South Asia

My list of challenges last year this time more or less nailed it, especially my concerns about the Mubarak era ending in Egypt. Many of the dangers to which I pointed still exist, of course, but a whole host of new difficulties has emerged. 5. The compromise reached in Yemen is unacceptable to many reformers. […]

Afghanistan

Empire by the Numbers

Juan Cole

Number of Pakistani troops killed at checkpoint Saturday by a US helicopter raid from Afghanistan: 25 Number of NATO supply trucks allowed to cross from Pakistan to Afghanistan Saturday: 0 Number of Afghan children killed near Qandahar Wednesday by a US air strike: 6 Percentage of Pakistanis [pdf] who want US troops out of Afghanistan: […]

Afghanistan

The Little Iran Nuclear Report that Couldn’t

Juan Cole

A key allegation in the IAEA report on Iranian nuclear activities has fallen apart. Gareth Porter has been able to use interviews and other material to demonstrate that Vyacheslav Danilenko, a Russian scientist referred to without being identified in the report, is not a nuclear weapons expert. His field is nanotechnology (making tiny machines), and […]

Energy

Godzilla Carbon Emissions in 2010 Unprecedented

Juan Cole

The spike in carbon emissions in 2010, a 6% increase over 2009, was so humongous that the scientists measuring it initially thought that there must have been a mistake somewhere in the measurements. Tom Boden, head of the Department of Energy’s Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center in Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee, is quoted by […]

Afghanistan

Kabul Bombing of US Bus Leaves 13 Dead

Juan Cole

The Taliban claimed credit for a bombing of a bus in Kabul, which killed 13 US security personnel (apparently 5 US troops and 8 security contractors). Three innocent bystanders, Afghans and a policemen, were also killed. Military officers focused on the big picture hate stories like this one, because, they say, ‘if it bleeds, it […]

Afghanistan

Islamic Law not a problem in Bush’s Afghanistan & Iraq, but a Problem in Libya?

Juan Cole

George W. Bush said of Iraq and Afghanistan,, “I’d like to be a president [known] as somebody who liberated 50 million people…” The 2004 Constitution of Afghanistan [pdf], drafted and passed under the rule of George W. Bush in that country, makes Islam the religion of state and forbids any law that contravenes the sharia […]

Afghanistan

Karzai: Afghanistan would Side With Pakistan in War with US

Juan Cole

Admiral Mike Mullen, outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently told Congress that the Haqqani Network, a guerrilla group accused of hitting the US embassy in Kabul, is an “arm” of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) immediately suggested that if the US military wanted to attack Pakistan, it would have […]

Pakistan

Pakistani Newspapers Respond to US Threats, call for War Readiness

Juan Cole

The USG Open Source Center translates or paraphrases Pakistani Urdu newspaper editorials responding to the US threats against Pakistan should it not curb the Haqqani Network (Pashtun Mujahidin based in North Waziristan). The US is convinced that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence is running the Haqqani Network to project Pakistani power into Afghanistan. Some newspapers urge that […]

Pakistan

Lindsey “Dr. Strangelove” Graham & War with Pakistan

Juan Cole

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a major proponent of the idea of a US perpetual war, now wants conflict with Pakistan. He told Fox News Sunday, “The sovereign nation of Pakistan is engaging in hostile acts against the United States and our ally Afghanistan that must cease. I will leave it up to the experts, but if […]