The Bush administration has emphasized one point about the " war on terrorism " in recent weeks: it’s going to be a very different kind of war. It will take place in the shadows, fought covertly by financial, military, and diplomatic means. That means it won’t be broadcast on television the way the Gulf War was. (The Gulf War, in fact, was characterized so distinctively by its ability to translate to the small screen that it became known as the " Nintendo War. " ) To keep tabs on this new conflict, we’ll have to turn instead to the Internet, which offers news from all over the world. Below are six sites worth visiting.

www.debka.com September 11 blew the cover of this intriguing Web site. Loaded with raw analysis and information (such as reports of American forces landing in Pakistan within a week of the World Trade Center attacks), this Web site packs a punch. Although some close observers of international relations believe the site’s sources emanate from Ariel Sharon’s government in Israel, it is put out by two Israeli journalists. It’s not always 100 percent on the money, but it tends to have a good hit ratio — predicting, for example, Joseph Lieberman’s choice as Al Gore’s running mate last year and reporting, before anyone else, that Saudi Arabia would not allow the United States to use its military bases in the current war against terrorism.

www.telegraph.co.uk This British daily has been ahead of the pack with breaking news and analysis. Just last week, the paper had an incisive op-ed piece by Paul Michael Wibhey on Osama bin Laden’s real agenda (toppling the al-Saud family), and this week it published a piece likening the current struggle to the British effort against Malayan insurgents during the Cold War. The newspaper also provides access to some other important links on the war.

www.stratfor.com Like debka.com, this Web site is designed for intelligence junkies. Based in Austin, Texas, it produces analysis on the unfolding Middle East drama. Here, you can find a point-by-point prediction, backed up with analysis, of how the war will unfold.

www.dawn.com This is an English-language newspaper based in Pakistan. The editors have actually visited bin Laden’s camp and lived to tell about it. The paper also has some of the most comprehensive coverage of the war between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance.

www.dailystar.com.lb This is an English-language newspaper based in Lebanon — a vantage point that gives it good insight into Syrian and Iranian affairs. A story Tuesday hinted at a flaw in Bush’s war on terrorism — not everyone agrees on the same definition of it. Another described " a shadowy Palestinian group suspected of links to Osama bin Laden " that planned to " take up arms and take to the streets if an Islamic state came under attack. "

www.arabicnews.com This comprehensive Web site has stories from throughout the Arabic-speaking world, including country-by-country reports and regional overviews. A recent dispatch out of Saudi Arabia, for example, quotes a statement by the Saudi cabinet identifying the root cause of Middle Eastern instability: Israel. " [T]he Kingdom has called on the international community to define the concept of terrorism, " the statement reads. " At a time when the world is tackling with the issue of terrorism and trying to exterminate this phenomenon, Israel continues its brutal practices against the Palestinians in killing the innocents and demolishing houses. "

Issue Date: October 4 - 11, 2001