Religion 181: The Situation

Professor Ronald C. Kiener, Department of Religion

"America will become increasingly vulnerable to attack on our homeland, and our military superiority will not protect us...States, terrorists, and other disaffected groups will acquire weapons of mass destruction, and some will use them. Americans will likely die on American soil, possibly in large numbers."

-- US Commission on National Security/21st Century, New World Coming: American Security in the 21st Century, (1999), p. 141

"Suicide bomber(s) belonging to al-Qaida's Martyrdom Battalion could crash-land an aircraft packed with high explosives (C-4 and semtex) into the Pentagon, the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), or the White House."

-- Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, The Sociology and Psychology of Terrorism: Who Becomes a Terrorist and Why? September (1999).

"...Nevertheless, FBI information...indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York.
The FBI is conducting approximately 70 full field investigations throughout the US that it considers Bin Ladin-related. CIA and the FBI are investigating a call to our Embassy in the UAE in May saying that a group of Bin Ladin supporters was in the US planning attacks with explosives."

-- Presidential Daily Briefing, August 6, 2001

The War Against Iraq

The War Against Terror

Useful Links for Understanding 9/11 and its Aftermath

Report of the Joint Inquiry Into the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001 Authored by the House and Senate Select Committees on Intelligence. At request of Bush administration, approximately 12 pages were blacked out and not released to the public (requires Adobe Reader).
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States also known as the 9-11 Commission. Report issued July, 2004 "An independent, bipartisan commission created by congressional legislation and the signature of President George W. Bush in late 2002. (Requires Adobe Reader).
- Presidential Daily Briefing, August 6, 2001 The controversial PDB intelligence briefing, entitled "Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US," delivered to GWB more than a month before 9-11 attack. Declassified after public pressure from 9-11 Commission, its existence was known from summer of 2003.
The Sociology and Psychology of Terrorism issued in September 1999 by the Library of Congress, mentions the possibility of plane hijackings directed at buildings
PBS Frontline: Osama Bin Laden
Fatwa Concerning Jihad against Jews and Crusaders
Afghanistan (CIA World Factbook)
The International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism (Israeli think-tank)
GlobalSecurity.Org A Washington, DC think-tank with lots of useful data
Rebuilding America's Defenses (requires Adobe Reader). This is a strange one. Published in September 2000 (!) by the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a conservative think-tank including many players in today's Bush war council, it calls for (among other things) the permanent re-positioning of the American military into Southwest Asia, and at one point speculates that the possibility of a "new Pearl Harbor" would accelerate the new military posture promoted by the study. Conspiracy theorists love this document.
L'effroyable imposture The Appalling Deception. A rough English translation of the widely-circulated conspiracy theory of leftist French writer Thierry Meyssan. The book reportedly sold over 100,000 copies in France. Concentrating on the Pentagon explosion, Meyssan questions the photographic and transcriptional evidence and concludes that the Pentagon was NOT hit by a Boeing 757, but by a truck bomb. Meyssan doesn't have an explanation as to what happened to American Flight 77. This book represents the most elaborate version of post-9/11 paranoia.
This Campaign Will Get Murky by yours truly, published October 9, 2001

News Sources

Current Military Operations

Commands & General Links
- USCENTCOM (MacDill AFB, Tampa, FL)
- SOCCENT (Special Operations Central Command)
- USARCENT-KUWAIT (Army Central Command-Kuwait)
- CRAF (Civil Reserve Air Fleet)
- DefenseLINK (DoD)
- DeploymentLINK (DoD)
- Selective Service System Annual Performance Plan This APP for fiscal year 2004 is the official statement of the SSS on the revivification of the draft, which has been dormant since the 1970s. The goal is to report to the President by March 31, 2005, that the SSS would be ready to operate as early as July 1, 2005. In early fall 2004, there were numerous press reports and political accusations that immediately after the 2004 general elections, Pres. Bush intends to announce major troop deployment increases to Iraq. If the occupation goes bad, could a draft be next?

