By Robert Dreyfuss The United States is slipping and sliding down that proverbial “slippery slope” in Syria toward something that looks increasingly like war. Most worryingly, according to The New York Times, the CIA is training Syrian fighters in Jordan. Buried in its story today about Secretary of State John Kerry’s announcement that the United States will increase aid to the rebels, including medical sup ...

By Dr Zafar Nawaz Jaspal The withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan in 2014 certainly has decisive impact on both Afghanistan’s domestic situation as well its relations with its neighboring states. Afghanistan’s internal political environment will inescapably transform, once the foreign troops depart from the country. The makeover of new Afghan ruling elite would determine and chalk out Kabul’s forei ...

 By Asif Haroon Raja   Apart from hostile eastern border which has remained a chronic security concern for Pakistan since its inception, Pakistan’s western border has also remained a source of constant irritation and anxiety. To begin with, settled issue of Durand Line was willfully converted into a dispute and Pakhtunistan stunt was played up with the help of former NAP later renamed as ANP. Khan Brothers ...

By: Sikander Shaheen Hallmarked with renewed commitments, reprioritised relationships, invariable highs and sinking lows, Pakistan’s defence sector had been the centre-stage of dramatic turn of events in the year 2012. Not only the external strategic pressures but the challenges from within as well predominantly marked the chronology of happenings on the defence side. With the standoff between Islamabad and ...

IT WAS 34 years ago that Park Geun-hye left Cheong wa Dae (the “Blue House”), South Korea's presidential mansion. Her father, Park Chung-hee, was the autocratic strongman who led the "miracle on the Han river" in the 1960s and 70s. From 1974 until 1979, when he was assassinated, his daughter served as his first lady. Since she won a perfectly democratic election in December 2012, she returned to the Blue Ho ...

New analysis from Environmental Working Group shows carcinogenic chemical lurking in nation's public water  - Andrea Germanos, staff writer When you pour yourself a glass of tap water or even take a shower, you may be among over 100 million Americans exposing yourself to carcinogenic, "toxic trash." Chemicals linked to a range of health problems including bladder cancer and birth defects have been found mun ...

By Pat Buchanan Regularly now, The Washington Post, as always concerned with fairness and balance, runs a blog called "Right Turn: Jennifer Rubin's Take From a Conservative Perspective." The blog tells us what the Post regards as conservatism. On Monday, Rubin declared that America's "greatest national security threat is Iran." Do conservatives really believe this? How is America, with thousands of strategi ...

By Ishaal Zehra Much compliments for the Ministry of Climate Change, in Islamabad, on providing a framework for coping with the threats of climate change through adaptation and mitigation measures. The policy, officially launched on February 26, 2013, focuses on development sectors such as water resources, agriculture and livestock, forestry, human health, disaster preparedness, transport and energy. “The g ...