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CONTENTS:

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK:

1. World
2. Africa
3. Americas
4. Asia Pacific
5. Europe
6. Middle East
7. South Asia
8. Cyberterrorism and Information Warfare
9. Finance
10 Human Rights
11. Law and Legal Issues
12. Transportation
13. Weapons of Mass Destruction
14. Recently Published

FEATURE ARTICLE:
August 7, 1998

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

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1. World

For the bombing in Indonesia, see Asia-Pacific below and for the Jordanian embassy in Iraq, see Middle East below.
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia opened the Kuala Lumpur World Peace Conference with a stirring call for peace under the auspices of the UN and that it is the extreme disparities between rich and poor that cause unrest in the world. He also accused rich countries of waging war at the slightest excuse and fuelling terrorism with weapons sales. (Malaysia has just signed a $900 million arms deal with Russia.)
http://202.186.86.35/news/story.asp?file=/2003/8/10/nation/6028349&newspage=Search
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s920866.htm

August 9 marks the International Day of the World's Indigenous People. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warns that indigenous peoples "still face threats to their lives and destruction of their belief systems, cultures, languages and ways of life". His warning is underscored by reports from the UN Development Program, UN High Commission for Refugees, and a joint report by Health Unlimited with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/indigenous/
http://www.healthunlimited.org/aboutus/indigenous%20peoples.htm#Download

Russia has announced consultative talks with both North and South Korea to discuss the proposed 6-way meeting in which the Koreas, the US, Japan, China, and Russia would discuss North Korea's nuclear weapons programs.

US President Bush, on a 1-month vacation at his Texas ranch, took a break during the week to discuss "100 days of Progress in Iraq"
Report http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/iraq/100days/introduction.html
Press conference http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/08/20030808-1.html
Neither this report nor his brief press conference addressed these issues:
* Not welcome before the invasion, Islamic extremists are making their presence felt with the first terrorist attack in Iraq, against the Jordanian embassy. This has been linked to the previously unknown White Flags, Muslim Youth and Army of Mohammed as well as the likely involvement of Anser al-Islam, a terrorist group associated with al Qaeda.* Rioting in Basra
* Continued casualties among the occupying forces, civilians, and now civilian contractors, with the number of non-combat deaths outnumbering combat deaths. Iraq Coalition Casualty Count http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx
* Oil smuggling and low production levels reinforcing the fact that Iraqi oil will not be able to fund reconstruction -- a figure Bush refuses to state to Congress
* An interim council not recognized by any neighboring states and whose president says his home is London
* The resignation of Ahmed al-Rikabi, American-appointed director of broadcasting, saying that America is losing the propaganda war.
* Repeated reports of low morale among troops, including reports of an email return-home campaign, even as they must now prepare for increased risk of suicide attacks

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2. Africa

East African police chiefs have agreed a plan to combat cattle rustling, including branding cows to deter thieves and make recovery easier.

Algerian militant Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) is said to be asking ransom of $5 million for each of 14 European hostages who were kidnapped earlier this year and are being held in the Sahara desert, probably in Mali.

Peace in Angola is threatened by conflicts on two fronts: separatist guerillas in Cabinda and ruling party attacks against former UNITA rebels. In both cases, hostilities must stop before peace can move forward.

Fighting continues in Burundi, as the peacekeeping force due from Ethiopia has been delayed for lack of funding.

Democratic Republic of Congo continues to report outbreaks of fighting, particularly in the northeast, but negotiations among the warring parties reached agreement on division of military zones.

Ivory Coast has passed an amnesty law for some crimes committed during the recent war.

