tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-93597472012-02-24T08:07:57.145-05:00<b>US foreign policy for the 21st Century</b>Punditanoreply@blogger.comBlogger20631100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-79492583172707401792012-02-24T03:40:00.003-05:002012-02-24T04:07:24.272-05:00

BTW Kabul is 9 hours and 30 minutes ahead of Eastern U.S. time (EST). The picture of Afghan security forces in riot gear that accompanies this Reuters report (see below) has a strikingly modern look, even if the surroundings in the pix are a bit -- er, quaint. Bracing for large scale protests that include rioting in an urban setting is part of the shape of the modern world. Who would've thought

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-4906980256131347432012-02-24T02:45:00.002-05:002012-02-24T03:04:01.443-05:00

I'm writing this post in the attempt to correct the wrong impression that Newt Gingrich's criticism of President Obama's apology regarding the Afghan Koran burnings has sowed in the American and international news media: The reason Obama had to issue an apology, and a hasty one, is that the Nato command announced that it would have the findings of the investigation into the Koran burning incident

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-80806332524651006172012-02-23T23:36:00.007-05:002012-02-24T00:09:04.258-05:00

Ms. Aziz, along with many educated Afghans, some of whom registered their views on Facebook, said she was dismayed by the exploitation of the [Koran burning] incident for political gain and accused Iran and Pakistan of behind-the-scenes manipulation. Both countries would like to see the American military under pressure, and the reaction to the Koran burning has accomplished that. Mohammed Salih

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-12906655616269450172012-02-23T11:42:00.006-05:002012-02-23T23:58:09.808-05:00

I might regret publishing my thoughts on this matter but my intuition seems to have been running my show for more than 24 hours. I just hope it doesn't leave me with egg on my face because I'm not a fan of conspiracy theories; over the years on this blog I've done my share to quash false news stories and rumor-mongering. Besides, I've already taken one flyer this month by guessing that someone

Punditanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-9415227612798724502012-02-22T07:28:00.002-05:002012-02-22T07:51:52.681-05:00

I'm inching my way toward the end of the next Pundita essay to be published. I estimate another 15 to 30 minutes not counting proofing. But now as so often happens to me when the end is in sight, I need a break. Why does my brain do this? Why does it sit down so often just before crossing the finish line and say, 'Waaaaah. Me tired. Me can't take another step.' Never mind; it's a rhetorical

Punditanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-14014295681100787662012-02-19T00:27:00.007-05:002012-02-19T00:37:59.318-05:00

“Classically, intelligence is supposedly in the portion of the glass that's half empty, and operational commanders and policymakers, for that matter, are often in the portion of the glass that's half full. Probably the truth is somewhere at the water line."U.S. intelligence officials offer grim words on AfghanistanBy Richard Leiby and Karen DeYoungFebruary 17, 2012The Los Angles TimesWASHINGTON -

Punditanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-45123682438453769442012-02-15T05:30:00.000-05:002012-02-15T05:37:12.731-05:00

"Pundita, [Re February 10 Pundita post, Amrullah Saleh on Afghanistan's neglected majority] please explain what majority [Amrullah] refers to, in terms other than a poll. I'm not an A'stan vet, I'm an Iraq vet, but I don't see any government or country worth mentioning. My counsel is GTFO ['Get the fuck out']; if we must return it is as Jackson not Wilson. Do I have it wrong?B Doran"B Doran:I'm

Punditanoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-86336351160948198062012-02-14T14:41:00.005-05:002012-02-14T14:54:21.080-05:00

February 14, 2012 - 1:50 PM ET:US, Afghans near deal on post-2014 mission: PanettaAFP [via e-Ariana.com]WASHINGTON — US and Afghan officials are weeks away from clinching a security pact allowing an American military mission to stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday.The two sides still had to resolve disagreements over controversial night raids by US troops,

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-73984872764254674572012-02-13T01:04:00.009-05:002012-02-13T04:12:31.728-05:00

MICHAEL WRIGHT: You wrote in one of your recent essays that Americans shouldn't try to help Pakistan, that they're the wrong people to try and help, and that Indians are the only people who could really help because they're family. You know that nobody in Washington is going to listen to your advice. So is there any insight you could give Americans on how to do the least harm in their

Punditanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-90179463353309228442012-02-10T15:10:00.004-05:002012-02-10T15:52:39.966-05:00

Readers who've followed my blog for years would understand why I interrupted my weekend to post the following op-ed at the Wall Street Journal. My mother once told me that I was a sunny, even-tempered toddler, but that every so often I lost my temper. She said that at those times I expressed outrage by going to the kitchen cabinet where the pot and pans were stored -- the cabinet was at my eye

Punditanoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-28876995223844353582012-02-10T04:35:00.002-05:002012-02-10T04:49:34.414-05:00

February 10, The News Tribe (Pakistan):Washington: Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Sherry Rehman has conveyed the reservations of Pakistan to the US administration on the US Congress Comittee debate on Balochistan was tantamount to helping terrorists operating in the province. [...]Ambassador Rehman, in her meetings with the congressmen and senior officials of the US administration,

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-87268479999661687092012-02-09T23:31:00.008-05:002012-02-10T00:30:31.717-05:00

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has suddenly decided that it's not the Egyptian military's new best friend, after all. See the NPR report from earlier tonight, which quotes AP and AFP on the story. During the protests that led to Mubarak's ouster the generals looked on the Brothers as a useful idiot. It will be interesting to see who turned out to be the idiot. For readers who enjoy 3D chess (I don't

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-34454054795615296652012-02-09T22:25:00.003-05:002012-02-10T02:03:51.150-05:00

The British air command did play a role with Germany but the basic story is that after the United States bombed Germany and Japan to rubble, the American conquerors told what was left of those nations that they were going to have the kind of democracy Americans could live with, then dictated how their governments were to be run. That bought a beleaguered world more than a half century of peace

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-11434447900802916262012-02-03T02:05:00.002-05:002012-02-03T02:16:58.501-05:00

Leon Panetta set off such an uproar on Wednesday afternoon with his mention of (maybe) a 2013 exit from Afghanistan for U.S. combat troops that -- well, you'll never guess what. By Thursday the topic of the leaked NATO report (leaked Wednesday morning) fingering Pakistan's support for the Afghan Taliban and other groups fighting NATO troops in Afghanistan was nowhere to be found on American TV!

