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Men stand near their trucks as they are questioned by U.S. soldiers with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment about the contents in their trucks on July 14, 2011 in Iskandariya, Babil Province, Iraq. On the ten-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, many Americans are wondering whether the risk of a terrorist attack against America has been reduced. The picture is mixed. With the death of Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda is weaker. With revolutions in several Arab countries, frustrations with unpopular autocratic governments — a recruiting theme for terrorist groups - have been mitigated. But one important contributing factor has...

THE death of Osama bin Laden provoked scenes of jubilation in America. Coming in the middle of the spring, the reaction in the Middle East was mixed. We look at responses to his death in the Arab press. In al-Sharq al-Awsat, a pan-Arab newspaper, Hussein al-Shabakshy comments on the response of the general public and media to Mr bin Laden's death and the consequences for the uprisings in the Arab world: The reaction of the Arab public has been varied. Some refuse to believe he was just killed because—according to them—he was "already dead": how else could his prolonged silence...

Like many Muslim Americans, I had high hopes – now dashed: our brother drinks beer, eats pork and won't fast at RamadanOne wonders why only 20% of Americans believe President Barack Obama is a Muslim, considering the overwhelming evidence conclusively proving his slavish allegiance to Islam and utter disregard for Christianity. After Obama's wishy-washy defence of Muslim Americans' freedom to build a community centre, which includes a mosque, two blocks away from Ground Zero, a poll from the Pew Research Centre reveals that nearly 20% of Americans – up from 11% a year ago – consider him a Muslim, and...

“Is the Obama thing real? Does he really have a chance? Will the American people ever elect a black president?” During my recent travels to several Arab countries, I encountered these questions from all sides. For many, the outcome of the Democratic primaries delivered a clear answer: Yes, Barack Obama actually has a shot at the presidency. Most Arabs anticipate that the upcoming presidential election will have a negligible impact on US policy toward the Middle East. Partisan politics aside, they believe the overall tone of American foreign policy will remain unchanged; no politician can single-handedly revolutionize the political constraints...

Allegations that Berlin helped Washington select bombing targets during the 2003 Iraq war have damaged Germany's image in the Arab world and compromised its security, Germany's intelligence chief said on Thursday. "In Arab countries it could make us look as if we're the handmaidens of the United States and Israel," Ernst Uhrlau, the head of Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency said. The safety of German soldiers in places like Afghanistan had been compromised by the allegations.

From Baghdad to Beirut, the Middle East has seen a series of unprecedented popular demonstrations for democracy. There were, however, two street protests in December that got virtually no coverage, but were just as important, if not more. One took place in the Egyptian Nile Delta town of Mahalla and the other in the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya. Both of these raucous Egyptian demonstrations, which involved marches, strikes, denunciations of the government and appeals to Parliament, were triggered by President Hosni Mubarak's decision to sign the first substantial trade agreement with Israel since Camp David. That decision brought Egyptian...

Special Dispatch Series - No. 805 October 26, 2004 No.805 Saudi Government Daily Editorial:'Bush the Nazi'   The Saudi government daily Al-Riyadh recently published an editorial titled "Bush the Nazi," referring to allegations that President George W. Bush's family had ties with the Nazis. The following are excerpts from the editorial: [1] Did President Bush's Grandfather Collaborate with the Nazis? "[The British newspaper] The Guardian published what it contends are documents incriminating the president's grandfather of collaboration with the Nazis and bringing [Adolf] Hitler to power, and that his wealth was an outcome of agreements with the Nazis, and...

The day after a WorldNetDaily report revealed that photos circulating in the Middle East that depict GI's raping Iraqi women were fake and had originated from pornography sites, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo issued a statement calling on Arab news outlets to publish retractions. The embassy statement read, "We have done a thorough investigation of the origin of these photos and have conclusive evidence that they originated on a pornographic web site. They are clearly staged photos, done by actors, as the site itself states." The Al Wafd newspaper published four photographs on the top of its front page that...