Liberian President Charles Taylor will hand power to his Vice President on Monday. It is unclear when he will leave the country or how the rebel forces would react to his absence. The first Nigerian peacekeeping troops have arrived, greeted enthusiastically, although fighting continues. The US has said their presence in Liberia would be minor; to date only seven soldiers are on the ground and no decisions have been made about proceeding in any meaningful way to alleviate the grotesque humanitarian situation in Liberia. For a flavor of the situation, see "The real casualties of war", Mail and Guardian, August 10 http://www.mg.co.za/Content/13.asp?ao=1858&t=1

Malawi's parliamentary speaker, David Katsonga, expelled former education minister Brown Mpinganjira and seven colleagues for establishing a new opposition party, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Mauritania has released 90 soldiers who had been detained after the failed coup attempt in June.

In Nigeria, ethnic clashes in the Delta region left at least ten dead. An oil company worker, Paul Abrahams, who had been taken hostage on July 27, escaped when police tricked his kidnappers.

Nigeria has closed its border with Benin to help control banditry, smuggling and human trafficking.

Nigeria has said that the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula will not be turned over to Cameroon as agreed by the International Court of Justice last year for at least three years. Discussions continue.

Nigeria and Sao Tome plan to enter into a military pact whereby Nigeria would help with security in exchange for a share of the proceeds of Sao Tome's oil.

South Africa's first HIV/AIDS conference started in acrimony but ended with hop[e as the government approved a UN Global Fund grant and, in a major U-turn, agreed to develop an national antiretroviral drug therapy program. With the highest number of AIDS cases in the world, this action cannot come a moment too soon.

Sudan's peace talks are at a critical point. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir reiterated his objections to the draft agreement, but discussions to finalize power sharing and other issues are still due to be discussed in a new round of talks.

Zimbabwe's central bank has introduced travelers' checks as legal tender to help ease the severe shortage of cash. Lack of confidence in the government may undermine this effort.

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3. Americas

In Brazil, Abel Silveririo became the second senior prison official to be shot dead in two weeks. The crime is associated with the crime organization Red Command. At the end of the week, 84 prisoners tunneled out of a top security jail.

A truck bomb on Sunday in southeast Colombia has wounded 20 people. The rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is responsible. On the 8th, a car bomb in Saravena, Arauca State, Colombia has killed three adults and two children and injured three.

Arauca is a hotbed of rebel and paramilitary battles. These attacks coincide with the first anniversary of President Uribe's presidency.

Colombian drug surveillance flights will resume. They are conducted by US patrols authorized to intercept and forcibly ground or destroy planes suspected of carrying narcotics.

Four Haitian government employees were murdered in an ambush in the central plateau. Political opposition or bandits may be responsible.

For the first time, Haiti has now recognized Voodoo as a religion.

Mexico's Zapatista rebels have gathered in Chiapas for a 3-day celebration inaugurating their Good Government program.
In Peru, jailed Shining Path rebel leaders Abimael Guzman and Elana Iparraguirre have ended their hunger strike that was taken in protest at solitary confinement, although their situation was unchanged.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has disclosed analysis of United Airlines Flight 93 that indicates that, rather than passengers seizing control of the cockpit, the hijackers deliberately crashed the plane in a Pennsylvania field. Relatives of those on the flight disputed this change.

Last weekend, a large condominium project underway in San Diego was burned down. The arson attack was claimed by the Environmental Liberation Front (ELF) and has been deemed an ecoterrorism attack by the FBI.

Anglo-American company Northbridge Services Group is under investigation for allegedly establishing links with rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and the Special Court in Sierra Leone, and offering to deploy 2,000 mercenaries and kidnap Liberian President Taylor.

The US state of Florida has begun development of the Multistate Anti-TeRrorism Information EXchange (MATRIX) for law enforcement agencies around the country to share and analyze information between local, state and federal authorities. http://www.iir.com/matrix/
Venezuela's Supreme Court has given the National Assembly ten days to appoint an electoral council for a referendum on President Hugo Chavez. The court ruled that if parliament did not meet this deadline, it would appoint the council, a ruling the congress has said is unacceptable, exacerbating the looming constitutional crisis.

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4. Asia Pacific

August 8 was the 15th anniversary of Burma's military government crushing the pro-democracy movement.

