TERROR: Senior Fellow Stephen E. Flynn, author of "America the Vulnerable" testifies before a House subcommittee on "the critical shortcomings in the major post-9/11 security initiatives." Prepared remarks IRAN: If Washington wants meaningful dialogue with Tehran, the pragmatists there are ready to talk, says Senior Fellow Ray Takeyh in the International Herald Tribune. IRAQ: U.S. officials got a number of things right in Iraq, but they never understood—or even listened to—the country they were seeking to rebuild, writes writes former Coalition Provisional Authority advisor Larry Diamond in the September/October Foreign Affairs. ENERGY: Control of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve should move from the president to an independent panel, argue Council Senior Fellow David Victor and Joshua House in the Los Angeles Times. TRADE: Western countries should apply pressure, not tariffs, in response to China’s attempts to protect its technology industry, says Senior Fellow Adam Segal in the Financial Times. ISRAEL: Israeli security concerns must not be used as a pretext for policies that will bring apartheid rule to the West Bank and Gaza, says Senior Fellow Henry Siegman in the International Herald Tribune. CAMPAIGN 2004: Today's political mudslinging is mild compared to that of America's founding fathers, writes Senior Fellow Max Boot in The Philadelphia Inquirer. EX-U.S.S.R.: Presidents Vladimir Putin and Mikhail Saakashvili are the two most innovative politicians of the former Soviet Union and both seek to rebuild central government power, says Senior Fellow Stephen Sestanovich in The Wall Street Journal. CAMPAIGN 2004: Senator John Kerry has championed all three schools of American foreign policy—isolationism, idealism, and realism—at various points in his career, says Senior Fellow Max Boot in the Los Angeles Times. TERROR ALERT: The Council's collection of advice and practical tips—Terrorism: Don't Get Scared, Get Prepared—designed to help organizations be ready for emergencies is available on video and CD-ROM. Terrorism website IRAN: Non-engagement with Tehran threatens U.S. national interests in a critical region, concludes a Council-sponsored independent task force report. News release | Independent task force report | Task force news conference