It just depends . . .

Where is the rule of law here?  “Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will.”  This recent New York Times story has left more than a few people very unsettled. The headline poses the dilemma faced by the United States:  Under whose law do we wage war?  Will it be President Obama’s enforcement of the law, or the more widespread official legal system of U.S. Constitutional law – Common Law going back to the Magna Carta of 1215 AD?   It is a terribly slippery slope upon which the so-called “war on terrorism” has embarked.

Stated policy does not have the true force of law.  No matter how clearly the current executive branch system articulates the principles under which targeted drone killings occur, the President under our democratic system cannot act as prosecutor,  judge and jury.  That means either inside or outside of our national borders.  The rule of law applies everywhere.  The rules of war forbid killing of innocent civilians.  No matter how much I politically support this president, plan to vote for him in November, believe in his intellect and skill and see him as my leader, his authority is limited by the Constitution’s separation of powers.  I am not alone in this opinion.  Many civil libertarians find the current revelations about the drone war deeply troubling.

No man is above the law.   Congress represents the people and can speak for them.  The courts interpret the law.  Andrew Bacevich writes in Mother Jones about “America’s Rising Shadow Wars.”  Subtitled, “President Obama has expanded secret military operations worldwide—a policy that carries serious risks,” the author argues that,

From a president's point of view, one of the appealing things about special forces is that he can send them wherever he wants to do whatever he directs. There's no need to ask permission or to explain. Employing USSOCOM as your own private military means never having to say you're sorry . . .
Once in a while, members of Congress even cast votes to indicate approval or disapproval of some military action. With special ops, no such notification or consultation is necessary. The president and his minions have a free hand. Building on the precedents set by Obama, stupid and reckless presidents will enjoy this prerogative no less than shrewd and well-intentioned ones.

The policies of the Obama administration have evolved a great deal since Barack Obama was Illinois’ Senator Obama. Faced with the expectation that our Presidents will keep us safe as seemingly any cost, President Obama has moved a very long way from where he began in his public service.   “Drones: the Silent Killers” is from a Newsweek feature story at the Daily Beast.  It opens with excerpts from Daniel Klaidman’s new book, Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency.  To quote:

• The president's troubled reaction to a botched strike during his first month in office
• His uneasy acceptance of "signature strikes" in Pakistan, or the targeting of groups of men who bear characteristics associated with terrorism, but whose identities aren’t known. Obama didn't like the idea of "kill 'em and sort it out later," says one source
• The formation of a “special troika on targeted killings” that includes Obama, vice chairman of the Joint Chief James “Hoss” Cartwright, and counterterrorism aide John Brennan
• Top State Dept. lawyer Harold Koh wondering, “How did I go from being a law professor to someone involved in killing?"
• The president’s having “no qualms” about the fatal strike on American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki
• Obama’s resistance—and ultimate relenting—to the use “signature strikes” on Yemen’s al Qaeda branch this spring

So when it comes to the rule of law over fighting suspected terrorists, it just depends  on to whom you listen.  We must listen to our President and his National Security Adviser, John Brennan, to Attorney General Eric Holder at the Justice Department, the Office of General Council, Tom Donilon, Chief of Staff/National Security Council, and others in the administration.  And we must also listen to defenders of liberty from the Fourth Estate, the press.

Press References: Rule of Law is my Twitter list showing tweets by a number of civil libertarians, investigative journalists and others who have influenced my thinking over the years.  They include Glenn Greenwald at Salon, the American Civil Liberties Union organization, Jeremy Scahill at The Nation Magazine, Jeff Stein at SpyTalk, Jason Leopold at TruthOut,  Marcy Wheeler at emptywheel.net, the Lawfare blog, and Democracy Now!

Democracy will not be automatic.

image by freeimageslive.co.uk - stockmedia.cc

We must work to preserve Democracy.  Freedom and liberty under a constitution do not come easily, nor will a nation endure without care-taking and effort.  We in the United States have lost something of our constitutional democracy since the turn of the century.  And people in the Middle East stand to gain much if democracy can prevail after their "Arab Spring."

The Arab Spring did not produce a set of Democratic governments.  Although Tunisia probably has the best chance of living under a democratic regime.  Syria is still in the midst of a civil war.  Women’s roles have come under question in all countries in the Middle East.

Civil liberties protections for U.S. citizens took a beating over the years, following the Bush administration's response after the attacks on the U.S. on 9/11/01. The U.S. government has become more and more intrusive into our everyday lives.  Even now the Obama administration is pressing for the renewal of the (FISA) Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Expectations of Democracy as a result of nation building were the hallmark of the previous Bush-Cheney administration. We came to know Neocons back then as they pursued their aggressive war agenda. They continued to have influence in the 2008 campaign. And now they still have not gone away; they are advising Mitt Romney on foreign policy.

Our political parties are less able to work together; they are becoming much more polarized.  The rise of the extreme right wing makes widespread repression of citizens' rights possible.  The government of Michigan has actually taken a turn away from Democracy.  City after city in Michigan is now run by a governor-appointed administrator.

The Occupy movement showed much promise when it began last year. A wide variety of citizens joined the protests. Recently, however, at the NATO summit in Chicago, protesters were not as numerous as some had expected.  The movement has not found its footing yet.

Democracy is not automatic.  We cannot take it for granted that the people of any country will be able to achieve to their full potential.  And we do not easily learn from our mistakes.   One of the keys to building and holding democratic institutions is the election process. The United States and several countries in the Middle East are looking towards electing their next leaders.  The best outcomes will be where citizens know what is at stake and what leadership is really all about.

Subscribe to some of these great Email newsletters from “Congressional Quarterly.”

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 27: U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, seen through a television camera view finder, addresses the Homeland Security Policy Institute January 27, 2011 at George Washington University in Washington, DC. Napolitano announced that the color-coded Homeland Security Advisory System will be replaced by a simpler two-tier system. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

The one that I have read for several years -- 

most of the time from top to bottom -- is: CQ Behind the Lines (CQ Roll Call behindthelines-service@newsletters.cqrollcall.com)

Source: CQ Homeland Security.  Rob Margetta, CQ Homeland Security Editor; Arwen Bicknell, Behind the Lines Editor
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Assessing the threat of terrorism via overhead spycraft -

Image by Defence Images via Flickr

Spying on adversaries from above is one way the U.S. assesses the level of danger from terrorists.  There are many times when those assigned the role of providing protection from the sky go about it in a very big way.  Here's an interesting story about a craft destined for eventual surveillance use in Afghanistan.  It is from today's Wired Danger Room and describes a giant spy blimp that dwarfs an 18-wheeler.

