Family Security Matters Briefings - Week of 6/16/08

Al Qaeda: Weakened, Not Defeated
By W. Thomas Smith, Jr.

Is Al Qaeda in its death throes? Hardly, say terrorism experts: The Al Qaeda network has been temporarily weakened on a few fronts, to be sure, but it is far from defeated. Nevertheless, the authors of a recent spate of end-of-terror essays would have us believe otherwise. Paul Cruickshank writing for the New York Daily News, even goes so far as to suggest that the likelihood of "terror returning to New York's streets" may be "significantly lower" within a few years. We all hope so. But the prediction, some say, is either wishful thinking or perhaps a bit of politics. The essays -- written by Cruickshank and his compatriots Peter Bergen, Lawrence Wright, and others -- come on the heels of CIA director Gen. Michael Hayden's recent statements that "Al Qaeda is on the verge of a strategic defeat in Iraq," and suggesting (though in broad, cautious terms) that the international terrorist network is suffering setbacks elsewhere in the world. [more...]


Exclusive: Obama and Iran - The Democrats Select a Modern-Day McGovern
By Joel Himelfarb

Judging from last week's address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Sen. Barack Obama doesn't want voters to see him as soft on Iran and its genocidal President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. And he certainly doesn't want people to see him for what he is: part of the far-left fringe of the Democrat Party, an ideological ally of former Sen. George McGovern. McGovern, who lost 49 states to President Richard Nixon in 1972 (and his South Dakota Senate seat eight years later) has endorsed Obama this year. [more...]


Exclusive: George H.W. Bush: More than Meets the Eye
By KT McFarland

Last week my husband and I were fortunate enough to spend some time with former President George H. W. Bush and Mrs. Bush in Kennebunkport, ME. The first evening, a group of us gathered at Walker's Point, the Bush family compound that sits on a rocky outcrop on the Maine coast. As former President Bush showed us around, I was struck by how many times this man had contributed to the nation, in position after position, crisis after crisis. Yet many, even those in his own party, have tended to overlook his extraordinary accomplishments. [more...]


Exclusive: Indonesia - A Civil War Between Islamists and Moderates?: Part Two of Two
By Adrian Morgan

In Part One I described how the Front Pembela Islam (Islamic Defenders' Front or FPI) had threatened to make war on the minority Islamic sect called the Ahmadiyah. On June 1st, FPI members violently attacked a procession of the National Alliance for Freedom of Religion and Faith (AKKBB), who support the rights of the Ahmadiyah. Several FPI members, including leader Habib Rizieq Shahib were arrested on Wednesday June 3rd in a police operation that involved 1,500 officers. Most FPI members were released shortly afterwards but Habib Rizieq Shahib and seven others remain in police custody. The Ahmadiyah (also called Ahmadi or Ahmadiyya) revere their founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad - with many regarding him as a prophet. This places them into the category of Muslim "heretics," as traditionally Mohammed is the last prophet of Islam. The Indonesian Ahmadiyah have recently officially claimed that they regard their founder not as a prophet but as a pious Muslim. Their protestations have been ignored by the Indonesian government. [more...]


Rising Sun and Dark Continent: Japan's Courtship of Africa
By J. Peter Pham, PhD

On May 28th, 40 African heads of state and government trooped into the Pacifico Conference Centre in the Japanese port city of Yokohama to join their host, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukada, in kicking off the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD). First held in 1993 in collaboration with the United Nations, the quinquennial TICAD meetings are officially intended to "promote high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and development partners" and "provide fundamental and comprehensive policy and guideline on African development." More to the point perhaps, the recently-concluded TICAD IV was another indication of the global recognition of the increasing strategic significance of Africa - in this case to the economic and political ambitions of the land of the rising sun. [more...]

Family Security Matters Briefings - Week of 6/9/08

Music Soothes the Savage Beast
By Dr. Harvey Kushner

Earlier this year the Transportation Security Administration announced it would be testing out soft glowing mauve lights and Muzak to fight terrorism. The latter, along with extra-friendly TSA agents, would greet passengers as they file through a security checkpoint at Baltimore International Airport. TSA officials believe the bad guys will be easier to spot if everyone feels they are about to enter their favorite nightclub to hear the mellow tones of some Frank Sinatra impersonator. The new theory is that a friendly atmosphere will single out sweaty terrorists finding dim lighting and music offensive and reason to glare at a smiling TSA agent trained to pick up the slightest sign of aggression. Nice theory - will it work? [more...]

Exclusive: Indonesia - A Civil War Between Islamists And Moderates?
Part One of Two
By Adrian Morgan

Indonesia is widely described as a "moderate" Islamic nation. In many ways this has been true. Recently, however, a conflict has been brewing between those who support moderate interpretations of Islam and those who support hardline and intolerant forms. This conflict has even been seen by some commentators to be pushing Indonesia to the very brink of a civil war. Today and tomorrow, I will try to explain the background of this conflict, whose causes belong as much to politics as they do to religion. Indonesia is certainly the most populous Muslim nation in the world. Its total population is around 235 million, with 85% of this figure being Muslim. The official language (Bahasa Indonesia) is a version of Malay, but other regional tongues exist on various islands. [more...]


U.S. Engagement of Africa in the National Interest
By J.Peter Pham, PhD

Earlier this year, citing an array of new initiatives including the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), as well as the expansion of existing frameworks like the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), that "America's current engagement with Africa will likely go down as one of the most significant, if largely unheralded, legacies of the Bush presidency." And, if public statements by the three presidential candidates competing to succeed him are any indication, it will be a legacy that will likely be nurtured, in one form or another, in the next administration. Of the trio, Sen. John McCain has offered the most detailed exposition of how he would strategically engage Africa. [more...]