Asia

(By Juan Cole) America’s longest war may be over by the end of this year, and it is making Afghans and neighbors like Pakistan nervous. On Tuesday President Obama called Afghan president Hamid Karzai for the first time since last summer, saying that since Karzai had declined to sign a Bilateral Security Agreement, he had […]

Afghanistan

America still has a Torture Problem: 4 Reasons Why

contributors

(By Rebecca Gordon) Shortly after his first inauguration in 2009, President Obama issued an executive order forbidding torture and closing the CIA’s so-called “black sites.” But the order didn’t end “extraordinary rendition” – the practice of sending prisoners to other countries to be tortured. (This is actually illegal under the U.N. Convention against Torture, which […]

Climate Change

Kerry Blasts Climate Denialists, equates Climate Change with Terrorism, WMDs

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Secretary of State John Kerry was in Asia this weekend, and one of his emphases in China and Indonesia was the urgency of dealing with the climate disruption caused by carbon dioxide emissions/a>, which he said is as great a threat as terrorism or the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: “When […]

Afghanistan

Taliban jump Shark, Kidnap alleged Spy Dog (Colbert Report)

Juan Cole

The Colbert Report on the Taliban Dognappers

Afghanistan

UN: Civilian drone deaths triple in Afghanistan

contributors

(By Alice K. Ross) Civilian drone deaths in Afghanistan tripled last year, according to a report by a UN agency. Forty-five civilians died in drone strikes in 2013. The report, by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Unama), found that drone strikes accounted for at least a third of all civilian deaths in air […]

CIA

Assassination by Leak: US floats Trial Balloon of Droning an American to Death

contributors

(By Tim Cushing) Administration Officials Perform Some Very Public Handwringing Over Extrajudicial Drone Killing (via Techdirt) The administration has sort of painted itself into a corner with its new rules on drone strikes. It’s apparently seeking to take out a US citizen who has joined al-Qaeda and is “actively plotting” against the US. Multiple issues […]

Africa

Big Green Energy is Remaking Africa and Asia

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) A significant part of the population of Africa and Asia at present has no access to electricity, and in some countries those deprived amount to as much as 80 percent of the population. That is true in Ethiopia, for instance. Demand for electricity will therefore grow enormously in Africa and Asia over […]

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

Bhutto Zardari: Taliban must be eradicated from Pakistan

Juan Cole

(Via The Economist): Bilawal Bhutto on Pakistani politics: Renaissance man (via The Economist) MODELS in skimpy outfits, dancing around a fiery cauldron in a strange homage to an ancient, pre-Islamic past…is not most people’s idea of how to launch a political career in Pakistan. But Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the 25-year-old heir to one of the… […]

al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula

Congress to CIA: Provide US Drone Victim Count

contributors

(By Alice K. Ross) The CIA director and other intelligence chiefs were urged to increase transparency over covert drone operations by members of the House intelligence committee yesterday. Adam Schiff, a Democratic Party congressman, called on CIA director John Brennan, to support an annual report detailing the number of alleged militants and civilians killed each […]