All Taliban, All The Time

By Josh Quittner Sunday, Oct. 21, 2001
    • Here's my first problem: I can't stop watching the news. I watch it openly in my office all day. I watch it surreptitiously at home, as if it were porn that my young children must not see. I take every newspaper and magazine I can carry, and I read them on the train. My theory is this: the more information I have, the more I will feel as if I'm in control. If I can assess the risk of anthrax attacks and suitcase nukes and the Russian 201st Motorized Rifle Division amassing in Tajikistan, maybe I won't have to worry about where bin Laden is going to strike next.

    And this brings me to my second problem: I can't get enough information. With the new, Webby TV format--the talking head in one corner, the foreign correspondent in the other and the zippered news headlines at the bottom--in three minutes I'm all caught up. Where can I find more?

    On the Web, of course. A Google search is fine for selected topics like the Taliban and hemorrhagic diseases. But for that mother lode of breaking news, deep background and raw gossip, Middle Eastern hands tell me, there is a short list of must-visit sites.

    Start with the think tank Strategic Forecasting www.stratfor.com ), based in Austin, Texas. It publishes a daily "situation report" that chronicles the previous day's events in a no-nonsense way. I always manage to find things on that list that I have missed. Like most private-analysis sites, this one charges a fee to get at the juicy stuff.

    After being provoked like that, I visit the Henry L. Stimson Center (www.stimson. org), which has a free library of frequently updated reports that tell you more than most people want to know about biochemical terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. Some other recommended sites include Parameters, the U.S. Army War College's journal (carlisle-www.army. mil/usawc/Parameters), which is to the Army what the New England Journal of Medicine is to doctors; the Center for Strategic and International Studies www.csis.org ), which has great stuff on fighting Iraq; and the Pentagon's official news outlet www.defenselink.mil/news )--be sure to check its special reports.

    I know it's not good for me, but for gossip and buzz I go to Jerusalem-based DEBKAfiles www.debka.com ). As a source of news, the site is a curious thing--utterly compelling while still managing to be amateurish, disorganized and not always believable. Where does it get its stuff? A network of sources "in the military, in intelligence, ex-intelligence people, political people, ex-political people, business people, arms dealers," says Giora Shamis, 62, the site's editor. Named one of USA Today's Hot Sites recently, DEBKA draws 150,000 visitors a day. I'm not the only one having trouble not watching.

    Questions? E-mail Josh at josh_quittner@onmagazine.com