China is looking to use the lessons learned from the SARS outbreak to help inform treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS.

Taiwanese customs officials boarded a North Korean ship in Kaohsiung Harbor. US authorities requested the investigation, believing the ship may be transporting chemicals for nuclear weapons production.

A car bomb exploded outside Jakarta's JW Marriott Hotel, killing 17 and injuring 150 Police retrieved the vehicle number of the Toyota Kijang used in the attack and the decapitated head of the suicide bomber, who has been identified as Asmar Latinsani. Jemaah Islamiah has claimed responsibility. The explosives were similar to those used in the Bali bombing. It is feared this could be the start of a series of attacks, with analysts citing a seemingly endless supply of suicide bombers.

Indonesia's offensive against separatist rebels in Aceh province is not going as well as reported, according to the US reporter William Nessen who was recently deported. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3128265.stm

Japan commemorated the 58th anniversary of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that killed 70,000 people.

In the Philippines, Salamat Hashim, head of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) died of a heart attack. His death occurred two weeks ago but was not announced until completion of the leadership transition in which MILF military chief Murad Ebrahim was appointed. Peace talks will now proceed under his leadership. Meanwhile, Abu Sayyaf extremist Abdulmukim Edris who escaped from jail, was shot dead at an army checkpoint. In a subsequent gunbattle during the hunt for fellow escapee Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, three rebels were killed and six soldiers injured.

Solomon Island rebel leader Harold Keke has told Australian diplomat Nick Warner that the six missionaries Keke had taken hostage were all dead. There was no further explanation, but Keke said he would surrender weapons within a week.

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5. Europe

Azerbaijan's parliament has elected President Heydar Aliyev's son as Prime Minister. Opposition members boycotted the session and called on the President (who is in hospital) to resign if he is too ill to govern. More than 10,000 opposition supporters demonstrated against the appointment of Ilhan Aliyev as PM.

Cypriots in the north have signed a free trade agreement with Turkey, a move that could strain relations with the EU.

Documentation from the Nuremberg Trials is being posted at a new website, http://www.nuremberg.law.harvard.edu

Irish police raided a suspected terrorist training camp linked to dissident republic group the Continuity IRA. Ten men were arrested and weapons, ammunition and other equipment seized.

A UN peacekeeper in Kosovo has been shot dead. The killing may be linked to the conviction of former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) members on war crimes charges.

In Chechnya, rebels shot down a Russian military helicopter with a shoulder-fired missile, killing three. In a gun battle near Ingushetia, a military convoy came under fire and six soldiers were killed.

The Republic of Serbia and Montenegro has purged 16 senior generals and Milosevic loyalists from the Supreme Defense Council.

Basque separatist group ETA has warned that it will strike economic and tourist targets in Spain and warned foreign tourists not to visit the "war zone"

Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq have refused a US request for 12,000 Turkish troops as peacekeepers in the northern city of Falluja.

Ukraine has sent a detachment of 70 troops to assist in Iraq.

In the UK, 13 suspected foreign terrorists that have been held without charge will be allowed to take their cases to the House of Lords, where the Home Office has said it will strongly defend its right to protect the country by such actions.

Four prisoners in Northern Irelands Maghaberry Prison have ended a weeklong rooftop protest inspired by republican and loyalist prisoners being mingled rather than segregated. Dirty protests are also being used to protest this issue. A safety review of Maghaberry is underway.

The loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defense Association (UDA) has asked the British government to recognize its 6-month old ceasefire.

Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt has been found guilty on terrorism charges in Ireland. The Real IRA is said to be planning the assassination of Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams.

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6. Middle East

Bahraini investigators researching the fate of ten people missing in Iraq since 1991 have declared them dead.

A Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip says that in light of recent incursions into Palestinian territories, killing Hamas members and civilians, it would not maintain the ceasefire.

Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) legal team are discussing details of a new inspections regime and signing of the additional protocol of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran insists its nuclear program is entirely peaceful and that Iran is opposed to any form of weapons of mass destruction.

