StormWarning’s Counterterrorism

This has gone far enough!  A Spanish version of the Star Spangled Banner?

O say can you see a Spanish national anthem?
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/28/anthem.inspanish.ap/

An Anthem’s Discordant Notes
Spanish Version of ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ Draws Strong Reactions
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/27/AR2006042702505.html

This is an outrageous, somehow politically correct step.  Its not even a direct translation!

There are plenty of other links than the CNN article available, all to suit your needs. Along with this border security and immigration reform queso, this is un-freaking-believable!

You still want to allow illegal immigrants to become legalized? They’re going to have their own language version of our National Anthem. Maybe there will other Hispanic language changes to historic documents and American icons in the future! Just because 12 million people broke the rules, doesn’t make the rules wrong. This is un-freaking-believable!

And it isn’t just me.  President Bush has finally come down on the right side of an immigration issue!

Bush Enters Anthem Fight on Language
President Bush has never been shy about speaking Spanish in public, and he is known to love all kinds of music: country, folk and even Tex-Mex style rock. But one thing you will not find on his iPod: "Nuestro Himno," the new Spanish version of the national anthem that was released on Friday as part of the growing immigrants’ rights movement.

Asked at a news briefing in the Rose Garden on Friday whether he believed the anthem would have the same value in Spanish as it did in English, Mr. Bush said flatly, "No, I don’t."

"And I think people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English," Mr. Bush said. "And they ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English."

Current Affairs, Federal Policy, Opinions

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Well, lets take a look at the newest Zarqawi tape courtesy of US CENTCOM and their analysis, "What Extremists are Saying."

From the email I received from Public Affairs (along with other people on their distribution list), On 25 April, The Global News Network posted a statement issued by The Mujahidin Shura Council in Iraq [Majlis Shura al-Mujahidin fial-Iraq] announcing a new message from Abu-Mus’ab al-Zarqawi, leader of the Al-Qa’ida Organization in the Land of the Two Rivers (I.E. Iraq), and provided links to a 34-minute 4-second video statement titled, "This is a Declaration to the People." In it, al-Zarqawi rages against the democratically-elected Iraqi government, encouraging Iraqis and foreign fighters to wage war within the country.

Bill Roggio of the new Counterterrorism Blog has a link to the transcript as well. 

But apparently there is much more to this.  Has he re-emerged because he has lost political power, or does his re-emergence signal a replenishment of his power?

In an article from ABC News, "Messages from two al Qaeda leaders within three days highlight the increasingly symbolic role of Osama bin Laden and the rise of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as the dominant operational figure.

Bin Laden rehashed some familiar themes in a tape released on Sunday, accusing the West of waging a "crusade" against Muslim countries and urging militants to open a new front for holy war in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region.

Zarqawi, al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq, warned Sunni militants against abandoning the insurgency and promised further attacks as Prime Minister-designate Jawad al-Maliki sets out to form a government of national unity.

The striking difference was one of presentation…"

From the same article, "He’s not someone who is trembling or fearful. He feels victorious to the point of arrogance, he’s talking as if he had already won victory."

Zarqawi was shown speaking with an assault rifle alongside him, and later firing long bursts from an automatic weapon — apparently deliberate echoes of earlier bin Laden videos.

Zarqawi tape reveals shifting al-Qaida fortunes
Group’s leader in Iraq taking on larger operational role, analysts say
Messages from two al-Qaida leaders within three days highlight the increasingly symbolic role of Osama bin Laden and the rise of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as the dominant operational figure…

…The striking difference was one of presentation.

Bin Laden issued his message in the form of an audiotape and has not now been seen on any new video since October 2004, fuelling speculation he is either sick or is hiding at a remote location with limited access to technology.

Zarqawi, for the first time, issued a lengthy on-camera statement in which the bearded Jordanian appeared without a mask or disguise — a bold move for a man with a $25 million reward on his head who narrowly escaped capture by U.S. forces in Iraq in February 2005…

From the BBC:  First Zarqawi video ’significant’

From the Christian Science Monitor: 

Zarqawi message: ‘I’m still here’
Iraqis react negatively to video of terror leader, who was until now seen by many as fictional.

