United States of America (USA) Archive
Paths of terrorism lead but to Pakistan – by Ardeshir Cowasjee: “Can some bright psychologist work out why Faisal Shahzad, a college graduate, son of a Pakistani air force officer, married with two children, was prompted to do what he did on May Day?” – Photo by AP. The adoption
Faisal Shahzad’s anti-Americanism – by Pervez Hoodbhoy: The man who tried to set off a car bomb in Times Square was a Pakistani. Why is this unsurprising? Because when you hold a burning match to a gasoline tank, the laws of chemistry demand combustion. As anti-US
Incompetent terrorist but not incompetent recruiters – by Nazir Naji: In the following op-ed, veteran columnist Nazir Naji highlights the need to eliminate the ideological recruiters and logistic facilitators of the terror-network in the region. Naji writes that Faisal Shahzad (the Times Square bomber) may be an incompetent operative
Failed New York car bombing : A wake-up call: MCC urges Obama Administration to distance itself from Islamists promoting doctrine of ‘armed jihad’ and Sharia Law TORONTO – The Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC) has condemned the attempted bombing in New York, but has also expressed alarm at the
Curious case of Faisal Shahzad and the infrastructure of jihad – by Cyril Almeida: This undated photo shows Faisal Shahzad, right, and his wife Huma Mian. Shahzad was arrested at a New York airport on charges that he drove a bomb-laden SUV meant to cause a fireball in Times Square, federal authorities said.
Silence or conditional condemnation of the Times Square bomber — by Dr Mahjabeen Islam: Ours is a nation with many Joseph Goebbels. We rattle on in convoluted, minute details and in the effort to convince others, delude only ourselves, unfortunately so deeply that we lose the beginning of lies and the death of
North Waziristan: the new terrorist epicentre?: The investigations into Faisal Shahzad’s attempted car bombing in New York have shifted focus to his links in Pakistan. While little evidence has so far emerged of his link to one or the other terrorist group, his own admission
Faisal Shahzad: The Air Marshal’s incompetent bombmaker son: By Dr Omer Ali Someone posted comments about the Times Square bomber and why Pakistan is breeding so many Islamic fanatics (thankfully so many incompetent Islamic fanatics). Someone else posted Dhume’s article from the WSJ today. I wrote a
Keeping the Profit in Oil and Persistent War – by Peter Chamberlin: Source: No sunglasses The accelerating pace of events in south and central Asia suggest that we are nearing the end of the “nice guy” phase in the terror war, where the need to keep-up appearances is overridden by military
The Final Solution – by Tariq Saeedi: Just in case our readers haven’t seen the following articles by Tariq Saeedi et al (News Central Asia), presenting an extensive investigative (and speculative) assessment of the situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the broader region, we encourage our readers
Khalid Khwaja’s death – by Ahmed Iqbalabadi: I am saddened by the killing of former ISI officer, Mr. Khalid Khawaja, by the so called “Asian Tigers” (Punjabi Taliban) after having abducted him more than a month ago. Even though I have strong differences to the point
Whither civilian governance?: By Raza Rumi Cross Posted from Pakteahouse While the gurus of security and international affairs continue to unpack and make sense of the high-profile and much-hyped Pak-US ’strategic dialogue’, the people of Pakistan continue to ask questions about its
Aafia Siddiqui’s daughter’s reappearance: The CIA and ISI should come clean – by Kamran Shafi: Maryam Saddiqui, the missing daughter of Aafia Siddiqui, has been identified after mysteriously reappearing on her family’s doorstep, a top Pakistani official said. The 12-year-old is one of three children of Aafia Siddiqui. Come clean, there is still time
The Peace Pipeline – by Peter Chamberlin: First published at There Are No Sunglasses Obama is a flexible puppet in the empire-builders hands, readily facilitating the decades-old scheme to seize control of the former Soviet satellite nations and all of their vast energy resources. But, unlike
Ansar Abbasi’s “Truth” Problem: Cross-posted from Pakistan Media Watch Just this week I posted about Jang Group’s problem with facts. Now, as if to prove my point, Ansar Abbasi writes an article filled with so many problems and errors that it’s hard to keep
Americans for Democracy and Justice in Pakistan: Hello, As a supporter of democracy in Pakistan, I’m writing to let you know about a new organization that has formed in the United States, Americans for Democracy and Justice in Pakistan. Our goal is simple: Support the Pakistani people’s
Pak-US dialogue: a Pakhtun perspective — by Farhat Taj: Basically, the jirga is saying that it does not trust the military establishment, which is leading the dialogue with the US. The military establishment will follow the policy of strategic depth in Afghanistan, which is the key cause of
Obama bin Laden – by Nadeem Khan: New World Order plan in jeopardy The following article truly shows the US long term perspective that how they will slowly and gradually pull out of the mess they have gotten into and pulled others in, as well. Truly,
Pak-Afghan relations — by Agha H Amin: I fail to understand how some of the country’s leading analysts can dub Afghanistan as being Pakistan’s backyard. Afghanistan is an independent state that boasts a great history. Seen in this context, how would Pakistanis feel if India tried
‘Strategic depth’ at heart of Taliban arrests – by Shibil Siddiqi: Pakistan has recently arrested a number of top Taliban leaders, including the second in command, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, and many of the Quetta shura. It also killed in a drone attack Mohammad Haqqani, a leader of the powerful
