Foreign Policy Blogs

Tag Archives: CIA

Killing bin Laden: how much did it cost?

Killing bin Laden: how much did it cost?

But let’s talk about bin Laden. The first notion we can discard is that the US pulled this feat off alone–that our intelligence and military capabilities allowed a convoy of Blackhawk helicopters carrying teams of Navy Seals, along with gunships (loaded with 100+ Army Rangers or Marines) flying defense above the Blackhawks, to penetrate, probably from Afghanistan, 100 miles or more into Pakistan’s airspace to one of the country’s most heavily guarded locations (Pakistan’s ‘West Point’) without detection by Pakistan’s intelligence/ military forces or without encountering Pakistani fighter jets.

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America the Resilient

America the Resilient

Zainab Jeewanjee comments on America’s killing of Osama bin Laden. She describes a resilient, rejuvenated United States that has an opportunity to foster new relationships with our allies, namely Pakistan.

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No Trespassing: US facing home grown terror

As the United States is trying to fight terrorism in different parts of the world, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon and Egypt, evidence suggests that agencies tasked with domestic security have overlooked key aspects of home-grown threats and their root causes. Recent examples of failed attempts to attack Americans were linked to international hot spots. In […]

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Bring it down a notch CIA

The Islamabad station chief of the Central Intelligence Agency hastily departed from Pakistan last week after his cover was blown due to a suspected deliberate leak by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence. This act is the latest evidence of the tense relationship between the two spy agencies. It is believed that his cover was blown in retaliation […]

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Cartel-on-Cartel Violence: Mexico and US Off the Hook

Cartel-on-Cartel Violence: Mexico and US Off the Hook

Cartel-on-cartel violence may offer Felipe Calderon and Barack Obama the political solution they need in Mexico, and give international stakeholders in the Mexican drug industry the break they need to get back to ‘business as usual’–generating billions in drug dollars, cash that, as it ‘gets cleaner,’ is transformed into capital by ‘legitimate’ investors who create billions more.

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Pakistan's Failure

The strangely bizarre and comical launch of Musharraf’s so called Muslim League (or whatever name he is using) forced me to examine Pakistan. And, believe me, this time; I really looked hard not only at today’s Pakistan but also at its short, but awfully tumultuous history. And, it is extremely distressing to realize that nothing, […]

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Remember Pakistan's Liberal Dictator?

Remember Pakistan's Liberal Dictator?

Zainab Jeewanjee reports on Pervez Musharraf’s planned return to Pakistani politics. With the launch of the All Pakistan Muslim League, Jeewanjee discusses Musharraff’s liberal policies in hindsight and comparison to his opposition and political change seems imminent in the country.

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C.I.A helped Iran??

One of the more shocking stories regarding Iranian nuclear program I read this weekend was The New York Times’ article “U.S. Subpoenas Times Reporter Over Book on C.I.A.” The author, James Risen, who is a reporter for The New York Times and a Pulitzer Prize winner, received a subpoena requiring him to provide documents and […]

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A Unique Perspective Indeed

A Unique Perspective Indeed

There are not many people out there who can write about a life spend as both a Revolutionary Guard and a CIA Agent, but Reza Kahlili (a pseudonym) can. He has recently written a book, A Time to Betray, where he reveals the inner workings of the infamous Revolutionary Guards. As the book’s website states, […]

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CIA Factbook Draws Chavez's Ire

President Hugo Chávez is a fan of some books, and an opponent of others. In April of last year he made a very public presentation of Eduardo Galleano’s Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent, gifting it to President Barack Obama at the Summit of the Americas. On the […]

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The AfPak War

In an article in the Washington Post, Anti-U.S. Wave Imperiling Efforts in Pakistan, Officials Say, writers explain the growing hostility towards the Americans in Pakistan But what is missing from this article is the historical aspect of anti Americanism in that part of the world. During my recent trip, I was shocked to see that […]

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