A different view was expressed by MRead who has in the past contributed original material to my friend Moon’s side of this blogspace when he wrote on TMF (I happen to disagree with MR’s view on this), "…I think Zarqawi lost it deciding to change attack emphasis from military to civilian targets not realizing how this would turn many Iraqis against him and his group. His reasoning may have been to limit cooperativeness of Iraqis such as those joining the police force yet what he accomplished was to shutter a job market many Iraqis needed. In any event, it didn’t work: recruitment for the armed forces and for police work is up.

Bin Laden, in his most recent tape, said that all are combatants. This I see as a sincere tactical error much in line with the one made by Zarqawi. Bin Laden may have meant that civilian targets in the land of the infidels is acceptable but it will be taken – and especially by Iraqis – that any Iraqi is also fair game. Right now, without bin Laden’s tape, many Iraqis feel they’re targets just for being Iraqi…"

So, lets ask this question about policy and terrorism.  We know who the really bad guys are.  They’re still running loose.  Rumors of the deaths of bin Laden and then Zarqawi have been bandied about numerous times, and yet…and then of course, when Zarqawi was removed from the (figure)head of al Qaeda in Iraq, many, including myself, wrote him off.  And yet, now, he’s back.  Zarqawi is far from being a myth, he’s real.  And many of those supposed pundits and "great posters" on current events who declared him dead or wounded are planting flowers in their gardens and sipping wine.

Over and out for now.  Lets see what other analysts have to say about this.  Asking the question again, "Has he re-emerged because he has lost political power, or does his re-emergence signal a replenishment of his power?"

PS:  Thanks to CENTCOM for keeping me on the distribution list.

Current Affairs, International Issues, Iraq, Opinions

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I am reminded by a comment made to me very recently by a Mexican businessman who said, "Your people trained these people" (referring to the Zetas).

Nuevo Laredo Cop on Guard Duty Slain

Gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons on a pair of municipal police officers Tuesday afternoon, killing one and wounding another as they guarded a police official’s home.

Officer Jesus de la Cruz died at the scene. Officer Juan Flores Quiroga was taken to a local hospital, where he was listed in stable condition…

…The shooting was similar to an April 18 incident in which gunmen opened fire on two officers guarding a home that had been searched by federal forces. One officer died in that shooting.

No arrests have been made in either case.         

Another attack occurred Tuesday in Mexicali, where at least 10 assailants in bulletproof vests and hoods shot at and threw grenades at a convoy carrying Manuel Diaz Lerma, who oversees the police forces of Baja California state.

Diaz Lerma’s vehicle, which is bulletproof, escaped the attack, but a vehicle carrying bodyguards was perforated by bullets and shrapnel, injuring three officers, said state Attorney General Antonio Martinez Luna.

At the shooting scene in Nuevo Laredo, neighbors poured limestone powder on a large puddle of blood on the sidewalk. The puddle was so large that a construction worker used a wheelbarrow load of concrete mix to cover it.

Then they prayed.

"Please bless this soul so that he may protect his colleagues so they won’t be next," prayed Flor Rodriguez…

So, who is responsible for this continuing violence, and what policies are needed to stop it?

Its not politically correct, but I continue to support the Border Security and Immigration Reform initiative as represented by HR4312 and HR4437.  It doesn’t look like the Congress as a whole has the backbone to pass anything close to those, and that watered down version will in their own ways, permit illegal immigration.  Now, how do you stop the southern border incursions without U.S. troops killing Mexican nationals?

Current Affairs, Federal Policy, National Security, Opinions

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Always reliable Al-Jazeera aired a new, purported bin Laden tape in which he refers to the "blockade" by the West of Hamas in Israel/Palestinian territories.

bin Laden refers to the West’s crusader war against Islam; he calls for actions in the Sudan and Dafur.

…The tape broadcast Sunday was the first new message from bin Laden since Jan. 19. That tape was posted in full on a Web site a month later and included a vow by the terrorist chieftain never to be captured alive…

"…"I have sworn to only live free. Even if I find bitter the taste of death, I don’t want to die humiliated or deceived," bin Laden said, in the 11-minute, 26-second tape…"

Jerusalem Post
CNN
NY Times
Fox News

Bin Laden calls for war against UN peacekeepers
…US intelligence officials believe bin Laden is hiding in the mountains on the Afghan-Pakistan border. They say he is separated from Ayman al-Zawahri, his deputy, who is able to issue tapes with greater frequency and is probably now exerting more control over the terror network…

Bin Laden calls United Nations as "infidel" body
Osama bin Laden called the United Nations an "infidel" body used to implement "crusader-Zionist" schemes against Muslims, according to new sections of an audiotape aired on Sunday.

