Tom Engelhardt In the wake of several deaths among its contingent of troops in a previously peaceful province in Afghanistan, New Zealand (like France [5] and South Korea [6]) is now expediting [7] the departure of its 140 soldiers. That’s not exactly headline-making news here in the United States. If you’re an American, you probably didn’t even know that New Zealand was playing a small part in our Afghan W ...

Dr. Raja Muhammad Khan    [caption id="attachment_2217" align="alignnone" width="272"] DG ISI[/caption] According to the confidential US sources, “all concerning issues were discussed,” in the meeting between ISI chief General Zaheerul Islam and concerned US officials, especially the Director of CIA, General (retd) David Petraeus during the recently concluded visit of the former. It was the first US visit o ...

Brig (retd) Farooq Hameed Khan    While government circles hailed the MoU signing as a turning point in Pak-US ties, some politicians termed it as a document of ‘surrender’ or even Pakistan’s ‘death warrant’. Or was the MoU more of ‘Must Obey US’ set of conditions rather than an ‘understanding’ between two sovereign nations? Few questions arise. Is the MoU tilted in US’ favour? Does this document safeguard ...

Nazia Nazar A so-called Gallup survey report with the caption that ‘37 per cent Baloch favour independence’. It could have been better to title the story that ‘67 per cent Baloch oppose independence’. It is not understandable as to why this report was carried by the newspaper when even the DFID has not so far been placed on its website. Such surveys by the West do have purpose, and more often than not these ...

Dr. Raja Muhammad Khan   [caption id="attachment_2541" align="aligncenter" width="264"] DG ISI Visited US[/caption] General Zaheerul Islam, Director General Inter Services Intelligence Agency has successfully concluded his week-long US visit. It was the first US visit of Gen Zaheer as DG of ISI, since he assumed charge in March this year. According to the confidential US sources, “all concerning issues were ...

Mohammad Jamil On 14th August 1947, Pakistan emerged on the world map as the biggest Islamic country. But Congress leaders and brute Hindu majority did not reconcile with the new reality, and planned to destabilize the nascent nation. Thousands of Muslims were massacred, women raped and abducted, and unprecedented exodus of Muslims towards Pakistan ensued. Once again in 1971, India through an international ...

Khalid Iqbal As the OIC meets, for its fourth extraordinary summit in Makkah to discuss the challenges confronting the Ummah, its platter would certainly be full. The Islamic world has been in a state of turmoil since World War I: its affairs have gone into a nosedive after the 9/11 tragedy. Country after country has faced invasions and regime changes or attempts at regime change. Efforts to create a Middle ...

[caption id="attachment_2227" align="alignright" width="400"] Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam , DGI[/caption] Mohammad Jamil    Since 2nd May incident of violating Pakistan’s sovereignty by US Navy Seals at Abbottabad Compound and some subsequent events, Pak-US ties had come to the lowest ebb. However, Pakistan’s strategic decision to open Ground Lines of Communications led to DG ISI’s visit to Washington, which even ...