By Jared Ahmad | – As we mark the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, it is important to reflect on the legacy that event – and the “war on terror” more broadly – has had for the way news media cover terrorism. Though we should be clear that terrorism as we define it […]
Archives for September 2021
The Winner in Afghanistan: China
( Tomdispatch.com) – The collapse of the American project in Afghanistan may fade fast from the news here, but don’t be fooled. It couldn’t be more significant in ways few in this country can even begin to grasp. “Remember, this is not Saigon,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a television audience on August 15th, […]
Top 7 Ways al-Qaeda’s Terrorism Violated the Precepts of the Holy Qur’an
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – One of the great tragedies of the early twenty-first century is that the great civilization of Islam, over 1400 years old and with tremendous achievements should have had its escutcheon besmirched with the terrorism of a small fringe of extremists such as Usama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda. It is the […]
With a Million Electric Cars on the Road, a Quarter of Germans have plans to Buy an EV
By Benjamin Wehrmann | – ( Clean Energy Wire) – Interest in electric cars is growing rapidly in Germany, according to a survey by the Technical Inspection Authority (TÜV). Nearly one in four respondents (23 percent) said they already have plans to buy an e-car or could “very well imagine” doing so. Another 30 percent […]
How social media – aided by bots – amplifies Islamophobia online
By Saif Shahin | – ( The Conversation ) – In August 2021, a Facebook ad campaign criticizing Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, the United States’ first Muslim congresswomen, came under intense scrutiny. Critics charged that the ads linked the congresswomen with terrorism, and some faith leaders condemned the campaign as “Islamophobic” – that is, […]
The Palestinian scramble to earn a living in Israeli-Occupied Gaza starts at school age
By Motasem A Dalloul | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – The start of the new school year in the besieged Gaza Strip saw just under 300,000 students aged between six and 17 turn up for classes; more than 20,000 are attending school for the first time, often in overcrowded classrooms. Despite the difficult […]
The Accumulated Evil of the Whole: That time Bush and Co. made the September 11 Attacks a Pretext for War on Iraq
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Kyle Swenson at the Washington Post reported in 2018 that Floridian Ishnar Lopez-Ramos was in love, but her intended only had eyes for another woman. So Ms. Lopez-Ramos enlisted two 22-year-old accomplices to target the other woman, who worked at the Ross Dress for Less at a shopping Center near […]
September 11 and the Debacle of ‘Nation-Building’ in Iraq and Afghanistan
By Walden Bello | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – In one of his interviews before the Taliban retook Afghanistan, John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, blamed the American failure in Afghanistan on a change in Washington’s mission from anti-terrorism to “nation building.” In his view, Washington should just have held strategic […]
9/11 survivors’ exposure to toxic dust and the chronic health conditions that followed offer lessons that are still too often unheeded
By Roberto Lucchini | – ( The Conversation) – The 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York resulted in the loss of 2,753 people in the Twin Towers and surrounding area. After the attack, more than 100,000 responders and recovery workers from every U.S. state – along with some 400,000 residents […]