By endorsing Ariel Sharon's plan George Bush has legitimised terrorism: "We all have lands that 'God' gave us. Didn't Queen Mary die with 'Calais' engraved on her heart? Doesn't Spain have a legitimate right to the Netherlands? Or Sweden the right to Norway and Denmark? Every colonial power, including Israel can put forward these preposterous demands. What Bush has actually done is give way to the crazed world of Christian Zionism. The fundamentalist Christians who support Israel's theft of the West Bank on the grounds that the state of Israel must exist there according to God's law until the second coming, believe that Jesus will return to earth and the Israelis - for this is the Bush 'Christian Sundie' belief - will then have to convert to Christianity or die in the battle of Amargeddon. "

Worldwide Economy Roars Ahead- Empire? - Global Policy Forum: "The US remains the world's only military superpower. But it has company in the economic sphere. That means the Bush administration may need to be less unilateral in economic policies, says C. Fred Bergsten, director of the Institute for International Economics. It can't ignore market forces. So the US has 'no other option' than to be cooperative on trade and similar issues. "

Europe against Empire? -Empire? - Global Policy Forum: "It of course suits European opposition to turn the USA into the fearsome hyperpower. Such an image distracts from the regional ambitions of its own Great Powers, and their own lack of commitment to sovereign equality. (Chirac owes his recent warm welcome in Algeria more to his ability to channel anti-American sentiment than anything else.) But surely European leaders do not deserve credit as enemies of imperialism. They do not resist the idea of a world ruled by Great Powers; they just want in on the game. "

Expanding Military Intervention - Empire? - Global Policy Forum US expansion of the “global war on terrorism” is very expensive. According to the US Congressional Budget Office, the US annual military bill could grow from $369 billion in 2004 to $600 billion in 2013. (Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy)

World Federalist Movement - Canada: "global cooperation is urgently needed to solve some of humanity's biggest problems."

World Watch Magazine: May/ June 2004: A California company is introducing human genes to open-field rice crops. Echoing the warnings of Rachel Carson a generation ago, environmentalists now worry that the unanticipated consequences of such biopharmed crops could lead to a twenty-first century “Silent Winter.”

Canadian Foreign Policy Journal: "The new American century aims to reverse the thesis of American
decline and spread liberalism and democracy by ensuring “the US army is unrivalled in the world. Washington can dictate its law wherever and whenever it wants.” (Gonzalez 2003). It is not the structure of international politics that has changed since 9-11, but policies and attitudes. After all, the American military preponderance has been known since at least the first Gulf War at the beginning of the 1990s, as has the superpower tendency to unilateralism and the weaknesses of the UN in security matters.3 However, under Bush, selective unilateralism has given away to rampant unilateralism and general disdain for international organizations.

Canadian Foreign Policy Journal: "The new American century aims to reverse the thesis of American
decline and spread liberalism and democracy by ensuring “the US army is unrivalled in the world. Washington can dictate its law wherever and whenever it wants.” (Gonzalez 2003). It is not the structure of international politics that has changed since 9-11, but policies and attitudes. After all, the American military preponderance has been known since at least the first Gulf War at the beginning of the 1990s, as has the superpower tendency to unilateralism and the weaknesses of the UN in security matters.3 However, under Bush, selective unilateralism has given away to rampant unilateralism and general disdain for international organizations.

Canadian Foreign Policy Journal Generally speaking, international commentators have proposed four types of power regimes which might drive the future of international politics: an American hegemony; a coalition of democratic states; the current UN system; or a reformed system of global institutions that wouldbe both more effective and more representative.

Changes in the World, North America, and Canada Since the End of the Cold War:
▪ Mutually Assured Destruction and the division of the world into two major power blocs are no longer providing even a semblance of international order;
▪ Occurrences of international terrorism and failed states are increasing;
▪ United States is clearly emerging as the world’s only superpower;
▪ Long-held tenets of Canadian foreign policy are being undermined;
▪ Multilateral security institutions (such as the UN and NATO) are proving ineffective in ensuring world peace and stability;
▪ Europe, NATO, and the UN are failing to serve Canada as a counter-balance to American influence;
▪ Open societies, such as the United States, are clearly open to fanatical enemies of the democratic secular world, as shown by the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001;
▪ Canadian society is rapidly changing from being largely Caucasian as immigration of people from troubled parts of the world tie Canada more closely to
tragic events in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East;
▪ Canada has been slipping badly in international influence over the last decade with the erosion of foreign policy assets, Canadian Forces capability, foreign affairs budgets, and Canadian overseas aid commitments.