In stark contrast, drones are also getting smaller.  Portability, cost containment, and minimum use of personnel also seem to be attractive to the military.  The DIY-Drone of the Future Is … a Flying Pogo Stick comes again from Wired Danger Room (10/6/11).  To quote:

Darpa is holding a contest to design the military’s next spy mini-drone. So far, the entrants include a flying pogo stick, a sail that lands on mosques, and an unmanned laser shooter.

Those are some of concept videos submitted to UAV Forge, a Pentagon experiment to crowdsource the development of unmanned aerial vehicles. DIY-drone hobbyists are encouraged to work together to create the flying spy-bot of the future. It has to fit in a rucksack and be operated by just one person without any help, guidelines say.

Remotely operated combat drones are not problem free, as it turns out.  Recently it was revealed that a Computer Virus Hits U.S. Drone Fleet.  To quote from another Wired Danger Room article:

[10/7/11] A computer virus has infected the cockpits of America’s Predator and Reaper drones, logging pilots’ every keystroke as they remotely fly missions over Afghanistan and other warzones.

The virus, first detected nearly two weeks ago by the military’s Host-Based Security System, has not prevented pilots at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada from flying their missions overseas. Nor have there been any confirmed incidents of classified information being lost or sent to an outside source. But the virus has resisted multiple efforts to remove it from Creech’s computers, network security specialists say. And the infection underscores the ongoing security risks in what has become the U.S. military’s most important weapons system.

* * * * * * * * * * 

For my readers who follow the subject of national security, I am recommending "Behind the Lines" listed under Free Alerts / CQ Roll Call free newsletters.  To quote briefly from today's newsletter (always so well-done by David C. Morrison):

Holy Wars: Following last week’s CIA hit on U.S. citizens Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan, “the last terrorist left chatting in an American accent is a chubby former metalhead named Adam Gadahn,” Danger Room follows up. “It is possible that Awlaki was assassinated because he was an effective critic of the U.S. government,” Paul Craig Roberts wildly reaches in HoweStreet.com. A new e-book, “The Just Scale — On the Permissibility of Killing the Infidels’ Children and Women,” published by a jihadi forum, attempts to refute mainstream arguments against killing certain types of civilians, IPT News notes. If proven to have been carried out by right-wing extremists, Sunday’s attack against a mosque in the Galilee “will be just the latest sign that Jewish terrorism is gaining steam,” The Jerusalem Post reports. A new online journalism course on Islam appears to downplay the threat posed by global jihadism, suggesting reporters keep the death toll from Islamic terrorism in “context,” FOX News relates.

Given the recent killing of the terrorist al-Awlaki and others in Yemen, predator drone warfare will continue to be the subject of debate among concerned Americans.  Stay tuned.

[Post date: 10/7/11]

Related articles

• Panetta spills _ a little _ on secret CIA drones (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Drones that can see the difference in the faces of identical twins (nextbigfuture.com)
• As the West Celebrates Awlaki's Death, the Mideast Shrugs (nytimes.com)

My Other Blogs: Check out my Amplify blog for synopses of current news stories. My creative website is Making Good Mondays. Follow me at Twitter. And Carol Gee - Online Universe is the home page for all my websites.

On writing about books and authors --

Writing about books is not the primary focus of my blogging.  For that I recommended, in a post in October of 2009, a literary blogger who maintains the Maud Newton: Blog.  Here is one of her posts about a reading of one of her essays in a published collection titled Love Is a Four Letter Word.  Newton is a great writer and a reviewer of books of all kinds.

Since I learned to read I have consumed and cherished good books.  As a reader I joined the popular website, GoodReads.  Over the years I have written a few reviews myself, nothing to compare, of course.  And I have written about authors as well, not formal reviews, but with a focus of what they had written that interested me.  As a blogger, my posts are generally about national politics and world affairs.  In that vein the first such piece, written on July 19, 2005 was about the book, The World Is Flat, by Thomas Friedman.  Luckily ". . . cliff notes" was in the post title.  It landed my post in position #10 of 104,000 in the Google search.  I was surprised and pleased by the popularity of my post, and have been writing about good books ever since.

My first formal book review was written on November 9, 2007.  I was offered a review copy by the publisher of Stone Cold, written by David Baldacci.  (Here is Amazon's current info about the book).  I have no idea how they found me, except that I have long blogged about the Middle East, national security and national intelligence subjects.  Stone Cold is a novel touching on those themes.  Being an anxious-to-please first time reviewer, my review was timely to the date of publication and, for a few days it remained in the top 20 of a Google search.  It has since disappeared from the first few pages in a current search.

What seems to make terrorists tick has always been an area of fascination for me.  After having watched a great C-SPAN feature on the subject I wrote a whole series of posts.  I concluding it March 18, 2008, with a post on Leaderless Jihad.  Forensic psychiatrist Marc Sageman was the author of the book about Middle Eastern terrorists on which he presented so brilliantly on TV.   (This is the current info from Amazon about the book). Today my post remains at #17 of 5300 in a Google search.

Nonfiction is the literary form I prefer, and I remain fascinated by political biography and autobiography.  One of my (s)heroes is the first female Secretary of State, Madelaine Albright.  She served under President Bill Clinton, another of my heroes. Her memoir is entitled Madam Secretary, and I wrote at length about her fine book in a post on January 8, 2009. (Here is Amazon's info about the book).  Today, I often refer to her memoir when I want to find out about the background of the Camp David peace negotiations that happened just before President George W. Bush's inauguration.  I started blogging in March of 2005 in an oppositional reaction to the aggressive invasion of Iraq by the Bush administration.

The author of my most recent book review written on August 31, 2010, also had a negative reaction to the war in Iraq.  Barefoot In Baghdad, was written by Minal Omar, an American Muslim woman born in Saudi Arabia who came to the U.S. at the age of 6 months. Here is more about the book, a memoir  that tells of her living and working in Iraq on behalf of women during the early years of the war. It is now #56 of 103,000 in Google search.  I highly recommend this book, by the way.  Omar has returned to the United States.  We are on the way out of Iraq and the Middle East peace process is still stalled.  According to the well-respected Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erakat, Camp David still has a bearing.  However, Erakat recently stated that President Obama's midterm election losses will not affect  the current peace process.

Image via Wikipedia

My review was another case of being sent a review copy by a publisher, who somehow found out my areas of interest and my contact information.  I seem to be on a number of types of Email lists.  I get news releases from publicists who want my readers to know about expert speakers who are out and about. I still get a significant number of offers of books to be mailed to me for review.  I do not accept any books about which I am uninterested.   And I must confess that I do not always get reviews written about the books I receive.  Some I cannot finish out of boredom, some I find to be pretty inadequate and not worth the effort to write even a negative review.  It has been an interesting side benefit of blogging and one with which I always try to operate in good faith, even if imperfectly.


[11/7/10: Post date]

My Other Blogs: Check out my Amplify blog for synopses of current news stories. My creative website is Making Good Mondays. Follow me at Twitter. And Carol Gee - Online Universe is the home page for all my websites.

