Tag: pakistan

Why Is the State Department Speaking for JSOC?

Interesting chain of command issues seem to be emerging in the official "denials" being offered about my story in The Nation magazine on Blackwater and the Joint Special Operations Command operations in Pakistan. A few hours before the piece was published, I received a call — unprompted — from the office of Admiral Mike Mullen, … Continue reading “Why Is the State Department Speaking for JSOC?”

Reading the Af-Pak Tea Leaves

It’s tough to tell what’s going to happen with Af-Pak. We get so many conflicting reports. For a time, we heard that President Obama was leaning toward sending 30,000 additional troops there, and that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham … Continue reading “Reading the Af-Pak Tea Leaves”

In Pakistan, Military vs Militancy Does Not Equal Peace

KARACHI — As militant attacks in Pakistan continue unabated, there are increasing calls for the government to rethink its strategy — and look deep within. What is happening in Pakistan today is an "unprecedented" situation and the government’s "lack of planning and imagination left it with no alternative," said I.A. Rehman, director of the Human … Continue reading “In Pakistan, Military vs Militancy Does Not Equal Peace”

Stop, Look, Listen

We hear daily reports that President Obama has made this or that decision about how many more troops to send to the Afghan front; the numbers vary. This Reuters report headlines "four options" the president is considering, but then names only three: sending 15,000, 30,000, or 40,000. Is the fourth option getting the heck out … Continue reading “Stop, Look, Listen”

Blazing Afghanistan

Afghanistan has become a Mel Brooks movie. President Hamid Karzai handpicked an election commission that threw the election his way. UN overseers declared the election was crooked and decreed that a runoff was required. Karzai didn’t want to face a runoff, but John Kerry and other U.S. officials talked him into accepting it. Karzai’s opponent, … Continue reading “Blazing Afghanistan”

Hillary’s Dope Deal?

Adnkronos International (AKI), the Italian news agency, reports that the U.S., in the person of Hillary Clinton, pressured Hamid Karzai rival Abdullah Abdullah to drop out of the presidential race. The way AKI describes it, this was the biggest foreign policy coup of the Obama administration to date. It was a four-or-more-way swindle in which … Continue reading “Hillary’s Dope Deal?”

The American Way of Abandonment

When America is about to throw an ally to the wolves, we follow an established ritual. We discover that the man we supported was never really morally fit to be a friend or partner of the United States. When Chiang Kai-shek, who fought the Japanese for four years before Pearl Harbor, began losing to Mao’s … Continue reading “The American Way of Abandonment”