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-4874757569423407002012-02-02T04:03:00.002-05:002012-02-02T04:12:55.167-05:00

Many things happened with blinding speed yesterday after Washington awakened to the news, already all over Europe, Kabul, Tehran and Rawalpindi, of a leaked NATO report that pointed to Pakistan's ISI as supporting the Afghan Taliban's war against NATO troops. I haven't checked which press source broke the story yesterday morning, European time, but if the BBC wasn't the first it was among the

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-46621341472990189042012-02-01T18:24:00.006-05:002012-02-01T19:27:36.282-05:00

UPDATE 7:30 PM ETJennifer Griffin reporting frm Pentagon 7:07 PM for Fox: White House unnamed official claiming Panetta might have jumped the gun on Obama's planned announcement at May NATO summit to move up timeline for end of combat operations. Panetta told reporters that 2013 end "may" be the end of U.S. combat operations. Point is that O is trying to pin blame on his Secretary of Defense for

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-22376731359020720062012-02-01T15:59:00.015-05:002012-02-01T18:11:12.209-05:00

(First updated version, at 4:55 PM ET, added a few clarifications. The second update, at the end of the post, is a question from a reader and my reply.)A reader asked, in response to the Dragon Lady post, if I was implying that the British command at NATO was behind the leaked report. No; I was simply responding to Rashid's comment. As much as I like to blame the British foreign office for too

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-75284465902148685822012-02-01T14:27:00.006-05:002012-02-01T16:14:03.370-05:00

"Afghan President Hamid Karzai meets with Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar in Kabul on February 1." Pix from RFERL interview today with Ahmed Rashid about the leaked NATO report fingering the ISI. Rashid thinks the report was leaked to time with the Karzai-Khar meeting. It would have been leaked anyway. The dog and pony show that Gilani and Kayani put on, in the attempt to persuade

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-79855187597844845012012-02-01T08:34:00.004-05:002012-02-01T08:45:35.890-05:00

Well, the general has to find some means to placate the IMF fast, or he's in deep doo-doo. However, we can't learn the answer until we discover where President Obama has hidden the bunny. If this makes no sense, it's just because there are some readers who're trying to make sense of things that I never added a quote from a famous figure in the U.S. news media to the Puffy Head part of this blog's

Punditanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-11717132897379198322012-02-01T07:55:00.007-05:002012-02-01T08:23:00.797-05:00

Once I was chasing a waterbug around the house to kill it when it made an executive decision to hide instead of run. "You do realize I can see you, you nitwit," I said peevishly. It didn't realize; it thought that because it could no longer see me, I couldn't see the back of its body sticking out from the hiding place. I couldn't bring myself to kill a creature that meant me no harm and couldn't

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-89683849107660115292012-01-31T08:40:00.005-05:002012-01-31T08:57:13.512-05:00

January 31, CNN-IBN:[During an online town hall] US President Barack Obama hit out at Pakistan for its inability to fight terrorism. Obama was responding to a war veteran's question but defended his government's move to continue giving Islamabad millions in aid. "When it comes to the fight against terror, Pakistan either lacks resources or the will," said Obama, saying America needs to pump in

Punditanoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-1478967009061752912012-01-30T13:30:00.003-05:002012-01-30T13:50:14.826-05:00

During his discussion with Scott Pelley for CBS 60 Minutes, aired last night, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta went through a short list of reasons as to why he believed that "someone" must have known the identity of the occupant in the Abbottabad compound; while he didn't elaborate it was clear that he meant someone in authority in Pakistan's military. The problem with the list is that it

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-32803143853871170192012-01-30T11:50:00.001-05:002012-01-30T12:00:22.608-05:00

China wins first Afghan oil extraction contract. Oh but that's right I forgot: you were so busy helping Pakistan scare up American investors to mine Thar coal after China pulled out of the deal that you didn't have time to negotiate with that bunch of losers in Kabul's ministry of mines and precious metals, or whatever it's called. Speaking of Thar coal, if you want to start the week with a

Punditanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-61869993984780747822012-01-27T14:49:00.018-05:002012-02-02T20:49:47.148-05:00

UPDATE 2:05 PM ET January 29Adding two important news reports to the footnotes, both of which I'd misplaced at the time I published this post and just found. Footnote #1: Egypt faces hurdles in securing IMF aid, January 25, Reuters. Although the January 25 report doesn't contain the news about the billion dollar-'bridge' loan that I'd mentioned in the text, it presents key observations that were

Punditanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-77943315605883777122012-01-26T17:45:00.002-05:002012-01-26T18:36:00.477-05:00

January 24, 2012:The opening of a Taliban office in the Gulf Arab nation of Qatar is contingent on the renunciation of international terror and the backing of a peace process to end the Afghan conflict, an American diplomat said Tuesday.From a January 12, 2012 al Jazeera report (remember that Doha, Qatar, is AJ's home base and that the media organization was the brainchild of the Emir of Qatar);

