The Bush administration's terrorism-fighting strategy has not significantly undermined al-Qaeda's capabilities, according to a major new study that argues the struggle against terrorism is better waged by law enforcement agencies than by armies.

The study by the nonpartisan Rand Corp. also contends that the administration committed a fundamental error in portraying the conflict with al-Qaeda as a "war on terrorism." The phrase falsely suggests that there can be a battlefield solution to terrorism, and symbolically conveys warrior status on terrorists, it said.

"The U.S. military can play a critical role in building indigenous capacity," it said, "but should generally resist being drawn into combat operations in Muslim societies, since its presence is likely to increase terrorist recruitment." 

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A Muslim Canadian has been awarded C$11,000 over an incident in which a co-worker falsely concluded he was involved in the September 11, 2001, attacks and reported him to police.

Ghassan Asad was a victim of racial profiling as an Arab immigrant who had traveled to the United States a month before the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal ruled on Wednesday.

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A federal judge in Manhattan took the unusual step on Thursday of overturning settlements in four lawsuits filed on behalf of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, saying the firm that negotiated the deals was seeking excessive legal fees and that the settlement amounts themselves were unreasonable.

The lawsuits represented only a small number of the 9/11 victims, whose claims in most cases were resolved through payments from a government compensation fund that paid $7 billion to families of those killed or injured in the attacks, according to the fund’s 2004 report.

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Arianna Huffington admitted in an interview with Politico:

“There are certain obvious things we have, certain specific things,” says Huffington. “Conspiracy theories — we don’t allow conspiracy theories. If you thought Sept. 11 was caused by the Bush administration, your comment is not going to appear unless it is a mistake.”

Can you spell g-a-t-e-k-e-e-p-e-r?

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