Canadian Foreign Policy Journal: "Despite current appearances, global management can only be achieved through multinational cooperation, and not some form of hegemony. The future of the global community would best be served if internationalists started, now, the process of reforming international institutions so their effectiveness could be improved. This study focuses on how to promote a process of innovation in international institutions, post-September 11, 2001, by analysing their global environment, their origins and evolution, and by suggesting new techniques for their transformation."

The Jerusalem Report Magazine: Israel : Israel Article: "'The Zionist goal of a safe haven for the Jewish people can only be achieved through peace,' he told another interviewer recently. 'The right is naive to accept the notion of 100 more years of conflict...Their policies lead to the end of the Jewish national state. They lift up their hands in despair where I keep trying.'"

The Jerusalem Report Magazine: Israel : Israel Article: "'The 37-year-long debate about the [Palestinian] territories is over,' he asserts. 'The argument between left and right is no longer over whether or not to keep the territories. It is over how best to end the occupation.' The right-center under Sharon and many in Labor favor unilateral disengagement; the left, led by Yahad and including Labor doves, say by agreement. 'This,' says Beilin, 'is a new debate, in which I believe we on the left have the upper hand.' In endorsing the left?s emphasis on the need to end the occupation, the right has usurped some of its political space, he acknowledges. But, he says, it has also given the left a new legitimacy."

Globalisation In this context, globalisation is seen as a structural transformation of the international system away from traditional sovereignty, creating an urgent need for new forms of governance, because of a “governance gap” or a “governance dilemma”. The greatest challenges to these new forms of governance are violent conflict and poverty, two negative phenomena which are related through complex and still little understood causational chains...Governance is not exclusive to any particular level of the world system but is a multi-level phenomenon....New forms of governance represent the political content of the emerging transnational space created by globalisation, so far dominated by economic market forces. It is here assumed that any viable world order must rest upon an institutionalised balance between economic and political forces.

Governance Possible governance implications of emerging conflict patterns that are challenging the international system [the interrelationship between conflict and development at global, regional, national and local levels]...The authors build a case for the argument that increases in trade and investment will enhance the prospects for democracy and peace by strengthening interdependence among nations in a liberal world order..

World Federalist Movement - Canada: "The spread of weapons of mass destruction and the trade in arms threaten interntional security. A growing world population is stretching the Earth's natural capacity to sustain life. Many of the gravest threats to the Earth's life support systems have a global dimension, and call for political decision making and action on a global scale....The world is now our largest community. However, the world's legal and political institutions have not kept pace with the changes transforming international society. The present patchwork of United Nations agencies, regional organizations, ad hoc diplomacy and international treaties is not an adequate foundation for the governance of world affairs in the 21st century."

World Federalist Movement - Canada: "Global cooperation is urgently needed to solve some of humanity's biggest problems."

Post-Westphalia world The pace and direction of transition to a post-Westphalia world will depend upon many factors: the degree to which elites can legitimise globalisation-from-above, the extent to which the anti-globalisation movement can collaborate with governmental forces that are dissatisfied with the manner in which the world economy is functioning, the creativity of reformist and transformative politics within regional and global arenas, and the extent to which the state can demonstrate its problem-solving competence in response to a variety of global challenges (global warming, transnational crime, genocide, illegal immigration and refugees).

Worldwatch Paper 162: The Anatomy of Resource Wars In several countries around the developing world, abundant natural resources help fuel conflict, either by attracting predatory groups seeking to control them or by financing wars that were initially caused by other factors. Prominent examples include Sierra Leone, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and Afghanistan. Conflict has also erupted in several countries where the benefits of mining and logging projects—oil in Columbia and Nigeria, timber and natural gas in Indonesia, and copper in Bougainville/Papua New Guinea—accrue to a small elite while the social and environmental burdens are borne by local communities...Governments, rebels, and warloads have made billions of dollars by selling conflict commodities and have used the money to arm themselves and line their own pockets. But the cost of these conflicts has been extraordinary—more than 5 million people killed during the 1990's, as many as 20 million driven from their homes, and considerable environmental destruction. In this new publication, Senior Researcher, Michael Renner assesses the anatomy of resource wars, examines a number of specific cases, and discusses efforts to break the link between resources and conflict.

