Release Osama’s Final Photo President Obama!
By D. Asghar President Obama’s decision not to release Osama’s final photo will not sit well with many. Personally, I wanted him to do that, as he is underestimating the backlash. If he is afraid of the “Jihadis” going bonkers, then he is trying to reason with the wrong guys, isn’t he? For them it doesn’t matter, they see and thrive on such images, perhaps all day long. Remember, such people behead people and blow dissenters or unsuspecting people into smithereens. The signal President Obama is sending that, yes we are trying to be thoughtful of your sensitivities. It is not going to sit well with skeptics (my self included), the victims and for the rest of the inquisitive world. There will be this cloud of mystery surrounding this whole event. … Read entire article »
Sohaib Athar’s Tweets from the attack on Osama bin Laden – read them all below
By Melissa Bell According to his Twitter stream @reallyvirtual, Sohaib Athar moved from Lahore, Pakistan to the resort town of Abbottabad to take a break from the rat race. It seems he didn’t move far enough. On Sunday, Athar found himself smack in the center of one of the year’s biggest news events. Scroll down to see his Twitter stream. (Sohaib Athar’s Twitter profile photo) A 33-year-old IT consultant, Athar was on Twitter when the sound of a … Read entire article »
Notes on the Death of Osama bin Laden
By Steve Coll No doubt there will be time to reflect more deeply about the news announced by President Obama last night. For now, I thought it might be useful to annotate some of the initial headlines. On where he was found: Abbottabad is essentially a military-cantonment city in Pakistan, in the hills to the north of the capital of Islamabad, in an area where much of the land is controlled or owned by the Pakistani Army and retired … Read entire article »
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
What Now for Pakistan and America
Usman Ahmad explores the future of Pak-American mismatch With Osama bin Laden dead many are left debating the future of the ‘war on terror’ and the impact this will have on the Islamist Jihad Movement. Closer to home, however, the question on everyone’s lips is what will now become of Pakistan. … Read entire article »
Osama Bin Laden found, captured and killed in Pakistan
The most sensational news of our times! Finally, the decade long hunt for world’s most wanted man, an icon an by now an irrelevant player is dead. He was apparently found close to the town, Abbottabad which is 140 kilometres away from Islamabad. Interestingly, Abbottabad is also where Pakistan Army’s premier training institution operates. Amercian troops undertook this operation with the help of Pakistani officials. Obama has confirmed that cooperation of Pakistani authorities led to the place … Read entire article »
Taliban Using CDs for radicalizing Masses
This video from BBC is a real eye opener as it shows that Taliban are increasingly and unfortunately effectively using tools of mass media to reach out to masses. The video shows that CDs which advocate Jihad are easily available in the leading markets of the Peshawar city and at dirt cheap prices. Due to persistent military action against the Taliban, their military prowess may have been reduced but they have more than compensated military setbacks with very effective propaganda warfare. The short documentary highlights the importance of stricter action by the Government as these propaganda tools are achieving success in radicalizing the impressionable section population. Taliban do not need mass popularity as they do not aspire to come into power through the ballot box. All they need is a … Read entire article »
Facts and Fiction on the Frontier: The Haqqanis and the Kurram peace deal
For a few weeks, it looked like the sectarian conflict in Kurram Tribal Agency had been brought to a solution. The years-long siege on Shia residents had been lifted thanks to a much talked about peace agreement, allegedly brokered with the help of Jalaluddin Haqqani. This, however, now looks increasingly doubtful and seems to be more the part of a narrative that wants to paint a favourable picture of the old mujahedin commander’s network. Meanwhile, … Read entire article »
ANALYSIS – No early Pakistan action seen on Lashkar-e-Taiba
By Myra MacDonald Pakistani soldiers keep guard on the side of a road in Mingora, Swat on April 23, 2010. Credit: Reuters/Faisal Mahmood (Reuters) – Pakistan is unlikely to take on Lashkar-e-Taiba any time soon, since this could drive it into a dangerous alliance with the Pakistani Taliban and other al-Qaeda linked groups, security officials say. That is a problem for India, which believes LeT not only runs its own sophisticated operations like the 2008 attack on Mumbai but is now encouraging disaffected Indian Muslims in the “Indian Mujahideen” to launch small-scale bomb attacks in Indian cities. … Read entire article »
