be just

Al Jazeera English - CENTRAL/S. ASIA - CIA base bomber 'was double agent' : "A suicide bomber who killed eight people when he attacked a US base in Afghanistan has been identified as a 'double agent' working for Jordanian intelligence, according to US media and intelligence reports. Al Jazeera sources in Afghanistan on Tuesday said that the man, identified as Hammam Khalil al-Balawi, had been brought to the base in the eastern Afghan province of Khost, by car, from across the border in Pakistan. Al-Balawi, also known as Abu Dujana al-Khorasani, is believed to have offered the CIA new information on the whereabouts of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the al-Qaeda second in command."

Al Jazeera English - CENTRAL/S. ASIA - Karzai hits out over Afghan deaths : "Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's president, has lashed out at Nato and US forces for failing to adequately protect civilians in the battle against Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters in the country. In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera on Tuesday, Karzai said growing civilian anger may soon be the barrier to success in the country. 'The international community will not achieve in Afghanistan their objectives unless the Afghan people support them,' he said. Karzai admitted that he had also failed to do enough to ensure security, but he laid the blame for rising anger over civilian deaths with the foreign forces. 'The foundation of success is in the co-operation of the Afghan people in their own government and in the international community's good intentions,' he said."

'Sons of Iraq' targeted for retribution - UPI.com : "BAGHDAD , Jan. 3 (UPI) -- A rash of killings of U.S.-allied Sunni militiamen is pointing to signs of weakness for the 'Sons of Iraq,' military experts say. The militias, which are credited with helping turn the tide in favor of the United States in its struggle to defeat insurgents, have seen about dozen of their members killed in rural areas south of Baghdad in recent weeks, the military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported Sunday. Experts told the newspaper the killings indicate the Sons of Iraq are weakening as a force as the Shiite-led government offers them little support and al-Qaida adversaries look to settle scores left over from the U.S. troop surge of 2007."

Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Yemen rules out US intervention : "Yemen's foreign minister has ruled out direct US military intervention to tackle the al-Qaeda group operating in his country. Abu Baker al-Qirbi made his remarks to Al Jazeera on Monday as the US and British embassies in the capital, Sanaa, remained closed to public following threats by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. 'Yemen is going to deal with terrorism in its own way, out of its own interests and therefore I don't think it will counterfire,' al-Qirbi said."

Rival Islamists Fight for Town in Somalia - NYTimes.com : "MOGADISHU, Somalia — Shabab rebels, who control most of Somalia with allied Islamist groups, on Saturday attacked a town lost to moderate Islamists about a year ago. It appeared late Saturday that the moderate Islamists had kept control of the town, Dusa Marreb, in central Somalia, although the Shabab earlier claimed victory. The battles killed 10 people, witnesses said. The two groups have been fighting each other elsewhere in Somalia for months. The group that had been controlling Dusa Marreb, Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama, had chased out the Shabab in December 2008 and vowed to challenge the Shabab in other areas to “restore stability and harmony in Somalia and achieve a genuine government of national unity.”"

Spy or Say Goodbye | Columbia City Paper : "Bush-Cheney and Kerry-Edwards signs littered the lawns as Imam Foad Farahi walked from a mosque to his North Miami Beach, Fla., apartment a few blocks away. It was November 1, 2004, the day before George W. Bush would win a second term in office. But Farahi, an influential South Florida Muslim holy man, had been too busy fasting and praying to pay much attention to the presidential election. For Farahi, an Iranian citizen who had lived in the United States for more than a decade, it was simply another month of Ramadan in Florida. Then, around 5 p.m., as he neared his apartment, he saw two men standing outside. They were waiting for him."

5 myths about keeping America safe from terrorism : "With President Obama declaring a 'systemic failure' of our security system in the wake of the attempted Christmas bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner, familiar arguments about what can and should be done to reduce America's vulnerabilities are again filling the airwaves, editorial pages and blogosphere. Several of these arguments are based on assumptions that guided the U.S. response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks -- and unfortunately, they are as unfounded now as they were then. The biggest whopper of all? The paternalistic assertion that the government can keep us all safe without our help."