Pakistan

The view from Pakistan

by UmairJ

I had the ‘honour’ of waiting in traffic while Hamid Karzai was taken to Islamabad airport yesterday after his trip in which he met both Gilani and Zardari. The meetings were an attempt to create a better relationship between the two nations and it may have also included discussions concerning the place of the Taliban [...]

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CIA and ISI troubles and the TTP may have crossed the line

by UmairJ

First and foremost this ongoing issue concerning Raymond Davis needs end. The Pakistani media is extrapolating the issue more than is necessary. If he is a CIA agent then there is no way he could keep that a secret from the government. Pakistan issued him a visa fully aware of what his activities would entail [...]

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Baluchistan is coming to town

by UmairJ

There has been a lot of skepticism about whether there are actually individuals within the United States armed forces, as well as the academic world who are calling for an invasion of Baluchistan. Though, I myself cannot see that happening anytime soon, Selig S. Harrison, writing for the National Interest has other plans in mind. [...]

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“Af-Pak” Quick Links

by Matthew Kuhl

A few quick hits from chilly* middle Georgia (lows in the 20s! inconceivable!): Well, it looks as if the Bagram prison will soon be the Afghans’ problem. I’m skeptical that this will result in any real changes. Two articles opinions on drones: First, we have a column from Dawn questioning the effects that drone strikes purportedly [...]

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Drone on…or not

by TK

The debate over the use of drones will likely only intensify over the coming days, months, and years, as they become more and more important to the efforts of…well… every country involved in fighting a war. First, Alex Mayer and Bill Roggio at LWJ offer compelling evidence on both the lethality (who knew that was [...]

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Let’s Think About Mehsud

by Joshua Foust
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Okay, he’s almost certainly dead. So will this matter all that much? When Baitullah Mehsud’s predecessor, Nek Mohammed, died in a drone strike in 2004, American policymakers thought they were onto something—targeted assassinations surely would blunt the power of the Islamists in Pakistan, right? Mehsud turned out to be a much more fearsome opponent than [...]

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Baitullah Mehsud Is Alive! Or Dead. Hrm.

by Joshua Foust
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Bill Roggio quotes his usual round anony-officials saying that Baitullah Mehsud, the Pakistani Taliban leader, wasn’t killed by yesterday’s airstrike that killed his other wife. The New York Times, however, reports that his own men say he is dead and that they are convening a meeting to determine who becomes the next robot target. The [...]

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