Aljazeera.Net - The failure of US journalism: "The paradox of US journalism is that a press which operates free of direct governmental control produces news that routinely reproduces the conventional wisdom of a narrow power elite. Coverage of the Iraq war highlights two of the key reasons.
First, the majority of US journalists are unable to transcend the limiting effects of the ideology of American exceptionalism - the notion that the United States is the ultimate embodiment of democracy and goes forward in the world as a benevolent champion of freedom, not as another great power looking to expand its influence around the world.
Uncritical acceptance of this ideology permeates mainstream US coverage; even 'critical' reporting usually tends to take it as a given."

Foreign Affairs - Book Review - Energy at the Crossroads: Global Perspectives and Uncertainties - Vaclav Smil: "Energy is above all a quantitative subject -- an idea that is good in principle can be quantitatively insignificant -- and this book is not for the numerophobic. But given the pervasive importance of energy, Smil conveys well the complexity and uncertainty of the energy system and its social and environmental impacts. (An especially instructive chapter recounts the dismal record of long-term energy forecasts.) Still, Smil believes that current energy practices cannot continue indefinitely, not because fossil fuels will be exhausted but because the environmental impact of their use will become increasingly unacceptable and even dangerous. He sees promising technical and economic potential for change but is pessimistic when it comes to the possibility of intelligent, concerted action in that direction. "

Amazon.com: Books: Energy at the Crossroads : Global Perspectives and Uncertainties: "today's complex energy issues -- how to think clearly and logically about what is possible and what is desirable in our energy future. After a century of unprecedented production growth, technical innovation, and expanded consumption, the world faces a number of critical energy challenges arising from unequal resource distribution, changing demand patterns, and environmental limitations. The fundamental message of Energy at the Crossroads is that our dependence on fossil fuels must be reduced not because of any imminent resource shortages but because the widespread burning of oil, coal, and natural gas damages the biosphere and presents increasing economic and security problems as the world relies on more expensive supplies and Middle Eastern crude oil."

April 14, 2004: Saudis Have U.S. Over a Barrel - The Shifting Terms of Trade Between Grain and Oil: "We have spilled more than enough blood and spent more than enough of our treasure to protect access to oil supplies in the Middle East. RAND Corporation analysts calculate that even in peacetime it costs at least $30 billion per year to maintain the U.S. military presence needed to assure access to the region's oil. It is time for a change.
Unless the United States assumes a leadership role, Saudi Arabia will continue to dictate the terms of trade between oil and grain. This means they also will dictate U.S. gasoline prices. The United States, as the world's largest oil consumer and importer, can regain some influence on oil pricing by sharply reducing its dependence on oil. This would also delay the day when oil production peaks, buying the world time for a smoother transition to the post-petroleum era. The United States has the technologies and energy resources to lead this effort. What the world needs today is not more oil, but more leadership. "

April 14, 2004: Saudis Have U.S. Over a Barrel - The Shifting Terms of Trade Between Grain and Oil: "During the early 1970s before the oil price hikes by OPEC, the United States largely could pay its oil import bill with grain exports. But in 2003, grain exports covered only 11 percent of the staggering U.S. oil import bill of $99 billion. While the exchange rate between grain and oil was deteriorating, U.S. domestic oil output was falling and oil consumption was rising, which means that oil imports were climbing. In 2003, oil imports accounted for 60 percent of total use. "

April 14, 2004: Saudis Have U.S. Over a Barrel - The Shifting Terms of Trade Between Grain and Oil: "In 1970, a bushel of wheat could be traded for a barrel of oil in the world market. It now takes nine bushels of wheat to buy a barrel of oil. The two countries most affected by the dramatically shifting terms of trade between grain and oil are the United States and Saudi Arabia.
The United States, the world's largest importer of oil and its largest exporter of grain, is paying for this shift in the wheat-oil exchange rate with higher gasoline prices. The nine-fold shift is also driving the largest U.S. trade deficit in history, which in turn is raising external debt to a record level, weakening the U.S. economy. In contrast, Saudi Arabia, the world's leading oil exporter and a high-ranking grain importer, is benefiting handsomely. "