Iran is holding senior members of al Qaeda and plans to put them on trial in Iran.

Israel's release of 339 prisoners did not meet with much gratitude, with thousands more still in jail. But it is the fence construction that is arousing the greatest ire, even from the US. To understand this issue, see the 4-part series in The Christian Science Monitor. It began on August 8 and will continue next week. http://www.christiansciencemonitor.com/2003/0808/p01s05-wome.html

Jordan's embassy in Iraq was left a pile of smoking rubble when a truck bomb, triggered by remote control, exploded outside the entrance for visas. Eleven civilians were killed and 65 were injured. An entire family was killed as they drove past the building. The motive for the attack is unclear, but it has been suggested that it could be a response to the asylum given by Jordan to Saddam Hussein's two daughters and could be the work of Islamic militants, notably Anser al-Islam. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has sent an investigative team with specialized knowledge in such attacks.

Hezbollah guerillas fired shells over northern Israel, killing one and wounding four. Israeli aircraft retaliated in a raid against southern Lebanon. The past week has seen a serious increase in border violence. Israel has blamed Lebanon and Syria for supporting Hezbollah and had demanded they crack down on the militants. This position has been strongly supported by the US State Department, stressing the need to maintain border calm.

The Emir of Qatar has named his younger son Prince Tamim as crown prince, replacing his elder brother.

In the West Bank, near Jerusalem, a gunman opened fire on a car, wounding an Israeli woman and her three children. In response, Israel has frozen additional handovers of towns to the Palestinian Authority. Israel Defense Forces launched a raid and arrested four Hamas militants. Two militants, a civilian and one soldier were killed during the raid. During further clashes, two Palestinians were killed and five wounded in Askar refugee camp.

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7. South Asia

Following attacks against aid workers and policemen, the UN has suspended work in parts of southern Afghanistan. In a brazen attack on the 7th, a group of 40 Taliban fighters killed a Mercy Corps driver and six soldiers. Taliban fighters have also attacked clerics who support the government.

Afghanistan's electoral commission has had its first formal meeting in preparation for elections due next year. With the state of security as it is, it is difficult to see how they will be able to conduct voter registration -- especially for the first time.

In Bhutan, gunmen, possibly mercenaries, attacked two rebel hideouts, killing three members of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA).

India's Supreme Court has asked the Gujarat state government to give it the records of the trial in which 21 Hindu defendants were acquitted of killing 12 Muslims during last year's riots and also ordered Gujarat to protect witnesses and victims in the case. Excavations of the disputed religious site of Ayodhya have been completed. They will next produce their report of the findings.

A grenade attack in Indian-administered Kashmir has killed two Indian soldiers and injured five.

Improved relations between India and Pakistan have been demonstrated on several fronts. A group of 30 Indian members of parliament and journalists met with their counterparts in Pakistan. A Pakistani child received medical treatment in India.

Peace talks between the government of Nepal and Maoist rebels will resume next week.

The Sri Lankan parliament was briefly suspended on Wednesday as they protested a US plan to fingerprint visa applicants. Peace talks with the Tamil Tigers are expected to resume in September.

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8. Cyberterrorism and Information Warfare

Carnegie Mellon's CERT Coordination Center, ArcSight, and three universities to be named will contribute to the new Cyber Security Information Sharing Project intended to improve public/private sharing of information about cyberattacks. http://www.arcsight.com/solutions_securitydesk.htm

Acxiom Corporation reports a hacking incident that allowed access to personal information of some clients. Police have arrested a former employee of one of the company's clients.

