We were in India on vacation during the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Mumbai. If you have any doubt about the evilness of Muslim extremists, read this riveting account of the 11/26 attacks.

I highly recommend "The End Of Barbary Terror" by Fredrick Leiner. This book covers the second, and last, Barbary War. A while ago I read, "The Pirate Coast" by Richard Zacks about the First Barbary War in 1804-1805. The Barbary Wars have received renewed interest lately as a result of our dealings in the Middle East as well as the increase in piracy around the world. Both books give a fascinating account of how a very young nation makes its presence known on the world stage. During the first war, American was torn between military force and diplomacy (this meant continued payment of ransoms and bribes to the Barbary pirates). Both were utilized to the end the first war. For the second, American was coming off a victory (of sorts) over England in the war of 1812. We had a good but small navy and chose to use it against the continued misdeeds of the Algerian pirates. A navy squadron, under Stephen Decatur, sunk and captured several Algerian ships and made a show of force persuasive enough to get a treaty fully in America's advantage. The American's were so successful, England and other European countries formed an naval coalition to finish the job and end the Barbary reign forever. A lesson for today? Perhaps.

"See No Evil" is an extremely interesting look into the CIA from 70's through 9/11 from a bottom up view.  The first section is a surprisingly candid look at the nuts of bolts of HUMINT (at least the way it used to be according to the author).  The later sections describe the gradual disintegration of the CIA starting from Reagan and culminating with the complete intelligence failure that led to 9/11.  Although the author finds fault with the Reagan and Bush Sr. administrations, he minces no words when describing the utter disdain the Clinton administration had for the CIA.  A novice observer might argue that with the Cold War over, there was/is no need to maintain an expensive overseas intelligence framework.  However, Clinton's policy of appeasement made us blind to terrorists and other threats (like China and Russia).  It also contributed to the faulty intelligence that led to the Iraq War.
Written right after 9/11, this book has some interesting characters that are seen in a much different light 7 years later.  One is Ahmed Chalabi.  Baer writes about Chalabi's efforts to overthrow Saddam Hussein in the mid 90's that Clinton refused to support (for nefarious reasons the author later found out).  Chalabi was then a prime mover in getting Bush to invade Iraq in 2003.  If the CIA has boots on the ground, that whole mess might not have happened.
It will interesting to look back at the Bush administration to see if he allowed the CIA to get back to its roots and foster a new HUMINT network.  One lesson we need to learn is that there are always bad guys and we need to keep an eye on them.

This is too funny.  But given the probable reaction from the screener, I would make sure that you have plenty of time before your flight.

Every wonder what happens to all those pocket knives, box cutters, wine openers or anything mildly hard and/or sharp that the TSA confiscates are airports? You would think that these items which are so dangerous they can't be allowed on a plane, would be melted down into paper clips. Don't want these weapons to end up in the wrong hands, do we now.
But it seems that the geniuses at the TSA just hand the knives off to your local schools. Here is but a small sample of the potential hijacking instruments that were removed from the hands of law-abiding citizens and given to 3rd graders.

Today's headline. Which will quickly be followed by "30 Escape from Yemen Prison".

This is too funny, it almost seems like an April Fool's joke.

Yet another al Qaeda video...this one is from an American traitor. How this joker can say this crap with a straight face is unknown to me. If these losers had any guts they would stop blowing up women and children and face the U.S. on the field of battle; like real men. Go back to your hole, freak.