Mission assassination in Afghanistan By Pratap Chatterjee “Find, fix, finish, and follow-up” is the way the Pentagon describes the mission of secret military teams in Afghanistan that have been given a mandate to pursue alleged members of the Taliban or al-Qaeda wherever they may be found. Some call these “manhunting” operations and the units assigned to them “capture/kill” teams. Whatever terminology you choose, the details of dozens of their specific operations – and how they regularly went badly wrong – have been revealed for the first time in the mass of secret United States military and intelligence documents published by … Continue reading Mission assassination – Afghanistan

Medvedev’s wishful thinking By M K Bhadrakumar There was an element of hyperbole when a Moscow news service airily speculated this week that Catherine the Great’s historic dream of gaining access to the warm waters of the Arabian Sea was nearing realization even as Russia was getting ready to propose to Pakistan an “extensive road and rail system being largely bankrolled by Moscow” to connect Central Asia with Pakistan’s sea ports. The Moscow commentator was anticipating the agenda of discussions at the quadripartite summit of Russia, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, hosted by President Dmitry Medvedev at his vacation home in … Continue reading Medvedev plays chess

China threat: Now you see it, now you don’t By David Isenberg It’s that time of year again; the time when the Pentagon rolls out its annual threat assessment on China. The Pentagon has been issuing these reports since 2000, pursuant to US law. This year the 74-page “2010 Annual Report to Congress on Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China” [1] will undoubtedly be a disappointment to those conservatives who are looking to depict China as a menacing strategic competitor to the United States. While the executive summary includes the usual warnings about China’s pursuit of … Continue reading China threat?

By Mahir Ali dawn.com The US has the same idea in mind. US assistance, Richard Holbrooke declared on American television, “will be good not only for the people whose lives we save, but for the US image … The people of Pakistan will see that when the crisis hits, it’s not the Chinese. It’s not the Iranians. It’s not other countries. It’s not the EU. It’s the US that always leads.” – File Photo. Is there any government anywhere in the world that would not have been found wanting in the face of such a profound calamity as the unprecedented … Continue reading Don’t let flawed democracy drown

Hearts, minds and floods By Rafia Zakaria dawn,com  Workers arrange the US relief goods for flood victims which arrived at Karachi airport, Pakistan, on Monday, Aug. 16, 2010. – Photo by AP. It is the militants that the world is worried about. Weeks into the devastating floods that hit so many parts of Pakistan, the international media concentrated on one aspect of the issue: what this would do to Islamic militancy and the Taliban. Major newspapers and media outlets like the Los Angeles Times, National Public Radio, the BBC and the New York Times all angled their news coverage on … Continue reading Mullahs taking advantage of flood victims?

By Irfan Husain dawn.com Granted, nobody could have anticipated or planned for the magnitude of the disaster, but we have had more than our share of natural catastrophes, so our bureaucracy should have been able to respond more effectively. – Photo by Reuters. As my month-long stay in Canada comes to an end, I am struck by an event that has unexpectedly been so extensively covered by the media. Barely a day has gone past without an article, op-ed comment or a letter to the editor about what seemed like a mundane event. In short, the crisis – if one … Continue reading The foreign hand strikes again

dawn.com In a picture taken on August 15, 2010 a reader points to news on local news portals on the Internet in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia bumps along the bottom of international rankings for press freedom, but the explosion of social media like Twitter and Facebook is revolutionising how journalists work. -AFP Photo Sci-Tech Politicians wary as Aussie voters embrace social media WHAT NOW? Reaction on the streets KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia bumps along the bottom of international rankings for press freedom, but the explosion of social media like Twitter and Facebook is revolutionising how journalists work. Dissenting views, which for decades … Continue reading Malaysians use social media to bypass censorship