Robert O'Harrow Jr. offers an in depth profile of a case of identity theft in "Identity Crisis: Meet Michael Berry...." in the Washington Post, August 10. http://www.washingotnpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A25358-2003Aug6.html

The presidential commission on the US Postal Service has recommended it work with the Department of Homeland Security to further consider the "Intelligent Mail" project that would use tracking codes to help improve security as well as track progress of the mail. The proposal has raised privacy concerns, including its elimination of a method of anonymous communication.
http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/domestic-finance/usps/pdf/recommendations_TechnologySubcommittee_July23_final.pdf

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9. Finance

Northern Bank of Northern Ireland was fined GBP1.25 million for failing to keep proper customer identification records under Financial Services Authority rules. http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/press/2003/084.html

The UN estimates that the international embargo in timber exports by Liberia will cost $13 million/year, or 18 percent of its total revenue. This report does not take into account the effects of the security situation precluding these exports.

Glenn Simpson reports "Riyadh Paid Man Tied to Hijackers" in the Wall Street Journal, August 8. The report describes Saudi student Omar al-Bayoumi, who denies any connection with the hijackers. Saudi authorities have previously pointed out that most of their citizens are on some kind of government stipend and that these relations should not imply they knowingly fund terrorist attacks.

David Gosnell reports on "Prepaid Cards and The Patriot Act: Some prepaid cards may run afoul of federal account-identification requirements that grew out of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks" in Credit Card Management, August 2003.
http://www.cardforum.com/cgi-bin/readstory.pl?story=20030801CCM5613.xml

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto will appeal against a Swiss conviction of money laundering and suspended 6-month jail term with $50,000 fines for her and her husband. She has also been ordered to return some $12 million to Pakistan.

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10. Human Rights

The UN Security Council is evaluating the proposal to create separate prosecutors for the war crimes tribunals for Rwanda and Yugoslavia. Carla Del Ponte, the current chief prosecutor, has forcibly argued to maintain both positions.

The International Crisis Group reports that " The Special Court for Sierra Leone has moved with relative rapidity to bring to justice those who bear the greatest responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the country?s eleven-year civil war. There are a number of concerns however, about its fragile finances and its need for greater legitimacy. Senior Court officials have acknowledged that they underestimated the difficulty of achieving recognition and international cooperation. ICG urges the UN Security Council to enhance the court?s power and prestige by granting it a mandate under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which would require all member states to comply with its orders, including its indictments and arrest orders. The Court, whose principal donor is the U.S., also needs to be careful not to appear to be subject to outside influence if it wants to fulfil its mandate with impartiality and provide a "new model" for international justice."
http://www.crisisweb.org/projects/showreport.cfm?reportid=1076

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11. Law and Legal Issues

Amrozi (Amrozi bin Nurhasyim) smiled and said he would be "happy to die a martyr" when sentenced to death by firing squad for his role in the Bali bombing, but will appeal against the conviction. Some relatives of bombing victims have begun a campaign against his execution to prevent him from becoming a martyr.

Former Nicaraguan president Arnoldo Aleman has been ordered to stay in prison rather than house arrest while he awaits trial on charges of money laundering, fraud and embezzlement.

Six British men, Peter Brandon, James Cottle, James Lee, Alexander Mitchell, William Sampson and Les Walker, have been pardoned by Saudi King Fahd after being imprisoned for three years after being convicted of terrorism. They claim to have been wrongfully imprisoned and subject to torture.

Indonesian Major-General Adam Damiri was found guilty of failing to prevent violence during the East Timor massacres of 1998. The highest ranking Indonesian before the special tribunal, the guilty verdict was a surprise since other suspects were freed or given light sentences and even the prosecution has requesting dropping the charges.

Maher "Mike" Hawash, a software engineer, has pleaded guilty in US court to aiding the Taliban. In a plea agreement, he will serve seven years in prison and charges of conspiracy to levy war and provide material support for terrorism were dropped.

Philippines Senator Gregorio Honasan and associates have been accused of planning last month's mutiny. Prosecutors are examining the police complaint.

Michael McKevitt has been found guilty of membership in the Real IRA and of directing terrorism. The charges were not related to the Omagh bombing, but are tied to offenses after it. He has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Uzair Paracha, detained as a material witness in New York since March, has been charged with conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda.