Related articles

• Study Of "The New York Times Book Review" Finds More Men Get Novels Reviewed Than Women (thefrisky.com)
• How to Find Trending Topic Using Google Insight Search? (shoutmeloud.com)
• Blog Tours for Books Gaining in Popularity (prweb.com)
• Netanyahu to Meet Biden in New Orleans to Discuss Peace Effort (businessweek.com)
• 'The 39 Clues' enlists David Baldacci for second series (independent.co.uk)
• Netanyahu Heads for U.S. to Discuss Revival of Stalled Talks (businessweek.com)
• Thomas Friedman Googles Stuff [Columnists] (gawker.com)

March: Womens History Month -- Honors to Women of Courage

International Women of Courage Awards were presented on International Womens Day, Wednesday, March 10.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and First Lady Michelle Obama honored a number of outstanding women for their courage in standing for women's rights around the world.  To quote from Secretary Clinton's remarks at the event:

I am particularly delighted to welcome back to the State Department our First Lady, Michelle Obama. (Applause.) This is the second time that Michelle Obama and I have celebrated the International Women of Courage Awards together. It’s a tradition I really like because she is doing so much for women and girls not only in our own country, but around the world. She inspires them. She challenges them. She exemplifies for them the kind of strength, warmth, and grace that so many of us see in her and aspire to for our own daughters. She has made the health and empowerment of young people, particularly young women, a centerpiece of her leadership. And she and I agree on many things, but one that we particularly agree on is that every child should have the chance to fulfill his or her God-given potential. And I just have to thank her for the mentoring programs that she created at the White House, for the special project that she is doing now to tackle childhood obesity, and to really setting the standard for what we want to see in our own country and around the world as well.

And I want to thank and recognize – I want to also recognize Melanne Verveer. (Applause.) Melanne is our country’s first Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, and it’s no accident that that would happen in the Obama Administration, where we would have someone of her experience and expertise promoting the political, economic, and social empowerment of women. As Melanne often reminds us, the world is full of remarkable women whose work goes unnoticed or undervalued. And today, we celebrate some particular women, but they really stand in for millions of other women who are serving their communities and making our world a better and safer place for all.

********** [Each honoree was presented with her award between the following segments]

What we’re going to do now is actually present the honorees. I will read the awards citations and then Mrs. Obama and I will present them with their International Women of Courage Award. I’d like to note that we’re going to start with two women from Afghanistan, so let me start with Shukria Asil – (applause) – as one of four female members of the Baghlan Provincial Council. Ms. Asil has been instrumental in promoting government responsiveness to the needs of Afghan women. She is being honored for pioneering efforts to promote opportunity, justice, and education for women and girls; serving as a voice for diverse members of Afghan society; and at great personal risk, increasing the accountability and responsiveness of the government to the needs of women and girls in Afghanistan. Thank you so much, Ms. Asil. (Applause.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: I woke up to the voice of this next honoree because she was interviewed on public radio, NPR, this morning. And Colonel Shafiqa Quraishi of Afghanistan is the Director of Gender, Human, and Child rights within the Ministry of the Interior. She began her career in the Afghan National Police. She has been at the forefront of integrating women into the government and police force. And she is being honored for her visionary leadership in breaking down barriers to the professional advancement of Afghan women, promoting unity and gender equality, humanitarian activism, and initiating programs to strengthen the Afghan National Police. Congratulations, Colonel. (Applause.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: You heard Mrs. Obama speaking of this next honoree, Sonia Pierre of the Dominican Republic. She was born on Dominican soil to Haitian parents. She is the founder and leader of the Movement for Dominican Women of Haitian Descent, an NGO dedicated to fighting for the rights of vulnerable communities in her country. She is being honored for advancing the cause of social justice, confronting exploitation and discrimination, defending the dignity of persons of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic, and helping marginalized communities develop their own voices for their own future. Congratulations, Sonia. (Applause.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: Ann Njogu of Kenya is the co-convener of the Civil Society Congress – (cheers and applause) – a leader in constitutional reform and head of the Center for Rights, Education, and Awareness. She has been an activist seeking social transformation and working for reform in her native country. She is being honored for progressive leadership in the fight against corruption, the push for gender equality in Kenya, the battle for constitutional reform, and for bravely mobilizing Kenyan civil society to secure the passage of landmark legislation against sexual offenses. (Applause and cheers.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: Dr. Lee Ae-ran of South Korea was born in North Korea. She was a witness to tyranny at a very early age. She defected to South Korea and transformed her life, where she has been a force for promoting human rights of the North Korean refugee community. She is being honored for spearheading initiatives to improve the lives and education of the North Korean refugee community in South Korea, elevating the empowerment of women, and raising awareness of the dire human rights situation in North Korea. Congratulations, Dr. Lee. (Applause.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: Jansila Majeed of Sri Lanka is a women who lived as an internally displaced person for almost 20 years. She became one of the few women activists working on behalf of the displaced Muslim and Tamil civilians and is the managing trustee of the Community Trust Fund in Puttalam Province. She’s being honored for her dedicated grassroots activism and minority community leadership on behalf of women and girls, their empowerment, peace building, relief work, the resettlement of internally displaced persons, and a commitment to bringing society together. Congratulations.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Sister Marie Claude Naddaf is the Mother Superior of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd. She has been a beacon of hope for women and girls who have nowhere else to turn. She is a pioneer in working for social services for women in Syria. She is being honored for her steadfast dedication to ending the suffering of women and girls who are victims of domestic violence, sexual exploitation, and human trafficking. She launched Syria’s first shelter and emergency hotline for women. Thank you so much, Sister. (Applause.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: And the final honoree who could be with us today is Jestina Mukoko of Zimbabwe. Jestina is the Executive Director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project and a longtime leader in the human rights and activist community in her country. She is being honored for her relentless activism for justice and defense of human rights, for bringing attention to widespread violence against women in Zimbabwe, and for pursuing her case to the supreme court, resulting in a victory that has offered hope to her fellow citizens. Congratulations. (Applause and cheers.)

Reference:
Here are some very interesting facts, pulled from the U.S. Census Bureau about the state of womanhood… It comes from Women's History Month, a blog post by Lijit.com (3/5/10).

[Post date: 3/11/10]


Blogs: My general purpose/southwest focus blog is at Southwest Progressive. My creative website is at Making Good Mondays. And Carol Gee - Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for all my websites.

Technorati tags: women State Department International Women of Courage Awards Women's History Month

Peace in the Middle East: What Are the Possibilities

Israel-Palestine -- 

In my opinion, there is no possibility to settle this generational struggle as long as a conservative hawk heads the government in Israel.  It will not matter what any Palestinian leader does, or what progress Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza make.  The two sides are not even talking to each other right now because of Israel's continuation of settlement activity. Our diplomatic man in the Middle East, former Senator George Mitchell, will be attempting to reinvent Henry Kissinger's style of shuttle diplomacy, going back and forth between the Israelis and the Palestinians.  But he is not the only big gun in the region.

