WASHINGTON — President Obama and his national security advisers are considering expanding the American covert war in Pakistan far beyond the unruly tribal areas to strike at a different center of Taliban power in Baluchistan, where top Taliban leaders are orchestrating attacks into southern Afghanistan. According to senior administration officials, two of the high-level reports […]
WASHINGTON: The US State Department has said that Washington is not going to tell Pakistani politicians how to end the governor’s rule in Punjab or to revoke the disqualification order against the Sharif brothers. ‘Well, look, that’s the decision that’s going to be left to Pakistani authorities. That’s not an issue for the United […]
WHAT prompted the government’s change of heart at the eleventh hour that led to the announcement about the reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry? Whatever other factors may have been at play, we also know that America, Britain and the Pakistan Army were active behind the scenes. But did anyone note that in the days […]
The “victory” celebration after the calling off of the Long March was still going on when a suicide-bomber struck at the Pirwadhai bus station in Rawalpindi, killing 14 people. The immediate speculation was that the suicide bomber was despatched to hit the Long March itself since it was to pass near where the terrorist finally […]
WASHINGTON: The United States not only used the threat of an aid cut to defuse a potentially explosive situation in Pakistan but also had doubts about the Zardari government’s ability to fight terrorism, US officials and lawmakers said on Tuesday. Senator Patrick J. Leahy, who chairs the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that funds US foreign aid […]
Khouri’s op-ed in the Middle East Times cautions against seeing the US’/Britain’s/et cetera’s choices to engage governments like the al Asad regime in Syria or the Iranian theocracy as necessarily evidence of a shift in viewpoints. Isolation was not really getting the West anywhere it wanted to go, so reversing that policy isn’t necessarily a […]
With the new American administration, the global financial crisis, and the intra regional wranglings much is happening in the broader Middle East. The very presence of Israel within the region remains a major problem for some. Lebanon tries hard to be an independent state; as much as it can in the regional and international context. […]
President Obama has officially named Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry as his choice to be the US ambassador to Afghanistan. Eikenberry, a career military man, was the top US commander in Afghanistan until 2007. Though some are concerned about giving such a key diplomatic spot to a military leader, I feel this is an excellent choice. […]
New trouble looming over Chinese-Australian mining deal Australian politicians called for an inquiry into the country’s foreign investment laws as state-owned Aluminium Corporation of China is pursuing a $19.5 billion purchase of Rio Tinto’s mining assets in Australia. The Chinalco-Rio Tinto deal has caused significant suspicion among Australian officials that there are higher political motives […]
The possible agreement between Israel and Hamas for the release of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit may have derailed negotiations. Hamas may toughen its stance due to confirmation of the immense domestic pressure in Israel to ensure Shalit’s return, thereby weakening the government’s hand. Moreover, with PM Ehud Olmert nearing the culmination of his term, many […]
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – The promised reinstatement of Pakistan’s chief justice defused a protest movement threatening the U.S.-allied government, but it could still spell trouble for the country’s struggling president. The army is said to have directed President Asif Ali Zardari to defuse the developing showdown with opposition leader Nawaz Sharif and lawyers leading a column […]
The holocaust drama The Reader edged out Waltz with Bashir, a film about Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, for the Oscar because “Hollywood likes its Jews… hunched over and dressed in rags”, not waging morally ambiguous wars, Bradley Burston wrote in Haaretz. Similarly, America likes its Russian artists defecting from their home country and condemning its […]
Popular from Press