Jewish settlers Yitzhak Pas and Matityahu Shabo were charged with possessing explosives from the Israeli army and planning to use them for a terrorist attack against Palestinian citizens.

Former president Didier Ratsiraka of Madagascar has been sentenced in absentia to ten years hard labor for corruption. France says it has not received an extradition order.

Morgan Tsvangirai will be tried for treason charges but Zimbabwe's high court has released Welshman Ncube and Renson Gasela, who had faced similar charges.

Former Argentine military ruler Jorge Rafael Videla and other senior members of the military government have been formally notified in court of Spanish requests for extradition on charges connected with torture and murder of Spanish citizens during the 1976-83 "dirty war".

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12. Transportation

US congressional representatives Edward Markey and John Mica have criticized respectively the lack of commercial cargo screening and pilot training efforts. Meanwhile, Patience Wait reports that "TSA Speeds Ahead: With airports more secure, agency turns attention to seaports and other transportation systems", Washington Technology August 4, http://www.washingtontechnology.com/news/18_9/cover-stories/21357-1.html and MIT's Technology Review finds "Airline Security's False Hope? An expert on aviation safety statistics says a new computer system to screen out terrorists may actually make things easier for them" by Arnold Barnett, July 28 http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/wo_barnett072803.asp

US aviation safety inspectors have been evaluating the threat from portable missiles at several international airports. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3135617.stm

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13. Weapons of Mass Destruction

Representatives of US nuclear weapons laboratories, StratCom, weapons contractors and civilian defense officials will arrive in Nebraska on the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing and leave on the anniversary of the Nagasaki bomb. The 150 or so specialists are meeting under tight security to discuss plans for small, tactical nuclear weapons including the so-called "mini-nukes" and "bunker-busters". For more information see the Los Alamos Study Group http://www.lasg.org/hmpgfrm_b.html

Scientists at the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) have found that "A single shot of a fast-acting, experimental Ebola vaccine successfully protects monkeys from the deadly virus after only one month. If this vaccine proves similarly effective in humans, it may one day allow scientists to quickly contain Ebola outbreaks with ring vaccination?the same strategy successfully used in the past against smallpox...." The research is published in Nature, August 7.
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/newsroom/releases/ebolavaccine.htm
http://www.nature.com/nature/links/030807/030807-9.html

"Immune Systems" by Sarah D. Scalet describes why information technology is critical to the bioterrorism response and other issues in CSO Magazine, August 2003. http://www.csoonline.com/read/080103/immune.html

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14. Recently Published

Aniruddha Bahal "Bunker 13: A Novel" Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Noah J. Efron "Real Jews: Secular vs. Ultra-Orthodox and the Struggle for Jewish Identity in Israel" Basic

Anna Funder "Stasiland: True Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall" Granta

Anthony Glees "The Stasi Files: East Germany's Secret Operations Against Britain" Free press

Stephen Kinzer "All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Terror in the Middle East" Wiley

Micah L. Sifry and Christopher Cerf. "The Iraq War Reader" Touchstone

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FEATURE ARTICLE: August 7, 1998

Early in the morning of August 7, faxes received in London gave notice that the Islamic Army for the Liberation of the Holy Places was responsible for bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, events that had not taken place. While officials were puzzling over this communication, two groups of men working 400 miles away from each other headed towards their targets. By 10:30 they were in place.

In Nairobi, Kenya, three men converged in the rear parking area of the US Embassy building. Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-'Owhali got out of the truck driven by "Azzam", threw a stun grenade, and fled. Azzam fired a handgun at the windows then detonated the bomb loaded with TNT that they had loaded on the truck.

Situated in the middle of Nairobi's business sector and near the railway station, the embassy and surrounding buildings were full of office workers. The blast, heard ten miles away, destroyed a 5-story office block, including a secretarial college and other businesses, trapping those inside. Although the embassy was reduced to a shell, it did not collapse. Other adjacent buildings were severely damaged or destroyed, including the 19-story Cooperative Bank headquarters. All around the area, glass blown out by the force of the blast cut people to pieces.

