Search
Bin Laden’s Fiendish Chemical Warfare
So is this what all those politicians mean when they tell you Al Qaeda is out to destroy America’s way of life? Or is it just a sign of just how gormless some news organizations can be? The New York Post on Tuesday devoted its front page to a story suggesting Osama bin Laden had sought to poison America’s cocaine supply. The rest of the News Corporation empire duly followed suit. It was a perfect moment of synergy for the paper’s headline writers who like to use such Dickensian pejoratives as “fiend” to describe Bin Laden at the best of times — “Bin Laden Coke Fiend!” they screamed in towering letters.
The story suggests US drug enforcement authorities report a plot to kill “thousands of Americans” by poisoning cocaine supplies to be sold on the streets, which was foiled only because bin Laden’s ostensible Colombian kingpin suppliers baled out when they realized they would be killing their own clientele.
Of course believing this hogwash requires that we simply forget about how terrorism works — if it’s not on TV, it’s not particularly effective. And the idea of a poisoned cocaine epidemic slowly eliminating various Wall Street bankers, club kids, uh, Washington politicians and ghetto bad-boys isn’t exactly going to create that sort of iconic image that 9/11 did. But you can understand the concern. After all, anyone who could take at face value their source’s claim that Bin Laden met, in person, with Colombian drug kingpins at an undisclosed location in 2002, has got to be smoking something pretty nasty.
The Latest
Glancing Headers
Waxing Brazilian on Euro 2008
The lesson for South Africa is clear. Our talent pool is so piss-poor that Brazilian coaches won't help -- we need to learn from the Europeans and import Brazilian players!Could Die Laughing
Whatever Became of that Nice Mr. Blair...
The problem with a global conversation between Muslims and Christians refereed by Tony Blair? Two words: Tony Blair.The Whole World's Africa
Stop South Africa's Pogroms!
Violence against immigrants in South Africa may be a product of poverty, but my friend Ray Hartley argues, the only answer is to make them full and equal citizens99c Blogging
Hamas as 'Willie Horton'
By insisting that he never advocated talking to Hamas, Obama digs himself a hole -- anyone who seeks peace in the Middle East will have to talk to HamasHear! Hear!
Bush's 'Peace' Effort Imperils Peace
Daniel Levy explains why the farcical negotiations between Olmert and Abbas actually undermine the prospects for Mideast peaceFeatured Analysis
About That 'New' Middle East...
Could there be a more perfect image of the catastrophic self-inflicted rout suffered by U.S. Middle East policy under President George W. Bush? This week, the President will party with Israel's leaders celebrating their country's 60th anniversary -- and champion a phony peace process whose explici...A Skeptical Read
Beheading Barack
First, he couldn't be President because he's Muslim. Now, we're told, he can't be President because he's not Muslim enough!Shameless Cronyism
Sound Advice for the Next President
To grasp the challenge facing U.S. foreign policy, read Helena Cobban's new book Engage!A Wondering Jew
Israel is 60, Zionism is Dead, What Now?
Israel at 60 is an intractable historical fact. It has one of the world's strongest armies, without peer in the Middle East, and its 200 or so nuclear warheads give it the last word in any military showdown with any of its neighbors. Palestinian militants may be able to make life in certain parts...The 51st State
A Teachable Moment in Basra
It should come as no surprise that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's disastrous offensive against the Mahdi Army of Moqtada Sadr in Basra has had the exact opposite effect of that intended -- strengthening rather than weakening Sadr, and making clear that he, and the Iranians, have far greater in...Futures Market
Will Russia Partition Kosovo?
Why my tea-leaf reading suggests that Moscow has a nasty surprise in store for Washington in the BalkansGuest Columns
Iraq and U.S. Faith in Violence
Guest Column: Alastair Crooke warns of a dangerous fantasy that persists in Western capitals in which the West faces an "onslaught" from "radical Islam." The problem is that this intersects all too tragically with a the persistent belief in Washington and elsewhere that by applying its overwhel...Cuisine
Yummy yummy Umami
Why a leftover lamb bone turned a bean stew into an ecstatic eventHousekeeping
'Lost' Entries on Rootless Cosmopolitan
Previous entries that now register as "not available" are ones that got left behind in a server migration. We're working on retrieving themUnholy War
U.S. Pours Gasoline on Gaza Fires
Once upon a time, Israelis and Palestinians looked to the U.S. to intervene at moments of heightened confrontation to mediate between the two sides and contain the damage. The Bush Administration, however, has proved entirely incapable of playing this role, because its own interventions are hidebou...Annals of Globalization
Honey, I Shrank the Superpower
In a snide reference to Bill Clinton's 1992 promise to "build a bridge into the 21st century," Barack Obama recently quipped that what Hillary Clinton really offers is a bridge back into the 20th century. Yet, a bridge back into the last century may be what all the major candidates are offering when...New York Moments
The Debka Made ‘Em Do ItFrom Tony's Archive
A Playground Lesson for Bush
How a spontaneous alliance of jocks, do-gooders and lesser bullies against the biggest bully at the school changed the balance of power at Milnerton PrimaryRebellion Into Money
The Rebel Grace of Patti Smith
Leave a Reply