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01/29/2006:

"Constant Conflict"

Constant Conflict: US Army War College Quarterly
...For the world masses, devastated by information they cannot manage or effectively interpret, life is "nasty, brutish . . . and short-circuited." The general pace of change is overwhelming, and information is both the motor and signifier of change. Those humans, in every country and region, who cannot understand the new world, or who cannot profit from its uncertainties, or who cannot reconcile themselves to its dynamics, will become the violent enemies of their inadequate governments, of their more fortunate neighbors, and ultimately of the United States. We are entering a new American century, in which we will become still wealthier, culturally more lethal, and increasingly powerful. We will excite hatreds without precedent.

...There will be no peace. At any given moment for the rest of our lifetimes, there will be multiple conflicts in mutating forms around the globe. Violent conflict will dominate the headlines, but cultural and economic struggles will be steadier and ultimately more decisive. The de facto role of the US armed forces will be to keep the world safe for our economy and open to our cultural assault. To those ends, we will do a fair amount of killing.

Hamas 'ready to form a Palestinian army'

Fatah gunmen storm parliament

Iran invites Blair to Holocaust debate

Israel to restrict Hamas movements

Iran warns of missile strike

A triumph for Sharon
Lying in a coma in Hadassah hospital, Jerusalem, Ariel Sharon has achieved his final triumph. The Hamas victory in Wednesday's Palestinian elections is not only the inevitable outcome of everything Sharon did as prime minister, but is precisely what he would have wished.

'Maybe they just need to have their civil war': Fueling Sectarian Violence in Iraq

Pressure has been mounting on Lebanon's Palestinian militias to disarm
Fears that Syria is using them to retain some sort of grip on the country have been exacerbated by international pressure to implement UN resolution 1559, which calls for all non-government factions to lay down their guns.

But behind the high politics lies another, more human story.

Palestinian community leaders and NGO workers say that the real danger comes from the deplorable conditions in which the country's 400,000 Palestinians - refugees since the establishment of Israel in 1948 - continue to live.

They argue that deteriorating services in the 12 cramped refugee camps and the lack of future prospects for the young are fomenting the conditions for extremism.

US wants end to Syrian 'bullying'

U.S. tells India to back off Syria oil deal

India changes tune, defends Iran