"It is an infidel body and whoever accepts its resolutions becomes an infidel. It is a tool to implement crusader-Zionist resolutions, among which are the resolutions of war against us (Muslims) and those to divide and occupy our land," bin Laden said in the tape aired on Al Jazeera television…

Walid Phares on the new Counterterrorism Blog also provides a post in which he lists the ten main points made by bin Laden.

Additional analysis by Walid Phares:

One more time Al Jazeera pomotes an Usama Bin Laden speech. After airing portions of the Bin Laden audiotape al Jazeera posted large fragments of the “speech” on its web site. This was the longest version possible we were able to have access to. After careful reading, my assessment of the “piece” got reinforced: This is not just another audiotape or videotape of a renegade in some cave. Regardless of who is the speaker and his whereabouts, the 30 minutes long read statement is a declaration, probably as important as the February 1998 declaration of war against America, the Crusaders and their allies.

This is a “state of Jihad address” by a Terror-leader who projects himself as the supreme leader of all Salafi Jihadists in the world. The document provide guidelines and vision to the followers across the continents: A call for mega-terrorism and a fiery delivery of a bloody war in all directions. Not one single civilization and religion got away from Usama’s grapes of wrath: Muslim moderates, Shiites, Christian Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox; Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and Atheists as well. Europeans, Chinese, Indians, Semites, Africans and others were all deciphered as Kuffars, infidels…

bin Laden is seemingly alive and is free to roam the mountains of Pakistan (where I continue to believe he hides) and is at worst, the publicity generator for al Qaeda.  Everytime he speaks or appears, he motivates more and more jihadists to take up arms.  He incites the violence.

Now, who said killing bin Laden isn’t important?

Current Affairs, International Issues, Opinions

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Sami Al-Arian is being deported!  Couldn’t convict him, so in a deal reached for him to plea guilty to a lesser charge! BTW, his deported destination is currently unknown.

* Federal authorities have decided to deport a former University of South Florida professor and long-time Palestinian rights activist after failing to convict him on charges he helped finance terrorist attacks in Israel…

* …"My understanding was that he was to plead guilty" to conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization, said William Moffitt, who represented Al-Arian until a judge allowed him to withdraw from the case last month. The deal calls for Al-Arian to receive a sentence roughly equal to the time he has served behind bars since he was arrested in February 2003, Moffitt said…

* …A Palestinian who was born in Kuwait, Al-Arian has lived in the United States for 30 years and holds permanent residency status. He was raised mostly in Egypt…

* …No one answered the phone at the home of Al-Arian’s wife, Nahla.

The lawyers spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been made public by the court…

http://www.tampatrib.com/MGB4QU3F1ME.html
http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=28819
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/14/AR2006041401149.html

Al-Arian plea deal made public
Judge James S. Moody, Jr., accepted the terms of the plea agreement Monday. Sentencing has been scheduled for Monday, May 1.

Steve Emerson writing on the Counterterorrism Blog has a great analysis and listing of the relevant documents his his post, Sami al-Arian Admits His Terrorist Connections.

Check out the documents provided in Emerson’s post:

• Download alarian_conditional_plea_order.pdf
• Download alarian_guilty_plea_consent_form.pdf
• Download alarian_magistrate_guily_plea_form.pdf
• Download alarian_plea_agreement.pdf
• Download alarian_plea_unsealing_transcript.pdf

One down, how many more to go?

• Technorati Sami Al-Arian

Current Affairs, Domestic Terrorism, Opinions

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First there was Arafat and al Aqsa, and Hamas, and Fatah, and Hezbollah.  And then there was an election in which Hamas won.  Did anyone actually believe that things would change?

A few years ago on the night of the First Sedar there was an horrific bombing at a hotel in Netanyah.  Does it end there?  No.  So, in another brutal Passover attack, Hamas has killed 9 people, and then justified it as a response to Israeli aggression.

Suicide Bomber Kills 9 at Tel Aviv Eatery
…The new Palestinian government, led by Hamas, called the attack a legitimate response to Israeli "aggression."  Or as this yo-yo said, "We think that this operation … is a direct result of the policy of the occupation and the brutal aggression and siege committed against our people," said Khaled Abu Helal, spokesman for the Hamas-led Interior Ministry.

