Afghanistan’s holy violence The Taliban attacks on Kabul show that in Afghanistan’s cycle of violence, murderers and victims become religious ‘martyrs’ alike Nushin Arbabzadah guardian.co.uk, A message to Kabul … An Afghan policeman at a Kabul shopping mall attacked by Taliban gunmen. Photograph: Omar Sobhani/Reuters The Taliban’s spectacular attacks in Kabul yesterday took place just as the new cabinet members were taking their oath of office. In a report posted online on the Taliban website, their spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid listed the ministries under attack: the ministry of mining, the ministry of justice, and the ministry of finance. The Taliban’s message … Continue reading Murdering/Martyring Mullahs

We French eat four times as much butter and 60% more cheese than the average American, but we stay thin. How do we do it? Agnès Poirier guardian.co.uk, Avoid fat-free Anglo-Saxon horrors and eat the real thing. Photograph: Cate Gillon/Getty Images Never have I learnt so much about food’s nutrient content and chemical formulas as in my years spent in Britain and North America. Revealingly, food in those two countries is reduced to unappealing scientific denominations such as “saturated fats”, “fatty acids”, “trans fats”, “monounsaturates” and “TFAs”, to name just a few mentioned in today’s Guardian article about how more … Continue reading The French secret of fat

Yemen, where dead men eat lunch Brian Whitaker guardian.co.uk, Yemen, as some of us have been warning for months, is in grave danger of becoming a failed state. To save it from the fate of Somalia on the other side of the Red Sea, Yemen desperately needs sustained international help. Getting governments to take the problem seriously, though, was a different matter until Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab set his underpants on fire aboard Flight 253 last month. Suddenly, Yemen was on the map, al-Qaida hysteria swept through the American media and Gordon Brown summoned an international conference for the end of … Continue reading The wily Yemeni president knows how to spin out his war on al-Qaida to win western support – and hype achievements

Can there be anything more stupid than the imposition of a fine of Rs200,000 by the Parliamentary Committee on Sports on the members of the Pakistan hockey team for ‘hugging a woman’, an officially assigned liaison officer, during a social get-together at the conclusion of the 2009 Champion’s Challenge Tournament in Argentina? Hugging is a ‘benign’ expression of affection between two individuals. Only perverted minds would construe this normal human gesture as being immoral. Hugging is a common practice and a social ritual even in Pakistan where friends and relatives hug each other during wedding ceremonies, family and other social … Continue reading Shame the filthy minded and lets all have a BIG HUG!

Dr Maleeha Lodhi The writer is a former envoy to the US and the UK, and a former editor of The News. President Barack Obama’s approach to terrorism is increasingly reminiscent of the policy of his predecessor, George W Bush. This is what was conveyed by his actions in the wake of the failed Christmas Day attempt to blow up a US airliner and the suicide bombing days later that killed seven CIA agents in Afghanistan. The Obama administration obviously needed to respond to a threat that is real and sustained. But the raft of security measures that were announced … Continue reading The road not taken

Pervez Iqbal The people of his era were tough and hard. That is why they lived long lives like he did. I am writing about I Hassan (Inayetullah Hassan), a blood relation, a freelance columnist, broadcaster, commentator and foreign correspondent. Above all, a role model for me and many others. People who read these pages of this paper would also remember his column which appeared every Tuesday under the title “Cutting edge”. He breathed his last (quietly, in keeping with his nature) during the last week of the year just gone by after a long, but well-handled, illness. He wrote … Continue reading Tribute to a journalist

Rahimullah Yusufzai Imagine a most-wanted man listening to the radio carrying reports of his death and hearing not very well-informed analysts talking about its consequences. All this sounds bizarre, but this is what seems to have happened on Jan 14 when the CIA fired its drones to kill Pakistani Taliban commander Hakimullah Mahsud in the remote Shaktoi area in South Waziristan. Hakimullah survived, claiming that he wasn’t even there at the time of the attack and contradicting his spokesman, Azam Tariq, who had earlier said that the “ameer,” or head, was in Shaktoi but had left before the pilotless US … Continue reading The hunt for Rabid Mullah Hakimullah

It has become clear to the US that reforming the madressahs will not suffice since they cater to merely five per cent of all school-going youngsters in the country. –File Photo According to the Washington Post, the US is all set to spend $200m on education in Pakistan this year. This is United States Agency for International Education’s (USAID) largest education programme worldwide. There is a realisation on America’s part that its war strategy has been misdirected and that a military approach alone will not lead to a conclusive victory. There is a need to change the thinking of those … Continue reading Aid for education – forget the mullahs, just develop an education system that will develop the nation

By Kamran Shafi Will our army pack its bags and escape into Afghanistan to disengage itself from the fighting, if India goes to war with Pakistan? –Photo by AP And how does it help us? We are engaged in the Great Game in Afghanistan, we are told, because ‘strategic depth’ is vital for Pakistan due to the fact that our country is very narrow at its middle and could well be cut into half by an Indian attack in force. Strategic depth, we are further informed, will give respite to our armed forces which could withdraw into Afghanistan to then … Continue reading Defining ‘strategic depth’