Olivier Roy, author of Globalized Islam, offers an explanation of what motivates the jihadists -- although I find it incomplete.

Essentially, Roy says the roots of global Islamic terror go beyond the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel and Palestine and South Asia, which is true, but then he curiously downplays their aggravating effect in the current context.

Not so long ago, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said the Iraq insurgency was in its "last throes." He appears to have been very, very, wrong about that.

Cyrus Kar's plans to film part of a documentary about Cyrus The Great (no relation) in Iraq landed him, through bad luck, in a military prison for almost two months.

The Globe and Mail's Stephanie Nolen goes to Somalia to give us a real-world example of what a failed state looks like.

More evidence of U.S. tolerance for dissent: Five Raging Grannies in Tuscon, Az. have been charged with tresspassing (along with four journalists) for entering a U.S. army recruiting station and asking to be sent to Iraq.

This is wrap-up post, looking at the latest London bombings and whether we can expect to see an attack like that here. The short answer? Yes.