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-41785341455325444802012-01-26T15:00:00.005-05:002012-01-26T15:31:59.074-05:00

The United States recently has been talking about a truce with the Taliban. [Louie] Gohmert, a member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, characterized such efforts as begging ...January 25, 2012:GOP congressman: Supply more arms to the Northern Alliance and carve out Balochistan from Pakistanby Michael McAuliffThe Huffington PostWASHINGTON - President

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-9718340517499079002012-01-25T23:37:00.006-05:002012-01-26T00:02:52.156-05:00

"We find their suggestion that the insurgency is waning to be a dangerous political fiction ..."NATO is consistently reporting a decrease in violence nationwide, which should pave the way for a handover to Afghan security forces and a NATO withdrawal.The issue of whether violence across Afghanistan is rising or falling is key to the NATO-led mission's objective of pacifying the country and

Punditanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-36192356561081792102012-01-25T23:14:00.003-05:002012-01-25T23:42:14.683-05:00

"obama reminds me of a magician i saw as a little girl. he put a bunny in a hat and then pulled out a quarter. i was 7 y.o and i was not fooled i stood up and screamed where is the bunny, where is the bunny, what did you do with the bunny."-- Member of the American Public Ms. Sonia Trevino, 2008.

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-46650429854665728962012-01-25T15:25:00.004-05:002012-01-29T12:55:07.951-05:00

Geostrategist Brahma Chellaney's January 21 article for the Japan Times presents such troubling news that perhaps the first reaction from readers who aren't familiar with his career would be to ask how good he is as a source. So you might want to turn to the Wikipedia article on Chellaney before reading the report. No source is infallible but Chellaney is very good. I think every sentence in his

Punditanoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-90607041270191299792012-01-24T14:35:00.009-05:002012-01-24T15:58:46.849-05:00

The conference I was attending broke up early. Translation: I got bored and cut out. So I'm as free as a bird until Thursday. Translation: Now I'm working my way through a backlog of half-finished Pundita posts. To give myself a break I looked up the news from France regarding A'stan. Here's the latest from VOA (with my comments inserted in a few places), which seems to indicate that Sarkozy has

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-22864513307347671642012-01-24T13:31:00.005-05:002012-01-24T16:02:40.003-05:00

"What is happening? Both Hagenbeck, who boasts to the media about the high quality of his intelligence, and Khalilzad, who is unquestionably in a position to know, have stated that the Taliban and al-Qaeda are being nurtured, not in some inaccessible terrain along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border but in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's Balochistan province where the Pakistan Army and the ISI have

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-10463022835990244132012-01-24T13:03:00.001-05:002012-01-24T15:23:21.192-05:00

I'm adding David Bosco's April 6, 2011 report for Foreign Policy, Is the Washington Consensus dying? to my MENA's New Left post, in which I mentioned in passing that Mackell's complaints about the Washington Consensus weren't entirely unjustified. The 'money' quotes in Bosco's report(which he took from the Bretton Woods Project):World Bank chief economist Justin Lin continues to stir the waters

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-46447140713108722632012-01-24T10:40:00.002-05:002012-01-24T10:50:00.838-05:00

From Russia's middle class - a growing problem for Putin by Gleb Bryanski (Reuters, December 9, 2011):"There are two things (lacking in Russian politics). The first one is a mass liberal party. Or, to put it more precisely, a party of irritated urban communities," the Kremlin's chief domestic policy adviser, Vladislav Surkov, said this week in an interview with a prominent Russian journalist."

Punditanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-88578884929311912082012-01-23T21:19:00.008-05:002012-01-24T15:31:20.743-05:00

Update 3:30 PM ETAdded a link to my discussion about a report on the Washington Consensus**********I offer this op-ed by Austin G. Mackell as a companion piece to the article I linked to in the previous post (Europe's New Right -- published in Foreign Policy at the height of the August 2011 riots in England). The op-ed, published at an ABC TV (Australia) blog on September 14, 2011, is titled,

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-50726821079819118122012-01-23T20:30:00.005-05:002012-01-23T20:59:54.060-05:00

It seems that for publication the Foreign Policy editor changed the title in the article's url ("Europe's New Right") to Europe's Facebook Fascists -- just in case, I suppose, anyone doesn't know where the Foreign Policy editorial board stands on the political spectrum. Snark. But the article, published August 11, 2011, is about an important topic that gets precious little attention in the

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-41213155450467431742012-01-22T18:21:00.005-05:002012-01-22T19:17:29.458-05:00

Starting with the "Moo Shu Pakistan" essay I've published seven posts since around 4:30 ET on Friday morning; I've been driven by a sense of foreboding about the situation in Afghanistan. But I have to stop now. And the way my schedule is stacking up for next week I might not even have time to check my emails at the Pundita address until Tuesday night. So if you post a comment don't look for it

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-342233370717437482012-01-22T15:56:00.009-05:002012-01-22T17:40:57.552-05:00

Peaceful City? Scratching Beneath the Surface in AbbottabadBy Walter MayrMay 18, 2011Der Spiegel Translated from the German by Josh Ward[...]This drama concerning Pakistan's identity and its duplicity vis-à-vis Islamist violence offers an opportunity for catharsis. But no one, it would seem, wants to take advantage of it. The country has fought alongside the Americans in the "war on terror" for

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-19278853232578360522012-01-22T15:24:00.004-05:002012-01-22T17:38:18.758-05:00