Vice President Joe Biden has also gone to Israel to work on restarting the Middle East peace process, it is well reported by Steve Clemons at the Washington Note.  Just to show the United States not to get too cocky about its chances, Israel announced 1600 more buildings in the nation's continued settlement of occupied east Jerusalem disputed territory. Then Israel apologized for embarrassing Biden, according to Yahoo! News. 

Iraq --

The chances for peace seem a bit better in Iraq, though it is still a long shot.  Most of the major differences have yet to be settled.  Sunday was election day in Iraq.  Over 60% of the people turned out to vote for members of the new parliament.  Current Prime Minister Malak, a Shiia,  will probably win the most votes, though not a majority.  This election the Sunnis did not boycott voting, and will gather a lot of votes.  It will, thus, take some months for the PM candidate with the most votes to form a new coalition government.  What will happen in the meantime?

The big question is whether Iraq will descend into civil war when the U.S. withdraws its combat forces.  Will an insurgency begin to gather steam again?  Or will the Shiia, Sunni and Kurdish sectors be able to work out their differences peacefully?  Will all the years of the United States waging a counterinsurgency war in Iraq bear any fruit whatsoever?  For background on our "Counterinsurgency Operations in Iraq," see the video of this fine conference broadcast on C-SPAN  March 5, 2010.  The excellent panel included Patrick Cronin, Andrew Exum, Thomas Ricks and Linda Robinson.

Possibilities for peace in the Middle East were never good under the previous Bush administration, populated as it was by neocons.  It is becoming more apparent that not peace, but domination, was the goal.  A new book by "Bush's brain," Karl Rove is causing a great deal of consternation as he tries to rewrite the last 10  years of history of the region.  Karl Rove's book is about the wrong person, according to a recent guest post by Lawrence Wilkerson at The Washington Note.  Wilkerson's theory is that Vice President Dick Cheney was in charge, and that the war in Iraq was always about the oil needs of the United States.  Cheney's behavior since leaving office bears that out.  He has never been a peaceful man and seems incapable of change.


Possibilities for peace in the Middle East are better under the Obama administration, in my opinion.  They are smarter and more pragmatic.  Its leaders are less troubled by hubris, and less beholden to the military-industrial complex.  I leave you with a great new website for following President Obama's peace processes, when and if they happen:


Reference -- The Middle East Channel on Twitter.


[Post date: March 10, 2010]



See also Behind the Links, for further info on this subject.
Blogs: My general purpose/southwest focus blog is at Southwest Progressive. My creative website is at Making Good Mondays. And Carol Gee - Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for all my websites.
Technorati tags: [tagname]

Middle East and Military -- This and That

Israel and Palestinian territories -- Headlined, "House resolution to condemn U.N. Investigator's Israeli/Hamas war crimes report," the story comes from The Washington Independent's Spencer Ackerman. Reflecting on this news, Matt Yglesias said, "Very last sentence of this Goldstone resolution could be an endorsement of a possible Israeli attack on Iran:" Yglesias added, "Nice assessment of Goldstone resolution: "some valid points...riddled with inaccuracies and misleading statements." To quote TWI:

TWI has acquired the text of a congressional resolution that may be introduced in the next few days condemning the findings of U.N. investigator Richard Goldstone’s report into war crimes during Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza this past winter.

The resolution — drafted by Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), Dan Burton (R-Ind.), Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) and Howard Berman (D-Calif.) — which condemns Goldstone’s work in very harsh terms, is sure to generate controversy in Congress, within the Obama administration and among peace watchers.

This headline followed the publication of the congressional resolution article. It is another story by Spencer Ackerman at the Washington Independent (10/30/09): "J street is unable to support the Congressional Goldstone resolution." To quote from the story:

In a statement to be sent to supporters, J Street, the pro-Israel-pro-peace American Jewish lobby group, is urging members of Congress not to pass to significantly modify a resolution condemning U.N. investigator Richard Goldstone’s report into war crimes committed by Israel and Hamas during last year’s conflict. That resolution, strongly supported by other American Jewish organizations, fails to call for, among other things, “independent investigations by both Israelis and Palestinians.”

Iraq war fallout -- The Washington Independent's Daphne Aviatar reported that, "Al-Qaeda Assistant [was] Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison." To quote: "Depending on who you ask, the sentencing yesterday of Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri to eight years in prison is either evidence that the civilian federal judicial system can successfully handle terror cases, or evidence that it’s a dismal failure." Daily Kos liked what Adam Server said about the issue:

RT @AdamSerwer: Former Al Qaeda member sentenced in civilian court, somehow, America survives.

Iran -- TWI News posted this: "Iran Has Reportedly Rejected the Vienna Nuke Deal." And The Nation Magazine posted this: "Why Obama's Iran Policy Will Fail." And it posted this: "Iran Split on Nukes."

Defense spending -- Marc Ambinder made a wry observation regarding the availability of a couple of jobs at the prison at GTMO BAY: "Not closing down too soon, I guess. RT @defensejobs: Arabic Linguist II - Chenega Corporation."

References saved from recent weeks on Twitter:

"Tehran Plans to Execute 3 Protesters of Election http://bit.ly/2De1FE," is from the New York Times (10/10/09).

"Palestinians' anger mounts over Gaza report http://bit.ly/pqxGj," is from The Huffington Post (10/9/09).

"Senate approves $636B Pentagon bill: The Senate on Tuesday approved a $636 billion Pentagon spending bill after.. http://bit.ly/Te52p," is from The Hill (10/6/09).

"Iraqis, Americans seeking a new relationship http://bit.ly/DWj0d," is from McClatchy (10/5/09).

"For U.S. combat soldiers, new role in Iraq is frustrating http://bit.ly/1eKlle," is from McClatchy (10/5/09).

"Military Memo: Clear Voice of Bush’s Pentagon Becomes Harder to Hear http://bit.ly/PRhv5," is from the New York Times (10/4/09).

"Israel Agrees to Release Prisoners in Return for Information on Soldier http://bit.ly/10XgvE," is from the New York Times (9/30/09)

"Senior administration official says US and Russia preparing joint intelligence assessment of Iran's ballistc missile capabilities," is from Marc Ambinder (9/17/09).

Informed Comment: Afghanistan Election Run-Off, Italian Scandal, Lahore Attacks on Eve of Obama Decision

President Obama is now said to have completed his policy review of Afghanistan and now to be moving toward making a decision about whether he will pursue a wide-ranging counter-insurgency strategy that implies substantial investment in state-building (as recommended by Gen. Stanley McChrystal and apparently by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton), or whether he will adopt the much more modest counter-terrorism strategy proposed by Vice President Joe Biden.

