War on Terrorism Blog surpasses 500 entries

In June 2006, as he was researching book “From Cold War to Hot War: The New War on Global Terrorism,” author and lecturer Raymond E. Foster realized he was amassing a tremendous amount of research. Traditional academic research, open source information from the Department of Defense daily briefings, data from the National Counterterrorism Center and a host of daily, weekly and monthly news digests provided enough information to found a comprehensive blog on the War on Terrorism.

The blog includes original works like “Terrorism: Crime or Asymmetrical Warfare;” an effort to define terrorism in the context of American criminal justice. Other original works, like the analysis of world-wide attacks on police officers provide important data, information and analysis for the development of “street” counterterrorism tactics. Indeed, that blog entry has been published by a number of American municipal police departments; and, translated by two foreign governments for use by their uniformed police officers.

In addition to monitoring domestic conditions and events, the blog has many entries detailing events overseas, specifically in the Middle East. While the blog reports on events, it also reflects many of the human experiences of American’s fighting terrorism abroad. For instance, in a recent entry, an Air Force Technical Sergeant describes how he was eating lunch in the break room when he felt as if he had been slugged in the arm and was enveloped in a cloud of smoke. At first, he thought the television exploded. In reality, a rocket sliced through the back of his left shoulder and peppered his hands and arms with metal shards. There was only one thing going through his mind at the time: "Survival! I just wanted to make it out alive," he said.

According to Sun Tzu, in “The Art of War, "Thus it is said that one who knows the enemy and knows himself will not be endangered in a hundred engagements." Mindful of the need to know ones self and the enemy, the blog contains hyperlinks to important documents such as the “Al Qaeda Training Manual” and “The United States Military Guide to Terrorism in the 21st Century.” Updated daily, the blog can be read at http://terrorism-online.blogspot.com/