From a May 2011 post about U.S.-Pakistan cooperation in the fight against terrorism at B. Raman's Strategic Analysis blog[...] 26.In return for the promised counter-terrorism cooperation, Mrs Clinton offered “respect for and addressing” Pakistan’s concerns about the political settlement in Afghanistan. She did not elaborate, but said she was convinced that Pakistan had “legitimate” interests in

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-63651230160945822552012-01-22T13:22:00.010-05:002012-01-22T15:18:53.003-05:00

It was somewhat unfair of me to single out Senator Rick Santorum, which is why for months I sat on the transcript of the November GOP presidential hopeful debate, but I finally published his comments about Pakistan (see this post from earlier today) because they were such a good summary of the prevailing view in Washington about how best to deal with Pakistan. The view, boiled down, is that no

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-18084290606513004552012-01-22T03:02:00.005-05:002012-01-22T04:11:43.765-05:00

In the November 2011 Republican presidential debate I quoted from in the previous post Rick Santorum said:So we can't be indecisive about whether Pakistan is our friend. They must be our friend. And we must engage them as friends, get over the difficulties we have, as we did with Saudi Arabia with respect to the events of 9/11. The terrorists came from Saudi Arabia. And we said, 'You know what?

Punditanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-77258752788705557172012-01-22T01:59:00.009-05:002012-01-22T13:10:06.477-05:00

UpdateAdded widely publicized quote from Ambassador Cameron Munter about ISI connection with Haqqani Network as further evidence that Rick Santorum's advisors should have known that the Haqqanis are in league with Pakistan's military and always have been, since the days they fighting the Russians in Afghanistan.*************************** If you think Rick Santorum's comments about Pakistan in a

Punditanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-61017838148378799772012-01-21T21:35:00.009-05:002012-01-21T22:00:33.257-05:00

In 1986, CIA deputy director Robert Gates ordered the CIA’s directorate of intelligence to provide no intelligence on Pakistani nuclear activities to the Senate and House intelligence committees.In his June 14, 2011 editorial for Consortium News How Pakistan Punked America retired U.S. intelligence analyst Melvin A. Goodman with 42 years of work experience (CIA, State, DoD, Army) does a good job

Punditanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-88386153521272008152012-01-20T04:43:00.004-05:002012-01-20T05:14:13.658-05:00

I was so depressed last night after I listened to 15 minutes of the latest Republican presidential hopeful debate that I went to jump out the nearest window, so it's a lucky thing I decided to visit the Glittering Eye first or I might be nursing a sprained toe right now. Dave Schuler's comments about Fareed Zakaria caused me to burst into surprised laughter. I thought I was the only one who'd

Punditanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-55731382736124557352012-01-18T02:52:00.006-05:002012-01-18T03:49:49.167-05:00

That's the claim made by two of the congressionals in the delegation in their op-ed for the Big Government website -- and without going into detail they claim that State went to extraordinary lengths. They also pass along some very disturbing reports from Afghanistan. (See this for background on the Berlin meeting.) As to whether there's any way to fix this situation, why yes there is: Relocate

Punditanoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-19702619996487921002012-01-16T08:43:00.016-05:002012-01-16T20:23:34.706-05:00

8:15 PM ET UpdateI added a few links and expanded and elucidated some of my discussion since I first published this post. I did so with the sinking feeling that I might as well be talking from inside a glass booth, a feeling that often besets me when I advise on Pakistan and the Afghan War. I am looking at things from such a vastly different viewpoint than Washington's (to include academia and

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-40004106930656212482012-01-15T23:29:00.007-05:002012-01-16T00:24:37.820-05:00

He's been killed so many times I think Long War Journal's Bill Roggio has lost count lolsnort don't laugh Pundita it's not funny and don't snort when you laugh it's not ladylike. Well, if he really was killed in a U.S. drone strike on January 12, we can surmise that information from Pakistani intelligence on his likely whereabouts is the reason Rawalpindi suddenly relented and allowed the U.S. to

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-757184820315328452012-01-14T23:02:00.008-05:002012-01-15T01:54:48.960-05:00

"This is the first time that the leadership of the Tajik, Uzbek and Hazara communities has come to a common line of thinking to oppose the US's peace strategy and to present an alternate blueprint of pan-Afghan settlement. In essence, the Northern Alliance is being resuscitated as a political entity.""What may have incensed the Northern Alliance groups partly at least is that, despite the chill

Punditanoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-5326623882888447172012-01-10T18:09:00.008-05:002012-01-10T19:52:28.804-05:00

"These days it seems that only Sarah Palin and Rick Santorum know that there is a working class in this country."Law Professor and social scientist Stephen Diamond made the above observation almost in passing in a January 7 post on his blog but he reiterated the theme in another post on the same day (New book on Obamas stirs controversy -- but why?):[...] Readers of this blog are long familiar

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-19726949309264048722012-01-03T19:00:00.005-05:002012-01-04T10:15:01.524-05:00

¿Me bromea? ¡Es 27 grados aquí en la capital de la nación y con frío de viento que es 14 grados! We're such cold-weather wimps in Washington but I think she's upset because last week it was close to 60 degrees here and it was close to 60 degrees or even higher for much of December. Oh well on Saturday it's supposed to be back up to 58 degrees.PS: Not to spoil the moment but the photo was actually

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-39535669033636730922012-01-03T17:00:00.000-05:002012-01-03T17:05:48.126-05:00

We're in the same boat if you want to know how reliable a reporter the shall we call ' colorful' Pakistani ex-TV anchor Nusrat Javeed and his unnamed sources are. As the grizzled gold-dust prospector said to the partner who complained he was breaking his back panning for microscopic bits of gold in a freezing cold river, 'Don't whine.' At least the (Pakistani) Express Tribune, which has given

Punditanoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-64093139911100086762011-12-31T01:00:00.012-05:002011-12-31T03:26:48.104-05:00

From U.K. Telegraph report, US senators urge 'full review' of Pakistan funding, December 6, 2011:Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer who led an inter-agency review of US policy toward Pakistan and Afghanistan in early 2009, on Monday said the United States should give greater weight to containing the Pakistani army.Speaking at a panel discussion in the US capital, he said that for now, Washington

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-9075726199845680532011-12-30T03:28:00.008-05:002011-12-30T06:18:31.518-05:00

I begin with thanking Madhu at Chicago Boyz and Zenpundit's Mark Safranski for highlighting my December 17 post, Would the U.S. pay Pakistan's military to help murder American troops if the U.S. had military conscription?. Mark included a helpful history lesson in his comments on the post: Militaries come in several forms, historically speaking. There are military castes like the Samurai,

Punditanoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-21680409920993853062011-12-29T21:56:00.000-05:002011-12-29T21:56:21.060-05:00

"And most Pashtuns don't like Taliban. They want the Taliban out because their whole tribal system has been destroyed. More than 90 percent don't want the Taliban to be ruling them."-- Former Pakistani intelligence official quoted by Pakistan-based L.A. Times journalist Alex Rodriguez in December 28, 2011 report, Pakistani death squads go after informants to U.S. drone program December 26, 2011,

Punditanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-27123195357530912002011-12-26T22:59:00.002-05:002011-12-26T23:20:15.503-05:00

There are a few people in this world who can be hilarious when they get really angry -- John Batchelor, George Monbiot, Pepe Escobar, Mark Steyn come immediately to mind as examples. When sufficiently provoked they can fashion humor into a weapon so pointed it would kill if it were made of less amorphous stuff. I credit Batchelor's "A Goose Had to Die" monologue, aired in all America's major

Punditanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-65673307321595661772011-12-22T21:47:00.014-05:002011-12-23T01:27:38.751-05:00

"In an important detail that was not disclosed at the Pentagon briefing but is likely to further aggravate relations with Islamabad, an American officer in Afghanistan said the joint patrol of 120 Afghan and American Special Operations forces, operating along the often poorly demarcated frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan, had come under Pakistani fire as it was entering an Afghan village,

Punditanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-1489665381112470242011-12-17T20:30:00.009-05:002011-12-17T22:14:56.516-05:00

Through it all -- throughout all the deceptions, denials, evasions, rationalizations and insultingly useless advice given over the years by Americans in civilian government, the military and academia -- there is one question relating to U.S. tolerance for Pakistan's proxy war against NATO and Afghanistan that towers above all others. And yet it's the one question that has never been asked of a

Punditanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-73095253893556711742011-12-12T14:52:00.002-05:002011-12-12T14:55:18.088-05:00

Tomorrow I have a surgical procedure that while minor will pretty much put me out of commission until the end of the week. So I'm looking at Saturday morning for the next post I put up. Until then,Best regards to all,Pundita

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-75538023507349534892011-12-07T12:08:00.005-05:002011-12-07T13:23:28.935-05:00

Do Oligarchies Create Insurgencies? Readers who aren't interested in counterinsurgency warfare shouldn't be put off by the title of Mark Safranski's November 29 essay for his Zenpundit blog; the writing goes to the heart of many matters relating to U.S. foreign policy formulation, brings into focus a little-examined downside of democracies, and at the same time challenges a bedrock assumption of

Punditanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-24405579653617342332011-12-05T12:20:00.015-05:002011-12-05T20:23:31.427-05:00

In a sickening irony U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton chose to announce while she was attending a conference on Afghanistan's future that she had "serious concerns" about Russia's election process.So Mrs Clinton is concerned that there were voting irregularities in a Russian election, is she? Here are some of my concerns about the U.S. Department of State:1. I am concerned that State

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-9156352887853542862011-12-01T18:26:00.008-05:002011-12-01T20:26:06.993-05:00

In yet another sign that the U.S. Department of State should relocate to Brussels U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter advised White House officials that President Obama should deliver a "formal video statement," according to White House officials interviewed by the New York Times, regarding the NATO air strike inside Pakistan on November 26. The Times report, published late last night,

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-7397719582098320712011-11-28T10:00:00.008-05:002011-11-28T11:14:07.522-05:00

I don't bother to observe Halloween on October 31 because it's Halloween 365 days a year in Washington. We have fiends, real fiends, running amok here.Thousands of NATO troops in Afghanistan have been maimed and killed because their lives are worth less than geostrategic games as far as the 'Get Russia' crowd in Washington and European capitals is concerned. Because of this factions in Washington

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-30285265252852292752011-11-28T03:53:00.008-05:002011-11-28T04:13:50.878-05:00

From a September 15, 2011 Bloomberg report headlined U.S. says Kabul embassy hit by group tied to Pakistan’s army:[U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan] Ryan Crocker and U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the Haqqani group also was behind the Sept. 10 truck-bomb attack on a U.S. base southwest of Kabul that injured 77 Americans. Panetta called the Haqqani group’s continued “safe haven” in

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-859031546724607942011-11-28T02:53:00.006-05:002011-11-28T03:15:33.027-05:00

Haven't returned to blogging but couldn't resist posting this report. See Beeb website for a good map of the region in question:28 November 2011 Last updated at 02:31 ETBBCPakistan denies firing provoked Nato border attackPakistan has denied reports that it opened fire first provoking the Nato air strike which killed 24 troops at a checkpoint on the Afghan border. It follows claims by Afghan

