Been awhile since I've posted... Lots of things going on with that condition known as "life"..

However, as many of you might have heard, the Pakistanis are claiming to have cornered Al-Zawahiri with several hundred of his loyal fighters.. I truly hope we are able to take him alive, as he is the operational heart and mind of Al-Qaeda, and knowlegable of its designs and membership. He is the "power behind the scenes".

But at the very least, his death would deprive Al-Qaeda of its most valuable operative, as well as several hundred potential suicide attackers.. Best to have Al-Qaeda members commit suicide defending themselves from our own attacks, than for them to seek out martyrdom via their own operations.

But while the initiative is slowing changing to favor the Western democracies, the demographic trend in the Mid-East remains in Al-Qaeda's favor. We still face the challenge of offering an alternative socio-economic model to the growing numbers of young people in the muslim world. And just as our own baby boom brought about societal friction and radicalism during the '60s, it's inevitable that the same will likely occur with muslim youth deprived of properous future.

This, imo, is why the current struggle in Iraq remains crucial. It's the most secular of all countries within the middle east, and thus, poses the greater potential for such a socio-economic transition.

One another point, I have been advocating for the past year than the US (now CPA) administration create the equivalent of an Alaskan Permanent Fund in Iraq. I haven't heard anything recently with regard to such a proposal. However, it's evident to me that for Iraq to heal itself as a society and as a national multi-ethnic/religious entity, the people must all have a common stake in the country's economic success.

Furthermore, it is crucial to make any new government accountable to its people, and to dispel the belief that the US is merely there to take Iraq's oil from the people (not that most Iraqi's questioned France and Russia's attempts to actually do that via Saddam's regime).

The Central Scrutinizer