By Gareth Porter WASHINGTON – New information on the Central Intelligence Agency’s campaign of drone strikes in northwest Pakistan directly contradicts the image the Barack Obama administration and the CIA have sought to establish in the news media of a program based on highly accurate targeting that is effective in disrupting al-Qaeda’s terrorist plots against the United States. A new report on civilian casualties in the war in Pakistan has revealed direct evidence that a house was targeted for a drone attack merely because it had been visited by a group of Taliban soldiers. The report came shortly after publication … Continue reading CIA slipping its leash with drone strikes

By Raja Murthy MUMBAI – Political shenanigans in Bangalore are throwing the spotlight on the contentious role of governors in India’s federal democracy – as tumultuous leftovers of British colonial role. Amid high drama, Karnataka state’s chief minister B S Yeddyurappa is struggling for survival, with defecting party legislators allegedly selling their loyalties for cash. Ongoing High Court hearings have made national headlines for a fortnight. In steps the state’s governor, former law minister Hans Raj Bharadwaj. Continuing a dubious history of governors, who are seen as political poltergeists, Bharadwaj is expected to be a neutral referee, deciding which party … Continue reading India’s imperial ghosts stir up trouble

THE ROVING EYE And the winner is … Muqtada By Pepe Escobar Iraqi Premier Nuri al-Maliki hit Tehran this Monday. He was duly received by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and talked extensively to President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, still beaming after his rock-star tour of Lebanon last week. Maliki visited the holy city of Qom, described Iran-Iraq relations as “strategic” and called for even deeper Iran-Iraq cooperation. A good time was had by all – but certainly not the Armageddon-warning brigade in Washington. Now let’s shine some light over the broader context. Take this antiwar.com headline; “White House demands Maliki oust … Continue reading Muqtada to get a medal from The US?

By Peter J Brown The significance of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to Ankara in early October was monumental, especially after the bitter words spoken in mid-2009 by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan following China’s brutal reaction to Uyghur rioting in Xinjiang. Erdogan spoke openly of Chinese atrocities as he emerged as one of the most vocal and downright irate national leaders in the Islamic world in terms of his response to the Chinese government’s actions last year. How times have changed. As Wen extended his hand in Ankara, Erdogan must have winced a tiny bit, but that did not … Continue reading Turkey boards China’s new ‘Orient Express’

A three-handed game in the Middle East By Sami Moubayed DAMASCUS – The Middle East is witnessing a fury of diplomatic traffic. On Monday evening, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad went to Saudi Arabia for a meeting with King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz only days after receiving Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Damascus. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri had arrived in the Saudi capital a day earlier, while US Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman landed in Beirut for talks with President Michel Suleiman, days after a state visit by Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad to Lebanon. Ex-US president Jimmy Carter wrapped up talks … Continue reading Three Legged in the Middle East

By M K Bhadrakumar In the world of diplomacy and politics, a “leak” invariably means something and its timing is never accidental. The leak is a form of diplomatic ingenuity. Two leaks in successive weeks, appearing in New York and London in the run-up to the visit by United States President Barack Obama to India in early November, raise tricky questions. They threaten to become the leitmotif of Obama’s visit. The thrust of the “original leak” on October 15 in ProPublica, aManhattan-based website that specializes in “investigative journalism”, can be summed up as follows: The US Federal Bureau of Investigation had advance … Continue reading Obama’s boat to India springs leaks

Extremists winning the mind games By Syed Saleem Shahzad ISLAMABAD – The promotion of a progressive intellectual movement in the Muslim world was the brain-child of various American think-tanks as a means to counter radical Islam and al-Qaeda’s ideological appeal. In Pakistan, the regime of General Pervez Musharraf (president from June 2001 to August 2008) adopted the idea and brought forward credible modernist Islamic scholars and their schools of thought. Another experiment after Musharraf stepped down and his idea fizzled was to launch a Sufi movement to confront radical Islam. Sufism is defined by its adherents as “the inner, mystical dimension … Continue reading Extremists winning as Mullahs are being given Pakistan on a plate again

By Nick Turse Some go by names steeped in military tradition like Leatherneck and Geronimo. Many sound fake-tough, like Ramrod, Lightning, Cobra, and Wolverine. Some display a local flavor, like Orgun-E, Howz-e-Madad, and Kunduz. All, however, have one thing in common: they are US and allied forward operating bases, also known as FOBs. They are part of a base-building surge that has left the countryside of Afghanistan dotted with military posts, themselves expanding all the time, despite the drawdown of forces promised by President Barack Obama beginning in July 2011. The US military does not count the exact number of … Continue reading US dug in for long haul in Afghanistan