Heavens to Murgatroid! Nuance in the pages of a contemporary left publication! Sasha Abramsky shows in the October issue of The Progressive that it is still, at least, possible. We at WW4 Report do have misgivings about some of what is stated here—for instance, his call for increasing emergency preparedness at nuclear and chemical plants, even with greater public participation, could become just another brick in the fast-consolidating wall of the new security state. But we thoroughly share his sense of alienation from the current self-deluded consensus on the left—while also recognizing the danger of following Christopher Hitchens into the pro-war camp in reaction. This one is worth a read.

A review by former intelligence analysts concludes that the Bush administration "apparently paid little or no attention" to pre-war CIA assessments warning of major cultural and political obstacles to stability in post-war Iraq. The unclassified report, completed in July 2004, now appears publicly for the first time in the quarterly journal Studies in Intelligence, published by the Center for the Study of Intelligence, an independent body within the CIA.

How are we to read this one? Is the US conniving with the Sudan regime while trying to appear not to be? Or is the US gearing up for unilateral intervention in Sudan, and trying to make the UN appear ineffectual in preparation? From Reuters, Oct. 11:

John Bolton has blocked a UN envoy from briefing the Security Council on possible human rights violations in Sudan's Darfur region, saying the council had to act against atrocities and not just talk about them.

In an Oct. 9 interview with CNN, televangelist Pat Robertson—who recently got in hot water by calling for the assassination of Hugo Chavez—accused the Venezuelan president of giving Osama bin Laden $1.2 million after the 9-11 attacks and of trying to obtain nuclear material from Iran.

In an Oct. 14 article in Russia's Komsomolskaya Pravda, the newspaper claimed that it has "sensational" proof that imprisoned military intelligence (GRU) colonel Vladimir Kvachkov was involved in the apparent assassination attempt on Unified Energy Systems (EES) head Anatolii Chubais in March. Kvachkov, an explosives specialist, denies involvement in the alleged plot. However, according to leaks from an investigation completed last month, investigators are convinced of Kvachkov's involvement, the newspaper wrote. The report also cites written statements that Kvachkov reportedly tried to smuggle out of prison, which were intercepted by prison officials. According to the account, Kvachkov wrote: "From a political point of view, the destruction of [people like] Chubais, [Economic Development Minister German] Gref, [Finance Minister Aleksei] Kudrin and [President] Putin can not be recognized as a crime. Our motherland is under international-Jewish occupation and armed actions are the actions of a national-liberation struggle." (RFE/RL Newsline, Oct. 15) (Emphasis added.)

A July 9 letter from al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri to the organization's supposed leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has allegedly been obtained by US forces in Iraq. The letter, released to the media, calls for the establishment of local emirates as an interim measure towards re-establishment of new Caliphate. It also appears to take issue with the tactic of mass murder of Shi'ites, even while demonizing Shi'ites as collaborators with the "Crusaders."

Despite Indian aid to Pakistan-controlled Kashmir in the wake of the devastating earthquake which has claimed some 25,000 lives, news reports indicate concerns persist in New Delhi about how the divided region's militant organizations are exploiting the disaster. An account in The Australian raises fears that such organizations are involved in the relief effort, and that "General Musharraf and his army would be too preoccupied with initially managing the enormity of the tragedy to worry about taking on militants."

From New York Newsday, Oct. 11, this harrowing report by staff writer John Riley from New Orleans' devastated Lower Ninth Ward:

Six weeks after the storm, no neighborhood in this ravaged city faces longer odds than the financially impoverished but culturally rich Lower Ninth -- and none better reflects the fault lines of race and class, nature and economics tangled together in the debate over New Orleans' future.