Israel said it held Hamas ultimately responsible — even though a different militant group, Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility — and would respond "as necessary."

"We shall, of course, continue to use all means at our disposal to prevent every other attempt," Israeli Prime Minister-designate Ehud Olmert said…

…The White House strongly condemned the attack, calling it "a despicable act of terror for which there is no excuse or justification…"

US: World should note Hamas praise for bombing
Countries seeking to promote Middle East peace should note the praise offered by the Hamas-led Palestinian government for the lethal suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, the State Department said Monday…

One very big difference this time is that if/when the Israelis strike back at Hamas, they will be shooting at the elected government of the Palestinians.  This is more than a small complication IMO.

Previously:

• Fatah vs Hamas (UPDATE)
• Random Thoughts on the Hamas Victory

Current Affairs, International Issues, Opinions

2 Comments »

This is an excerpt from an older paper I wrote and published on the subject of technology transfer and entrepreneurship titled “Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer…The Anti-Process.” This paper was originally presented at the IEEE Conference on "Successfully Applying Advanced Technologies to Emerging Commercial Markets" on May 24, 1995, but is still relevant today.

I offer it here now as another installment on my personal experiences in technology development, and because it is an original piece.

These cases demonstrate how a progressively greater amount of time and personal funds to advance the development of these selected applications was invested, and still found the system unable to meet entrepreneurial needs. The following questions remain: “…when has the government done its share, not only to advance the science, but also to reduce the risk to an acceptable level for the entrepreneur or small business?”…“isn’t it the government’s role to facilitate the evolution of a technology from the lab to the market?” Clearly, “acceptable risk” is open to interpretation and debate.

a) The 1990’s will become known as the decade of the entrepreneur. [2]. Whether because of necessity or a rare entrepreneurial adventuresomeness, our nation’s future economic health may depend on how well we apply the tenets of innovation and entrepreneurship in developing advanced technologies and forming high-technology-based companies. [3] Dr. David McClelland etal. began to correlate a factor described as "n Ach" (or "need for achievement") to the ability to achieve transfer of technology. This is one of the more important and often least present factors in the technology transfer process. These motivational factors; success, achievement, profits etc., are the entrepreneurial reward elements of consummating a licensing or utilization of one of the subject technologies. The term "n Ach" refers to the rate of frequency at which an individual spontaneously produces thoughts dealing with doing something well or better than before, or better than someone.

McClelland described the "man of high n ach" as a "practical entrepreneur, or innovator who constantly sets goals just a little beyond his immediate reach in practical situations where he could find out fairly promptly and objectively how well he had done." Further the innovator/entrepreneur "…sees the possibility of matching an advance in technology with a social need and who can build an institution that will make the transfer possible.” McClelland also correlated "high n Ach" with the "rapid transfer of technology…if the general climate is achievement oriented, more energetic entrepreneurs are likely to come forward to transform technical innovations into social usefulness.” McClelland also drew the obvious conclusion that business people were more likely to facilitate the transfer of technology than "professionals".

Also, the concept of "entrepreneurial management" is consistent with McClelland’s approach to "n Ach". Success in technology transfer can be affected by the creativity and innovativeness of the people and organizations participating in the program…the least often replicated part of the technology transfer process.

We believe that the special talents and insights that enhance the efforts of a technology transfer program can be defined by the technological entrepreneur.

• Making “achievement” paramount over all other values can accelerate technology transfer.

• The "mover of the technology" should be an outside influence that can be integrated into and across the various cultures involved in the commercialization process.

• In "private enterprise," government is often responsible for financing the basic R&D or the technological advances based on that research, while private industry must market these advances.”

• Organizations can become more achievement oriented through a system of incentives and rewards." [4]

The “techpreneur” has the inherent spirit to withstand the “body contact” of the technology transfer process, and the vision needed to achieve a successful transfer to industry. While the science is still being evolved, the risks (and potential rewards) of commercial development are the highest. Thus, working as “advance scouts” in the process of technology conversion, techpreneurs go “behind the lines,” becoming involved in the earliest stages of the basic R&D to “ferret out” potential technologies…before venture capitalists will invest in the venture

