Terrorism

Pakistan on Thursday descended into the kind of violence that tends to occur in Iraq, with a distinct Sunni-Shiite cast to it. But the larger context was a spillover of enmities from Afghanistan. Three bombs were set off in Quetta. The first targeted a pool hall in a Hazara Shiite neighborhood. When people came to […]

Afghanistan

How America is Filling up itself and the World With Guns

Juan Cole

The American obsession with guns and violence is not unique, but it is distinctive. The US ranks 12th in the world for rate of firearm-related deaths. El Salvador, Colombia, Swaziland, Brazil, South Africa, the Philippines and some others are worse. But that is the company the US is in– not, say, relatively peaceful places like […]

Pakistan

On Malala Day, Pakistani Girls chant “I am Malala”

Juan Cole

Pakistan, and people around the world, commemorated yesterday as “Malala Day”, in honor of Malala Yusufzai, who was shot in the head by a Taliban militant for demanding the right of girls’ education. UN special envoy Gordon Brown submitted a petition to Pakistani President Asaf Ali Zardari with nearly a million signatures from around the […]

Pakistan

Imran Khan Protest Convoy Against US Drones Heads toward Waziristan, Pakistan

Juan Cole

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 […]

Pakistan

CIA Drone Killing of Non-Combatants Detailed in British Court (Woods)

Juan Cole

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 […]

al-Qaeda

Polish PM Reveals that US Tortured at Black Sites in his Country

Juan Cole

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk is now more or less admitting what has long been suspected: The Bush administration established a secret CIA prison in Poland and had Polish security officials help torture al-Qaeda suspects there. These steps were unconstitutional in Poland on two grounds: first, high Polish officials surrendered sovereignty over Polish territory to […]

al-Qaeda

Top 7 Ways Bin Laden Underestimated Joe Biden

Juan Cole

Captured documents from Usamah Bin Laden’s Abbottabad hideout show that the terrorist leader urged an associate to attempt to assassinate President Barack Obama so that Vice President Joe Biden would come to power. “Obama is the head of infidelity and killing him automatically will make (Vice President Joe) Biden take over the presidency. Biden is […]

al-Qaeda

Ballen: Terrorism Can’t be Taken out and Shot

Juan Cole

Ken Ballen, author of Terrorists in Love: The Real Lives of Islamic Radicals, writes in a guest column for Informed Comment : The policy of targeted assassinations and drone strikes as the cornerstone of an evolving U.S. counterterrorism policy carries some short-term tactical benefits but little in the way of lasting strategic success. Rather, the […]

al-Qaeda

Palin was Right About those Government Death Panels

Juan Cole

Well, the death panel has nothing to do with universal health care. But apparently it does exist, sited in the National Security Council. I discussed the assassination of Anwar al-`Awlaqi last Saturday, just trying to reason through the moral, legal and constitutional issues as a layperson. When I got to the end of the posting, […]