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-42214968127121584032011-11-01T23:39:00.002-04:002011-11-01T23:47:37.276-04:00

I'm still immersed in plowing through personal matters and having fun checking off long-neglected tasks as I complete them. At this rate, and with holidays coming up, I don't expect to return to blogging until the new year but I'll check in on December 1st to say hello if nothing else. And if turns out I've snatched enough time from my To-do list to write up an essay I'll publish it then.Best

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-69283926077180746572011-10-18T01:13:00.003-04:002011-10-18T01:20:28.020-04:00

D -- Please believe me when I tell you that the data you're sending and your comments are much appreciated and I hope you'll continue. It's just that through diligent procrastination over a period of many months I managed to convert a few personal matters from molehills into mountains, so I am now fully engaged with scaling the heights. I'd hoped to return to blogging and studying reports by this

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-21444885019122050182011-10-01T20:38:00.009-04:002011-10-01T22:27:24.408-04:00

This is what I've been waiting for:Associated Press, 7:40 PM EDT, UPDATED 8:00 PM:Afghan president gives up trying to talk with Taliban By DEB RIECHMANNKabul, Afghanistan (AP) President Hamid Karzai has given up trying to talk to the Taliban, saying in a video released Saturday that Pakistan holds the only key to making peace with insurgents and must do more to support a political resolution to

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-19522580011172323052011-09-23T19:50:00.005-04:002011-09-23T20:50:07.781-04:00

For days U.S. officials have been saying publicly that the U.S. has evidence of the Pakistani regime's involvement in the attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul; now they have made public the kind of evidence they're talking about. In response Pakistan's foreign minister publicly issued a not-so-subtle threat to Washington. See the second report below:Cell phones link Pakistan to U.S. embassy

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-89424705935689558742011-09-15T15:26:00.008-04:002011-09-15T15:56:37.615-04:00

September 15: Al Qaeda Chief of Pakistan Operations Killedby Jake TapperABC News (USA)A senior administration official tells ABC News that officials have confirmed that al Qaeda’s chief of Pakistan operations, Abu Hafs al-Shahri, was killed earlier this week in Waziristan, Pakistan.The administration does not confirm the use of predator drones, but on Sunday, the 10th anniversary of the 9/11

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-11058093560176283572011-09-15T05:58:00.001-04:002011-09-15T06:00:08.333-04:00

September 13: Taliban launch complex attack on US embassy in KabulBy Bill RoggioLong War JournalThe Taliban launched a complex daylight attack on the US embassy and NATO headquarters in a secured area of Kabul this afternoon. While suicide bombers targeted the Kabul civil order police station and another police station a few kilometers away, fighters armed with rifles and RPGs fired at the

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-32316574078074324162011-09-13T04:08:00.007-04:002011-09-13T04:23:50.622-04:00

September 12:Israel watches its old alliances crumbleThe overthrow of President Mubarak in Egypt, the estrangement of Turkey and a UN vote on Palestinian statehood combine to make an intractable set of problems.By Adrian Blomfield8:34PM BST(U.K.) TelegraphSecluded in an emergency operations bunker, long after darkness had fallen to mark the start of the Sabbath last Friday, Israel’s most powerful

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-20226543588834526722011-09-12T22:14:00.005-04:002011-09-12T22:19:42.771-04:00

September 12: Egyptians Cheer Erdogan as Turkey Seeks Partnership With EgyptBy Emre Peker [reporting from Ankara] 8:08 PM EDT Bloomberg Thousands of cheering Egyptians greeted Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at about midnight in Cairo, where he arrived to establish a strategic partnership. The crowd waved Egyptian, Libyan and Turkish flags, as well as those of the premier’s governing

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-76931381966271586122011-09-12T19:22:00.005-04:002011-09-12T21:27:18.108-04:00

Note: The WSJ reporter who filed the following report describes al Jazeera's coverage of the 'protests' that brought down the Mubarak regime as "trenchant." Trenchant, huh? I could write a twenty-page essay full of links to news reports to dispute that claim. However, the reporter has gathered valuable information about the present state of affairs in Egypt so I'm going to let the claim stand

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-80328736858714408462011-09-12T19:09:00.007-04:002011-09-12T19:18:57.258-04:00

September 12:Egypt military to widen state of emergencyBy Samer al-AtrushAFP[Report posted 2:00 PM EDT] CAIRO — One of Egypt's ruling generals said Monday the military will expand a state of emergency because of a "breach in public security" after protesters stormed Israel's embassy and clashed with police, state news agency MENA reported.The ruling military council issued a decree to widen the

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-64214721858832208212011-09-12T04:00:00.005-04:002011-09-12T04:33:54.688-04:00

I had planned to take off for a long weekend but as you can see from the flurry of posts since Thursday night that didn't happen. I'm going to take off the rest of today. To the reader who sent the link to the State document on Pakistan that was released through a FOIA request, I haven't forgotten it. I'll close with thanks to the (U.K.) Telegraph and columnist Neil Tweedie for his very moving

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-82178658759259466332011-09-12T02:10:00.007-04:002011-09-12T03:59:32.228-04:00

Pentagon 9/11 memorialI feel that ZenPundit Mark Safranski's September 11 essay, The Nine Eleven Century? speaks for many Americans both in its summary of the meaning of 9/11 for Americans and its concerns about where responses to the tragedy are leading America as a nation. My regret is that I didn't see the essay yesterday, else I would have posted about it then. The entire essay is an

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-31275256588303300922011-09-11T17:35:00.021-04:002011-09-12T00:17:53.545-04:00

