In an interview with Newsweek, the head of the National Counterrorism Center, Retired Vice Admiral John Scott, gave an interesting response when asked why it’s so difficult to capture Osama. He compares the situation to Eric Rudolph, who bombed the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, two abortion clinics, and a gay night club. He hid out in the Appalachians for almost a decade:
We had unlimited access—the FBI, local law enforcement—and the guy hid out for an awful long time just by keeping a low profile.
Rudolph had some minor support, but nothing like what Osama has access to. Plus, he’s likely in a foreign, sovereign country where the US has extremely limited access and virtually no human intelligence:
One reporter said the other day, “Well, gee, you’ve got all this great overhead stuff and various surveillance things.” I said, “Yeah. I’d trade those for about three great human sources.”
Scott also underlined why it is so important for terrorist organizations to have a safe-haven, a physical homebase:
NEWSWEEK: What does the progression of terror cases in Britain tell you? Two years ago terrorists actually managed to kill some people. This year it’s these two clowns in Glasgow. They were doctors and engineers who seemed to have some connection to Pakistan and/or Iraq, yet they couldn’t build a bomb. What does this tell you about the evolution of the organization, the evolution of the front-line terrorists?
REED: It shows you the advantage of having a safe haven—a place where you can take someone and not just say, “Here is the formula. Godspeed and go do something,” but rather, “Let’s [try] it. Let’s make it. Let’s see it go bang.”
I’ve been in Dagestan, visiting a friend from university. He lives in the mountains, and I went with him to his village. I plan on putting up pages and albums for each of the places I’ve been, but I don’t have time right now. So, you’ll have to settle for a video of a local delicacy:
Click on keep reading for pictures of some of the most unappetizing fish I have ever seen/eaten. (more…)
I can’t stand this aspect of American culture. While it’s good that we care about safety and human life, often we go way overboard:
A clown has had the smile wiped off his face after being told he couldn’t use balloons in his act because children might be allergic to latex. [He] has previously had to ditch his bubble-making machine because he could not get public liability insurance as companies assessed that youngsters might slip and hurt themselves. He said he was also told by one venue he could not twist balloons into the shape of guns for fear of encouraging youngsters to commit violence, although swords were deemed acceptable.
The world of the Roman Empire and today are remarkably similar. One culture and one language dominated over the others (Hellenization/Western and Latin/English). There was a clear core and periphery. Is it fair to compare the two and draw conclusions? I’m not a big fan of predictions and prophesy, but I do think we ought to learn from the past. I don’t remember who, but some pundit said in the run-up to the Iraq war that we shouldn’t be too hard on Neville Chamberlin and his policy of appeasement, he didn’t have himself as an example - but contemporaries do. Can we say the same about the fall of the Roman Empire and America?
Drawing parallels with the end of the Roman empire, Mr Walker warned there were “striking similarities” between America’s current situation and the factors that brought down Rome, including “declining moral values and political civility at home, an over-confident and over-extended military in foreign lands and fiscal irresponsibility by the central government”.
He left out “barbarians at the gates,” when the civilized world either won’t or can’t defend itself . . . .
This playground in Odessa, Ukraine, is brought to you by ProCredit Bank, because reaching people early is important in branding. When you think of the fun summer days of your childhood, we want you to think of ProCredit Bank, and remember that we’ll be there for you in adulthood as well.
Is this in poor taste or is it just a good way to get a new playground where it’s needed?
My cell phone had a bad run-in with the sea in Yalta and is quite possibly beyond repair. Unfortunately, all of my phone numbers were in there, and not stored on the sim card. I’m really hoping that they can be recovered, but it won’t be anytime soon. My phone can’t download numbers, and I was too lazy to copy down the 200+ that were in there. If If your phone number was in my phone, please email it to me. I’m trying to recompile a list. You can get my email address in the “About” section, on the right side of the screen.
Last time was in Belarus, now I’m in Kiev, Ukraine using the internet. The train station here is actually pretty neat, with a new section added on to the old creating a strange hybrid. The internet cafe is one of the best I’ve ever been in. The connection is fast, clean, and it has a cool interface. The Crimea leg of the trip is about to begin. I’m excited, and looking forward to swimming everyday.
I’m alive, but barely holding on to conciousness. Sitting at a train station right now, first internet access in four days, just wanted to reassure people that I’m still here. Running low on local cash, so this visit it too short to write anything meaningful. Done with two weeks of travel, still have two and a half to go.
