Below The Beltway

Be prepared for unannounced searches when you board a Metro train:
Metro officials announced today that they will begin randomly inspecting backpacks, gym bags and any other containers that riders carry with them onto the bus and rail system, in an effort to deter possible terrorist attacks.
Beginning today, signs announcing the new program will be posted [...]

An al-Qaeda linked website endorses John McCain:
Al-Qaeda is watching the U.S. stock market’s downward slide with something akin to jubilation, with its leaders hailing the financial crisis as a vindication of its strategy of crippling America’s economy through endless, costly foreign wars against Islamist insurgents.
And at least some of its supporters think Sen. John McCain [...]

It looks like al Qaeda’s ability to use the Internet to communicate has been severely hampered:
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Oct. 17 — Four of the five main online forums that al-Qaeda’s media wing uses to distribute statements by Osama bin Laden and other extremists have been disabled since mid-September, monitors of the Web sites say.
The [...]

So much for the good war, apparently:
WASHINGTON — With security and economic conditions in Afghanistan already in dire straits, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday that the situation there would probably only worsen next year.
“The trends across the board are not going in the right direction,” the chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, [...]

Give the government power, and it will be abused:
Despite pledges by President George W. Bush and American intelligence officials to the contrary, hundreds of US citizens overseas have been eavesdropped on as they called friends and family back home, according to two former military intercept operators who worked at the giant National Security Agency (NSA) [...]

What happens when a country with nuclear weapons, an unstable political system, and radical Islamic terrorists hiding within it’s borders goes through a complete economic collapse ?
Well, we may find out whether we want to or not:
Officially, the central bank holds $8.14 billion (£4.65 billion) of foreign currency, but if forward liabilities are included, the [...]

A bit of a shooting war with our Pakistani allies:
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan warned U.S. troops not to intrude on its territory Friday, after the two anti-terror allies traded fire along the volatile border with Afghanistan.
Thursday’s five-minute clash adds to already heightened tensions at a time the United States is stepping up cross-border operations in [...]