Before most Americans had heard of the Taliban, Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid wrote a book about them. After the Sept. 11 attacks, it became a best-seller. Rashid's recent reporting for English-language newspapers involves Islamist militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Ahmed Rashid, Reporting on Islamist Groups

Previously reported; here's another look and listen.

The 580-page Sept. 11 commission report is now a graphic novel. Two comic book artists talk about why they created the new book, The 9/11 Report, A Graphic Adaptation, and what they hope to accomplish with it.

Guests:

Ernie Colon, comic book artists who has worked at Harvey, Marvel and DC Comics; oversaw the production of Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Blackhawk and The Flash comics at DC; oversaw Spiderman series at Marvel.

Sid Jacobson, was managing editor and editor in chief for Harvey Comics where he created Richie rich; was executive editor at Marvel Comics; editor of The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation

The Sept. 11 Commission Report as Graphic Novel

The administration is on a public-relations offensive in support of the war on terrorism. President Bush, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and others have all made the comparison between today's terrorist threat and yesterday's Nazi or fascist threat.

US Connects Terrorist Threat to Historical Menaces

When General Musharraf comes to the United States, he loves to be lauded as a leader in the war on terrorism. Back home, his government too often acts like a garden-variety military dictatorship.

The Wrong Battle in Pakistan

What terrorism?

Despite all the ominous warnings of wily terrorists and imminent attacks, there has been neither a successful strike nor a close call in the United States since 9/11. The reasonable -- but rarely heard -- explanation is that there are no terrorists within the United States, and few have the means or the inclination to strike from abroad.

It is worth remembering that the total number of people killed since 9/11 by al Qaeda or al Qaeda­like operatives outside of Afghanistan and Iraq is not much higher than the number who drown in bathtubs in the United States in a single year.

Although it remains heretical to say so, the evidence so far suggests that fears of the omnipotent terrorist may have been overblown, the threat presented within the United States by al Qaeda greatly exaggerated. The massive and expensive homeland security apparatus erected since 9/11 may be persecuting some, spying on many, inconveniencing most, and taxing all to defend the United States against an enemy that scarcely exists.

Get over it.

Is There Still a Terrorist Threat? | Foreign Affairs

If the "global war on terror" is unwinnable as currenty conceived, what is to be done? For the United States, here's a five-point alternative strategy.

This alternative strategy will also entail costly exertions over a long period of time. Unlike the current "war on terror," however, it promises to be affordable and sustainable, while holding out the prospect of delivering success in the long run.

NO WIN - The Boston Globe

Pakistan's problems with Islamic violence cannot be resolved as long as the military remains in power. In an unusual move last month, a diverse group of senior former civilian and military officials wrote an open letter to Musharraf, warning that the country is becoming dangerously polarized and that a uniformed presidency only exacerbates the problem by politicizing the armed forces. The only solution, the group wrote, is a transition to a "complete and authentic democracy."

According to the above link:

The letter asked for the following:

* Disengagement of military from political power
* A separation between the offices of President and Army Chief.
* As the 2007 elections ‘would not be credible without neutral and impartial caretaker governments, both at the centre and in the provinces’, a genuine empowerment of the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commission of Pakistan was a prerequisite for the holding of transparent elections. For this purpose, it is necessary for the district administrations to be placed under the control of the CEC during the 2007 polls.
* All the political parties of the country learn from their past mistakes and commit themselves to strengthening democratic institutions and traditions so as to ensure the rule of law and good governance at all levels.
* All the political parties exercise restraint and respond positively to any offer of dialogue to make free and fair elections possible. As a sustained dialogue between the leadership of principal institutions and organisations was a vital prerequisite to ensure a peaceful, orderly transition to complete and authentic democracy.”
* All power groups refrain from taking extremist positions and hurling threats and charges against each other.
* Pakistan to be a decentralized federal state, by the granting of genuine political, financial and administrative autonomy to the provinces.

Pakistan's Awkward Balancing Act on Islamic Militant Groups

Behavioral profiling — especially the cut-rate version the T.S.A. has in store for us — is not going to help in this respect. Learning to defeat poorly trained screeners is a lot easier than learning to fly a jumbo jet. The likely result is that our newly minted behavioral detectives will be singling out and searching the wrong passengers.

Almost all the studies Qhave found that accuracy is close to chance."

A better idea would be to eliminate most carry-ons and emulate high-security prisons.

Search and Defend

In a sign of continued jitters after the London bombing alert, an Aer Lingus passenger jet flying from New York to Ireland was evacuated and searched at Shannon Airport on Friday after an anonymous caller told the police that a liquid explosive had been planted on board.

Jets Grounded in U.S. and Ireland; Alert Raised at Houston Airport

A stick of dynamite was found in a college student's checked luggage on a Continental Airlines flight from Argentina, one of seven security incidents Friday that caused U.S. flights to be diverted, evacuated, searched or delayed.

While you're waiting for your checked luggage to arrive, ponder this:

The remarkable track record of the security force at Ben-Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv — no successful hijackings ever— is also often chalked up to behavioral profiling, but that too is naïve. For three decades, the airport has had intensive security practices and a sky marshal program. All departing passengers are interviewed and subjected to one-on-one searches that, according to Rafi Ron, former head of security at Ben-Gurion, take an average of 57 minutes per person.

Dynamite Found in Luggage