornography, in The Observer for December 2, 2001
• ``Jimmy Engineer starts peace walk from Islamabad to New Delhi tomorrow'' - Pakistani social worker and ``walk-a-cause'' activist Jimmy Engineer's walk for peace between Pakistan and India is described in this article from the Pakistan News Service updated on 2001-11-29
• ``Analysis: Turning the page of Afghan history'' - Baqer Moin. head of the BBC's Persian and Pashto services, reports from the Bonn talks, Thursday, 29 November, 2001. See the ``See also:'' links down the right-hand side of this page.
• ``You May Now Enjoy Yourselves'' - writes Ahmed Rashid regarding the situation in Kabul after the Taliban departure, in the Far Eastern Economic Review cover-dated December 06, 2001
• ``Breaking The Cycle' - Ahmed Rashid discusses the UN negotiations on Afghanistan in Bonn, Germany, for the Far Eastern Economic Review cover-dated December 06, 2001. Read also Mr. Rashid's interview with former Afghan Interior Minister Younis Qanuni in the same issue of FEER.
• ``Kabul studies uncertain future'' - Alan Johnston surveys the present state of the once-proud Kabul University for the BBC, 29 November, 2001
• ``Annals of National Security: The Iran Game'' - Seymour M. Hersh describes the probable Iranian nuclear weapons capability and Israel's attempts to get the US government to be concerned about it, in The New Yorker for December 3, 2001
• ``Kabul women's march thwarted'' - BBC report on Northern Alliance officials in Kabul preventing the newly formed Union of Women in Afghanistan from demonstrating, 27 November, 2001
• ``Afghans Await Their Future'' - an account by a Tehran Times staff writer describing the UN 'Discussion on Afghanistan' set to begin in Bonn, Germany, shortly, November 27, 2001 (Tehran time)
• ``Analysis: Tribal voices 'left unheard''' - Kate Clark reports on feelings in Afghanistan's south and east after the lifting of Taliban control for the BBC, 26 November, 2001
• ``An army of Generals'' - Adam Mynott describes an aspect of Afghan military leadership and followership for the BBC, 25 November, 2001
• Afghan Media Monitor - OutThereNews site providing translations from the Afghan Islamic Press, Wahdat, and Sahaar
• - OutThereNews page of diaries chronicling these times, ``Blood, guts, life and love - the news as it hits our diarists''
• ``After the Taleban'' - BBC web site devoted to issues and participants in possible settlements for Afghanistan
• ``Tokyo to host Afghan reconstruction talks'' - report in Tokyo's Asahi Shimbun for November 22, 2001
• ``A Man, A Plan, Afghanistan'' - Ahmed Rashid discusses the challenges faced by the UN's Lakhdar Brahimi in assistng the settlement of Afghanistan's future, Far Eastern Economic Review cover-dated November 29, 2001
• ``Tehran, Hub of Consultations on Future of Afghanistan'' - editorial in the Tehran Times for November 22, 2001
• ``Afghan aid delivery 'unsafe''' - BBC report on on lawlessness hampering relief efforts, 22 November, 2001
• ``Plea for Afghan aid troops'' - Ewen MacAskill, Patrick Wintour and Richard Norton-Taylor describe the desperate need for aid to Afghan people, the security threats to aid delivery, and the US commander's opposition to British and UN military deployment to defend aid convoys, in The Guardian for November 22, 2001
• ``Hazaras demand to be heard'' - Peter Greste describes the concerns of Kabul's Hazara ethnic group and strain within the Northern Alliance for the BBC, 21 November, 2001
• ``US hopeful before Afghan talks'' - Barnaby Mason examines the political situation for the BBC, 21 November, 2001
• ``Indonesia must join Afghan mission'' - Bantarto Bandoro examines Indonesia's role in a possible UN peace keeping mission in Afghanistan, in The Jakarta Post, November 21, 2001
• ``Afghanistan's huge rebuilding task'' - BBC report assesses the billions of dollars worth of reconstruction needed in the war-ravaged nation, 20 November, 2001
• ``Afghanistan's hidden refugees'' - Daniel Lak reports from Taleban-held territory on a devastating internal refugee crisis, for the BBC, 20 November, 2001. ``Refugees Endure Lives of Squalor in Taliban Camp'' offers a different spin; John Pomfret and Rajiv Chandrasekaran report in The Washington Post for November 21, 2001.