Strategic dialogue and the Pashtun — by Zubair Torwali: The Pashtun, who undoubtedly are the direct victims of terrorism and the war on terror, have never been asked to express their views in this regard. The Pashtuns are now so tired of the strategic depth policy that they
America’s “Islamists” go where oilmen fear to tread – by Peter Chamberlin: By following the trail of militant terrorists US forces and American interests have gained access deep in Central Asia, where oil companies have had little luck gaining a foothold on their own. To students of American foreign policy in
The chestnuts are our own – by Kamran Shafi: It is wrong to think that all it will take for the Taliban to stop their attacks on Pakistan is the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan And by golly are they in a raging fire, no matter what
As things get worse in Pakistan, the optimism continues to soar – by Robert Fisk: Thanks: The Independent As things get worse in Pakistan, the optimism continues to soar Civilians have paid the price in revenge attacks that usually target the army A few days ago, I was driving around Lahore, its population still
Dialogue about Pakhtuns without Pakhtuns! — by Shahid Ilyas: Talking is not a bad thing, but when it is done without the participation of those who are the subject of such talks, it will most likely result in a disaster Pakistan’s political and military top brass will soon
The mysterious case of the grey lady of Bagram – by Robert Fisk: Why didn’t Aafia Siddiqui’s family report her missing in 2003, asks Robert Fisk. ISLAMABAD: Dr Shams Hassan Faruqi sits amid his rocks and geological records, shakes his bearded head and stares at me. “I strongly doubt if the children
PakUS Strategic Partnership without Pashtuns: Contributed by: Nasir Ahmad Pashtun Peace Forum Press Release Toronto – (March 19, 2010 ) – The United States and Pakistan will hold their first strategic dialogue at the ministerial level in Washington DC on March 24. The significance
General Ahmad Shuja Pasha’s letter to Mullah Baradar – by Hakim Hazik: A man believed to be Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in a photograph taken in 1998, given to The New York Times by a former photographer for the Taliban. Photo – New York Times Article cross-posted from: Justice Denied Brother
Hypocrisy unlimited: FATA parliamentarians’ scanning at US airport: In the last few days, we have witnessed a pseudo-nationalist hype in Pakistani media, newspaper columns and TV talk-shows alike, in which a matter of ‘great national honour’ (ghairat) was highlighted. The matter pertained to the alleged insult of
Arresting Taliban to serve America’s interests – Guest post by Peter Chamberlin: First published at: Therearenosunglasses’s Weblog The multitude of theories on the reasons for the arrests are divided between cooperation and confrontation theories, either it is explained by mutual interests or by rivalries. In my opinion, it is both. Researchers
Anatomy of Conspiracy Theory – by Zahir Ebrahim: The following article is not Pakistan related but might be of an academic interest to the LUBP readers. Zahir Ebrahim Some may rationally ponder that how is it, that such a long running global conspiracy for world government as
Pakistan sets ground rules for AfPak policy – by M K Bhadrakumar: Natural law brings AfPak crashing By M K Bhadrakumar Be it a baseball struck in a neighborhood sandlot game or in high-wire diplomacy, an elementary principle of physics holds good – what goes up must come down. In a
Wahhabization of Gitmo prisoners: Ex-Gitmo detainee now a Taliban commander * US officials say 20% of released prisoners go back to Taliban LASHKAR GAH: A man who was freed from the Guantanamo Bay after he claimed he only wanted to go home and
Asif Zardari – A burden on PPP or a really indispensable leader? – by Nadeem Khan: Asif Zardari – A burden on PPP or a really indispensable leader? A dilemma for PPP loyalists PPP workers and loyalists cannot make moves or comment against Zardari as now by fault (not default) he is heading the party.
Iran gets its most wanted terrorist, Abdulmalik Rigi: This frame grab released February 23, 2010 from Iranian state TV shows Rigi under armed guard following his arrest. – Reuters Iran gets its man By Syed Saleem Shahzad ISLAMABAD – Iran on Tuesday triumphed in the arrest of
Judicial coup in Pakistan – by David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey: Source: Wall Street Journal- ASIA EDITION When U.S. President Barack Obama sharply challenged a recent Supreme Court decision in his State of the Union address, prompting a soto voce rejoinder from Justice Samuel Alito, nobody was concerned that the contretemps
Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s case and Pakistani media’s hysteria – by Farhat Taj: Caravans and howling of stray animals — Farhat Taj The media in Pakistan is constantly promoting a one-sided view of Dr Aafia’s case. Nobody is expecting 100 percent objectivity from the media. But still one is surprised how some
Three pictures, a column and the mindset of Syed Talat Hussain: The first few paragraphs in Syed Talat Hussain’s op-ed today offer his choice and analysis of three pictures. However, more than anything else, this choice and analysis also betrays his mindset, explaining why this excellent anchor sometimes acts as
Dr Aafia’s appeal – By Rafia Zakaria: The explosive mix of appearing to be the obedient Muslim woman clad in burka and a would-be assassin defying the US make Dr Aafia Siddiqui irresistible as a heroine and an icon. But should such defiance be the only
Some legal aspects of Aafia Siddiqui’s case: A rebuttal to Babar Sattar – by Usman Ahmad: ‘Blinkered justice’? As a nation we suffer from what can only be described as persecution complex. The knee-jerk reaction of “they are out to get us” has been our response to countless issues ranging from the war on terror