US Troops Among Nearly 50 Dead in Iraq

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Police found a dozen bodies trapped in a grate in the Tigris River, and a roadside bomb killed two US soldiers on a foot patrol south of Baghdad Saturday as nearly 50 violent deaths were reported across Iraq. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki banned a Kurdish extremist party from operating in Baghdad in a move seen largely as a gesture to Turkey, which had threatened to send troops across the border to destroy the group's bases in northern Iraq.

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Terrorism Experts Say Focus on Al Qaeda Misses a Broader Threat

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When American and Pakistani officials said this week that one conspirator in the foiled plan to bomb trans-Atlantic airliners was a "liaison" to Al Qaeda, they suggested that his arrest proved the group was linked to the scheme. Rashid Rauf, a Briton, had trained in the group's camps in the 1990's and was "a key Al Qaeda operative," one Pakistani official said. But counterterrorism experts said Saturday that the focus of government officials and the public on Al Qaeda, a term today with deep connotations but elusive meaning, may be misplaced.Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A Deadly Airline Plot and Failed Bush Policies

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The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette asserts that there is much that we don't know about the plot uncovered last week to blow up 10 airliners over the Atlantic, flying between Great Britain and the United States. We know that the war in Iraq is not a "war on terror." We know that the loss of 2,600 good Americans, the injuries of 19,000 others and the wartime expense of $320 billion have been a tragic waste. We know that because of the cost of Iraq, measures that might truly enhance homeland security, like technology that would spot sinister liquids at airport checkpoints, are hardly affordable.