A new song released by a popular Egyptian singer claims the U.S. deliberately caused the destruction of the World Trade Center towers to make Arabs look bad. Sha'ban Abd Al-Rahim's new album recently was reviewed in the Cairo Times. The article was translated by the Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Media Research Institute. Al Rahim's song "Kharittat Al Tariq" ("Road Map") includes the line, "Hey, people, it was only a tower, and I swear by God that they [the U.S.] are the ones who pulled it down." According to the published review, the song, which focuses on the Middle East road...

PALESTINIANS today accused former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein of cowardice after the long-time hero to many in the West Bank and Gaza Strip was captured without a struggle by US troops near his hometown. Saddam's support and financial aid to the tune of thousands of dollars for the families of Palestinian suicide bombers during the three-year intifada made the former Iraqi strongman a popular figure in the occupied territories. Palestinians celebrated during the 1991 Gulf War when Saddam's forces fired dozens of Scud missiles at Israel. But today many were quick to draw a contrast between Saddam's meek surrender and...

The humiliating images of Saddam Hussein's capture by US forces risk increasing Arab support for the Iraqi resistance and sharpening their appetite for revenge, analysts said on Monday. "I felt extremely humiliated," said Egyptian writer Sayyid Nassar, who interviewed Saddam three weeks before the US-led invasion of Iraq on 20 March. "I felt it was not only a humiliation of Arabs but of all humanity. "By shaving his beard, a symbol of virility in Iraq and in the Arab world, the Americans committed an act that symbolizes humiliation in our region, where getting shaved by one's enemy means robbing him...

<p>September 3, 2003 -- THE Arab satellite station Al- Jazeera re-launched an English-language Web site Tuesday, five months after hackers brought down its site at the height of the Iraq war. Susi Sirri, news coordinator and spokeswoman, said the site aims "to fill a niche for English speakers who want to get the other side of the story, the Arab perspective."</p>

The Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Sept. 1 — The Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera launched an English-language Web site Monday, five months after hackers brought down a temporary site at the height of the Iraq war. Susi Sirri, news coordinator and spokeswoman, said the site aims "to fill a niche for English speakers who want to get the other side of the story, the Arab perspective." "We are following Al-Jazeera's model: opinion and counter-opinion. That is the motto of the (organization)," Sirri told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Qatar. The English site works closely with the...

<p>An extract from "May the Cannibals be Cursed!" by Fatma Abdallah Mahmoud, published recently in Al-Akhbar, an Egyptian government daily. That government has received nearly $60 billion in aid from the U.S. taxpayer since 1979.</p> <p>Every place that it destroys, annihilates, and plunders treasure and oil [from], America does no less than what primitive cannibal tribes did in the prehistoric era!!</p>

Lessons From the Killing of Uday and Qusay Amr Mohammed Al-Faisal Last week, US forces surrounded and killed the sons of president Saddam Hussein. I have never been a supporter of Saddam Hussein or his regime. Nor do I wish them well today. However, the way that Uday and Qusay were killed needs to be examined carefully so as to derive useful lessons. Let me briefly recap the events that led to their death. US forces, based on a tip-off from a friend of the Hussein family (in return for a $30 million reward), surrounded a house in Mosul in...

STEPS were taken by a distributor for Apple Computers to ensure that Israeli-made parts do not enter Bahrain after an Israeli-made battery was discovered by a customer in an old Apple Computer model.Apple Centre manager Asif Mohammed Irfan said the battery powers the calendar and clock of an old Apple G4 model but added that he didn’t believe that it was sold in large numbers.“We were not aware that the computer contained anything made in Israel. We, in turn, informed our Dubai-based suppliers Arab Business Machines who were very displeased with the discovery,” he said.“They have taken up the matter...

<p>Downtown Baghdad yesterday looked like Berlin in 1989. Jubilant Iraqis celebrated the demise of a hated regime. The picture of Saddam Hussein's statue falling to the ground was one for the history books, symbolizing his end, even as his whereabouts remain unclear.</p>