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 War
and Terror
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February 2010
AN INDIA-PAKISTAN TEST
Delhi papers over cracks
The growing realization within India's policymaking elite that instability in
Pakistan is detrimental to India's security and economy has led to optimism in
Delhi over renewed India-Pakistan dialogue. However, the countries' conflicting
approaches to Afghanistan, a continued atmosphere of mistrust and the
precarious state of Pakistan's leadership mean that reconciliation is less
likely than renewed conflict. - Chietigj Bajpaee
(Feb 9, '10)
Islamabad can't give an inch
The United States has nudged Pakistan and India closer, bending over backwards
to reassure each of their strategic importance. But Pakistan stands to lose
popular support if it concedes to Indian demands without gaining concessions,
while its greatest fear remains militants infiltrating its larger cities and
unleashing the type of havoc witnessed recently in Karachi. - Zahid U Kramet
(Feb 9, '10) |
Operation Breakfast redux
The escalating drone war of the United States in the Pakistani tribal
borderlands has ominous parallels with Richard Nixon's secret bombing in
Cambodia 40 years ago to destroy a "Bamboo Pentagon", where North Vietnamese
communists were supposedly orchestrating raids deep into South Vietnam. Could
the US be repeating the same mistakes that brought the Khmer Rouge to power? - Pratap
Chatterjee (Feb 9, '10)
Pakistan's military sets Afghan
terms
Pakistan's military establishment, taken fully on board by the United States in
the efforts to find solutions for Afghanistan, has made clear that its
cooperation comes with strings attached. Any Indian role is to be restricted to
civilian development projects, and Pakistan will choose for itself who its
enemies are. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Feb 8,
'10)
Israeli case for war with Syria -
and Lebanon
Threats may be escalating between Syria and Israel, but the chances of war
breaking out are very low: it would be too dangerous for Israel and too costly
for the Middle East. Nobody, though, can rule out another Israeli war in
Lebanon, where there is "unfinished" business to do. - Sami Moubayed
(Feb 8, '10)
India-Pakistan thaw key to Afghan
peace
The prospect of the first high-level bilateral talks between India and Pakistan
since the 2008 Mumbai attack was raised by global powers when they endorsed a
United States-backed plan in London that seeks reconciliation with the Taliban
in Afghanistan. Washington sees the key to Kabul as lying in Islamabad, and the
key to Islamabad as lying in New Delhi. - Siddharth Srivastava
(Feb 8, '10)
Taliban go-betweens draw up road map
Plans drawn up by Taliban mediators for a political settlement in Afghanistan
encourage the insurgency's leaders and the government to reach agreement on key
issues, such as the withdrawal of all foreign troops and al-Qaeda. The reaction
of the United States to the plan and the vexed issue of a new constitution are
the biggest roadblocks, the mediators say. - Gareth Porter
(Feb 8, '10)
US fires off new warning in Pakistan
With its biggest drone attack to date in 
Pakistan - nine unmanned vehicles firing 19 missiles in one evening - the
United States has underscored its invigorated desire to wipe out Taliban and
al-Qaeda sanctuaries in the Pakistan and Afghanistan border areas. The efforts
are backed by a new intelligence-gathering network tapping into Afghan
tribesmen. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Feb 4, '10)
THE ROVING EYE
Staring at the abyss
On Indonesia's tropical island of Bali, everything is about sekala and niskala,
ritual and the occult. In the United States, the Pentagon has its occult as it
continues its descent into the ghostly abyss of its "long war". When President
Obama visits Indonesia next month, he'd do well to do some soul-searching on
Bali if he is to avoid being permanently engulfed by hungry ghosts. - Pepe
Escobar (Feb 4, '10)
Pakistani Taliban has its work cut
out
If Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, did indeed
die in a United States drone attack last week, there is a ready replacement for
him in a young battle-hardened commander with a set agenda: to continue the
relationship that Mehsud's group forged with al-Qaeda as a component of its
regional plans. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Feb 3,
'10)
Taliban raid showcases new battle
tactics
With tactics similar to an earlier assault on Kabul, heavily armed Taliban
suicide bombers attacked important buildings in Lashkar Gah, Helmand's
provincial capital. The Taliban say the focus on urban targets has been forced
on them by the increased presence of troops. - Mohammad Ilyas Dayee
(Feb 3, '10)
US, Karzai split over Taliban talks
Differences between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and key officials of the
administration of United States President Barack Obama over the issue of talks
with the Taliban came to a head at last week's London conference. Peace
negotiations are embedded in a deeper conflict over US war strategy, which has
provoked broad anger and increasing suspicions of US motives among Afghans -
and especially with Karzai. - Gareth Porter (Feb
3, '10) |
Taliban take on the US's surge
The Taliban, rather than demand that all foreign troops be pulled out of
Afghanistan before negotiations begin with the United States or any other
country, have proposed that if the US stops its surge of 30,000 troops,
dialogue can start immediately. In addition, the Taliban say they will take
measures to reduce hostilities. The dilemma for the US is how desperate is it
to take the Taliban's word. - Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Feb 2, '10)
DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA
Seven days in January
On his return flight after visiting South Asia, where he was blindsided, United
States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates watched Seven Days in May, a
Cold War-era film about an attempted military coup in the US. With congress
recently approving a US$626 billion Pentagon budget, the US military is so
ascendant that it has no need for real-life coups. - Tom Engelhardt
(Feb 1, '10)
Dialogue seeks a middle ground
The Taliban, unable to deliver a decisive military blow to oust the government
in Kabul, know they will never rule Afghanistan as they once did, while foreign
forces up against an intractable foe cannot expect counter-insurgency to
succeed anytime soon. Straight talking, however, could give each side in the
conflict much of what they seek. - Brian M Downing
(Feb 1, '10)
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