Asia

Charismatic Pakistani opposition politician, Imran Khan, set out Saturday from Islamabad in a motorized convoy for a mobile protest by his Justice Party against continued US drone strikes on the tribal belt in northern Pakistan. His convoy, made up of all sorts of vehicles, was also joined by activists from Lahore and other cities. A […]

Afghanistan

Top Seven Errors President Obama has made on the Middle East

Juan Cole

Yesterday I explored the errors and fantasies in Gov. Mitt Romney’s WSJ op-ed on the Middle East. Here I will briefly go over the mistakes that the Obama administration has made in the region. Unlike the proposed blunders of Romney, I have to say, most of these are errors of omission or of an abundance […]

Afghanistan

Tom Ricks and The Generals: Why the US succeeded in WWII but not Since

Juan Cole

Tom Ricks, award-winning military journalist, gives the Nimitz Lecture on why the US military succeeded in WW II but had so much trouble in the Korean, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The book version is out shortly, Tom Ricks, The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today See also Ricks’s invaluable blog

Afghanistan

Top Ten Likely Consequences of Muslim anti-US Embassy Riots

Juan Cole

1. Tourism in Egypt and Tunisia, the economies of which heavily depend on it, is likely to take a nosedive this fall. It is a shame, because Tunisia had been hoping for a near return to 2010 levels of 7 million visitors this year. And Egypt’s tourism was up 16% over the previous year, though […]

Afghanistan

The War on Terror Comes to Facebook (Harvey)

Juan Cole

Stephanie Harvey writes at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism Facebook, the social networking website with over 955 million profiles, has been used as a ‘honey trap’ by terrorists posing as attractive women to unsuspecting Australian military personnel. This is, at least according to the Australian government, the new danger that the war on terror has […]

Afghanistan

Dear Mitt: You Don’t Get to Say That

Juan Cole

Dear Mitt Romney: Your so-called Medicare reform is just a way of shifting health expenses from millionaires (whose taxes you want to lower) to middle class and working people (with whom you want to stick the bill). A 48-year-old today, who starts getting Medicare in 2030, would have to pay an extra $124,600 under your […]

Afghanistan

US covert actions in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia (Woods & Serle)

Juan Cole

Chris Woods and Jack Serle write at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism: Pakistan: August sees the highest number of CIA strikes in Pakistan since October 2011. A number of senior militants are killed along with at least two named civilians. Yemen: At least 26 people are killed in five confirmed US drone strikes in Yemen. […]

Afghanistan

The Panetta/ Pakistan War of Words

Juan Cole

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has caused a stir by warning US ally Pakistan that Washington’s ‘patience is wearing thin’ with the support for the Haqqani Network by the country’s Inter-Services Intelligence. Pakistani ambassador to the US, Sherry Rehman, condemned the statement as ‘unhelpul.’ Pakistan’s military has taken on a number militant groups based in […]

Afghanistan

A Memorial Day to Break your Heart (Engelhardt)

Juan Cole

Tom Engelhardt writes at Tomdispatch.com: May is the official month of remembrance when it comes to our war dead, ending as it does on the long Memorial Day weekend when Americans typically take to the road and kill themselves and each other in far greater numbers than will die in Afghanistan. It’s a weekend for […]