Asia

I write in anger. Not blind rage, mind you. A cool, searing, steady anger. I think it is a righteous anger. It is not consequential, but it is my reality. I am angry about the 1,172 US troops dead in the Afghanistan War, and all the other brave NATO and Afghan soldiers who gave their […]

Pakistan

Jolie Appeals for Pakistan Aid as Flood Refugees Return

Juan Cole

Angelina Jolie makes a plea for aid for flood-stricken Pakistan: Reuters reports on what returnees to flooded areas are finding when they arrive:

Pakistan

Shiite Procession Bombed in Lahore: 35 Dead, 250 Wounded

Juan Cole

Three explosions hit Shiite processions in the old city of Lahore around 7 pm Wednesday, killing at least 35 persons and wounding about 250. The first explosion appears to have been a pre-set bomb, which went off near to the Karbala Gamay Shiite shrine. Two suicide bombers subsequently struck near Bhati Chowk. The attacks occurred […]

Afghanistan

Afghanistan and Paris Hilton’s Purse

Juan Cole

US mass media is owned by only five corporations, and all of them have decided that advertising dollars flow to celebrity gossip more than to hard news. I’ve had cable television news on in the background all early afternoon Monday, and no one has mentioned the word “Pakistan,” a major security partner of the United […]

Pakistan

Salt Water, Slow Aid threaten Sindhis Displaced in Pakistan

Juan Cole

A new danger to Sindh: the flood waters are meeting and mixing with the salt waters of the Arabian Sea, threatening large tracts of fertile land with being ruined for agriculture for many years. Although the floods swallowed up Sujawal, army attempts to divert waters and protect cities, especially Thatta, appear to have meet with […]

Pakistan

Another City Submerged as Floods advance in Sindh;
Where are the Rock Stars?

Juan Cole

Remember how I said a little after midnight on Sunday that the city of Sujawal, population 250,000, was threatened by advancing flood waters from broken levees in Sindh? Well, just a few hours later, Sujawal is now under water. That is a city roughly the same size as Fort Wayne, Indiana; Greensboro, N.C., St. Petersburg, […]

Pakistan

One Million Displaced as Rising Waters Threaten Major Cities

Juan Cole

AFP reports that Pakistani troops are on a ‘war footing’ in their desperate efforts to save the southern Sindhi city of Thatta from advancing flood waters, as they attempt to repair breaches in levees that have allowed water around the city to rise alarmingly. The 300,000 inhabitants of Thatta have fled, along with 700,000 others […]

Afghanistan

Taliban Attack 2 US Bases

Juan Cole

Taliban attacked two US forward operating bases on Saturday a day after home-made bombs killed 3 US soldiers. The Afghan Persian press reports that NATO sources say 11 insurgents were killed and that little damage was inflicted on the US bases or personnel. On Wednesday, according to official Iranian news sources, Afghan mobs had invaded […]

Pakistan

Another 500,000 Flee Indus Breaches
Taliban threaten Aid Workers;
Global Warming Implicated

Juan Cole

The raging, swollen Indus River abruptly breached an embankment in the Thatta district in Sindh, Pakistan, on Wednesday evening, unexpectedly sending flood waters toward the town of Thatta and several others in the district. Panicked residents tried to flee in the thousands. The News writes, “Villagers fled trailing north in vans laden with furniture or […]