WAR ON TERROR

Globe and Mail: The fourth world war


For two years, the U.S. has pursued the culprits behind the 9/11 atrocities with a vengeance that has shocked and awed ally and enemy alike. But even the devastating attacks on the Afghan and Iraqi regimes don't illustrate the true scope of the campaign, DOUG SAUNDERS reports. While everyone was preoccupied with the fireworks, Washington has quietly deployed thousands of agents in a secretive struggle that may last a lifetime

If you happen to find yourself in Nouakchott, a dusty and rarely visited city of three million on the far western edge of the Sahara, you may be surprised to find an unlikely sort of character hanging around government buildings and better hotels. These new strangers, whose ranks have been growing steadily in recent months, are a species of serious-looking American men who bear little resemblance to the oil explorers and motorcycle adventurers who until recently were this city's only foreign visitors.

"Wiedermal geschaeften die USA im Kampf um die Weltherrschaft, mit Leuten die nichts von Demokratie halten. Die sich nachdem sie genug aufgerüstet wurden, in blutigen Bürgerkriegen wiederfinden werden oder sich gegen Amerika wenden, worauf die USA wiedermal neuen Feinden die sie selbst geschaffen haben gegenüber stehen werden"