War / Peace

While "the latest target is the New York Times," for reports on a U.S. program tracking international financial records, journalists and media outlets around the world have been criticized -- and prosecuted -- for publishing stories related to the so-called Global War on Terror.

The first spots produced by the U.S. Army's new ad agency, McCann Erickson, aim "to recruit Arabic-speaking translators," reports Advertising Age. The Arabic-language spots are running in heavy rotation during World Cup coverage on the Arab Radio & Television Network in Canada and the United States. In one ad, a soldier says, "I am a bridge between two cultures. ... I make the children smile because I can speak with them," followed by "a mention of a $10,000 reward for joining the Army and the possibility of expedited U.S.

In Afghanistan, "the Taliban now have three different press spokesmen covering three separate regions of the country. In Kandahar this summer, Taliban cassettes, DVDs and magazines are available in numbers never previously seen. ... The Taliban have also begun broadcasting a pirate station called the 'Voice of Sharia' from mobile transmitters in at least two southern provinces," reports The Independent.

The New York Times reports that Republicans are strongly embracing the Bush Administration's war in Iraq in "an effort to turn what some party leaders had feared could become the party's greatest liability into an advantage in the midterm elections." In a strategy meeting "White House officials including the national security adviser, Step