Michal Harari Backgrounder_SonsofIraq.pdf Click here to download Backgrounder: Uncertain Future for the Sons of Iraq THE AWAKENING In 2007, after experiencing large losses and increased violence in Iraq, the U.S. adopted a new counterinsurgency strategy that included a troop increase as well as a new emphasis on cooperation with the Iraqi population. Coalition forces succeeded in co-opting tribal leaders, alienated by al-Qaeda’s extremist ideology and brutal tactics, and “turned formerly passive supporters as well as some former insurgents into active supporters of the counterinsurgency effort.” They convinced tribal leaders to recruit young men, mostly Sunni-Arabs, and created volunteer security forces … Continue reading Uncertain Future for the Sons of Iraq

HIZB-I-ISLAMI GULBUDDIN (HIG) Hizb-i-Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) <!– April 21, 2009 –> Overview Hizb-i-Islami Gulbuddin (HIG), led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, is an insurgent group active in Afghanistan. It is a splinter group of one of the prominent , and the most radical of the seven mujahedeen factions fighting the Soviets in the 1980s. Hekmatyar , a favorite of the CIA and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate, received the greatest portion of foreign assistance to the mujahedeen.1 Hekmatyar trained Afghan and foreign guerilla fighters in the refugee camps of Shamshatoo and Jalozai in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) and also ran numerous … Continue reading HIZB-I-ISLAMI GULBUDDIN

Obama Speaks Out On Mosque Controversy: “Our Commitment To Religious Freedom Must Be Unshakeable” by: Faiz Shakir  |  Think Progress | Report (Photo: Imran Ali / Flickr) Tonight, President Obama hosted an iftaar dinner at the White House — a feast marking the culmination of a day of fasting for practicing Muslims during the current Islamic calendar month of Ramadan. At remarks delivered at the dinner, Obama spoke out on the controversy surrounding the construction of a new Islamic center near the Ground Zero site, firmly siding in favor of the project: Obama: Let me be clear: as a citizen, and as … Continue reading Obama Speaks Out On NY Mosque

All in the name of religion More and more Muslims are now being booked under the blasphemy law Aristotle said, “The rule of law is better than the rule of any individual.” It’s a good thing that he did not live to see the way laws are made in Pakistan, set in place too frequently by individuals for selfish reasons. Case in point: the blasphemy law When General Ziaul Haq started tweaking the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) in 1982, he introduced Section 295-B, which made desecrating the Holy Quran or making a derogatory remark about it punishable by life imprisonment. … Continue reading The Blasphemy of The Blasphemy Law

True stories of celebrity tantrums Dealing with celebrities can mean handling attitude problems and managing unreasonable requests The best part about being a journalist is meeting celebrities of whom one has been a great fan. However, at times staying in touch with celebrities can be a miserable job. Celebrities can live up to your worst nightmare of stereo-typical narcissistic social-climbing artificial materialistic horror – and they can do it in spike heels. As a free-lance writer for several English language magazines I have gone through some bitter experiences. Interviewing a celebrity (with fangs!) A. Khan is a singer and song-writer who I have had the misfortune of … Continue reading Celebrity tantrums

Screaming from the margins Is it wrong for women to question the status quo? Persecution doesn’t always have to be physical. I cannot even begin to imagine the horrors of being physically abused, which is a daily reality for millions of women (and men) all around me (although the threat of that too is omnipresent), but there is a more subtle kind of persecution that absolutely none of us escape. Being a woman is bad enough, but if you are a woman and a hardcore feminist (and perhaps a few other progressive things along with that), well than god be with you. Don’t … Continue reading Wimmin!

On this Independence Day, we should seriously think about what we have lost as a nation and work towards building it back. Sixty-three years ago today, we became independent. Sixty-three years ago today, we became a country. But what we never became, and still are not, is a nation. We think of ourselves as Sindhis, Balochis, Punjabis, Seraikis, Pakhtuns and Mohajirs. We are yet to become Pakistanis. What we were meant to be we are not. And what we are, we are not even sure of. But what one thing I am certain of is that had the Quaid been … Continue reading In search of a nation

The writer is a special correspondent for Express 24/7 munizae.jahangir@tribune.com.pk I walk into Mohalla Qazian in Nowshera district. It is on the banks of the mighty Kabul River, which has swallowed hundreds of houses around it. There is a strong stench of dead animals. Men sit around on street corners. With hollow eyes they stare into space, as though they have seen a ghost. “No one has come to our rescue,” says Shamsul Qamar, a 75-year-old labourer whose house is still under water. “Will you form a task force to build houses or will you approach the local authorities?” I … Continue reading Where is Pakistan?

Iqbal’s message to us The writer is Professor Emerita at the University of Louisville, US Allama Iqbal’s message which had filled millions of Muslims with revolutionary zeal and galvanised them into action, has been all-but-forgotten in Pakistan. How could this happen when so many Pakistanis love Iqbal’s poetry which they often quote, and when both Iqbal’s  birthday and death anniversary are nationally commemorated? Iqbal’s message was a powerful source of inspiration when Pakistan came into existence in 1947, and in its early years. Every morning Radio Pakistan would broadcast Iqbal’s prayer for children which left a permanent imprint on their … Continue reading Iqbal’s message