Efforts to keep the CIA’s image viewed non-negatively “by Congress, by prosecutors, by the American public and by Muslims worldwide†through destruction of torture tapes ends up backfiring horribly:
- Tapes by C.I.A. Lived and Died to Save Image (New York Times)
Reza Aslan argues that it is foreign policy, not the “image” of the next American president that will affect how youth in the Muslim world view America:
- He Could Care Less About Obama’s Story (Washington Post)
Iraqi officials proclaim three-fourths of Al-Qaeda in Iraq have been destroyed, however one independent journalist sees ethnically-cleansed Baghdad, massive refugee displacement and the spike in US deaths as characteristic of Iraq’s “worst yearâ€, while Al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan continues to grow:
- Al-Qaeda in Iraq ‘Reduced by 75%’ (BBC News)
- 2007 Worst Year Yet in Iraq (Antiwar.com)
- Local Pakistani Militants Boost Qaeda Threat (New York Times)
American Muslim charities win legal battle overturning earlier lawsuit for alleged terrorist financing, due to a lack of evidence directly connecting them with the death of an American in the West Bank:
- $156M Terrorism Damage Award Thrown Out (Associated Press/Washington Post)
European diplomats holding low-key talks with various tribal leaders, including some Taliban members, were thrown out of the country following a complaint from the US:
- Diplomats Expelled ‘At Behest of the US’ (The Daily Telegraph)
Family legacy politics, not meritocracy, continue to reign supreme in Pakistan as Benazir’s son Bilawal and her husband Asif Ali Zardawi are respectively named Chairman and Co-Chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party:
- Bhutto’s Son Named as Successor (Reuters/BBC News)
Prominent entrepreneur who led the socially, economically and politically influential Sengalese Islamic association, Serigne Saliou Mbacke, passes away:
- Senegalese Islamic Leader Dies (Al-Jazeera International)
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