Seymour Hersh: Saudi Arabia bribed Pakistanis to hide bin Laden so Americans couldn’t question him:     Award-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh talked in a wide-ranging interview with journalist Ken Klipperstein about the complex relationship between the United States, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, which he reported on extensively in his new book, The Killing

In Imran Khan’s Naya KP, fathers and sons of ‘a community’ continue to die: Four days ago, a father and son were target killed in Abbottabad. Now, a father and son have been target killed in Hangu. Syed Hussain Shah gunned down along with his son Syed Qaiser Abbas in Hangu (15 July

In denial on Abbottabad – Farahnaz Ispahani: The leaked report of the panel set up to look into the 2011 Osama bin Laden incident in Pakistan skips many hard questions including how the nation came to acquire a jihadi mindset Hours after U.S. Navy SEALs found

A Tale of Nine Wives! the OBL Abbotabad Commission Report – by Shoaib Mir: I strongly recommend that the 337-page (including the missing #197) Abbottabad Commission Report should be included in our relevant curriculum, appropriately titled: “A Tale of Nine Wives!” For the record, they are 3 of Osama, 2 of the Kuwaiti

Osama Bin Laden Inquiry Leads to a Scathing Report – by A Z: The leaked accounts of Osama Bin Laden Commissions’ report reveal a scolding that the ISI spooks will not be proud to show Mom. The report is particularly critical of the failure of Pakistan intelligence and security agencies to know

The U.S. never allowed its citizens to work for foreign spy agencies – by Shiraz Paracha: A heated debate over the sentence of Dr. Shakeel Afridi continues, to some he is a hero, others see him as a traitor. Dr. Afridi, in his mid forties, belongs to Malik-deen-Khail branch of Khyber Agency’s Afridi tribe. His second

Dr. Shakeel Afridi is a benefactor, not a traitor: The Pashtun land on both sides of the Durand Line has been devastated by Jihadi-sectarian militants including foreign terrorists like Osama Bin Laden, in collusion with Pakistani military establishment. Dr. Shakeel Afridi did a great service to the world

General Kayani and CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry agree on Judicial Coup in January 2012: There are some clear signs that Pakistan’s military establishment and its allies (commonly known as Teen Jeem (3 Js), i.e., “Jenerals” and their loyalist judges and journalists) have decided to derail the fragile democratic set up in Pakistan. According

Sophistry of our policy elites: Unicode version   افغانستان اور پالیسی ساز اشرافیہ کے تصوّرات تحریر؛  علی ارقم پاکستان میں سول اور عسکری ہیئت مقتدرہ کے غالب کردار اور سرد جنگ کے دور کے زیر اثر چلے آرہنے والے قومی سلامتی کے تصوّرات اور

Osama bin Laden ‘protected by Pakistan in return for Saudi cash’ – by Rob Crilly: Osama bin Laden was protected by elements of Pakistan’s security apparatus in return for millions of dollars of Saudi cash, according to a controversial new account of the operation to kill the world’s most wanted man. Raelynn Hillhouse, an

Hizb al-Tahrir: A New Threat to the Pakistan Army? – By Arif Jamal: First published at CTC On May 6, 2011, Pakistani authorities arrested Brigadier Ali Khan on charges of ties to Hizb al-Tahrir (HT), an Islamist group that is banned in Pakistan. Shortly after, authorities revealed that four majors in the

How long will we stay in denial? By Ahmed Iqbalabadi:   I met a family friend over the weekend who recently visited Abbottabad for a wedding. She thoroughly enjoyed the visit because of cooler climate there. She had to because she was coming from Lahore. Imagine Lahore to Abbottabad

Jang’s dirty and confusing role continues – Hamid Mir, Saleh Zafir, Ansar Abbasi, et al: The Abbottabad Saniha Commission has been under the scanner from day one. Firstly the government was being lambasted for not creating the commission and when it finally did under the chair of a “senior judge” of our azad adliya,

Jahan panah tusi great ho, tohfo qabul karo!: Related post: Questions for General Pasha (Part I) Nawaz Sharif’s commendable stance on Pakistani generals’ Abbottabad debacle پارلیمنٹ کے ان کیمرہ سیشن کی متفقہ قرارداد پیش نظر ہے. پاکستان کی سیاسی ڈکشنری میں جن اصطلاحات سے مجھے چڑ ہے

Is it a time for soul-searching in Pakistan? – by Rusty Walker:   Related post: To the honourable generals of Pakistan army – by Rashid Aurakzai After Friday’s suicide bombing in Charsadda by the Pakistan’s Taliban, the first major attack to avenge Osama bin Laden’s death, Pakistanis should be alerted to

Questions for General Pasha: If I have to comment on ISI chief’s emotional speech in the in-camera session of the parliament, I can say this via Mirza Ghalib: roney se aur ishq mey beybaak hogay, dhoey gaye hum aisey ke bas pak hogay

A brief history of Pakistan’s ISI and its current policies – by Declan Walsh: Whose side is Pakistan’s ISI really on? It has been accused of supporting al-Qaida and double-dealing with the CIA. At the same time the ISI, Pakistan’s powerful intelligence service, is being targeted by Islamist extremists. In the wake of

Nawaz Sharif’s commendable stance on Pakistani generals’ Abbottabad debacle: Related posts: General Pasha in Pakistan’s parliament: Jahan panah tusi great ho, tohfa qabul karo! Questions for General Pasha (Part I) To the honourable generals of Pakistan army – by Rashid Aurakzai ISI mobilizes fake civil society to defend

On the USA-Pakistan army alliance: Sleeping with the enemy? – by Rashid Aurakzai: Like a rabbit popping out of a magician’s empty hat, Osama bin Laden (OBL) was not ‘smoked out’ of any cave in Afghanistan but right from under CIA’s 63 year old strategic partner’s Sandhurst, Abbottabad. Capitol hill and Pentagon

The hypocrisy of “we want to hold you to your own principles of due process” – by Harbir Singh Nain: The internet has filled with hand wringing about Osama not getting a trial. I get that we all would have felt better that our principles had been upheld if had not been shot on sight, but I am beginning

Forecast of an imminent unrest – by Nadeem Khan: There is a real civil unrest on the horizon. We can verify the timings, immediately after the passing of 18th amendment. When the celebrations were about to take the second turn, instead we saw rallies and protests on power

5 killed in Abbottabad over Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa renaming issue: PML-Q leaders have been agitating day and night for the last one week over the issue of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa renaming. On 6 April 2010 Umar Ayub Khan, son of Gohar Ayub Khan and former MNA and formerly State Minister of