Taliban soften as talks gain speed By Syed Saleem Shahzad ISLAMABAD – The process of bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table is gaining momentum, with the United States and its allies escalating their efforts to get America out of the Afghan quagmire. In principle, the Taliban have agreed to clearly state their position on several issues so that formal talks with Washington will be internationally acceptable. In particular, the Taliban will explain their stance on al-Qaeda. This has emerged following traditional Iftar (breaking of the fast) dinners held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia during the … Continue reading Talks progress with The Taliban

‘Dude, you have no Koran’ By Pepe Escobar As Islamophobia in the United States reaches bonfire of the vanities proportions – involving a composite of talk show hosts, Republican politicians, Tea Party agitators and wacko preachers (see Nobody expects the American Inquisition Asia Times Online, Sept 11, 2010) – concerned citizens across the world should note that the anti-mosque hate festival this past Saturday in front of the proposed site of Cordoba House, the Islamic community center a couple of blocks away from Ground Zero in New York, totally fizzled out; according to ground witnesses, there were way more reporters … Continue reading Christian Extremists being ridiculed in the US! Finally?

Israel joins Russian ballet school By M K Bhadrakumar The mystery surrounding the death of the deputy head of Russia’s military intelligence agency has somewhat eased. When 52-year-old Major-General Yuri Ivanov’s body was washed up on an eastern Mediterranean beach in the Turkish province of Hatay in mid-August, bloggers had a field day. Ivanov was on a sensitive mission to Syria to oversee the Russian military base in Tartus and was apparently heading for a meeting with the Syrian intelligence when he went missing. Israel is concerned about Tartus, a technologically advanced Russian listening post that could spy on its … Continue reading Israel / Russian stuff

Taliban and US get down to talks By Syed Saleem Shahzad ISLAMABAD – United States President Barack Obama has pledged to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in July 2011, and as a part of the initial outlines of this exit strategy the Taliban are for the first time in serious negotiations with the US. The Pakistan military and Saudi Arabia are acting as go-betweens to facilitate the talks, a top Pakistani security official directly involved in the negotiation process has told Asia Times Online. According to the official, the Pakistan army has already been in contact with top Taliban commanders, … Continue reading Taliban / US Talks 2010

The ‘tragi-terror’ that is Pakistan By Chan Akya Pakistan is today the international equivalent of a Monty Python sketch on the lines of the Dead Parrot. You can almost hear John Cleese belt out. “This is not a country, it’s an ex-nation. It has gone to meet its maker. Pakistan is pushing up the daisies. It is no more. The country has kicked the bucket …” The situation is beyond hopeless and has done the full loop from fear and terror to comedy and then all the way back to farcical incompetence. Perhaps the only smart action in United States … Continue reading Monty Python Pakistan

Burning the Qur’an: All faiths must fight against the forces of bigotry We should not tolerate the antics of people such as Pastor Jones Observer editorial The Observer, Sunday 12 September 2010 Article history Until a week or two ago, very few people had heard of Pastor Terry Jones outside his minuscule Florida congregation. That was before he raised his profile to the level of global notoriety with plans to burn copies of the Qur’an as a way of marking yesterday’s ninth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. That vicious stunt triggered passionate reactions from across the US political spectrum, … Continue reading All faiths must fight against the forces of bigotry