Cold War approach to terror offers chilly results
According to a report from US and EU intelligence officials, there has been little success in penetrating the upper echelons of the al-Qaida organisation since the United States declared its "war on terrorism" over a decade ago, largely due to a continued reliance on Cold War tactics. The 1970s approach of infiltrating organisations with spies and offering cash rewards to informants has floundered, as agencies lack people with appropriate language skills or backgrounds, and also because radical Islamists have proven unwilling to abandon religious causes in exchange for material profit. Instead of prioritising training and skills development, intelligence services have focused heavily on technology, assuming spy satellites and high-tech equipment could compensate for deficits in human resources.
While the CIA enjoyed limited successes in Afghanistan and Iraq - buying off warlords and informants with suitcases full of money - al-Qaida’s central organisations in Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained totally immune to leaks. In spite of working alongside Arab intelligence agencies from 1992-2004 in the hunt to find Osama bin Laden, no progress was made into cracking the network, and the head of the unit eventually resigned. Compounding the problem of the organisation’s extreme discipline is the disposable quality of its soldiers, which create an even greater security risk for foreign spies attempting to move through the al-Qaida ranks.
The toD verdict: The failures of the intelligence services echo the failures of the military in that they reflect an unwillingness to pay attention to the realities on the ground, and instead prefer to respond to imposed fictions. Rather than training spies in Arabic or recruiting potential double agents - not an impossible task, as several Americans have been successfully inducted into al-Qaida in recent years- agencies have chosen to channel money into initiatives that have proven ineffective and hopelessly out of touch. Perhaps in another ten years or so they will decide to fix the problem.
Palestinian talks collapse
Power sharing talks between rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas failed after Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas blamed Hamas officials for refusing to concede leadership. The talks took place in Yemen, and were mediated by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who called for a new round of elections and the institution of a national unity government. Hamas officials said they were willing to enter into a power sharing agreement if their prime minister, Ismail Haniya, was reappointed.
China escalates crackdown against Tibetan protestors
In spite of recent assertions that protests had calmed, Chinese news agency Xinhua now reports that anti-Beijing protests have moved beyond the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China (TAR) and that the Chinese government has responded with a harsh crackdown on protesters. Hundreds of troops have been deployed to Tibetan regions and all foreign journalists have been evacuated from the country in the largest response to the protests since they began on 10 March. Twenty-four people have been arrested and over 170 people have "turned themselves over" to the authorities since the uprisings began.
Bin Laden issues threat to EU
In a new internet audio posting, Osama bin Laden threatened the European Union for insulting the prophet Muhammad following the re-issue of the controversial cartoons of Prophet Mohammed in major newspapers across Denmark. Released on the prophet’s birthday and the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war, bin Laden accused the EU of going “overboard in your unbelief” and claimed that the EU was intentionally targeting Muslim women and children on behalf of US interests. Bin Laden is believed to be hiding somewhere between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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Following leaders’ repeated insistence that China needs a stronger military to control crises domestically and abroad, Beijing has recently approved a 17.6% increase in China’s military budget, bringing the annual amount to €38 billion. The attention to the military has drawn international scrutiny, as neighboring countries fear China is trying to fashion itself into a military superpower. Others worry about the country’s plans for Tibet. Although China has claimed that it only intends to modernise the army and improve living conditions for soldiers, it has clearly decided to model this process on matching US military strength, stating that it no longer wants “to be pushed around."
Russia requests NATO meeting over Kosovo arms supply
Russia issued a request for an emergency Russia-NATO council meeting after the US authorised a decision to provide arms to Kosovo on Wednesday. According to the Russian news agency Itar-Tass, Russia has accused Washington of violating international agreements by offering Kosovo arms, and challenged the claim that they will be used to fight terrorism. Alongside Belgrade, Russia has stood in firm opposition against Kosovo’s independence from Serbia.