It now seems increasingly likely that there will be a run-off in the Afghanistan presidential contest between incumbent Hamid Karzai and his chief rival Abdullah Abdullah. As fraudulent ballots have been tossed out, Karzai's margin of victory has apparently fallen below the 50% threshold that would have allowed him to avoid a run-off. Since, however, Abdullah Abdullah's support largely comes from the Tajik (Dari Persian-speaking Sunnis) ethnic group, and Karzai's strongest support comes from anti-Taliban Pashtuns, there are fears that the run-off might produce increased ethnic tensions and even violence. On the other hand, had Karzai been declared the victor on the basis of clearly fraudulent ballots, it would have fatally undermined the legitimacy of his government.

via juancole.com

Dr. Juan Cole is among the most trustworthy of Middle Ease experts. He has amazing contacts and speaks who knows how many of the languages.
The thing about the run-off election is the timing. It has to happen very rapidly before winter shuts down everything. It is not certain that President Karzai will certify the UN election panel's findings, either. President Obama has no good or easy options for his long awaited Afghanistan strategy.

Posted via web from Southwest Postings

High profile journalists weigh in on the Afghanistan plan --

There are a number of good reasons for the Obama administration to review the plan for Afghanistan and Pakistan.  The election of an Afghan president has yet to be settled; a runoff may be necessary.The strength of the Taliban insurgency has nearly quadrupled since 2006.  Reuters reported that, "A U.S. intelligence assessment, showing the number of fighters in the insurgency has reached an estimated 25,000 from 7,000 in 2006, spotlights Taliban gains and the tough choices facing President Barack Obama in trying to reverse the trend."  Senators are beginning to take one side or the other in the debate.  Senator Levin, chair of the Armed Services Committee, came out early as opposed to sending any more troops.  More recently Senator Inouye, heading the Appropriations Committee, is supporting General McChrystal's plan.  Glenn Greenwald, writing for Salon.com, on Tuesday effectively analyzed what is at stake in this for Democrats.

Arianna Huffington led the political news headline lists on Wednesday with her provocative piece titled, "Why Joe Biden Should Resign."  Like so many other readers, my first thought was, "my goodness, what has he done now?"  And I immediately clicked on the HuffPo article.  Well, the Vice President's only transgression was to do what the man who chose him expected.  Joe Biden staked out the other end of the spectrum of the escalate-now view.  And Huffington's article calls upon Vice President Biden to resign in protest if the military's escalate-first view becomes the centerpiece of the administration's strategic plan.

Politico.com published an excellent article about who might have leaked General McChystal's Afghanistan assessment to the Washington Post's Bob Woodward.  Ben Smith offers a wide range of plausible possibilities, but no conclusions, except that the leak highlights the divisions within the Obama administration  over a future Afghanistan strategy.  And it really does not matter who leaked the information, because the administration has no plans to focus on finding the culprit or hero, depending on your point of view.

George Will wrote a column for the Washington Post on September 1 that recommended "Reduce troops and revamp Afghan strategy."  He concludes unequivocally:

U.S. forces are being increased by 21,000 to 68,000, bringing the coalition total to 110,000. About 9,000 are from Britain, where support for the war is waning. Counterinsurgency theory concerning the time and the ratio of forces required to protect the population indicates that, nationwide, Afghanistan would need hundreds of thousands of coalition troops, perhaps for a decade or more. That is inconceivable.

So, instead, forces should be substantially reduced to serve a comprehensively revised policy: America should do only what can be done from offshore, using intelligence, drones, cruise missiles, air strikes and small, potent special forces units, concentrating on the porous 1,500-mile border with Pakistan, a nation that actually matters.

Genius, said de Gaulle, recalling Bismarck's decision to halt German forces short of Paris in 1870, sometimes consists of knowing when to stop. Genius is not required to recognize that in Afghanistan, when means now, before more American valor, such as Allen's, is squandered.

Roger Simon, also of Politico, wrote an excellent and very clear-eyed piece last month that discussed the evolution of the United States mission in Afghanistan over the years.  The terms used were "mission creep to mission gallop."  The pace or destination is central to the administration's current strategic planning project.  Simon's stark conclusion is one with which I tend to agree.:

So send more troops, or lose the whole shooting match. It is easy to see why the memo was leaked. The Pentagon does not want Obama to go wobbly on Afghanistan. It wants him to stay and fight. And stay and stay and stay.

“I don’t have a deadline for withdrawal,” Obama told David Gregory on “Meet the Press” Sunday, “but I’m certainly not somebody who believes in indefinite occupations of other countries.”

But if Iraq was George W. Bush’s war — and it certainly was — Afghanistan has now become Barack Obama’s war. He wasn’t the president who started it, but he can be the president who finishes it.

Or he can be the president who stays there indefinitely.

Because I am not one of the high profile journalists featured in today's post, I am a bit reluctant to weigh in myself.  But I will.  My vote for President Obama was predicated upon his commitment to get out of Iraq and go after Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.  I believed that the U.S. needs to finish the job ignored by the Bush administration.  That does not mean replay Iraq in Afghanistan.  It is time to get back on point -- pursuit of Al Qaeda.

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FT.com / Asia-Pacific / Pakistan - Swat blast targets Pakistan army

At least 41 people were killed in Pakistan on Monday in a suspected Taliban attack on a military convoy near the northern Swat valley.

The attack was the latest in a string of offensives that have ignited fears that the militant group is returning to an area it was ejected from by a Pakistan military campaign in the summer.

via ft.com

Following on the heels of a Taliban attack on Pakistan's army headquarters, it appears that the Taliban are intent on preventing the government's planned attacks in Waziristan.
These events should leave no doubt that Pakistan and Afghanistan are two elements of a regional problem. The difficulty is that the U.S. must deal with two entirely different governments, with very different vulnerabilities and characteristics.
Each new piece of news makes it all the more important to get the U.S. strategy right.

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Afghanistan is a riddle wrapped in an enigma for the U.S..

Afghanistan is grabbing its share of headlines this week. Multiple intense meetings are taking place at the White House. Various of the key players have come down publicly on one side or the other about what to do next. Violence continues in "Af-Pak," as it became known early in the Obama administration. Defining who the primary adversaries are in the region has not been settled. Friction is being between the military and civilian elements within the governments of both the U.S. and Pakistan. And everybody is weighing in with opinions. Today's post is my attempt to clarify the basic elements of the current situation.

A suicide car bomb killing at least 12 people was intended for the Indian embassy in Kabul, according to the New York Times (10/8/09). The previous day the same paper published an analysis by Peter Baker and Eric Schmitt that explains that the Afghan war debate now leans towards a plan to focus on a campaign against Al Qaeda in Pakistan. It is not known whether this view is accepted by the entire Obama war cabinet.

