New Theory About Daniel Pearl and Terrorists

And now the most telling two minutes in television, the latest from the wartime grapevine:

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Buying Into a New Theory?
A book by a former French envoy to Afghanistan, which offers an alternative to the theory that Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl (search) was kidnapped and killed in Pakistan because he was thought to be a CIA or Israeli Intelligence spy, is now a best seller in France.

The book insists Pearl was actually killed because he was close to uncovering a cooperation between terrorists and certain parts of the Pakistani government — our ally in fighting terrorism.

According to The Economist, author Bernard-Henri Levy (search) says the Pakistani intelligence agency was supplying Al Qaeda with weapons of mass destruction, and providing nuclear secrets to Iran and North Korea.

What's more, Levy says the Pakistani Intelligence agency may have helped plan the Sept. 11 atrocities and continues to play a "double, even triple game". No one at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington could be reached for comment.

Now It's Personal
New York Times war correspondent Chris Hedges, who gave that vehemently anti-war speech at Rockford College in Illinois last weekend, now says the audience's outrage not only offended him politically but also personally, saying he was "hurt by it. I was sad."

Hedges tells the New York Post that he's been before to "wartime societies where shouting down speakers is the norm. They are called tyrannies."

Meanwhile, Hedges says his bosses at the Times — whose leadership style has recently come under fire — are "not thrilled by" his new book calling war an addiction, but "I'm not in trouble."

Another Ill-Received Commencement Speaker 
Roman Catholic cardinal Francis Arinze (search) — considered a possible successor to Pope John Paul II — has sparked criticism from students and staff at Georgetown University for saying the human family is "under siege, ... desecrated by fornication and adultery, mocked by homosexuality."

This is consistent with Catholic dogma, but not political sentiment at the Jesuit university.

Santorum Weathers Storm Over Controversial Comments
You may remember Republican Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (search) sparked a controversy last month for similarly placing adultery and homosexuality in the same critical thought.

But it now seems Santorum has suffered no actual political effects from the controversy. A new Quinnipiac University poll shows the same 55 percent of Pennsylvanians who approved of his performance just before the controversy in April still approve.

For the record, a majority 57 percent of those polled say homosexuality is "morally wrong."