Asia

Two million more people have been affected by Pakistan’s floods– 13 million — than were affected by the 2005 tsunami in the Indian Ocean and the Haiti earthquake combined. (The other disasters surpassed Pakistan’s floods in their over-all death rates). The entire city of Muzaffargarh in Pakistani Kashmir south Punjab is being evacuated and is […]

Afghanistan

Rudolph: Can You Pass the Terrorism Quiz?

Juan Cole

Jeffrey Rudolph writes in a guest editorial for Informed Comment Can You Pass the Terrorism Quiz? Misconceptions about terrorism, regularly promoted by the mainstream media, have facilitated harmful US government actions—two wars, domestic legislation that curtailed civil liberties, excessive national security spending. That basic, factual information about terrorism is so rarely reported thus serves to […]

Pakistan

12 Million Affected by Pakistan Floods

Juan Cole

The horrific flood in Pakistan, the worst in its history, has now destroyed more homes (650,000) than the 2005 earthquake. And, some 12 million Pakistanis, nearly 10 percent of the country’s population, have been at least somewhat affected by the floods. About 1600 persons have been killed. The floods, having hit first the Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa Province […]

Afghanistan

Dispute over Civilian Casualties Roils US-Afghan Relations

Juan Cole

Between 4 and 12 civilians were killed by US troops in a nighttime raid in Nangarhar province on Wednesday, NATO admitted today. Nangarhar has repeatedly been the scene of public protests against the foreign troop presence. In fact, the wikileaks Pentagon documents show that local protests against US and NATO troops have been widespread, routine, […]

Afghanistan

Taliban influence Spreading in Afghanistan

Juan Cole

A former Afghan warlord who turned to supporting President Hamid Karzai and two others were blown up at a soccer match in the northern city of Qunduz by Taliban. A bus full of civilians on its way between Helmand and Qandahar provinces in the Pashtun south hit a roadside bomb, which killed 6 and wounded […]

Afghanistan

War is Theft: Pentagon cannot account for $8.6 Billion of Iraq’s Reconstruction Funds

Juan Cole

The Pentagon cannot account for the over $8 bn. given out to cronies in the first years of the Iraq occupation, money which came from Iraq’s oil proceeds to begin with. The reason is that in the chaotic days after the fall of the Baath government and the collapse of the old economy, Paul Bremer […]

Afghanistan

Cloughley– “Against a Rush to Judgment: Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban”

Juan Cole

In light of the Wikileaks Pentagon documents are full of allegations by US military personnel of Pakistani collaboration with the Taliban, and they have increased tensions among the US, Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is worth taking a step back, however, and remembering that not everything in classified documents is true or well founded. It is […]

Afghanistan

Wikileaks on Hiding the War; and, American Security? Rethinking Afghanistan Pt. 6

Juan Cole

The Taliban now claim that they killed one US sailor and captured another in Logar Province as the US mounts a massive manhunt for the survivor. The Afghanistan war now has its own Pentagon papers— 90,000 documents leaked to Wikileaks and then to The Guardian and two other newspapers, which show a pattern of covering […]

Afghanistan

Women of Afghanistan: Rethink Afghanistan, Part 5

Juan Cole

Rethink Afghanistan, pt. 5, directed by Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films, covers women’s issues. Recent news on this front: On Saturday it became clear that fighting on Friday between NATO and Taliban guerrillas left some 30 civilians dead, including women and children, when they were caught in the crossfire. Gayle Tzemach Lemmon asks of […]