The central debate question seems to hinge on the nature of the current relationship between the Taliban and Al Queda. The administration pointed out to the Times in an anonymous interview that there are fewer than 100 Al Qaeda fighters left in Afghanistan. Recent successes with surgical strikes against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan may make that country less central to U.S. strategy. Another anonymous official characterizes the strategy as one of viewing the Taliban, militants local to Afghanistan and jihadist Al Qaeda as very different. President Obama has reiterated that his goal is to protect the United States and to prevent the jihadis from getting safe haven. Mark Knoller reported on Twitter that "a WH official says Obama received a 'comprehensive intelligence and counterterrorism assessment' on political & diplomatic situation in Pakistan." The unpredictability of the future of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan has to eventually be settled by the President.

President Obama requested an early look at General McChrystal's troop request from Defense Secretary Gates, according to McClatchy on Wednesday. The President wanted to read it before the top military officials reviewed it so that it would not be leaked to reporters as was McChrystal's Afghanistan assessment. This may suggest friction between the military and the commander in chief. And there has certainly been friction between General McChrystal and his superiors because of his public stances, and because of the leak -- source unknown.

Pakistan's army has similarly objected publicly to the conditions in the $1.5 billion U.S. (Kerry-Lugar) aid package still to be signed by the President, McClatchy reported. The objection, according to McClatchy, caught the administration by surprise and comes at a time just prior to a planned offensive towards militants in the border region of Waziristan. And it pits the military "against the fragile civilian government of the Pakistan Peoples Party, which has championed the U.S. assistance deal," as well as against the opposition in parliament. The bill has a number of requirements including, "monitoring and certification of Pakistan's action against terrorism. . . requires the country to work to prevent nuclear proliferation and to show that its military isn't interfering in Pakistani politics." Pakistan's Foreign minister, on a trip to Washington, played down concerns over the bill, while acknowledging that the language could have been more sensitive to Pakistan's sovereignty. Marc Ambinder posted this on Twitter:

"RT @nickschifrin: Is the Pakistani military statement of doubt about the Kerry-Lugar bill in #Pakistan a game changer?" It was linked to a related BBC News story explaining more about the nature of the Pakistani military's objections.

Finally, many of us remember Charlie Wilson's War. Huffingington Post reports that Wilson now thinks that we ought to consider a new strategy regarding the war in Afghanistan. "I'd probably shut it down, rather than lose a lot of soldiers and treasure," noting the President's "very tough situation." See the Scranton Times-Tribune for the fascinating interview.

Afghanistan is a very difficult region of conflict, with no simple answers for the U.S. Pakistan, and even India, are all parts of one puzzle. Pakistan's weak government will probably not fall over its own internal dissension, and the Waziristan campaign will probably begin. The President is not going to withdraw troops from Afghanistan or aid from Pakistan. His plans for a strategy will emerge in the next few weeks. It will almost certainly be a very complicated plan, as it should in these enigmatic circumstances.

References:
"Gross: Massive Fraud in Afghanistan Election," is by Nasrine Gross at Juan Cole's Informed Comment (10/7/09).

"Robert Kaplan on the Regional Dimensions of Afghanistan," is from Steve Clemons' The Washington Note (10/7/09).

"Guest Post by Michael Cohen: The Trouble with Counter-Insurgency," is from Steve Clemons' The Washington Note (4/1/09).

"Battle of Books rages in Afghan debate," is from The Wall Street Journal at Memeorandum (10/7/09). Regards Lessons in Disaster and A Better War.

" 'Code Pink' rethinks its call for Afghanistan pullout," is from the Christian Science Monitor at Memeorandum (10/7/09).

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What the polls are saying these days is of passing interest to some --

Polls appear to be the only reality to others, particularly the mainstream media. For me they are an interesting snapshot of what people are feeling these days. They should not be taken as "the gospel truth," however. Popularity polls and approval ratings can vary widely from week to week, for example, while polls about deeply held beliefs will be more stable over time. The leaders depicted at Mount Rushmore achieved their popularity only after the lessons of history were learned and their achievements came into more realistic perspective.

People think President Obama is doing a bit better these days as the leader of the USA. The president's job approval rating increase is associated with his handling of a number of issues. Among them are the economy, unemployment, health care, terrorism, the budget deficit, taxes and the war in Afghanistan. The only decline was shown to be the war in Afghanistan. The headline, "Poll: Obama's approval rating jumps 6 percent," is from The Huffington Post (10/6/09). It regards a new AP poll. To quote:

President Barack Obama's approval ratings are starting to rise after declining ever since his inauguration, new poll figures show as the country's mood begins to brighten. But concerns about the economy, health care and war persist, and support for the war in Afghanistan is falling. . . The economy was the biggest concern, with 88 percent saying they consider it extremely or very important. . .

People think Congress is doing worse. And it is no wonder. August saw a Republican push for "tea party" demonstrations against health care reform, disrupted town hall meetings, and slow progress by the Senate Finance Committee. And both Democrats and Republicans are upset with Congress. The approval rating has fallen from 39% in March, to 31% last month, to 21% currently. "Approval of U.S. Congress falls to 21%, driven by Democrats," is the Gallup headline (10/6/09). To quote:

Congressional approval rose sharply in the months after President Obama's inauguration, from 19% in January to 31% in February and 39% in March. Approval then began to slip gradually, dipping to 31% by the end of the summer, before falling precipitously in October. Given the current 21% reading, it appears that any "honeymoon" period for the 111th Congress has eroded.

Poll results can vary by race. In this case it has to do with how well people feel the economic stimulus package worked to help the economy. The headline, "Poll:Stimulus views vary by race," is from Politico (10/6/09). To quote:

The poll, sponsored by New America Media, a corroboration of 2,500 ethnic media outlets, reported that less than 40 percent of whites, Hispanics and Native Americans said the stimulus has made the economy better, compared to 59 percent of African-Americans and 47 percent of Asian-Americans.

Among the overall sample of 1,000 respondents, 40 percent said the stimulus has made the national economy better.

“The American public currently believes that the stimulus package has not had a major impact on the national economy,” wrote pollster Sergio Bendixen in his analysis of the survey. “Only African-Americans believe that President Obama’s stimulus package ‘has made the economy better.’”

People are not optimistic about the war in Afghanistan. Many feel that the U.S. is bogged down in the region. The Presidential election results also may have fed the feelings of pessimism. "Americans expecting no resolution in Afghanistan," is the headline from CQ Politics (10/5/09). To quote:

Majorities of American adults think the war in Afghanistan cannot be won and that its most likely conclusion would be no conclusion at all, according to a poll by Clarus Research Group conducted Oct. 1-4.