Often, however, the funding mechanisms do not exist to facilitate the support by the lab of these early “prospecting” activities. During this time, the techpreneur seeks out interesting technologies, gathers information, looks for matches between “technology need and technology solution,” validates an idea, and begins to dimensionalize the risk associated with a technology venture. Only then is a determination made that there is a “team” to be formed (and “team members” identified). Clearly, unless justified as part of the defined “mission” of the lab and its personnel however, the time and funds required for the lab to participate with industry are limited. The result is a system that does not permit entrepreneurs to enter into an exploratory (“prospecting”) program without significant expense while validating what the government should already be able to provide!

b) Even though it has been acknowledged that a radical change is needed, we are still stuck in the “Old Paradigm.” In today’s rapidly changing environment, it is unrealistic to expect that any individual, organization or business group possesses all of the requisite skills and capabilities to convert a new technology into a business development venture. The importance of the intricate management skills required to motivate the cultures of the academic, research and industrial worlds to act in concert as a “virtual organization” have been demonstrated.

There have been many documented attempts at establishing high-technology incubators and energizing centers at local universities. These technology transfer programs are stuck in the “old paradigm,” depending upon academicians, scientists, lawyers and financiers, and most of all, the “non-profits” to manage the process. The insertion of a “venture manager” imbues entrepreneurial drive and business development expertise to accelerate the transition of new technologies from federal labs, and result in the re-employment of available engineering talent.

It is believed that management intervention will accelerate the
commercialization of federally funded technologies. [5] However, our recently
disappointing experiences clearly indicate the need for continued change in the
methods and guidelines governing industrial interaction and technology transfer.

(c) Private industry has to be willing to assume two risks in commercializing federal technologies; one is technological and the other is economic. The technological risk comes from the inability of the laboratory researcher to foresee and solve all of the technical problems that can arise in converting the R&D results into a new product, process or service. When technical difficulties arise, the federal researcher has the greatest depth of knowledge of the subject and has the ability to make the most significant contributions to solving them. Generally, no provision is made to pay for the services he could provide in assisting in solving these technical difficulties. Often, neither the federal laboratory nor the commercial entity has budgets for such activities. Unless the work falls within the Principal Investigator’s funded program or the private company pays for the R&D, the scientist is forced to contribute to the project on his own time. The economic risk comes from the investment that the commercializer must make in solving the technical problems that may arise, modifying the new technology where necessary, and determining (and then confirming) the existence of a market for the technology. Further, even if a market for the new technology exists, the commercializer must protect for his investment, either as a license to a federal patent, or through the issuance of a private patent.

d) Investors must recognize the important opportunities of early stage support of innovation. Although existing federal programs have made important strides in assisting defense firms in seeking to diversify into civilian markets, by limiting support to funding of dual-use R&D, these initiatives have not offered remedies to the credit crunch that has impacted small and medium sized defense contractors. [6] Private investors with the vision to provide support of industrial, applications oriented R&D when matched by government funds are needed. To take maximum advantage of our nation’s store of science and discoveries at the fed labs, even to participate in a CRADA to explore the potential commercial value of fed lab technology, substantial funding is required. Often, these projects are too “early stage” for funding.

1. Dr. Arthur A. Ezra, "Technology Utilization: Incentives and Solar Energy," Science Magazine, Volume 187, Number 4178, pages 707-713, February 28, 1975.
2. Mr. Wm. Harrell, “The Third Market…The Entrepreneurial Movement Will Save America,” Success, July/August 1992, pg. 9.
3. Peter Drucker, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, New York Publishing Co., 196, page 107-145.
4. David C. McClelland, The Achievement Motive …with a new preface with hindsight  (1950-75) by John Atkinson, Irvington Publishers (distributed by Halstead Press),  N.Y. 1976
5. Mack Hanan, "Corporate Growth Through Venture Management," Harvard Business Review, pages 43-61, January-February 1969.
6. Erik R. Pages, Director, Business Executives  for National Security, “Next Steps in Business Conversion: Supporting Innovation and  Entrepreneurship,” November 1993.

© 1995 StormWarning

AS PRESENTED IN THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE 1995 IEEE Dual-Use Technologies and Applications Conference, May 24,1995

Hope you enjoyed it.

Technology

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Its probably the most overt statement of what we’ve all known for some time, but now its been said.