B E L L A C I A O - When U.S. Aided Insurgents, Did It Breed Future Terrorists? -: "Terrorism does not necessarily have anything to do with Islamic culture; he spread of terror as a tactic is largely an outgrowth of American cold war foreign policy. After Vietnam the American government shifted from a strategy of direct intervention in the fight against global Communism to one of supporting new forms of low-level insurgency by private armed groups...In practice it translated into a United States decision to harness, or even to cultivate, terrorism in the struggle against regimes it considered pro-Soviet. The real culprit of 9/11, in other words, is not Islam but rather non-state violence in general, during the final stages of the stand-off with the Soviet Union. Using third and fourth parties, the C.I.A. supported terrorist and proto-terrorist movements in Indochina, Latin America, Africa and, of course, Afghanistan... [ he argues in his new book, "Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War and the Roots of Terror" (Pantheon)."

Aljazeera.Net - Israelis better at manipulating media: "So the general conclusion must be that the mainstream western media, even more so in the US, do not provide an empathetic, coherent, insightful, factual, contextualised and detailed account of the Palestinian narrative as rooted in the daily life under occupation and arising out of a collective longing and striving for freedom in a national state.
Obviously, the power of the media is such that an underdeveloped representation of the Palestinian story influences politics. Having international law and a worldwide consensus about the need for a Palestinian state on one's side is not enough when the main influential political actors and their audiences do not fully understand one's basic narrative. "

Presentation US government which will spend $US 450 billion on military spending but $US 13 billion on development assistance.

$1,000,000,000,000 More than $1 trillion dollars (US$1,000 billion) is paid in bribes each year, according to ongoing research at the World Bank Institute (WBI). The Institute's director for Governance, says this US$1 trillion figure is an estimate of actual bribes paid worldwide in both rich and developing countries.

Headlines for Friday, April 9, 2004This year's edition of the World Bank’s African Development Indicators (ADI) 2004 depicts a diverse picture of development in Africa, with several countries making remarkable progress and others lagging seriously behind, All Africa reports. Thirteen Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries averaged more than 5 percent growth for the period 1995-2002, but many others saw their economies contract, usually as a result of severe civil conflict and adverse weather conditions. The region's economic growth slowed in 2002 to 2.8 percent, slightly down from 2.9 percent in 2001. Bearing the diverse performance in mind, the publication notes that Africa urgently needs rich nations to deliver on their promises of more generous aid and wider trade opportunities to reverse the exacting cruelty of disease and poverty on the continent.

Headlines for Friday, April 9, 2004: "World Bank President James Wolfensohn reminded that the funds promised for development are paltry compared to the $900 billion spent each year for defense and argued that a shift in priorities could help combat both poverty and terrorism. "

Africa and the Crisis of Instability - Nations and States - Global Policy Forum: "In the 1960s, 70s and 80s, most of Africa was battling with the destabilising and debilitating forces of colonialism, neo-colonialism (imperialism), apartheid, the Cold War and political authoritarianism. With the disappearance of these centrifugal forces, except neo-colonialism and political authoritarianism, several African states have started to recover their souls and move towards normality. "

NGOs are calling on the IMF and World Bank to end the tradition of appointing Europeans and US citizens to the Institution’s top posts, while excluding candidates from poor countries. NGOs argue that the process is not in line with the Institution’s recommendations to its borrowers of transparency and good governance. (Jubilee Debt Campaign)
http://www.globalpolicy.org/ngos/int/bwi/2004/0326carve.htm

AIDS Casts Grim Shadow Over Southern Africa Food Crisis - Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy Forum: "The drought-induced food crisis across southern Africa has again highlighted the deadly impact that HIV/AIDS is having on food security in the region. The disease has already killed about seven million farm workers since 1985 in the 25 worst-hit African countries, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, and UNAIDS fears another 16 million may die over the next 20 years unless access to treatment is improved and prevention responses are swiftly implemented. "

Global Policy Forum But practically, whatever reform of the UN is proposed, it comes up against the brick wall of the veto. The US and the other countries on the Council are not going to allow reform unless their predominance is protected. Even if we could reduce the role of the Great Powers, who would we replace them with? We cannot point to any country in the world that will do anything other than represent its national interests, or more accurately the interests of its ruling class: ...each member of the UN tries to use its membership to further its own interests. States have not joined out of respect for the 'UN idea', or with a view to creating a stronger organisation by transferring some of their powers to it. Rather they are in the UN for what they can get out of it. Of course, some states may see it as in their interests to increase the deference which is paid to the opinions of the UN--as expressed, particularly, in the resolutions of the General Assembly. This is likely to be much more true of the weaker than of the stronger members... But even weaker states show little sign of wanting to endow the UN with any general authority.

