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 […]
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Pakistan
Dear Mitt: *You* Don’t Get to Say That
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 […]
US covert actions in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia (Woods & Serle)
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. […]
The Panetta/ Pakistan War of Words
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 […]
CIA Drone Killing of Non-Combatants Detailed in British Court (Woods)
Chris Woods writes at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism: A major case in the British High Court has revealed fresh evidence of civilian deaths during a notorious CIA drone strike in Pakistan last year. Sworn witness testimonies reveal in graphic detail how the village of Datta Khel burned for hours after the attack. Many of […]
Top 5 Stratfor Revelations
Wikileaks is publishing internal memos of the Stratfor security analysis firm. A few tidbits have emerged in these very early days, to wit: 1. Up to 12 Pakistani active-duty and retired officers from the Inter-Services Intelligence agency knew that Usama Bin Laden was in Abbottabad and were in regular contact with him. The Pakistani chief […]
Fresh evidence of CIA civilian deaths in Pakistan revealed: Jones
Two new investigations confirm ongoing CIA civilian deaths in Pakistan.
Will Pakistan’s Crisis affect US in Afghanistan
Pakistan is an important country and a key US partner, and so it is bad news that it is lurching from political crisis to political crisis. There is a crisis between the military and the civilian government. There is a crisis between the military and the US government. There is a crisis between the Supreme […]
Top 5 Foreign Policy Challenges for US, 2012
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. […]