Al-Qaeda no. 2: We must eliminate Israel
In video posted on internet, Bin Laden’s deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri praises insurgents in Iraq, says ‘eliminating Israel is duty of every believer’

Al-Zawahri – an Egyptian who is Osama Bin Laden’s deputy in al-Qaeda and is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan or Pakistan - said he was making the video to mark the fourth anniversary of the December 2001 battle of Tora Bora, in which U.S. Forces besieged bin Laden and al-Qaeda fighters in mountainous caves of Afghanistan…

[note to self...this is either a memorium to those who died in Tora Bora or a statement that basically goes, "yneh, yneh...ya missed me!"]

He pointed to Israeli opposition to the Islamic terror group Hamas’ entering Palestinian elections. He did not mention Hamas’ victory in the voting, a possible indication the video was made before the January elections…

…"Bush, son of Bush, eliminating Israel is the duty of every believer," Al-Zawahri said…

Al-Qaeda no. 2 urges Hamas to fight on

In video footage broadcast on Al-Jazeera, Ayman al-Zawahiri calls on group to continue armed struggle, not to accept ’surrender accords’ between Israel, PA .

Al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri urged Hamas to fight on and not to accept agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel…

I know that I wrote it somewhere on the morning of September 11th…this has its focus on Israel and on the Middle East.  "This" is far from over.

Current Affairs, Opinions

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How many of you all have atleast one memory stick in your arsenal of cyber-toys?  Would it surprise you that these little cyber sticks have become a security risk?

Memory Sticks and Gangster Tricks
Counter-intelligence officials, whose job it is to prevent secrets from being stolen, are getting hit with new threats. The more familiar problem is petty theft. In Afghanistan, and to a lesser extent Iraq, cleaning and maintenance staff, have a an annoying tendency to steal whatever they can get away with. For security reasons, many of the cleaning personnel in Iraq are imported non-Iraqis. These people are less likely to steal, not just because they have a harder time fencing the stuff, but because they can lose a good job, and be shipped home, if they get caught. In Afghanistan, hiring locals is less of a security risk, and there it has been discovered that memory sticks are very popular items to steal…

…Those who have stolen data in this way are not going to advertise the fact. That’s because they may still be doing it, or because there is an advantage in having something your enemy doesn’t know you have. It will be years before the extent of the damage is known, just like happened after the Cold War ended, and the U.S. discovered how may successful spies the Soviet Union had inside America. So while you don’t know the details now, you know what the headlines will say.

U.S. scours Afghan markets for stolen drives

A shopkeeper outside the U.S.-led coalition headquarters in Afghanistan was selling computer memory drives containing seemingly sensitive military data stolen from inside the base — including the Social Security numbers of four American generals.

This shopkeeper was apparently not the only merchant in local bazaars trying to get some cash in exchange for hardware and software containing such files.

USB memory sticks: Security timebomb?

Just think about it.  At least consider it the next time you take a suit or pair of slacks to the cleaners and might have left your memory stick in one of the pockets.

National Security, Technology

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There is a new, "worth reading" paper on Global Terrorism Alert written by Evan Kohlmann.

Read the whole paper if you will, but "it ends with":

Undoubtedly, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi still harbors dreams of spreading the jihad in Iraq westward through the Middle East, launching operations in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and beyond. Perhaps the shifting of responsibilities within the Mujahideen Shura Council to a growing share of native Iraqi hands will free his workload enough to permit greater focus on such grand schemes. However, it is a mistake to believe that Zarqawi has any intention of leaving Iraq anytime soon or, conversely, abandoning the jihad there. Before the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, Zarqawi was a captain without a ship—a mid-level dissident Al-Qaida commander on the run and considered too “volatile” by his superiors to be an effective organizer. Since then, Iraq has become the predominant engine driving forward jihad around the world—ideologically, militarily, and otherwise. The stubborn Jordanian upstart has always insisted he would stand by his mission in Iraq “until the black banner of al-Tawheed flutters in the sky over Iraq…or else we achieve martyrdom.” For Zarqawi to willingly surrender any part of his glorious jihad movement in Iraq—for him to take even one step backward—would be a defeat of staggering proportions. Rather, the Askariyya mosque bombing should serve as a tragic reminder of Zarqawi’s determination to adopt any means necessary in order to stop the “New Dayton” and safeguard the jihad that he regards as his own—even if that means deliberately sacrificing hundreds of innocent Sunni Muslims in a disastrous civil war pitting Iraqis against Iraqis.

