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The Sorry State of Pakistan »

Osama bin Laden: killed and al Qaeda: on the run. That’s the balance sheet — more or less — that the U.S. has to share with the world. Meanwhile, its biggest ally in the War on Terror — Pakistan — has nothing to present except that its own people have been terrorized by militants, with [...]

The anger worth $800 Million »

Only a year ago, the Obama administration decided to ramp up military support to the Pakistani army as part of an effort to persuade Islamabad to do more to combat militants. The new military aid, which was contingent on Congressional approval, was expected to amount to more than $2 billion over five years and would [...]

The Saudi Hollywood Makeover »

The tense relationship between Pakistan and the United States has often been described as a bad marriage. Like a couple teetering on divorce but frozen in mutually dependent inertia, the U.S. wants one thing while Pakistan wants another, at least most of the time. This love-hate relationship long precedes the September 11th attacks. The last [...]

Pakistan’s Urban Sprawl »

It’s surprising to many that the majority of Pakistanis support the Islamists and their apologists as the saviors of their religion. But this didn’t happen overnight. The mindset of the large segment of society didn’t change with a blink of an eye. No serious attempt has been made to analyse this phenomenon even though the [...]

The tail wags the dog – again! »

It was embarrassing enough for the people of Pakistan to find out that Osama bin Laden was living in their midst for years. Even more shameful was the realization that their politicians are incapable of questioning the security apparatus of the country. The masses rallied and protested and faced hardships for months to kick General [...]

Pak-US: Charlie Brown, Lucy and the Football »

One of the most familiar story lines in the beloved comic strip “Peanuts” involved malicious prankster Lucy holding a football and encouraging poor Charlie Brown to kick it. At the last moment, Lucy would pull the football away. Year after year after year, Lucy played Charlie Brown for a sucker. The football remained unkicked. So [...]

Hoopla!! »

Bin Ladin is dead. Again. In the last ten years he has been reported “killed” at least four times. The only difference this time was that the President of the United States announced the death of the number one terrorist in the world. Above all, this time he was killed not in Tora Bora, not [...]

The Sorry State of Pakistan »

Salmaan Taseer is dead. He’s neither the first politician, first liberal, the first outspoken bullish pugnacious politician who was killed. Nor is he last. There were many, there will be more. He was the sitting governor of Pakistan’s biggest province and was assassinated by his own bodyguard.  Does Pakistan suffer today because of his death? [...]

Bring it down a notch CIA »

The Islamabad station chief of the Central Intelligence Agency hastily departed from Pakistan last week after his cover was blown due to a suspected deliberate leak by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence. This act is the latest evidence of the tense relationship between the two spy agencies.  It is believed that his cover was blown in retaliation [...]

Another K word »

In almost every briefing pertaining to South Asia, the U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Richard Holbrooke says that he won’t use the ‘K word,’ by which he means Kashmir. This is sensible of him, knowing that any statement could escalate into an exchange of hot words between India and Pakistan (and India [...]

Billion Dollar Conversion »

This post carries an offer for the religious conservatives. Those who consider themselves good Christians, the ones who talk incessantly about family values and the importance of virginity. The ones who go to Church every Sunday and incorporate Jesus into every nonsensical thought that comes out of their mouths. The wholesome, flag-waving American-born Christians. For [...]

REMINDER: Tune in to KFI-AM to hear Larry Johnson »

(Bumped down . program concluded Sunday night.) O P E N   T H R E A D   T O O John Batchelor’s show begins at 10 p.m. ET. Then, at 10:30 p.m. ET, DON’T MISS LARRY JOHNSON TONIGHT on the Batchelor show, via KFI 640 AM. Check out the full slate of guests [...]

Pakistan: In the Clutches of Pincers [Update on Nukes] »

First, let me apologize for the disheveled organization of this post, since I have a lot of incongruent pincer-like situations on my mind, but — nevertheless — I have been trying to stay up on the latest news coming out of Pakistan because, dammit, it’s so important and because most media aren’t covering it in [...]

“What Goes Around, Comes Around …” & “The End Justifies the Means …” »

“What Goes Around, Comes Around …”: First, the WSJ panel, aired every weekend, goes over the Pelosi mess. Then the panel gets into the bullying by the Obama administration of the state of California, ridiculing Obama for his, um, loose interpretation of the “rule of law.” It’s a great discussion: BELOW, “the end justifies the [...]

Lives of the Bengal Lancers »