Steve Coll in The Week | Book Review

Communications — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:57:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Osama bin Laden founded al Qaida two months after his oldest brother, Salem, was killed while flying an ultralight in Texas. Salem bin Laden had lived in a world of luxury. As head of the Saudi Arabia–based construction empire their late father had built, Salem enjoyed collecting guitars, cars, and women. To win a bet, he once proposed marriage to four Western girlfriends at once, losing the wager because only three accepted. Despite their lifestyle differences, Mohamed bin Laden’s first- and 17th-born sons remained surprisingly close, says author Steve Coll. Two years before Salem’s 1988 death, the playboy and the prayer leader paired up in London to negotiate an arms deal for Osama’s Afghan fighters. Had Salem lived to wield his influence over his younger brother, Coll says, Osama’s religious radicalism might not have bent itself toward mass terrorism. . .

Steve Clemons in The Week Daily on U.S.-Iran Relations

Communications — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 13:41:00 -0400

New America in the News:

[...]

The U.S. is at war with Iran—although for now it’s just a “war of words,” said Tom Engelhardt on TheNation.com. But that could change. “The President has indicated, more than once, that he would not hand the Iranian nuclear situation over to his successor unresolved.” The White House already reportedly has approved covert actions inside Iran to destabilize the government, and Iran is meddling in Iraq to secure power for its fellow Shiites there. Add it all up, and “the American-Iranian relationship” is the “potential crucible of disaster for the planet.”

Don’t hide in a cave just yet, said Steven Clemons in Salon.com. “Despite holding out a military option, ratcheting up tensions with Iran about meddling in Iraq and Afghanistan, and deploying carrier strike-force groups in the Persian Gulf, the president is not planning to bomb Iran.” Going to war with Tehran would disrupt our oil supply horribly, and could send Sunni Arab states falling like “a set of dominoes” and “remake the map of the Middle East—and not in America's favor.”

Steve Clemons is the Director of New America's American Strategy Program. For this complete article, please visit This Week Daily online.