The Afghanistan Stalemate
By Saad Hafiz: It is getting very difficult after the Bin Laden episode to explain Pakistan’s doublespeak on terrorism and the Taliban to increasingly skeptical Western friends. The ambiguous Pakistani terrorism strategy of running with the hare and hunting with the hounds is now recognized as official State policy. The Islamabad mantra describes “good” or “moderate” Taliban as those that are engaged in a nationalist struggle against coalition forces in Afghanistan. The good Taliban are expected to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Terrorism
President Obama’s Road Map To Re Election
By: D. Asghar President Obama laid out his plans for troop draw down from Afghanistan. At least he is cognizant of the fact that 2012 re election bid is approaching soon. He will be on the campaign trail soon, behind the podiums, talking to a whole lot of Americans and the rest of the world. It is no surprise, that his approval ratings took a plunge again, right after the OBL episode. The fact remains that generally people are a bit disappointed with the first term. The troop withdrawal was one of his 2008 campaign items and it is wise of him to follow through. The Obama administration can definitely take credit for OBL elimination and some other stalwarts of the Jihadi side, in and around Pakistan. It is true that, Pakistan … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Pakistan, USA
Osama bin Laden Largely Discredited Among Muslim Publics in Recent Years
In the months leading up to Osama bin Laden’s death, a survey of Muslim publics around the world found little support for the al Qaeda leader. Among the six predominantly Muslim nations recently surveyed by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project, bin Laden received his highest level of support among Muslims in the Palestinian territories – although even there only 34% said they had confidence in the terrorist leader to do the right thing … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda
Osama Bin Laden is dead: what next for Pakistan?
The dramatic events of May 2, enacted in Pakistan’s small, sleepy town of Abbottabad have surely shaken the world. The global icon of al Qaeda — Osama bin Laden — has been ‘eliminated’ through a well-executed, covert operation. This was a major victory for charismatic US president Barack Obama especially given his dwindling popularity, and will help him survive in office, perhaps, for another term. It isunlikely that this development will lead to the end of global terrorism. While his death may have symbolic value, Osama was not in any case in charge of al Qaeda operations and hence the impact may not be much. The most significant aspect of this game-changing event, perhaps, is the cutting of all ties between al Qaeda and sections of our security establishment. While Pakistan’s assistance … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Pakistan, Terrorism
Behind the bloodshed
By Ammar Aziz Ammar Aziz has sent this exclusive post for PTH. The views expressed here are his own. Do you mourn when, every other day, someone gets killed in the name of religion? What do you think is the reason of this chaos and bloodshed? Who are these people who want to kill everyone who disagree with them? Every person who condemns this bloodshed is supposed to know and oppose its very roots. Ironically, all ‘Islamists’ and ‘liberals’, here and abroad, who oppose these fanatics now, keep ignoring the historical fact that they themselves had played a vital role in shaping and raising these terrorists who were then known as mujahideen. The ongoing terrorist attacks in Pakistan reflect the dark consequences of our Islamic republic’s official support for imperialist causes in the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan
An Angry but Patriotic Retort
By Adnan Syed This post is meant as an “honorable” and “patriotic” reply to all the liberal bloggers and PTH-likes who cast doubt on popular nationalist narratives, and point out the nationalistic ideology steeped in hatred and revulsion against foreign powers as self defeating. The post had its genesis in Raza Raja’s article titled “The Misplaced Hatred and Our Rational Self Interest”[i], but is also applicable to all articles calling for restraining our patriotic fervor when it comes to drones, Blackwater, and now Raymond Davis. (AZW) Hold on right there you so called liberal Pakistani bloggers: Are you suggesting here is that Pakistan is in a mess here because of America? Do you not think it was Americans, not us who were pursuing the ideas of strategic depth by backing every rabid extremist like … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Economy, Egalitarian Pakistan, FATA, Identity, India, Islam, Islamabad, North-West Frontier Province, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, Politics, state, USA
Diplomatic Immunity for Afghan Ambassador in Islamabad
By Dr. Irfan Zafar “When we arrived in Peshawar I was taken to a lavishly-fitted office. A Pakistani flag stood on the desk, and a picture of Mohammad Ali Jinnah hung at the back of the room, I was in the devil’s workshop, the regional head office of the ISI.It was eleven o’clock at night and I was getting ready to go to bed when the door to my cell suddenly opened. A man entered; he was … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Army, Democracy
Afghanistan: Where’s the exit strategy?