Is the UN an Alternative? However, there seem to be as many proposals for UN reform as there are commentators. It has been argued that Britain and France should give up their seats in favour of a single European Union representative. Others have argued that any one of a number of states deserve the status of permanent membership, including Japan, Germany, Indonesia, Brazil, Nigeria and India.57 The Commission on Global Governance called for the expansion of the Security Council, the phasing out of the veto, and an increase in power for the General Assembly.

The UN after the Cold War For many the end of the Cold War seemed to offer the possibility that the UN-could finally act as a force for peace.24 With the end of the Cold War we have certainly entered a new era of international relations, but any hope that the UN would come into its own has been demolished by the experience of the last ten years. The US has not sought collaboration, but instead has sought to take advantage of the weakness of its main rival and attempted to construct a New World Order in its own image. In the early 1990s it appeared that the UN could become the plaything of American strategic interests, but as the decade has dragged on it has become increasingly difficult for the US to use the UN to sanction its military operations. It has chosen instead to develop the role of NATO.25 However, that is not to say that the UN is no longer useful to America in some circumstances, or to predict its imminent demise.

Is the UN an Alternative to Empire? - Global Policy Forum Given the last 54 years of repeated wars, oppression and abuses of human rights, we would have to conclude that the UN has failed in its task. The question that we have to answer is whether this failure arises from something fundamental to the UN, or whether it is an organisation we could hope to change. Many on the left, including those like Ken who stood out against the bombing of the former Yugoslavia, will agree that the UN has its faults, but argue that the principles of the UN Charter are an ideal worth fighting for, and that we must fight for its reform.

Is the UN an Alternative to Empire? - Global Policy Forum Within two years of the founding of the UN the Cold War had begun. A terrible symmetry was imposed on the world, with the two Great Powers armed to the teeth with nuclear weapons. Whilst there was no conflict at the heart of the system, the two superpowers fought their wars largely by proxy at the edges of the system. Between 1945 and 1989 there were 138 wars, resulting in 23 million deaths. All were fought in the so called Third World. The Korean War killed 3 million, the Vietnam War 2 million. Military interventions not classified as wars, like those in Hungary in 1956, Czechoslovakia in 1968 and Grenada in 1983, claimed thousands of lives.

Is the UN an Alternative to Empire? - Global Policy Forum Whilst at times the US had to make compromises in order to keep the Allies on board, it was always American interests which dominated in the negotiations to set up the UN. What emerged from the negotiations was a United Nations system dominated by the Security Council, which was in turn controlled by the five permanent members. The five represent the balance of power as it existed at the close of the war: the three Allies, with France and China.

April 8, 2004: Europe Leading World Into Age of Wind Energy: "Europe is leading the world into the age of wind energy. In its late 2003 projections, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) shows Europe's wind-generating capacity expanding from 28,400 megawatts in 2003 to 75,000 megawatts in 2010 and 180,000 megawatts in 2020. By 2020, just 16 years from now, wind-generated electricity is projected to satisfy the residential needs of 195 million Europeans, half of the region's population. "

High Military Expenditure in Some PlacesThe US military budget is more than eight times larger than the Chinese budget, the second largest spender. The US military budget is more than twenty nine times as large as the combined spending of $14.4 billion from the seven “rogue” states (Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria). It is more than the combined spending of the next twenty three nations. The United States and its close allies spend more than the rest of the world combined, accounting for some two thirds to three-quarters of all military spending, depending on who you count as close allies (typically NATO countries, Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan and South Korea). The seven potential “enemies,” Russia, and China together spend $116.2 billion, 27.6% of the U.S. military budget.