• ``Afghan women shed their burqas'' - BBC report on a demonstration in Kabul by the newly-formed Union of Women in Afghanistan, 20 November, 2001. ``Freedom, fashion and an assault on the burka'' Humera Khan comments on the propaganda campaign mounted by Laura Bush and Cherie Blair against the all-covering garment in The Guardian for November 21, 2001
• ``Kabul enjoys an entertainment bonanza as cinema and television return'' - Greg Myre reports for The Independent, 20 November 2001
• ``Forget the cliches, there is no easy way for the West to sort this out'' - Robert Fisk examines the rival groups making up the Afghan polity and suggests that the very idea of Afghanistan's nationhood is questionable, in The Independent for 17 November 2001
• ``The Trouble With Kabul'' - Ahmed Rashid describes the Taliban retreat from northern Afghanistan and the resulting political complexities, in the Far Eastern Economic Review cover-dated November 22, 2001
• ``Race to prevent Afghan disintegration'' - BBC diplomatic correspondent Barnaby Mason reports, 15 November, 2001
• ``Relief Worker Praises Iran's Assistance to Afghan Refugees'' - Tehran Times report on Humedica representative's comments, November 15, 2001
• ``Analysis: Pakistani fears for Afghan future'' - Zaffar Abbas reports for the BBC in the aftermath of the Taliban retreat, 14 November, 2001
• ``Analysis: Trying for peace in Afghanistan'' - Daniel Lak recounts the history of UN attempts to establish a broad-based government in Afghanistan for the BBC, November 14, 2001
• ``The tribal factor'' - Absar Alam discusses tribal affinities across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and how that may affect the war, in Al-Ahram Weekly for 8-14 November 2001
• ``UN warns Afghan civilians to steer clear of deadly landmines'' - report from the UN News Centre dated 10 November 2001
• ``Afghanistan's recurring nightmare'' - Lyse Doucet provides some background on the impact of Afghanistan's recent wars for the BBC's ``From Our Own Correspondent,'' November 9, 2001
• International Committee for the Red Cross Afghanistan page
• ``Afghan Children in Crisis'' - United Nations Children's Fund web site devoted to efforts to provide relief for Afghan children
• GulfWire Home Page - a service of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations and producer of informative newsletters (available from the web site and by email subscription)
• EurasiaNet.org - web site providing ``information and analysis about political, economic, environmental and social developments in the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as in Russia, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia.'' EurasiaNet.org maintains an AFGHANISTAN ARCHIVE tracking developments there.
• Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst - publication of the Johns Hopkins University Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
• ``IN FOCUS: Humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan'' - United Nations web page linking to news reports on the unfolding situation
• ``Karzai: King's powerful Pashtun ally'' - Pam O'Toole analyzes the prospects for the future interim Prime Minister of Afghanistan for the BBC, 2 November, 2001
• ``Officials Say Relief Effort Is Falling Short of Afghans' Needs'' - Marc Kaufman reports on deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Afghanistan in The Washington Post for November 1, 2001
• ``Brahimi Tour Seeks to Ease Regional Rivalries, Promote Post-Taliban Afghan Goverment'' - Ahmed Rashid reports on a trip by the UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Afghanistan in EurasiaNet, November 1, 2001
• M. Nazif Shahrani's home page - Dr. Shahrani is Professor of Central Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and Chair of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at Indiana University Northwest
• Transcript of interviews with Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid - from the program "Patricia's People" for September 25, 2001 on the South African network SAfm. Rashid's book Taliban: Islam, Oil and the New Great Game in Central Asia is in important source. Eric Beauchemin's interview with Rashid on Radio Netherlands aired on December 13, 2000. Akash Kapur's interview with Rashid for Atlantic Unbound dated August 10, 2000, is also online.
• Afghanistan Dossier - a page of links to Radio Netherlands programs about Afghanistan
• "The Making of Afghanistan" - novelist Pankaj Mishra tells the history leading up to contemporary Afghanistan in The New York Review of Books for November 15, 2001
• The World interview with Pakistani rock band Junoon who recently played for peace at the United Nations. There's an audio link on this page. Junoon has its own home page.
• Maps of Afghanistan - many, from the University of Texas library
• "AFGHANISTAN: CRISIS OF IMPUNITY - The Role of Pakistan, Russia, and Iran in Fueling the Civil War" - Human Rights Watch study published in July, 2001, providing an excellent history of the country and the background of the present crisis
• The Dawn (Islamabad) - Pakistan's leading newspaper
• The Friday Times - Pakistan's "first independent weekly paper". See especially the column by Khaled Ahmed.
