Fareed Zakaria and CNN come together to give us an informative documentary on the terrorists attacks on Mumbai last year. Sean Patrick Murphy writes about it at the Global Film Review. “The film does an excellent job of drawing in the viewer, following the rampage as it unfolded over many hours, often providing cell phone […]
Thomas Friedman of the New York times writes about the Anti-American narrative that terrorist groups use to convince the Islamic world that American policies are aimed at oppressing Muslims. Zainab Jeewanjee critiques Friedman’s article, noting history and tangible consequences of our policies in the Middle East and Pakistan.
Last year this time I was busy planning my first Thanksgiving when terror struck Mumbai once again. Earlier that year there was a chain of explosions across various cities, and I thought this was a continuation of the same. But it was much more than crude bombs planted in rickshaws and cycles. So instead of […]
Even as President Obama hosts the Indian Prime Minister at the State Dinner tonight, the joint press meet during the day sent conflicting signals about the future of Indo-US relations. In spite of being asked directly if the US would put pressure on Pakistan to act against terrorist operating from its territory, President Obama talked […]
Though there has been no announcement of a nuclear deal during Canadian Prime Minister’s (PM) visit to India this week, the two leaders expressed an intention to negotiate one in the near future. Prime Minister Harper said that the two countries have a “prosperous civilian nuclear future” ahead of them. The Indian PM also expressed […]
The Indian government has put all its nuclear sites on high alert following reports of David Headley’s visits to those states and other intelligence reports. The Press Trust of India, quoting a senior home ministry official reports, “the step is precautionary in nature. The states have been asked to increase the vigil and patrolling to […]
The Obama administration took a major step today in fulfilling its promise to close the discredited Guantanamo Bay detention center and follow the rule of law with the announcement that five detainees charged with planning the attacks on September 11, 2001 and the USS Cole will be prosecuted by a federal court in the Southern District of […]
Now that our quiet and uncomfortable introductions are out of the way, I’d like to point to another article that follows up on the one I wrote about yesterday. The Daily Star reports that : “The Detective Branch of police produced Mufti Harun Izahar, son of Islami Oikya Jote leader Mufti Izaharul Islam, Shahidul Islam […]
I look at the news of the day as either a sign or a signal. A sign is a piece or stream of data that serve as declarative propositions about the world. Signs describe the world contemporaneously, as true or false through argument, news, video, photographs or–for that matter– blog posts. Signs carry no prescriptions […]
Iranians have once again taken to the streets in Tehran. But this time, instead of hearing slogans fulminating against the government, you hear people mourning the deaths of their loved ones in Sunday’s suicide attack in southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan. Here is an Al-Jazeera report on how Iranians are coping with the suicide attack that killed at […]
The terrorist attacked that killed more than 42 people, including 11 commanders of Iran’s elite Islamic Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, is being blamed on Pakistan. Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accused Pakistan of having links to the bombers who carried out a suicide attack. President Ahmadinejad is quoted as saying that he knew “some security agents […]
It is no secret that India believes the Pakistani Intelligence Agency (ISI) sponsors terrorists against Jammu &Kashmir (J&K) in the long drawn border dispute between the two countries. But according to a media report the ISI is planning to use captured Taliban militants to infiltrate and fight the ‘jihad’ against India in J&K. “In a […]
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 […]
In exactly a year India will host one of the biggest international sports event in its history. The 19th Commonwealth Games will be held in New Delhi from Oct 3-14, 2010. A total of 71 countries are expected to participate in 17 different events. Not only are the Games a matter of pride for India, […]
United States Senate passes the Kerry-Lugar bill tripling foreign aid to Pakistan for “sustainable development” purposes and counterterrorism/counterinsurgency assistance. This comes as both the United States and Pakistan struggle in defeating terrorism in the region. The bill specifies up to $1,5,000,000 through 2013 annually as President Obama revamps our strategy in dealing with the Af-Pak quagmire.