High Military Expenditure in Some Places: "The U.S. military budget request for Fiscal Year 2005 is $420.7 billion
For Fiscal Year 2004 it was $399.1 billion.
For Fiscal Year 2003 it was $396.1 billion.
For Fiscal Year 2002 it was $343.2 billion.
For Fiscal Year 2001 it was $305 billion. And Congress had increased that budget request to $310 billion.
This was up from approximately $288.8 billion, in 2000. "

High Military Expenditure in Some Places: "On the military in general, the USA spends more than the rest of the G7 countries combined "

Lawrence Davidson: Orwell and Kafka in Israel/Palestine: "Whether it is for imagined military reasons (which entails a denial that occupation is the source of their insecurity), or faith based religious reasons (which entails exoneration from responsibility for brutal actions because they are doing the work of God), the majority of Israelis have come to the conclusion that there is no alternative to a hard line, right wing government which can only conceptualize a peace treaty that ghettoizes, economically emasculates, and subordinates any eventual Palestinian political entity. And even then most Israelis do not believe such a treaty will lead to real peace, not because it fails to satisfy Palestinian needs, but because the Palestinians are all anti-Semites who will forever want to destroy all of Israel. "

Lawrence Davidson: Orwell and Kafka in Israel/Palestine: "The Israelis and their supporters have other rationalizations for occupation. There is the biblically based claim that 'Judea and Samaria' are 'covenant lands,' that is lands given to the Jews by God. This, of course, is a matter of faith and not provable fact. Many people take the bible, where this covenant is to be found, as the word of God. However, this too is faith and not provable fact. Nonetheless, such faith put forth as fact allows some Israelis to see the indigenous population as 'strangers in the land' and Jewish folks from Brooklyn as rightful inhabitants. This leads to more tricks of the mind. For instance, Carolyn Glick, the Associate Editor of the Jerusalem Post told this author and others that the removal of the West Bank colonies would constitute the 'ethnic cleansing of Judea and Samaria.'"

Lawrence Davidson: Orwell and Kafka in Israel/Palestine: "It was Orwell's conviction that 'political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectful.'"

US Bludgeons Nations to Reject War Crimes Court - International Justice - Global Policy Forum: "The United States has used its military clout in Asia to reinforce an extraordinary campaign of sabotage against the world's only permanent war crimes tribunal - Washington says it has no right to try US nationals - but the cost may be scars in bilateral foreign relations in Asia, and elsewhere. One year after the first judges were sworn in for the International Criminal Court (ICC), only five Asian countries have accepted its authority, the lowest representation of any region worldwide. Yet 13 states in South and East Asia, and a further five Central Asian republics, have signed a contrary agreement with the US that seeks to undermine the court's jurisdiction by withholding the right to try US nationals. They signed under a threat of aid withdrawals involving tens of millions of dollars in the defense field, threats that are already being carried out against both neutral states and wavering allies alike in other regions. "

The Perfect Storm That�s About to Hit - Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy Forumthe dollar's value is declining because of America's growing debt. The IMF is so concerned about US debt - the result of rising budget deficits and trade imbalance - that it issued a report warning that if steps weren't taken to reverse the trend, it could threaten the financial stability of the world economy.

The Roving Eye: The Emergence of Hyperterrorism - 9/11 - Global Policy Forum: "Brussels also alerts that this happens independently of other al-Qaeda objectives which remain very much in place: the departure of all American soldiers from Saudi soil; the fall of the House of Saud; and the expulsion of Jews from the Middle East. Al-Qaeda's ultimate objective is a caliphate. As far as the absolute majority of Muslims in the world are concerned, the global jihad's most seductive appeal undoubtedly remains its struggle to end the American imperial control of Islamic lands.
Romano Prodi, head of the European Commission, says that force is not working against terrorism: 'Terrorism now is more powerful than before.' Most European politicians and intellectuals - apart from Blair, Berlusconi, Aznar and their friends - consider that the Bush administration's response to asymmetric warfare has only served to increase the threat. It's a classic reductio ad absurdum. Increasingly lethal American military muscle deployed all over the Islamic world has led to more lethal terrorist attacks, in the Islamic world and also in the West. More muscled defense of hard targets, or strategic targets, has led to more indiscriminate attacks on so-called soft targets (like the Madrid trains). Madrid is a tragic mirror of Baghdad and Karbala: more than 200 innocent workers and students died in Madrid, more than 200 innocent pilgrims died in Iraq. "