• "Pakistan's disenchantment with America" - Khaled Ahmed discusses the book The United States and Pakistan 1947-2000: Disenchanted Allies by US State Department South Asia expert Dennis Kux in The Friday Times for October 26, 2001
• "Millions at risk in Afghan crisis" - United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson warns of impending starvation among Afghan people, October 14, 2001
• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - visit this site for information on Afghan refugees
• "AFGHANISTAN: Life barely worth living: UN" - October 12, 2001, report from the Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN), part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
• "President Says U.S. Attacks Could Lead to Backlash in Intl. Anti-terrorism Bid" - Iranian president condemns both Teleban and US actions in Afghanistan, Tehran Times for October 13, 2001. See also "Khatami attacks Taleban and US" - a BBC report on a similar statement by President Khatami.
• Afghanistan Humanitarian crisis - links to United Nations news articles concerned with the situation in Afghanistan
• Watan Afghanistan - a site devoted to information about Afghanistan by Afghan people who don't like Mr. Bin Laden
• Afghanistan's Web Site - an anti-Taleban Afghan web site (pro-Teleban sites are hard to find right now)
• "In Pakistan, a Shaky Ally" - Barry Bearak in The New York Times for October 2, 2001
• `` Risks and Benefits'' - Ahmed Rashid discusses the possible consequences of a potentially protracted war in Afghanistan on Central Asia and the world at large, from the Czech publication Transitions Online
• "Analysis: Inside Afghanistan" - a BBC Online report dated September 19, 2001
• "Letter from Afghanistan: Across the Divide" - William T. Vollman in The New Yorker for May 15, 2000
• ``Pakistan's General Musharraf and the Taliban'' - Ahmed Rashid explains the background of Mr. Musharraf's taking power in Pakistan in the Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst Biweekly Briefing for February 2, 2000
• ``The CIA's Intervention in Afghanistan'' - interview with Carter National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski in Le Nouvel Observateur, 15-21 January 1998

Background & commentary

• ``Translating hatred for American consumption'' - Barbara Ferguson reports for Arab News on `Arab bashing,' in the US press, 21 December 2001
• ``Afghanistan: first lessons'' - exceedingly brief article for nonsubscribers assessing the US prosecution of war in Afghanistan from Jane's Defence News, 18 December 2001
• ``The Unending War'' - Robert Reich examines the terms on which the war on terrorism is being presented to US citizens by the Bush administration, in The American Prospect for December 17, 2001
• `` Wrong information 'causing civilian casualties''' - Out There News report dated 15 December 2001
• ``The military lessons'' - BBC analysis by Jonathan Marcus, 15 December, 2001
• ``Studying history at Kabul University'' - Alan Johnston explores recounts the story of the once and future institution for the BBC, 15 December, 2001
• ``Fears of Anarchy Amid Taliban Ruins'' - Alyssa R. Rayman-Read, Cara Feinberg, and Lindsay Sobel provide this web feature for The American Prospect dated December 13, 2001
• ``Disaster that lives in this triumph'' - Natasha Walter examines contrasting consequences following the apparent conclusion to the Afghanistan phase of the ``war on terror,'' in The Independent for 13 December 2001
• ``My beating by refugees is a symbol of the hatred and fury of this filthy war'' - Robert Fisk describes the beating he received at the hands of Afghan refugees, The Independent, 10 December 2001
• ``'Generals, return to the barracks''' - former Pakistani Prime Minister (and Harvard graduate) Benazir Bhutto comments on Pakistan's role in the rise and fall of the Taliban, specifically the role of military coup leaders, in The Times of India for December 09, 2001. See also ``Was Pakistan being Talibanised?'' by Khaled Ahmed ``Benazir Bhutto: "Anti-Pakistan" or "anti-military"? by Ejaz Haider in Pakistan's The Friday Times for December 7 - 13, 2001.
• ``September 11 2001: Diagnosis, Prognosis, Therapy'' - Johan Galtung's chapter about the September attacks from the forthcoming Searching for Peace: The Road to TRANSCEND by Johan Galtung, Carl G. Jacobsen and Kai Frithjof Brand-Jacobsen. London: Pluto Press, 2002 (web page dated December 4, 2001). Galtung's colleague Kai Frithjof Brand-Jacobsen posted this web page, ``September 11'', dated September 23, 2001, offering nine theses and a list of actions for transcending violence.