Whereupon propaganda outlets Xinhua and Al Ahram, battered by opposing forces, struggle to report the news from Egypt......The following report is from Xinhua, China's official press agency, which is being pressured by its CCP bosses to become a world-class news source while presenting the party line and at the same time appeasing China's increasingly restive upper-income readers, who want 'real'

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-46344635651259688042011-09-10T22:47:00.006-04:002011-09-10T23:59:58.198-04:00

1. First, a correction to the "Two photos" post. From the following CNN report, journalist Mohamed Fadel Fahmy is "a producer working for CNN." So this corrects -- at least tentatively -- my original guess, in the earlier post, that he was an independent reporter. September 10, 8:42 PM EDT:Angry crowd turns on journalists reporting embassy attack in EgyptFrom Ivan Watson, CNNSeptember 10

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-45413193273050310302011-09-10T05:03:00.005-04:002011-09-11T00:00:49.682-04:00

UPDATE September 10, 10:43 PM EDTFrom a CNN report published at 8:54 EDT tonight (Angry crowd turns on journalists reporting embassy attack in Egypt), journalist Mohamed Fadel Fahmy is "a producer working for CNN." So this corrects my original guess in the 'Egypt photos' post that he was an independent reporter. I note from the CNN report above Fahmy is a producer who risked his life to save a

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-89210098340326176492011-09-09T20:03:00.018-04:002011-09-10T22:42:54.188-04:00

UPDATE September 10, 10:40 PM EDTFrom a CNN report published at 8:54 EDT tonight (Angry crowd turns on journalists reporting embassy attack in Egypt), journalist Mohamed Fadel Fahmy is "a producer working for CNN." So this corrects my original guess that he was an independent reporter. (See the post below.) I note from the CNN report above that he is a producer who risked his life to save a

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-29052318238739149932011-09-08T23:57:00.028-04:002011-09-09T21:38:06.017-04:00

A cautionary tale about media manipulation in the Age of ObamaThis evening, minutes before President Barack Obama spoke to a joint session of Congress to put forward his "American Jobs Plan," I emailed a correspondent ("X") to warn him about breaking news that had just been announced on FNC (Fox News Channel) about a "credible" but officially uncorroborated terrorist threat specific to New York

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-3098131700703175002011-09-08T08:40:00.005-04:002011-09-08T09:07:55.323-04:00

From Indian investigators arrest three men in Kashmir over Delhi bomb, (U.K.) Telegraph, September 8:Meanwhile, prime minister Manmohan Singh's Congress Party-led federal coalition was also loath to even hint at the involvement of either Bangladesh or Pakistan in the bombing as it could handicap improving diplomatic relations after years of hostility.Yup. But if you think that's crazy, the

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-63439957390179903632011-09-08T08:27:00.002-04:002011-09-08T08:31:52.422-04:00

Responses to my 'First Worldism' post and the one on monarchism decided me to work part 2 of both essays into one, which means the post I'd intended to publish today is bumped forward until Monday morning at 9:00 AM ET. Until then,Best regards to all,Pundita

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-12465168232918325822011-09-07T02:47:00.008-04:002011-09-07T03:01:48.858-04:00

From his schedule notes for his September 6 show (see the website for link to the podcast for the segment):Tuesday 935P Eastern Time: Gov. Frank Keating, president and CEO, American Bankers Association, in re: after 2008, the Feds tried to close the barn door but haven't figured out that the horses are outside. The old adage about bad facts make bad law is still true. Mortgage banker,

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-80262601037547474362011-09-05T10:16:00.012-04:002011-09-07T17:31:18.839-04:00

UPDATE September 7, 3:20 PM ETAttention FARK readers. I've just made an upsetting discovery. I think most FARK readers are being blocked from reading this blog. There's no time to fully explain why I think this is so and even with the time, I don't want to keep clogging up the main event with updates. So I'll just say that as the volume of FARK visitors has picked up, the readers that have been

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-92132619407769534302011-09-01T15:58:00.012-04:002011-09-02T03:00:19.704-04:00

The outspoken Lord Oakeshott, Britain's former Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, did not receive the news in philosophical fashion when he learned the latest figure on the cost of the Afghan War to taxpayers in the United Kingdom. "That's £500 for every taxpayer at a time when the public and household purses are stretched to breaking point," he snapped. "Britain would be a far safer and

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-60599051759751777192011-08-25T12:05:00.007-04:002011-08-28T02:21:01.491-04:00

Oh look it's a democracy! Come snuggle with the United States! Alan Rickman's Sheriff of Nottingham to a scribe: "Wait a minute. Robin Hood steals money from my pocket, forcing me to hurt the public, and they love him for it? That's it then. Cancel the kitchen scraps for lepers and orphans, no more merciful beheadings, and call off Christmas." The title of this post refers to the punch

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-84612605165658672992011-08-24T15:15:00.018-04:002011-08-24T18:48:08.045-04:00

Man's Newest Best Friend? From DC Day After the Quake, NBC Washington:The first warnings of the earthquake may have occurred at the National Zoo, where officials said some animals seemed to feel it coming before people did. The red ruffed lemurs began “alarm calling” a full 15 minutes before the quake hit, zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson said. In the Great Ape House, Iris, an orangutan, let

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-19643554839137517792011-08-23T20:18:00.004-04:002011-08-23T21:05:55.092-04:00

John Batchelor, host of the John Batchelor Show -- the best news analysis show on the planet -- writes today on his blog:You break Tripoli Tripoli is a tragic opera that illustrates how little we have learned since the catastrophes of Kabul and Baghdad. My information is that NATO and the Transitional National Council at Benghazi have been negotiating with the Qadhafi family for some weeks