To summarize, at the moment the President is up, and so are feelings about the economy (except for unemployment). Congress is down and so are feelings about the war in Afghanistan. It all could change next week, so stay tuned and remember polls are not reality.

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South Asia plans keep members of the media breathless with curiosity

Planning for next steps in Afghanistan continues -- National Security Adviser former Gen. Jim Jones will brief the full House on the Afghanistan situation in a closed meeting later this week in the Capitol Visitor Center, according to The Hill. White House advisers appear to be split on what to do in Afghanistan. Administration spokesman, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, has ruled out the option of leaving Afghanistan and also refused to rebuke Commanding General Stanley McChrystal's very public stance. Congressional leaders head to the White House on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the worsening situation , adding their input to help the President make his decision. "President summons congressional leaders on Afghanistan strategy," is the headline from The Hill (10/5/09). To quote:

The meeting comes amid mounting casualties in the eight-year war and as President Barack Obama weighs a pending request for 40,000 more troops from the leading commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal.

It is the first time in six months that House Republican leaders have been invited to the White House to discuss official business; Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) are both scheduled to attend. If Obama decides to send all the troops McChrystal wants, he will probably need Republican votes to sustain the escalation.

Pakistan pushes back -- Congress passed an aid package for Pakistan of $1.5 billion a year for the next five years last week. President Asif Ali Zardari acceded to the demands of Congress contained in the law. Pakistan agreed to end support of terrorist groups in its country. It will also make sure that its military does not interfere with civilian politics. The headline, "U.S. Push to Expand in Pakistan Meets Resistance^," is from The New York Times (10/6/09). To quote:

Steps by the United States to vastly expand its aid to Pakistan, as well as the footprint of its embassy and private security contractors here, are aggravating an already volatile anti-American mood as Washington pushes for greater action by the government against the Taliban.

Short takes from others --

Chuck Todd^ tweets (10/5/09), "Ponder this: Obama admin sees al Qaeda has an org U.S. needs to DESTROY while the Taliban is a group that needs to be DEFEATED. Thots?"

"Gates to Army: We'll follow Obama's orders on Afghanistan," is from McClatchy News (10/5/09). I favor McClatchy for providing the most helpful coverage of the situation in the war zones.

"Voice of Bush's favored general is now harder to hear," is by Elizabeth Bumiller at the New York Times (10/4/09). Her report refers to General David Petraeus.

"Obama Meets Advisers on Afghanistan; Ismail Khan Warns against US Troop Surge," is by Professor Juan Cole at Informed Comment (10/1/09). Good analysis from my favorite Middle East expert.

"Containing a Nuclear Iran#," is by Fareed Zakaria from Newsweek Magazine (10/3/09). HT to my regular contributor of links, Jon for this good piece.

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Kuddos to ProPublica for its good investigative journalism.

ProPublica is a nonprofit investigative news organization that shares its material with all of us, making it available to freely republish. Following are a couple of very good articles.
The story of Alhurra has been on their agenda for over a year. The latest piece by Dafna Linzer (9/17/09) reports that Alhurra will now be reviewed by the State Department Inspector General. Alhurra is essentially a propaganda broadcast operation set up by former President George W. Bush to put out information on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. The original ProPublica investigation was undertaken jointly with CBS's 60 Minutes. It's investigation, according to Linzer,

revealed serious staff problems, financial mismanagement and long-standing concerns inside the U.S. government and Congress regarding Alhurra's content. Those stories led to congressional inquiries in the House and Senate. The station has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $600 million since it began broadcasting in 2004.

The problems that have plagued this broadcast operation are only part of what is currently on the Obama administration's radar screen. The State I.G. has sent out a questionnaire to all employees to begin its work. Alhurra, which has cost taxpayers $600 million so far, is rated very low in popularity in the Middle East, it has experienced high rates of staff turnover and it was investigated last year by both the House and the Senate.
The current administration's intentions are not clear at this point. The article reports that Walter Isaacson will be nominated to head the Broadcasting Board of Governors that oversees international government broadcasting, and believes that no decisions about the controversial broadcasting station will be made before the new BBG chairman is seated. Visit ProPublica's web page for a complete list of links to its previous articles on Alhurra.

**********

ProPublica recently published another very useful article by Emily Witt (9/10/09), titled: "Bush and Obama: A Counterterrorism Comparison." It is a side by side comparison to the two administrations' stances regarding "Interrogation, Rendition and CIA Black Sites, Detention, Military Commissions, Secrecy and Warrantless Wiretapping and Surveillance." Witt summarized by saying,

. . . what exactly has changed? Abusive interrogations have been banned, but renditions to other countries will continue. The prison at Guantanamo Bay has been ordered closed, but that hasn’t proven easy to do. Meanwhile, prisoners at the Bagram air base in Afghanistan — even those detained in other countries -- can still be held without charge. Memos on CIA interrogation practices have been released, but the details of some programs are still smothered In sum, there are clear differences between Bush and Obama, but some policies have stayed the same in the name of national security.

[Post date - September 18, 2009]

My all-in-one Home Page of websites where I post regularly: Carol Gee - Online Universe
Technorati tags: news news and politics middle east ProPublica

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Intelligence bytes --

Intelligence refers to being smart, to finding out things that protect the national security of the U.S. and its allies, as well as - in my book - to operating under the rule of law, as the Constitution requires. The Obama administration has had a difficult time moving away from the previous administration's lack of intelligence regarding national security matters. There are still far too many secrets. We are increasingly mired down in Afghanistan. We are still too dependent on civilian contractors for war fighting. And the intelligence services are still in need of more diversity. But some things are in a state of flux. Today's post gives a few bytes about the latest. (Image credit: Von Rosen)

American Civil Liberties Union fights an important intelligence document transparency battle -- Even though Attorney General Eric Holder has started an investigation of the C.I.A.'s abuses involved in the Bush administration's so-called "enhanced interrogation" programs, the Obama administration's lawyers are still trying to avoid revealing important classified documents in court related to the highly questionable programs. The petitioner, the ACLU is going to ask that the documents be declassified similarly to the documents opened last week by the current administration.

Afghanistan loses an important Intelligence official -- With some questioning the wisdom of U.S. presence in Afghanistan and others questioning the validity of its presidential election, the Taliban continue to target Afghanistan officials cooperating with the United States. In Mehterlam in an eastern province of Afghanistan considered to be relatively safe, the second in command of the Intelligence services for the country, Dr. Abdullah Laghmani, has been assassinated by a suicide bomber outside of a mosque. At least 23 people were killed in the Taliban attack and it will be a big blow to the Afghani government, according to Al Jazeera.

Important CRS report cites vulnerability because of the lack of intelligence shown by this trend -- According to the New York Times, contractors outnumber U.S. troops in Afghanistan. And when they are not properly managed you have a setup for another Abu Ghraib or Blackwater murder of civilians. This also means that it is the highest contractor to military ratio in the history of any war in the history of the U.S. Over the past two years it has averaged 65%, according to the Congressional Research Service report cited.