• ``This terrible conflict is the last colonial war'' - Robert Fisk comments on current events in Israel-Palestine and Afghanistan-Pakistan, in The Independent for 04 December 2001
• ``CIA has paramilitary force'' - John J. Lumpkin explains for the Associated Press, Dec. 2, 2001
• ``Dialogue, not clash of civilisation'' - Mohamed Sid-Ahmed comments on the ``clash of civilizations'' concept in Al-Ahram Weekly Online issue for 29 Nov. - 5 Dec. 2001. Tahsin Bashir says that civilizations can harmonize with one another in ``The clash of understanding'' in the same issue.
• ``America the scapegoat'' - Meera Atkinson attacks America-bashing at home and abroad in this Salon article for November 30, 2001
• ``We are the war criminals now'' - Robert Fisk comments on recent developments as the US and its coalition joins the Afghan United Front in taking Taliban territory and prisoners, in The Independent for 29 November 2001
• ``The Cost of Casual Racism: Anti-Muslim sentiment is growing - and dangerous'' - Roger Mitton says that the bombs don't care what religion is practiced by the people under them, in AsiaWeek for November 28, 2001
• ``Another war on terror. Another proxy army. Another mysterious massacre. And now, after 19 years, perhaps the truth at last...'' - Robert Fisk says that the story of the Sabra and Chatila massacres of 1982 under scrutiny in a Belgian appeals court parallels the war in Afghanistan, in The Independent for 28 November 2001. ``New evidence indicates Palestinians died hours after surviving camp massacres'' is Mr. Fisk's account of that story in the same issue of The Independent.
• ``US a terrorist state: Chomsky'' - Ashraf Mumtaz describes Noam Chomsky's Eqbal Ahmad lecture in Karachi, Pakistan, for Dawn, 25 November 2001. Zubeida Mustafa's interview with Chomsky, ``Business controls US power, says Chomsky'' was published on 27 November, as was Nasir Malick's description of Chomsky's lecture in Islamabad the day after his Karachi talk: ``US, UK abusing power in 'war', says Chomsky''.
• ``A World Not Neatly Divided'' - writes Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen about the ``clash of civilizations'' idea, in the New York Times for November 23, 2001
• ``Bin Laden, Baywatch and the battle for hearts and minds'' - Riad Z. Abdelkarim looks at the persuasion situation as the war on terror continues, in the San Diego Union Tribune fo November 22, 2001
• ``THE WORRIER: Newt Gingrich returns'' - Peter J. Boyer discusses the role of the former Speaker of the US House of Representatives as advisor and gadfly to the Bush Administration, in The New Yorker for November 21, 2001
• ``The Next Front'' - Julian Gearing discusses the complex political situation in Kabul followng the Taliban's departure, in AsiaWeek for November 23, 2001
• ``Anti-Arab campaign in the US media'' - Edward Said's op-ed essay in Dawn for November 18, 2001
• ``Upgraded T-55 tanks key to Afghan ground offensive'' - David C Isby reports on Russian support for the United Front, Jane's Defence Upgrades for 16 November 2001
• ``War by other means'' - Galal Nassar describes ``the difficulties faced by war reporters covering the US operation in Afghanistan'' and explores the strategic and tactical situations in the war, in Al-Ahram Weekly for 8-14 November 2001
• ``Group Denounces 'Blame America First' Response to September 11 Attacks'' - Goldie Blumenstyk describes a report denouncing US professoriat's lack of patriotism in the aftermath of the September attacks, The Chronicle of Higher Education, November 12, 2001. The ACTA report, ``Defending Civilization: How Our Universities Are Failing America and What Can Be Done About It'' may be downloaded as a Portable Document Format (pdf) file.
• The hawala or hundi system used by many Islamic and other people to exchange money has recently come under pressure as part of the anti-terrorism war.
  • ``Money-transfer systems, hawala style'' - CBC reporters Ashish Dewan and Sabrina Saccoccio explain the process shut down by the US and its allies, November 2001.
  • ``Rules of Hawala (Transferring Debt)'' - a web page describing the rules according to Shi'a leader Grand Ayatollah Lankarani.
  • ``US considering to close hundi outlets'' - Amir Mateen discusses a possible crackdown in Pakistan's The News International, October 2, 2001
  • ```Hawala' makes tracking capital a daunting task'' - Bloomberg news report describing the hawala system in the Taipei Times for October 2, 2001
  • ``Terror networks rely on `hawala''' - Vincent J. Schodolski descrobes the hawala system in The Chicago Tribune for September 26, 2001
• ``War on terror - my cow'' - Ayaz Amir doesn't like Pakistan's participation in the US ``war on terrorism,'' in Dawn for 09 November 2001
• ``INTERVIEW: ARUNDHATI ROY - The Writer at War'' Joanna Slater interviews the novelist and critic of the war for the Far Eastern Economic Review cover-dated November 15, 2001
• ``Letter From Cairo'' - Steve Negus discusses the situation in Egypt and the impact of the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera on the news environment in the Islamic world and beyond, in The Nation for November 19, 2001
• Brave new world - Jalal Salahuddin discusses his response to the September attacks and the subsequent counterattacks on Afghanistan, saying in part, ``The opposite of love is not hate, it is possession.'' In The Friday Times for November 1-8, 2001
• "America and the War" - historian Tony Judt offers a strong centrist view of the issues of the war in The New York Review of Books for November 15, 2001
• ``Al-Qaida is winning war, allies warned'' - Tania Branigan reports on a speech by Sir Michael Howard attacking the choice of ``war'' as the definitive interpretation of and response to the September attacks, in The Guardian for October 31, 2001
• ``The Gathering Storm'' - Robert Kagan and William Kristol argue that the Afghanistan war is but the beginning of a much larger war, the anticipated ``clash of civilizations,'' in The Weekly Standard for 10/29/2001. Someone has emailed me a counter to this scary article which I am hoping to link here. See other commentary on the ``clash of civilizations'' on this page.
• "The survival of hope" - Israeli-born clinical psychologist, an expert on the psychological treatment of victims of mass disasters, discusses her work with families of September 11 victims in Ha'aretz for October 28, 2001
• "Between Kulturkampf and real war" - Zvi Bar'el explores the weaknesses of "clash of cultures" as a description of the current crisis in Ha'aretz for October 28, 2001
• "Just what is this 'civilisation'?" - Mary Riddell examines the concept in the context of the current crisis, The Observer for October 28, 2001
• "Crying in the wilderness" - John R. Bradly questions the US response to the 9/11 attacks in Saudi Arabia's Arab News for October 27, 2001
• "Where were we?" - Tariq A. Al-Maeena comments on the consequence in the Arab world of the 9/11 attacks on the US in Saudi Arabia's Arab News for October 27, 2001
• "Farewell to democracy in Pakistan" - Robert Fisk takes stock of the US partnership with Pakistan in the current war, in The Independent for October 26, 2001
• "Battling against the odds" - wide-ranging interview with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak with discussion of alternative responses to global terrorism besides attacking Afghanistan, in Al-Ahram Weekly for 25-31 October, 2001
• "A vision to lift the spirit" - Edward Said discusses the importance of basic principles and true education in resolving the crises between Israel and Palestine and between the USA and the anti-US terrorist movement, in Al-Ahram Weekly for 25-31 October, 2001
• "People Smugglers - The Upside" - main section of Margo Kingston's "Web Diary" column in the Sydney Morning Herald for October 25, 2001. "Web Diary" tracks current events and the email Kingston receives in response to them. This entry concerns people smuggling and the impact of refugees on the Australian election scheduled for November 10, 2001.
• "'Brutality smeared in peanut butter'" - Arundhati Roy explains "Why America must stop the war now" in the Guardian Unlimited for October 23, 2001
• "The New War Against Terror" - RealAudio archive of Noam Chomsky speaking at MIT's Technology and Culture Forum on October 18, 2001. A transcript of Chomsky's talk is available on line from ZNet.
• ``Why bombing can go wrong'' - Gary Eason describes the functioning of US air-to-ground ordnance for BBC News Online, 16 October, 2001
• " The War In Afghanistan" - 47 questions and answers by Michael Albert and Stephen R. Shalom in Z Magazine, October 14, 2001
• "Unmasking bigotry behind the hysteria" - the way things are going north of the border: Michele Landsberg describes Canadian attacks on a Canadian academic for questioning US policies, in the Canadian publication The Star for October 14, 2001
• "Bush's War On International Terrorism Fixes The Zapatistas In Its Sights" - John Ross's IndyMedia piece on the impact of the war on the indiginous rights movement in Chiapas dated October 7, 2001
• ``Television journalism icon Bill Moyers speaks in Great Barringto'' - article from the Great Barrington Advocate describing Mr. Moyers' Dowmel lecture on October 4, 2001, in which he shared his observations about the September attacks. ``Bill Moyers: `The Media & Healing''' is a second Advocate article about Moyers and his lecture.
• "Find the Terrorist" - Flash animated cartoon by Mark Fiore
• "The algebra of infinite justice" - Arundhati Roy's commentary in the Guardian for September 29, 2001; see also these responses to Ms. Roy's article
• Michael Albert Interviews Noam Chomsky - from ZNet, Chomsky's view of the war on terrorism, its meaning and, implications
• B92's interview with Noam Chomsky - Yugoslav media entity queries the philosopher/linguist about the terrorist attacks, with comments from readers
• "And our flag was still there" - Barbara Kingsolver's response to the attacks and their consequences in the USA, San Francisco Chronicle for September 25, 2001
• Interview with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson on the September 11 Tragedy - conducted by the CBC's Michael Enright, aired on September 23, 2001. Here is the RealAudio version.
• ``Egyptian Surgeon Said To Be The Brains Of Osama Bin Laden's Outfit'' - Associated Press article about the role of Ayman al-Zawahri in the al-Qaida group, September 19, 2001
• ``A L - Q A E D A '' - CBC background listing of various groups allied with Mr. Bin Laden's organization variously known as "The Base," the Islamic Army, the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, the Islamic Army for the Liberation of the Holy Places

Taliban/Bin Laden/Al Qaeda

• `` Pakistan combs bandit country for bin Laden'' - Martin Benth;am reports for The Telegraph of London, 31 December 2001
• ``On Osama's trail in Peshawar'' - The Times of India examines reports on the terrorist leader's whereabouts, December 31, 2001
• ``Taliban dissidents hint at supporting Karzai government'' - OutThereNews report, 26 December 2001
• ``CIA Paid Afghans To Track Bin Laden'' - Bob Woodward reports for The Washington Post, December 23
• ``Troops May Scour Caves for Qaeda, U.S. General Says'' - Michael R. Gordon with Eric Schmitt report for The New York Times, December 20, 2001
• ``Yemen attacks al-Qa'ida hideout as hunt spreads'' - Andrew Buncombe reports for The Independent, 19 December 2001
• ``Pakistan's Bin Laden dilemma'' - BBC report analyzes the legal and diplomatic consequences should Mr. Bin Laden be captured in Pakistan, 17 December, 2001
• ``Bin Laden guest a veteran fighter who slipped past Saudis'' - Howard Schneider and Douglas Jehl identify Mr. Bin Laden's companions in the guilty-evidence videotape from Jalalabad, story dated December 17, 2001
• ``Mullah Omar, the ascetic with golden chandeliers'' - Pakistan News Service report describes the Taliban leader's compound in Kandahar, updated on 2001-12-15
• ``How Afghan art was doctored to save it from Taliban censors'' - Patrick Cockburn tells the story for The Independent, 15 December 2001
• `` 'Bin Laden rejoicing' video sparks publicity row'' - Rupert Cornwell reports for The Independent on possible videotape evidence of Mr. bin Laden's guilt, 10 December 2001
• ``High noon at Tora Bora?'' - Galal Nassar analyzes the situation for Al-Ahram Weekly, 6 - 12 December 2001
• ``US concerned over Mulla Omar's whereabouts'' - Dawn staff correspondent reports on Washington's concerms. 08 December 2001. Pakistan News Service carried this Afghan Islamic Press report on Mr. Omar's flight: ``Taliban's Amir Ul Momineen running for his life'', updated on 2001-12-08
• ``How Omar led Taliban to power, then defeat'' - Indira Lakshmanan tells the story of the Taliban leader's rise and fall for The Boston Globe, 12/9/2001
• ``Mullah Omar 'is captured''' - Roland Watson, Catherine Philp, and Michael Evans report for The Times of London, December 08 2001
• ``Navy Seeks Bin Laden Shipping Fleet'' - according to this story from ABC News, December 7, 2001
• ``US zeroes in on Somalia Osama link'' - report from the Kenya Daily Nation, December 6, 2001
• ``New Osama found in Ukraine'' - Pakistan News Service report about a Ukrainian wonman's attempt to change her name, updated on 2001-12-06
• ``'We'll fight to the end, martyrdom is our victory''' - Robert Fisk interviews a Taliban official on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in the Independent for 30 November 2001
• `` Deadly game of hide and seek at camp Tora Bora'' - Philip Smucker describes the stronghold possibly containing Mr. Bin Laden in The Telegraph according to this report filed 29/11/2001 (British style, dd/mm/yy)
• ``Analysis: Bin Laden's 'nuclear threat''' - Natalie Malinarich analyzes the evidence for the BBC, 26 October, 2001
• ``In the wake of the Taleban'' - Jim Muir reports on death, torture, and grim life under the Taleban regime, for the BBC, 24 November, 2001
• ``Bin Laden's private life revealed amid rubble'' - Richard Lloyd-Parry reports on the capture of what may have been Mr. Bin Laden's boxer shorts from his home near Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan, in The Independent for 24 November 2001
• ``Mullah Omar Gives Up Taleban Leadership'' - or, rather, he appoints a successor, according to this report in The Tehran Times for November 24, 2001. But see ``Taliban prepare for fierce defence of Kandahar'' by Jonathan Steele in The Guardian for an alternative view.
• ``Hi-tech and hearsay in Bin Laden hunt'' - BBC report on methods which the US hopes will make it unnecessary for a large-scale on-the-ground manhunt for the Al Qaeda leader, 23 November, 2001
• ``Osama's spiritual envoy still walks freely'' - Rashmee Z Ahmed reports on alleged Bin Ladin representative in Europe Abu Qatada for The Times of India, November 21, 2001
• ``Bin Laden tells aides to kill him before Americans get him: report'' - a possible fate for the anti-US leader according to Dawn, 21 November 2001
• ``Good Muslims not tempted by bin Laden bounty: Taliban '' - US offer may not attract bounty hunters according to Dawn, 21 November 2001
• ``Interview with Mullah Omar - transcript'' - BBC Pashto Service talks with the Taliban leader, November 15, 2001
• ``Osama claims he has nukes: If US uses N-arms it will get same response'' - Dawn article about a threat by Mr. Bin Laden, November 10, 2001. Hamid Mir's interview, ``Bin Laden in high spirits, more confident,'' which included this threat, was printed in the same issue of Dawn.
• ``The House of bin Laden: A family's, and a nation's, divided loyalties'' - Jane Mayer writes about the terrorist leader's family and their response to the September attacks, in The New Yorker for November 12, 2001
• ``Bin Laden rails against Crusaders and UN'' - BBC transcript of Mr. Bin Laden's video recording broadcast on the Al-Jazeera satellite television channel November 3, 2001
• "La CIA aurait rencontri Ben Laden en juillet" - Alexandra Richard reports on a possible meeting between Osama Bin Laden and a CIA agent in July 2001, in Le Monde for October 31, 2001 (in French)
• "U.S. met with Taliban on bin Laden" - David Ottaway and Joe Stephens discuss failed US efforts to negotiate a handover of Mr. Bin Laden by Afghanistan's Taliban government prior to September 11, The Washington Post, October 29, 2001
• "Where Are the Women?" - Katha Pollitt discusses the condition of Afghan women and their struggle against both the Taliban and the Northern Alliance in The Nation for October 22, 2001
• "Afghanistan's scholarly soldiers" - Owen Bennett-Jones's view of Taleban members and their motivation, October 13, 2001
• "The Politics of Rage: Why Do They Hate Us?" - Fareed Zakaria's cover story in Newsweek for October 15, 2001
• "Words and Image: Weapons of Other War" - Michael Dobbs analyzes Mr. Bin Laden's skill as a propagandist in the Washington Post for October 11, 2001
• "Bin Laden's warning: full text" - English translation of the video from the BBC
• "Analysis: Decoding Taleban's message" - Daniel Lak reporting for the BBC, September 30, 2001
• ``Inside the mind of Osama Bin Laden'' - BBC News report quoting Mr. Bin Laden's statements over the years
• Interview with Osama bin Mohammed bin Laden - English transcript of a long interview broadcast by Arab television channel Al-Jazeera in 1998 - also available on the conservative site FreeRepublic.com with reader responses after
• "Face to face with Osama Bin Laden" - Rahimullah Yusufzai reports on his interviews with Mr. Bin Laden in May and December of 1998
• " The hatred that drives a zealot" - Robert Fisk's last interview with Osama Bin Laden (1996)
• Who is Osama Bin Laden and What Does He Want? - Frontline's page of links to information about Mr. Bin Laden
• "Inside Al-Qaeda: a window into the world of militant Islam and the Afghani alumni" - report from Jane's about the terrorist organization

The big picture

• ``Policies of Power: An exchange with Walter Russell Mead'' - part one of an email exchange with James Fallows on Atlantic Unbound, December 6, 2001. Part Two continues on December 20, 2001.
• ``Once bitten, forever smitten'' - Maggy Zanger suggests that Iraqi Kurds may not fully support a US war on Iraq, in Al-Ahram Weekly, 6 - 12 December 2001
• ``The Hardest War'' - John Gregory Dunne reviews three books about Pacific battles in World War II, giving a cautionary perspective on present hostilities, in The New York Review of Books for December 20, 2001
• ``Home-Court Advantage: What the War on Drugs Teaches Us about the War on Terrorism'' - Michael Massing makes the comparison in the American Prospect for December 3, 2001
• ``United States Position on Terrorists and Peace in the Middle East'' - speech by US Secretary of State Colin L. Powell at the University of Louisville suggesting, among other things, some steps toward peace between Israel and Palestine, November 19, 2001
• ``The Attack on Human Rights'' - Michael Ignatieff defends the campaign for human rights against charges that they are Western moreal imperialism and not universal human values, in Foreigh Affairs for November/December 2001
• "The Anger of the Damned" - novelist Orhan Pamuk provides a view from Turkey of the terrorist attacks and views of the United States from within the Islamic world(s), in the The New York Review of Books for November 15, 2001
• Middle East Institute - founded in 1946 to increase Americans' knowledge and understanding of the Middle East. See especially the Policy Briefs section and its recent and long-term archive.
• "The Clash of Ignorance" - Edward Said disputing "the clash of civilizations" as an explanation for the attacks on US, in The Nation for October 22, 2001
• Articles by Eqbal Ahmad
  • Dr. Ahmad's three-part search for the origins of modern religious violence in the nature of the modern world itself, published in The Dawn and Al-Ahram Weekly months before his death in May, 1999
    • "Roots of the religious right"
    • "A Jihad against time"
    • "The grim reaper is everywhere"
  • "The Roots of Violence" Dr. Ahmad's 1998 article which forms the opening chapter of the book Making Enemies, Creating Conflict: Pakistan's Crises of State and Society, Edited by Zia Mian and Iftikhar Ahmad
  • "Terrorism: Theirs and Ours" - Dr. Ahmad's lecture at the University of Colorado, Boulder, October 12, 1998
  • "Encounter with a fighter" - Dr. Ahmad interviews Hizbullah leader Sayed Hassan Nasrallah published in July, 1998
• Why people hate America? - Karamat Khan for the Pakistan News Service updated October 6, 2001 (with reader responses)
• ``Report of the panel on United Nations Peace Operations'' - dated August 21, 2000. The panel was chaired by Lakhdar Brahimi of Algeria who is now the UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Afghanistan.
• Islam Information - a page of links on the history of Islam and the meaning of "jihad" plus an English translation of The Holy Quran
• ``License to Kill'' - Bernard Lewis' Foreign Affairs article from November/December, 1998, discussing Usama bin Laden's statement of February, 1998, entitled Declaration of the World Islamic Front for Jihad against the Jews and the Crusaders"
• ``The Roots of Muslim Rage'' - Bernard Lewis' informative article from The Atlantic for September 1990

Early reactions to the September 11 attacks

• Tamin Ansary's now-famous commentary, "Look Before Leaping" is worth reading regarding the prospect of war on Afghanistan.
• "11 September: Some LRB writers reflect on the reasons and consequences" - "LRB" is the London Review of Books (from the October 4, 2001, issue)
• ``The awesome cruelty of a doomed people'' - Robert Fisk's op-ed essay in Dawn for September 17, 2001
• "Bush is walking into a trap" - Robert Fisk's September 16, 2001, article in The Independent
• "Can we find more than revenge?" - Deepak Chopra's take on the attack and the prospect of retaliation
• "A Time For Peace, Not Retaliation" - Elijah Wald's reaction to calls for a swift, strong military response to the terrorist attacks
• "Retaliation", by Howard Zinn responding to the September 11 attack (Zinn does not favor retaliation either).