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-992159969075070632011-08-23T10:10:00.011-04:002011-08-23T11:58:12.301-04:00

Juan Cole's list of what he calls the top ten myths about the Libyan war, published August 22 at CNN's website, stays away from addressing the key issue, which is that neither France nor the governments that followed France into bombing Libya made a sincere attempt to first establish a peacekeeping mission in the country. Cole's list also avoids the key question for Americans, which is how

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-57727571887951032392011-08-22T04:01:00.011-04:002011-08-22T09:51:00.246-04:00

UPDATE (U.S.-based) CBS News has picked up on the sleeper-cell angle (see below) in a report posted at 7:45 AM EDT. The report doesn't mention Operation Mermaid Dawn but it cites (without a link) a quote from yet another AP report (undated) that completely removes the fig leaf from NATO's 'humanitarian intervention' in Libya's civil war:A senior rebel official, Fathi al-Baja, told The Associated

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-87297888659837168782011-08-18T17:48:00.009-04:002011-08-18T21:35:35.328-04:00

Currently 9 million Americans work in the private manufacturing sector while 30 million work in government. But all ideas for bringing back manufacturing jobs in a large enough measure to pull the U.S. economy out of its doldrums are up against the rising tide of consumerism in developing countries fueled by vast numbers of young buyers starting families. So set aside the problem of trying to

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-38929784981207325052011-08-12T09:22:00.007-04:002011-08-12T09:40:10.341-04:00

The LA Times has put together an 'album' of 48 large color photographs, taken by photographers working for major news agencies, that together convey in a way words or even clips of film cannot that Britons have experienced a national tragedy. While looking through the photographs I also thought of the photographers, whose names are virtually unknown to the public, who worked under difficult

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-87775591844226202122011-08-11T07:38:00.017-04:002011-08-12T00:54:27.122-04:00

UNFORCED ERROR NUMBER ONE Emphasis on attackers and their motives rather than their tactics At the start of the rioting British officials immediately took up armchair sociology and ruminated about the types of people who were rioting and their motives. Then they tried to mount a response to the riots based on their speculations about motives. This ill-conceived exercise cost the officials

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-47607559374995075692011-08-09T02:56:00.010-04:002011-08-14T02:14:48.989-04:00

"The government launched a peace drive and sent hundreds of extra security forces into the troubled neighbourhoods, and calm has held for a week. The military said recent government measures were expected to “help redress the situation." -- The Nation 141st Corps Commanders’ Conference, Rawalpindi, August 8, 2011 Photo: AFP "The commanders were so worried about the economic implications of

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-18910032749844005032011-08-09T00:05:00.011-04:002011-08-09T01:50:49.299-04:00

The late Mr Duggan, taxi driver and alleged drug dealer, whose shooting death by police sparked a protest that morphed into the London riots. "He is survived by his fiancée Semone Wilson with whom he had four children (one of whom was a stillborn) and by a child from another relationship." See also August 8 Guardian report about handgun that Mark Duggan was carrying at the time he was shot. "

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-5493099034168808652011-08-08T18:43:00.008-04:002011-08-08T19:12:32.375-04:00

"Tottenham riots: a peaceful protest, then suddenly all hell broke loose." Arson fire in north London, Saturday 8/6 Photo: Lewis Whyld/PA Not everyone's buying the 'social deprivation' meme to explain the widespread arson and looting. From the Guardian's August 8 report, published 21.37 BST: London riots: MPs to examine 'toxic mix' that led to violence:Nick de Bois, the Tory MP for Enfield North

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-79092540591091197662011-08-05T11:43:00.010-04:002011-08-05T12:08:59.277-04:00

Karachi, one of the world's megacitiesOdd, isn't it, how nothing ever changes until it does. Take Cuba: the peasants were always staging their little rebellions and the army always put them down and Fulgencio Batista always remained in power. That's the way things were in Cuba because, well, nothing ever changed there. Then one day everything changed. [snapping her fingers] And just like that,

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-79730045878948650842011-08-04T17:51:00.009-04:002011-08-05T00:59:20.789-04:00

I direct your attention to the closing paragraphs in the following report -- the ones about Pakistan's economy and India's offer to sell electricity to the country -- because they'll lead off my next post, which is about the Old Guard's blindness to the lengthening shadow stalking their regime.Pak to give India MFN status by Jyoti MalhotraAugust 04, 2011, Business Standard (India)Pakistan has, in

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-51262173852991596642011-08-04T17:14:00.011-04:002011-08-04T17:50:16.781-04:00

From Dr Mohammad Taqi's August 4 op-ed for Pakistan's Daily Times, Pakistan’s foreign policy: grandeur of delusions — I —:[...] Following the [U.S.] arrest of Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, the US-based lobbyist who headed the Kashmir American Council (KAC) and has been accused of being an ISI agent, things are not exactly a cakewalk for the Pakistani diplomats in Washington, DC. [...]What is really

Punditanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9359747.post-32523540247983022782011-08-01T13:58:00.014-04:002011-08-01T16:43:31.534-04:00

OLD PUNDITA PROVERB: HE WHO PLACATE TIGER BY FEEDING IT HIS FINGER SOON MISSING HIS HEADJuly 31: China officially offers squadron of J-10 fighter jets to PakistanAugust 1: China announces Pakistan-trained militants behind terrorist attack in ChinaMeanwhile, General Pasha, the globe-trotting head of Pakistan's ISI, is off to Beijing in the attempt to make a widely-advertised secret deal with

Punditanoreply@blogger.com1