The war on terror has been about scaring people, not protecting them The ease with which the plane bomber could operate exposes the vacuity and recklessness at the heart of the US response to 9/11 Gary Younge guardian.co.uk, Sunday 3 January 2010 21.00 GMT So there was no ticking time bomb. No urgent need ever arose to torture anybody who was withholding crucial details, so that civilisation as we know it could be saved in the nick of time. No wires had to be tapped, special prisons erected or international accords violated. No innocent people had to be grabbed off … Continue reading The war on terror has been about scaring people, not protecting them

Is there a connection between the mindset of those who study engineering as a subject, and violent extremism? Brian Whitaker guardian.co.uk, Saturday 2 January 2010 14.00 GMT Amid all the discussion of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and his activities prior to boarding flight 253 for Detroit, the fact that he spent three years in London studying mechanical engineering has attracted relatively little attention. A degree in engineering has no obvious connection with terrorism or religious/political extremism – and yet some research published earlier this year suggests it may be highly relevant. Looking at the educational background of known militants, Diego Gambetta … Continue reading Beware the militant engineers

Polygamy for all A Saudi journalist is demanding that women be given the right to four husbands. Maybe she has a point Khaled Diab guardian.co.uk, Saturday 2 January 2010 16.00 GMT They say that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. But it does: the roaring rage of injured male pride. This was amply demonstrated in Egypt when a female Saudi journalist had the audacity to apply logic and consistency to challenge an area of traditional male privilege. In an article provocatively entitled “My Four Husbands and I“, Nadine al-Bedair quite sensibly posed the logical question: if Muslim men … Continue reading Women can now marry upto four husbands in Saudi Arabia!

Rahul Gandhi may have a good education, charisma and ‘sexy dimples’, but for the sake of democracy he must not ‘inherit’ India Michael Connellan guardian.co.uk, Saturday 2 January 2010 18.00 GMT Rahul Gandhi is a very, very eligible bachelor. The Cambridge-educated 39-year-old has money, charisma, a fierce intellect – and according to the press – “sexy dimples“. He also has a country of 1 billion people to inherit if he fancies it. Rahul is the shining young light of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has ruled India for most of its post-independence history. His ascent to the position of prime minister … Continue reading India keeps politics in the family

Good will —Immanuel Kant Nothing can possibly be conceived in the world, or even out of it, which can be called good, without qualification, except a good will. Intelligence, wit, judgement, and the other talents of the mind, however they may be named, or courage, resolution, perseverance, as qualities of temperament, are undoubtedly good and desirable in many respects; but these gifts of nature may also become extremely bad and mischievous if the will which is to make use of them, and which, therefore, constitutes what is called character, is not good. It is the same with the gifts of … Continue reading Good will —Immanuel Kant

By Irfan Husain Saturday, 02 Jan, 2010 // // After Baitullah Mehsud, the vicious leader of the TTP, was finally killed in a drone attack, many Pakistanis breathed a sigh of relief. But almost immediately, Hakeemullah Mehsud took over, and has been directing a ferocious and unending series of suicide attacks across the country. —File Photo IN the ancient Greek myth, when Jason and the Argonauts are on their quest to find the golden fleece, one of the more terrifying dangers they face comes from the ‘dragon’s teeth’. These objects, when planted in the ground, cause fierce warriors called spertoi … Continue reading Mullahs can be defeated with a singular focused attack

Favoured US military contractor that rebranded itself as Xe has been repeatedly accused of deadly blunders Buzz up! Digg it Ed Pilkington in New York guardian.co.uk, Friday 1 January 2010 17.06 GMT Contractors from Blackwater near the Iranian embassy, central Baghdad, in July 2005. Photograph: Ahmad Al-rubaye/AFP/Getty Images The fortunes of Blackwater – the security firm that has come to represent the unacceptable face of privatised warfare – have closely mirrored the trajectory of America’s military efforts to combat terrorism in the wake of 9/11. Before the attacks, Blackwater was a little-known security training firm based in Moyock, North Carolina, … Continue reading Blackwater and its soldiers of misfortune