News & Opinion on Terrorism & Strategic Communication — September 28, 2007

Ahmadinejad Visit Promotes Dialog. “While President Ahmadinejad’s trip to New York this week was characterised by more of the same name-calling and saber rattling rhetoric in the American media, it also provokd discussion and debate — something critics of current US policy towards Iran believe is desperately needed.” (al Ahram Weekly, 9/27).

Public Diplomacy via Two-Way Documentaries. “Celebrating the launch of a global initiative establishing a two-way pipeline of documentary films creating a new way for citizens of the world to engage in direct public diplomacy.” (ITVS, 9/26).

German Attack Plot Linked to Syria, Pakistan. “Three terrorism suspects arrested this month in Germany had acquired detonators that originated in Syria and received direct orders to act from operatives in Pakistan, the German interior minister said Tuesday.” (Washington Post, 9/26)

Homeland Security Future Tech. “Dennis Treece, a retired Army colonel and Director of Corporate Security for the Massachusetts Port Authority, oversees the Transit Security Center of Excellence, a pilot program to test new homeland security technologies in the field. In this podcast, he discusses some of the technologies his staff has tested.” (CFR, 9/26)

Conditions Deteriorate in Afghanistan. “It’s happening because the Taliban resistance is gaining strength fueled by the repressive occupation and brutality of the Northern Alliance “warlords,” making a growing number of Afghans determined to fight back. It’s also because of the extreme level of desperation and deprivation Afghans now experience resulting from the so-called neoliberal Washington Consensus model the US has imposed on the country just like it wants to do everywhere else it can get away with it.” (Afghanistan The True Story, 9/27).