Terror’s Training Ground
By Ayesha Siddiqa A few years ago, I met some young boys from my village near Bahawalpur who were preparing to go on jihad. They smirked politely when I asked them to close their eyes and imagine their future. “We can tell you without closing our eyes that we don’t see anything.” It was not entirely surprising. South Punjab is a region mired in poverty and underdevelopment. There are few job prospects for the youth. While the government … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan, Punjabi, Religion, Taliban, Terrorism
The battle against Abdul’s Army
By Saad Hafiz His nom de guerre is Abdul, a member of the Tehrik Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Abdul is the resident ideologue of the TTP, his message resonates with the cannon fodder of the movement, the young recruits being trained as suicide bombers to bring murder and mayhem to Pakistani streets and neighborhoods. The TTP’s anti-nationalist pro-Khilafat (global Islam) message is simple and appealing because it is about fighting injustice. The oppressors are the mercenaries of the Na-Pak (unclean) Pakistan Army and their sympathizers who are working in the interest of Zionists, Crusaders and Infidels. This crusade between truth and falsehood sells to the dispossessed masses. … Read entire article »
Shahbaz Bhatti’s murder: Capitulation, once again
By Raza Rumi Shahbaz Bhatti’s brutal assassination indicates that Pakistani state has to battle with a compounding existentialist crisis. As if Bhatti’s murder was not a shameful indictment of the state of security for a sitting minister, the muted response of the country’s civilian leadership reminds us of the near impossibility of governing a dysfunctional state and a fractured polity. The federal cabinet meeting, which late Shahbaz Bhatti (SB) was supposed to attend on the fateful morning of March 2, continued on schedule, which came as a surprise given the gruesome murder of a fellow colleague, a federal minister in the heart of a barricaded capital. Furthermore, a mere two minutes of silence were observed in parliament as a mark of respect for SB during which time, 3 representatives of the JUI-F … Read entire article »
Fascists strike again in Pakistan: Minorities Minister killed
Raza Rumi Sometimes it feels we are living in stone age where no dissent and no call for a tolerant society is possible. Murder, violence, mayhem are the order of the day. Today, we mourn the death of Shahbaz Bhatti who had been repeatedly threatened, but not intimidated. It is time for Pakistan’s political parties to take stock of this situation and get their own ideological house in order before they are wiped out as well. Pakistani … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Islamism, secular Pakistan, Taliban, Terrorism
The Curious Case of Raymond Davis
By Ali Usman Qasmi A decade hence Raymond Davis’s indiscretion of killing Pakistani civilians ‘in self defence’ would have evoked relatively little stir. But in present day Pakistan, an overwhelming majority of the Pakistanis find his act simply outrageous. Nevertheless to say that Davis shot at the two youngsters without any provocation gives rise to a quandary regarding his motives. One does not need to be a lawyer par excellence to tell that in the case of an intentional murder one has to figure out the ‘motives’ that have led the accused to commit the murder. I read a newspaper article claiming that Davis got infuriated because the two men were filming him with their mobile phones. This they were doing, according to that article, because Davis was a gun carrying diplomat … Read entire article »
The Misplaced Hatred and Our Rational Self Interests
Raza Habib Raja In the current era of media fueled URBAN politics, the issues most discussed on the media have tendency to take all the limelight. Once an issue assumes the status of a “rallying” point then political parties try to show adherence to the same in order to remain politically popular. Right now and increasingly after 9/11, US bashing supplemented by notions like national sovereignty and nuclear arsenal paranoia, have taken the centre stage. Historically the anti US sentiments had always been present but these were given a new vigor after 9/11. From that point onwards, the scale has increased to such an extent that it has become the sole paradigm through which we view the world. I would have casually dismissed this hatred as comic absurdity had it been a … Read entire article »
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