Category Archives: Pakistan & Afghanistan

May 16, 2013

ESSAY

Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan: A New Age Dawns or More of the Same?

Nawaz Sharif is back. And back with a big enough chunk of parliament that he won’t have to form a coalition government. After a record number of Pakistanis showed up at the polls and dumped the delinquent Pakistan People’s Party out of power, many … Continue reading →

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May 10, 2013

ESSAY

Whoever Wins, Pakistan Is Losing

The victor in tomorrow’s elections in Pakistan will inherit a national economy in tatters. There are steep economic challenges ahead—so steep, in fact, that the first stop for Pakistan’s new government will probably be the offices of the IMF, where officials will … Continue reading →

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May 9, 2013

ESSAY

Kidnapping and Chaos Ahead of Pakistan’s Election

Unknown gunmen kidnapped the son of former Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani at a political rally today. Ali Haider Gilani’s secretary and guard were killed in the attack. The Pakistani Taliban and other radical groups have waged a deadly campaign … Continue reading →

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May 6, 2013

ESSAY

Terrorists, Hate-mongers on Ballot in Pakistan’s “Peaceful”, “Democratic” Election

In Pakistan’s Punjab province, a region populated mostly by poor farmers, the run-up to this weekend’s elections has taken on a decidedly sectarian tone. Maulana Abdul Khaliq Rehmani is the leader of a political group that is fielding 130 candidates, … Continue reading →

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May 3, 2013

ESSAY

Prosecutor Murdered In Islamabad As Pakistan’s ‘Peaceful’ Election Looms

The prosecutor investigating the murder of Benazir Bhutto and the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack was shot thirteen times by unknown gunmen on motorbikes outside Islamabad today. He died before reaching the hospital. Chaudhry Zulfikar Ali represented the Federal Investigation Agency … Continue reading →

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April 25, 2013

ESSAY

Fifty-five Charged Terrorists Allowed to Run for Office in Pakistan

Welcome to Pakistan’s Punjab region, where 55 (!) men charged with various terrorist activities have been allowed to run for elected office. Amir Mir at The News has the story: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has simply failed to … Continue reading →

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April 24, 2013

ESSAY

China to India: What Soldiers? What Border?

Beijing apparently told Delhi today that Chinese soldiers had, in fact, not crossed the border between the two countries, contrary to widespread reports by Indian government sources and the international media that a contingent of Chinese soldiers and helicopters had … Continue reading →

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April 22, 2013

ESSAY

Pakistani Extremists on Brink of Entering Parliament

A Reuters reporter’s recent visit to Jhang, in Pakistan’s Punjab region, should be a reality check for any Westerner tempted to celebrate Pakistan’s upcoming elections—the first ever transfer of power from one civilian administration to another—as a victory for democracy. In … Continue reading →

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April 19, 2013

ESSAY

After Fleeing Court, Musharraf Now in Police Custody

Pakistan’s Pervez Musharraf is now in police custody, the BBC reports. He appeared in court in Islamabad this morning and was originally placed under house arrest. Later, he was transfered to police headquarters, in yet another twist in the strange … Continue reading →

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April 18, 2013

ESSAY

Pakistan’s Musharraf Flees Court After Arrest Order

In one of the more bizarre events to befall Pakistan’s election season, Pervez Musharraf, the former military dictator, fled the Islamabad High Court building today after a judge ordered him arrested for treason. Musharraf and his security detail literally hustled … Continue reading →

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April 5, 2013

ESSAY

Pakistan’s Best & Brightest Fill Ranks of Terror Groups

Hundreds of thousands of trainees are active in the Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, according to a new report by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. Many of those recruits are intelligent, secularly educated, driven young men, say the authors of … Continue reading →

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March 16, 2013

ESSAY

A New Kind of Military Coup Takes Shape in Pakistan

This spring, if everything goes according to plan, Pakistan’s government will reach a remarkable milestone. Led by the Pakistan People’s Party, which is horribly corrupt and deeply unpopular, the government will become the first civilian administration to pass the reins of government … Continue reading →

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March 13, 2013

ESSAY

Two Lame Ducks and a Foolish Pipeline Project

On Monday, the FT reported that Pakistan and Iran had agreed to a $1.5 billion pipeline project stretching from Iran’s South Pars gas field all the way across the often-restive Baluchi areas of Pakistan. News footage showed Presidents Ahmadinejad and Zardari shaking hands … Continue reading →

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March 8, 2013

ESSAY

When Will Ordinary Pakistanis Stand Up for Their Neighbors?

Nineteen-year-old Ghulam Mustafa was executed on remote stretch of a mountain highway outside Gilgit in Pakistan, when 40 heavily armed men, clad in camouflage fatigues, stopped a convoy of buses and ordered all Shiite passengers to identify themselves. Ghulam was Sunni. He … Continue reading →

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February 19, 2013

ESSAY

New News on News that Wasn’t News

Yesterday we wrote about a bombing Saturday in Quetta, Pakistan that killed upwards of 80 people. While violence there threatens to become so routine that attacks like this get little response, public anger is rising. Reuters reports: [G]rieving relatives refused to … Continue reading →

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