Raza Rumi The Afghan imbroglio has now come to haunt the region and perhaps the globe as well. Thirty years of destruction and violence have left a stateless and vandalized polity where the great powers of our age are scrambling for bits and pieces of territorial and political control. Alongside this, the regional players with great delusions of grandeur about their strategic interests and military might i.e. India, Pakistan and Iran are also picking up battles attempting to reinvent history or reaffirm their jingoistic sense of nationhood. There is no question that the US invasion and subsequent battles in Afghanistan were unjust and destructive. More so, the operations of a mammoth war machine have become deeply unpopular within the US and other countries, which comprise the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, NATTO, Pakistan, strategy, Taliban, USA
New Light on the Accuracy of the CIA’s Predator Drone Campaign in Pakistan
By Matthew Fricker, Avery Plaw and Brian Glyn Williams Widely-cited reports of the inaccuracy and disproportionality of civilian to militant deaths in the CIA’s ongoing Predator drone campaign against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Pakistan are grossly misleading. The most detailed database compiled to date, assembled by the authors of this article, indicates (among other important findings) that the strikes have not only been impressively accurate, but have achieved and maintained a greater proportionality than either ground operations in the area or targeting campaigns elsewhere. [1] This finding is striking because highly critical reports over the last year, emanating in particular from the Pakistani press, have impugned both the accuracy of the CIA’s drone strikes in the tribal areas of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda
Where I Disagree With Some Prominent Liberals of Our Time
Raza Habib Raja As a philosophy liberalism is more inward looking and hence does not try to shift blame on the outside forces. By its orientation, it also does not have an overly negative assumption about human nature and consequently is not obsessed with crime and punishment. It believes in the rationality of humans and further assumes that human intelligence is capable of creating an artifice where ethnic, linguistic and other such “ natural” differences can be accommodated without creating rift. Its emphasis and belief on human rationality rather than instinct logically lead it to being more fluid and progressive. Conservative point of views by and large are grounded on instincts (which are permanent) and it is no surprise that conservatives are traditionalists. Yes, within conservative side, there will be variations … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Army, Constitution, Democracy, Judiciary, Punjabi, Taliban, Terrorism, war, Zardari
Taliban Vs Pashtuns
by Ali Arqam Taliban are not by any means a representation of Pashtuns as what we are witnessing today in the shape of the barbaric Talibanized militant values are not of hospitality and sanctuary as well as regard for women, children and family Antonio Gramsci, an Italian (1891-1937) Marxist thinker, has defined the term hegemony as “the predominance of one social class over others (e.g. bourgeois hegemony). This represents not only … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Taliban, Terrorism
Good luck, General Kayani
Raza Rumi http://tribune.com.pk/story/30713/good-luck-general-kayani/ In a hurried non-speech, the prime minister has confirmed that the incumbent army chief will stay on for three years. Unprecedented as the decision might be, it is perhaps the best option under the current circumstances. Pakistan is battling against domestic and external terrorism. Given how the army works, it is clear that the military establishment wants a continuation of national security policy. Lack of policy continuity has been the hallmark of Pakistan’s governance. At least with General Kayani’s extension, the military operations in the northwest and approach to the Afghanistan imbroglio will also remain unchanged. This is good for Pakistan for three reasons. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Islamabad, Islamism, Pakistan, Politics, public policy, secular Pakistan, Taliban, Terrorism, USA, violence, war
US opposes Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline
By Sarath Kumara 9 July 2010 Despite opposition from the US, Pakistan signed an agreement with Iran on June 13 to go ahead with a $US7.6 billion gas pipeline between the two countries that will provide a desperately-needed supply of energy to Pakistan from 2014. The deal cuts across Washington’s efforts to isolate Iran economically through UN Security Council sanctions and its own unilateral penalties against Tehran’s nuclear programs. The agreement signed between the Iranian Gas Export Company and the Pakistan Inter State Gas Limited will provide 21.5 million cubic metres of gas daily to Pakistan. The pipeline will run from Iran’s large South Pars gas field. Islamabad will carry out a feasibility study over the next year for its section of the pipeline before beginning construction. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, USA
Hafiz Gul Bahadur: A Profile of the Leader of the North Waziristan Taliban
Cross Post from Terrorism Monitor By Sadia Sulaiman Perhaps no one has greater stature or importance in the Pakistani Taliban leadership than Hafiz Gul Bahadur, supreme commander of the North Waziristani Taliban. A direct descendant of Mirza Ali Khan, a legendary Waziristani freedom fighter who fought against the British Indian government and later against the newly established Pakistani State, Bahadur is known for hosting foreign militants, mainly al-Qaeda and other Arab groups, as well as Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani of the cross-border Haqqani network. Hafiz Gul Bahadur is 48 years old and belongs to the Madda Khel clan of the Uthmanzai Wazir. He is a resident of Lwara, a region bordering Afghanistan and is reported to have received his religious education from a Deobandi madrassa (seminary) in Multan (The Post [Lahore], August 19). Bahadur … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Army, Pakistan, Taliban, Terrorism
Acknowledging our mistakes; a step in the right direction
A small headline made its way to the newspaper today. Mian Nawaz Sharif admitted that the proxy policies that Pakistan pursued in Afghanistan during the 1990s were wrong and destructive for Afghanistan. He realizes that “’Our policy in the past has failed. Neither will such a policy work in future. We have a centuries-old relationship, and we can maintain this relationship only when we remain neutral and support the government elected there with the desire of the Afghan people.” In between bleak and despondent atmosphere that comes from reading Pakistani news, we tend to forget our land is still governed by a working democracy, free press and free judiciary. While we never cease to malign the very leaders that we elect (and they do leave a lot to desire at times … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Army, Islam, Islamabad, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, Pakistan
PTH biweekly Cartoon
Picture of the Week
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Sunrise at the Arabian Sea, Charna Island
24 Dec 2011
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