International Issues, Iraq

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I have no idea how long the article will remain searchable through Google Search but I’ve copied the entire article for posterity.  Regardless, I’m going to attempt to respect Stratfor’s copyright and not post the entire article in this post.

Borderlands and Immigrants
April 04, 2006 17 57  GMT
The United States has returned to its recurring debate over immigration. This edition of the debate, focused intensely on the question of illegal immigration from Mexico, is phrased in a very traditional way. One side argues that illegal migration from Mexico threatens both American economic interests and security. The other side argues that the United States historically has thrived on immigration, and that this wave of migration is no different…

…to begin with, it is absolutely true that the United States has always been an immigrant society. Even the first settlers in the United States — the American Indian tribes — were migrants…

…The Scots-Irish were dramatically different culturally, and their arrival certainly generated stress. However, they proved crucial for populating the continent west of the Alleghenies. The Scots-Irish solved a demographic problem that was at the core of the United States…If the U.S. population remained clustered in a long, thin line along the Atlantic sea board, with poor lines of communication running north-south, the country would be vulnerable to European, and especially British, attack. The United States had to expand westward, and it lacked the population to do so…

…Logic would have it that immigration should undermine the economic well-being of those who already live in the United States. But this logic assumes that there is a zero-sum game. That may be true in Europe or Asia. It has not been true in the United States…

…Now, it would seem at first glance that the current surge of Mexican migration should be understood in this context and, as such, simply welcomed. If immigration is good, then why wouldn’t immigration from Mexico be good? Certainly, there is no cultural argument against it; if the United States could assimilate Ukrainian Jews, Sicilians and Pakistanis, there is no self-evident reason why it could not absorb Mexicans. The argument against the Mexican migration would seem on its face to be simply a repeat of old, failed arguments against past migrations.

But Mexican migration should not be viewed in the same way as other migrations…

…Simply put, these immigrants (from Europe and elsewhere) did not represent a geopolitical threat; even if they did not assimilate to American culture — remaining huddled together in their "little Italys" — they did not threaten the United States in any way. Their strength was in the country they had left, and that country was far away. That is why, in the end, these immigrants assimilated, or their children did. Without assimilation, they were adrift…

…The Mexican situation is different. When a Mexican comes to the United States, there is frequently no geographical split. There is geographical continuity. His roots are just across the land border. Therefore, the entire immigration dynamic shifts…

…This has nothing to do with Mexicans as a people, but rather with a geographical concept called "borderlands…"

…Borderlands can be found throughout the world. They are the places where the borders have shifted, leaving members of one nation stranded on the other side of the frontier…

…Borderlands sometimes are political flashpoints, when the relative power of the two countries is shifting and one is reclaiming its old territory…

…The U.S.-Mexican frontier is a borderland. The United States, to all intents and purposes, conquered the region in the period between the Texan Revolution (1835-36) and the Mexican-American War (1846-48). As a result of the war, the border moved and areas that had been Mexican territory became part of the United States. There was little ethnic cleansing. American citizens settled into the territory in increasing numbers over time, but the extant Mexican culture remained in place. The border was a political dividing line but was never a physical division; the area north of the border retained a certain Mexican presence…

…We are in a period, as happens with borderlands, when major population shifts are under way. This should not be understood as immigration…

…The immigration debate in the U.S. Congress, which conflates Asian immigrations with Mexican immigrations, is mixing apples and oranges…

…One way to lose control of a borderland is by losing control of its population. In general, most Mexicans cross the border for strictly economic reasons. Some wish to settle in the United States, some wish to assimilate. Others intend to be here temporarily. Some intend to cross the border for economic reasons — to work — and remain Mexicans in the full sense of the word…

…The current congressional debate is about "immigration" as a whole, but that makes little sense. It needs to be about three different questions:

1. Immigration from other parts of the world to the United States

2. Immigration from Mexico to areas well removed from the southern border region

3. Immigration from Mexico to areas within the borderlands that were created by the U.S. conquests

Treating these three issues as if they were the same thing confuses matters. The issue is not immigration in general, nor even Mexican immigration. It is about the borderland and its future. The question of legal and illegal immigration and various solutions to the problems must be addressed in this context…

Its all about the money…and sending it back to Mexico and the families.  That is why I am against this "guesat worker" program.

• Technorati immigration, guest worker

Current Affairs, Federal Policy, National Security, Opinions

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