The local emergency and health services were in no way equipped to deal with a disaster of this scale. An Israeli search and rescue team arrived to help, as well as US experts. Rescue operations continued without rest for several days, and the final casualty count was horrific: 224 people were dead, including 12 US citizens, and nearly 5,000 were injured, almost all Kenyans.

In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, a smaller-scale tragedy was unfolding. Khalfan Khamis Mohamed and "Ahmed the German" drove to the US Embassy in a truck loaded with explosives, oxygen and acetylene tanks and truck batteries. Blocked by a water truck and 35-feet from the outer wall, this blast also failed to penetrate the perimeter but the embassy and neighboring buildings were severely damaged.

This explosion killed ten Tanzanians and injured 77 people, including one US citizen.

The two explosions occurred within nine minutes of each other. It didn't take long before experts recognized that the Islamic Army for the Liberation of the Holy Places was a cover name for al Qaeda. In a foreshadowing of things to come, analyst Hazhir Teimourian told the BBC, "My number one candidate is a Saudi millionaire, sometimes they call him Prince Osama bin Laden. He is hiding with about 100 men in the Afghan mountains. He has huge amounts of money and could easily have contracted this out." The subsequent investigation confirmed this supposition.

The careful planning reflected in these coordinated attacks began at least as early as 1991. The details of this and other valuable details regarding the organization and operations of al Qaeda came from those arrested in connection with the East African embassy bombings. The US government acted quickly. Osama bin Ladin and 11 other individuals were indicted for these and other terrorist acts and at the end of the year, Wadih El Hage, Mohamed Rashed, Daoud al-'Owhali, Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, and Mohammed Sadeeck Odeh were being held in New York, and Khalid al-Fawwaz was in the UK pending extradition to the United States.

In addition to the criminal proceedings, the US responded with political and military measures. President Clinton added Osama bin Ladin and his associates to the Executive Order 12947 the list of terrorists and so blocked their US assets and prohibited financial transactions with them. Similar measures followed in the UN. In addition, the US launched a strike against training camps in Afghanistan and an alleged chemical weapons facility in the Sudan.

Last week marked the fifth anniversary of the East African embassy bombings. Looking back, there are three pieces of history that we should carry with us.

First, there were a number of simple security measures identified by the Accountability Review Boards that continue to be of value, including the need to adjust risk management procedures. They pointed to a lack of investment to reduce vulnerabilities to terrorism. This lack of investment persists.

The Review Board also pointed out drawbacks in intelligence reports, including the lack of credible intelligence warning of the bombings, and that intelligence will never be adequate to warn of such attacks. Lack of adequate or timely information and information-sharing at all levels, from intelligence through crisis management, was also criticized. These limitations continue today.

Third it is important to remember the victims -- more than 5,000 casualties, almost all African. Even now, people struggle to come to terms with their appalling injuries -- those who were blinded and maimed and hundreds who still require daily care. Others were orphaned or widowed. USAID provided $42 million to Kenya and Tanzania in a grant that has now run out. Kenyan victims, with a Californian civil rights lawyer, sued for compensation to be paid from the $700 million in al-Qaeda-related frozen funds, but lost the case and their appeal. In contrast, the US paid out billions after September 11, including payouts of $1 million each to survivors and victims' families. Kenyans and Tanzanians got no payouts, and now the aid used for patient treatment is gone. Most patients cannot afford to continue treatment without help. Similarly, there has been no investment to help improve infrastructure, even despite continued terrorist attacks against western interests.

This first two of these pieces of history are straightforward, pointing to issues already in public discussion. The third represents a lesson not yet learned. America must rethink its treatment of the civilian victims of its "war on terrorism", lest the fate of the victims again serves to fuel the causes of the perpetrators.

Additional resources: