"Bring out your dead!"
Even by the flamboyant headline standards of England’s The Sun newspaper (“Worst mum in the world!”), this one was a real attention-grabber: “Deadliest weapon so far … the plague.”
Black Death — the plague — swept through a terrorist…
Today’s exercise, class, is to imagine how historians 50 years hence will summarize George W. Bush’s presidency.
This is a high school survey class — we’re assuming there will still be such a thing as high school in 50 years — so…
That is not a headline you see every day, and this interview is nothing short of amazing, regardless of how you feel about Yousef’s views. Video is here.
Mosab Hassan Yousef — son of popular Hamas leader Sheikh Hassan Yousef (who is currently…
This fascinating story from ABC News details the capture last month in Afghanistan of Dr. Aafia Siddique (or “Siddiqui”; Ar. عافية صديقي), the only woman ever named by the FBI as a top al-Qaeda operative.
Also significant was the “treasure trove” of…
It would be tempting to view the recent stories about the suicide of Army biodefense researcher Bruce Ivins — who was about to be indicted by the FBI for the 2001 anthrax attacks — as long-overdue “closure” to the situation.…
With the start of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games only 9 days away, I’ve compiled a roundup of stories that give some indication of what to watch for as the games begin:
Air pollution: This is undoubtedly the biggest concern leading…
Obama’s highly anticipated overseas tour, which includes visits to countries throughout the Middle East and Europe, has generated a flurry of news coverage in the U.S. and around the world. One sign of the attention being paid to Obama’s trip:…
Not good: “‘More than 100 terror camps’ in operation in northwestern Pakistan”
A few days ago I wrote about the deteriorating situation in northwestern Pakistan and the rise of Taliban power and influence there. Apparently the situation is even worse than the…
The situation in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), which borders Afghanistan, has been going steadily downhill since 2006, when the Taliban began their campaign against the provincial and national Pakistani governments there.
To make a long story short, Pervez Musharraf’s government responded with a schizophrenic policy,…
USA Today reports that a Philadelphia man was arrested and charged with several crimes, including “making terroristic threats” and “corrupting the morals of a minor” after he appeared in a YouTube video encouraging viewers to kill cops.
The Daily News says members of a…
Where is Osama bin Laden?
An interview with an anonymous senior military analyst by NBC’s Robert Windrem explodes many of the media myths.
A “Western military analyst” was asked earlier this month about reports that Osama Bin Laden was seen on the…
(read part 1)
In my last post, I discussed some of the stereotypes and misconceptions that Arabs have about America.
At the same time, many Americans have serious misconceptions about the Middle East. Although some may not admit it, most Americans do…
At The Platform, we are nothing if not responsive. And speedily so.
Several folks have asked to have a space to post comments unrelated to other posts on The Platform.
So talk amongst yourselves. Bring up anything you want to. Have fun.
For…
