Asia

(By Jack Serle) Obama has launched over 390 covert drone strikes in his first five years in office Five years ago, on January 23 2009, a CIA drone flattened a house in Pakistan’s tribal regions. It was the third day of Barack Obama’s presidency, and this was the new commander-in-chief’s first covert drone strike. Initial […]

al-Qaeda

Gates worries Pakistan Violence blocks Polio Eradication, But is CIA Partly to Blame?

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has done an amazing job in targeting diseases for eradication, and the world is very close to getting rid of polio altogether, in part because the Gates in recent years have given their support to the effort, which began in 1988. Cases have fallen 99% since […]

Afghanistan

Colbert: Christie Bridgegate a diversion from Obama’s Afghanistan War

Juan Cole

Stephen Colbert reports on Robert Gates’s criticisms of President Obama, noting that Gates said he though Obama made the right decisions, but was beset by second thoughts. He contrasted him to President George W. Bush in this regard. Colbert: Yes, Bush had no second thoughts. He had no first thoughts, either.

Pakistan

Pakistani Boy who Tackled, Thwarted School Bomber Honored

contributors

(By AFP) Pakistan honours teenage bomb hero with bravery award (via AFP) A Pakistani teenager who sacrificed his life to stop a suicide bomber, saving the lives of hundreds of students, has been honoured with the country’s highest award for bravery. Aitzaz Hassan, 15, a student in Hangu district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province… ——– […]

Afghanistan

Gatesgate: Why Obama was right to Distrust his Generals on Afghanistan

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Among the charges in former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’s memoirs against Barack Obama is that the latter did not trust his generals, did not adopt the Afghanistan War as his own, and was skeptical of the Pentagon plan for a troop escalation and a big counter-insurgency push. It is now forgotten […]

Afghanistan

Top Ten Things Bob Gates was Wrong about, Some Criminal

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in his new memoir is said to have slammed Vice President Joe Biden for having been consistently “wrong” on foreign policy matters over the past four decades. Gates’s petty gossip about his former colleagues should put an end to the pusillanimous Democratic Party tradition of appointing […]

Africa

The Year in Drone Strikes: As Many as 35 Civilians Dead, 5 Children

contributors

(By Alice K Ross and Jack Serle) In 2013 the number of drone strikes to hit Pakistan fell to the lowest levels of Obama’s presidency: 27 strikes reportedly hit the country’s tribal areas, down from a peak of 128 in 2010. And for the first time since Pakistan strikes started in 2004, there were no […]

Afghanistan

The Failure of the Trillion Dollar National Security State

Juan Cole

(By Tom Engelhardt> In a 1950s civics textbook of mine, I can remember a Martian landing on Main Street, U.S.A., to be instructed in the glories of our political system. You know, our tripartite government, checks and balances, miraculous set of rights, and vibrant democracy. There was, Americans then thought, much to be proud of, […]

Arab World

“Zariya”: A. R. Rahman, Jordan song, Nepal Buddhist Hymn

Juan Cole

India’s MTV program “Coke Studio” (sponsored by Coca Cola) presents: Published on Aug 1, 2013 Giving a whole new spin to the term ‘world music’ — A.R.Rahman spins his magic on an absolute scorcher, featuring Jordanian singer –Farah Siraj along with Nepalese Buddhist Nun Ani Choying. With the traditional Nepalese Buddhist hymn forming the base […]