Importance of diversity spotlighted by Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair -- On a more positive note, C-SPAN rebroadcast an appearance Tuesday by former Admiral Dennis Blair, Director of National Intelligence, before a gathering of representatives of Historically Black Colleges. The event was to announce grants and give recognition to partnerships with minority educational institutions who have recruitment and training programs in national intelligence work. Multi million grants were announced. along with awards for participation in the Intelligence Community's Centers of Academic Excellence program. (See Blair's and others' remarks, pdf-10 p.)

National Intelligence, long an area of focus for this blog, is challenging, maddening, confusing and occasionally heartening. Today brings some bad news and a bit of good. Stay tuned.

[Post date - September 2, 2009]

See also Behind the Links, for further info on this subject.

Blogs: My general purpose/southwest focus blog is at Southwest Progressive. My creative website is at Making Good Mondays. And Carol Gee - Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for all my websites.

Technorati tags: news news and politics national intelligence obama administration

David Baldacci - At it again: a reprise

[Original post date - 11/9/07] Thursdays usually focus on the wars, the Middle East or national security. Baldacci's books are thrillers about national security.

Best selling novelist, David Baldacci's new book Stone Cold came out this week, and I was privileged to read an advance copy. What fun it was to discover this new (to me, at least) author. He writes about one of my blog's favorite fascinations, the federal government. " Spooks, Spies - Eyes and Ears in the Skies," is one example. I cannot imagine where I have been all this time.

During the past ten years, 13 of Baldacci's books have been bestsellers. They should have been familiar to me, because my blogs are often written about what is behind the door of chilling government power -- spying, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, illegal domestic surveillance and threats to civil liberties, all subjects woven through the scenes in this author's books.

This novel's fascinating main characters will be familiar to dedicated Baldacci fans because Stone Cold is the third in his popular Camel Club series. Traits found in lead characters were carefully woven in moral shades of gray in several previous novels; two of the best sellers were "The Collectors" and "Simple Genius." And the new book does not disappoint; we meet people who span the warp and woof of good and bad, flawed and heroic. Baldacci uses an interesting technique; he lets his readers in on his character's thoughts via italics. For example - a CIA man trying to find his targets reflects on his experience:

. . . Gray's men had checked. Still, with Carter Gray's resources no one should be able to simply vanish. No wonder these terrorist sleeper cells were proving nearly impossible to uncover. America was too damn big and too damn free. In some ways the Soviets had had it right: Spy on everybody because you never know when a friend might turn into an enemy.

Baldacci's fiction tapestry is that of government. His is not the government you and I would know from mainstream media accounts. Baldacci's is a very recognizable shadowy universe that hides spooks, spies and assassins, the CIA, the FBI, the NSA, the Secret Service, and even the Chair of the Senate Intel committee. He introduces a new character in this book, nemesis "Harry Finn." Psychologically astute, Baldacci often lets you know what his characters think. Here is a wonderful example:

. . . And when Gray had left the government, he had also left most of his protection behind. . . but Finn was confident he would eventually get to the man.

When Finn looked at the life he had now as part of a family of five in a quite ordinary Virginia suburb complete with a lovable dog, music lessons, soccer matches, baseball games and swim meets, and compared it to the life he has as a child, the juxtaposition was close to apocalyptic in its effect on him. That's why he rarely thought of these things close together. That's why he was Harry Finn, King of Compartmentalization. He could build walls in his mind nothing could pierce.

With this novel I walked into what seem to be very complex and realistic scenes from the high powered world of governance. I now know what I have been missing -- a dynamite read, at times almost literally. Because his characters have the latest nifty gadgets and like to blow things up, a computer becomes the weapon in one of the author's intricately interwoven plot lines. To quote from the book:

Finn had been able to get his device past security because it didn't have any explosive materials in it. Instead, the device had been designed to ignite a chemical reaction inside the components in the CPU. It was a reaction that would make the otherwise harmless CPU a bomb, a possibility no one in the computer industry would want you to know.

Meet Baldacci's well known hero, "Oliver Stone." Asked in a Publishers Weekly interview why he named the lead character after a famous film director, Baldacci said, "Stone the film director has a reputation for taking on controversial subjects. Naming my character after him was an act of homage to a man who isn't afraid to take unpopular positions." To quote the author from another interview:

Oliver Stone first entered my imagination when I was a young lawyer. I walked past Lafayette Park in the mid-1980s and saw the protesters there. Fast-forward nearly twenty years and the sign, "I want the truth," is flying proudly in that same park, at least fictionally. Gray characters are the most interesting. They have flaws, divided loyalties, moral complexity, and internal debates about what to do. Do the ends always justify the means? We've seen it recently with the Bush administration where you had former Attorney General Ashcroft and his top lieutenants ready to hand in their resignations over the warrantless surveillance matter.

To quote from Stone Cold's subsequent park scene from above, Oliver Stone approaches the White House:

He would never be allowed to enter the front gates and lacked even the right to stand on that coveted side of Pennsylvania Avenue. What he could do was wait in Lafayette park across the street. He used to have a tent there until the Secret Service made him take it down. Yet freedom of speech was still alive and well in America and thus his banner had remained. Unfurled between two pieces of rebar stuck in the ground, it read, "I want the truth." So did a few other people in this town, it was rumored. To date, Stone had never heard of anyone actually finding it within the confines of the world capital of spin and deceit.

This skilled writer will introduce you to fast-paced and easy to follow threads of intrigue, mystery, complex twists and turns guaranteed to keep you turning the pages. In Washington D.C. for book signings on Wednesday, David Baldacci is scheduled to be in Richmond, VA on Saturday, Nov. 17. He plans to be at the Barnes and Noble store on Brook Road at 2:00 p.m., if you live in the area.

In conclusion -- and because I am also a reading advocate -- I learned that Baldacci and his wife are passionate about keeping families reading. In 1999 they founded the "Wish You Well Foundation." The organization's mission is to support family literacy in the U.S. by fostering and promoting the development and expansion of new and existing literacy and educational programs.

Partnering against the cold of hunger -- His foundation has recently partnered with America's Second Harvest: The Nation's Food Bank Network, the largest domestic hunger-relief organization in the U.S. to donate books to families in need. The joint initiative is called "Feeding Body and Mind." Donations are coming in from all around the world, and they are now seeking corporate sponsorship to continue broadening their efforts.

My “creativity and dreaming” post today at Making Good Mondays is about Twitter.

Technorati tags: domestic surveillance writing government Baldacci review

See also Behind the Links, for further info.

Blogs: My general purpose/southwest focus blog is at Southwest Progressive. My creative website is at Making Good Mondays. And Carol Gee - Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for all my websites.