Operations
- Operation Noble Eagle (official name of current military "homeland defense" operation)
- Operation Enduring Freedom (official name of current military deployment to Southwest Asia; formerly known as Operation Infinite Justice)
- The Great Game applet (A fascinating 3D-graphics chronicle of military action in Afghanistan day-by-day)

The War Against Terror
- The Patriot Act Signed into law October 26, 2001
- American Library Association resolution on the Patriot Act According to sec. 215 of the Patriot Act, libraries may be required to supply patron records to the FBI. Be warned: if you take out books on sensitive subjects, your library may or may not be providing data to the FBI.
- In Guantanamo by John Lelyveld, New York Review of Books
- The Taguba Report Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba's report on prison abuse at Abu Ghraib prison
- State Department Travel Warnings

U.S. vs. Iraq, 2002-06

Mobilization of Reserves, US Armed Forces Sept. 2001-February 2008. Based on weekly data published by the DoD. In 1991, a maximum of 265,000 reservists were called up. In this war, the highest number was hit in April, 2003, at 224,000 reservists. There are a total of 700,000 Reserves and National Guard. Active Duty is 1.4 million.
US Casualties in Iraq, March, 2003-February, 2008 Includes non-combatant deaths, including at least 17 suicides by American soldiers, and at least 20 US civilian contractors. April, 2004, was the worst month yet in terms of American fatalities.
The Gulf War, 1990-91 (PBS/Frontline). Based on Rick Atkinson's excellent book Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War (1994), a useful review of that conflict.
Senate Joint Resolution 46 To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq, passed October 11, 2002, 77-23 (requires Adobe Acrobat)
Are We Winning?
Maps
News Sources
Target Iraq Includes a very useful US Forces Order of Battle, updated weekly
- Operation Iraqi Freedom
- Operation Telic Official web site of British Ministry of Defence, this is the name of the operation in the UK
- Internal Look Internal Look 03 at al-Sayliyah airbase, Qatar, involved the entire USCENTCOM staff (nearly 2,000 troops), and for the first time took place in the AOR (Area of Responsibility). Supposedly ended Dec. 17, 2002, it effectively moved CENTCOM into position. A theater-wide wargame testing of C³: Command, Control & Communications.
- Operation Shining Presence Ongoing deployment of US Patriot missile battery in Israel (part of USEUCOM)
- Maritime Interception Operations Ongoing US Naval effort to intercept merchant vessel traffic to and from Iraq in Persian Gulf, Gulf of Aqaba and Red Sea.
Guide to US Weapons Systems Useful site maintained by Federation of American Scientists.
Weapons Guide in Iraq War Similar site maintained by Global Security.org.

The Mobilization Spectrum Chart showing how US Armed Forces are mobilized

"Shock and Awe Lite" The author of the concept of "Rapid Dominance" and "Shock and Awe" (Harlan Ullman) criticizes the application of his doctrine in the battle, from The Baltimore Sun, April 1, 2003

Psychological Warfare Also known as PSYOPS (Psychological Operations), this has become an increasingly important element in military planning, and is being used to great effect in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

A Generation Gap on War, But Not on Love by yours truly, appeared 3/13/2003 in The Hartford Courant

Guide to Iraqi Military

The Republican Guard Forces known to be most loyal to Saddam Hussein, reportedly deployed in and around Baghdad, also Mosul & Kirkuk. As of April 2, 2003, USCENTCOM reports that two divisions, the Baghdad and Madina divisions, are destroyed.
al-Hussein Missile Improved derivative of the SCUD; capable of reaching Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey. Western estimates claim Iraq may still possess as many as 50 in inventory.
The al-Sumoud Missile System
Iraqi Air Defense System

Was there WMD?

PRO

CON

Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction Programs CIA Report, October 2002 (requires Adobe Reader)

Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Assessment of the British Government (requires Adobe Reader) As of Sept. 24, 2002

Senate Intelligence Report on the U.S. Intelligence Community's Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq, July 2004 (requires Adobe Reader). Calls key judgments of the October 2002 CIA report "overstated" and "not supported by the evidence." About 20% of this 511-page report was censored by the CIA and not released to the public.

The Hutton Inquiry An inquiry ordered by the House of Commons into the death of Dr. David Kelly, British weapons inspector. Discusses the Sept. 2002 Assessment of the British Government

The Butler Report Review of Intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction, delivered to House of Commons, July 2004. Very critical of Blair government and intelligence.