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By July-August 2001, it was clear that something dramatic was about to happen.
Pepe Escobar, our "Roving Eye", was
traveling in Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan. The rumor was that
US forces were about to use Pakistan to launch a raid into Afghanistan.
Escobar's article, published by Asia Times Online on August 30, 2001, was
headlined Get
Osama! Now! Or else ... Our Karachi correspondent, Syed Saleem Shazad,
was meanwhile filing articles like Osama
bin Laden: The thorn in Pakistan's flesh (August 22, 2001) ...
July 2003
Pakistan and the US: The odd couple
The contrast between the two nations could hardly be starker.
Nevertheless, the US has regretted its former policy of benign neglect toward
Pakistan and the two countries are now attempting to forge some kind of
rapprochement. The gulf between them, however, may be too deep to cross. -
Ehsan Ahrari (Jul 31,
'03)
US barters arms for soldiers for
Iraq
The United States is trying to "buy" foreign troops -
offering weapons and increased military aid to countries - to bolster the
fledgling multinational force in Baghdad and relieve the pressure on
the US military in the war-ravaged country.
(Jul 31, '03)
Swing voters, politicians: 'Dubya
duped us'
Independent voters and members of Congress continue
to question President George W Bush's war in Iraq, with senators -
including Republicans - attacking the administration for misleading the public,
classifying portions of the report on intelligence failures leading up to the
September 11 attacks and not disclosing its estimates of the cost
of occupying Iraq. - Jim Lobe
(Jul 31, '03)
US turns its sights back
on Syria
United States-Syria hostilities have been on a
see-saw ride this year. Washington is once again heating up its war of words
against Damascus, having apparently put Iran into the "too-hard basket" for
now. But Syria is hitting back, asking why Saddam Hussein's sons were killed
and not captured. - Hooman Peimani (Jul
30, '03)
Sons' killings
change little in Iraq
The deaths of Saddam Hussein's sons have failed to
quell the violence against US troops in Iraq. Not a single guerrilla fighter
has been captured. The Iraqi fighters appear to have organized well before
Iraq's "liberation", and they enjoy considerable support from locals. All these
factors suggest that the US is facing a challenge that will not go away easily.
- B Raman
(Jul 30, '03)
COMMENTARY
Treating
the symptoms instead of the cause
The "roadmap" to peace in the Middle East will not
bring lasting peace to the region. Nor will any other attempts that fail to
treat all parties as equals and take into account the millennia that have
shaped the region and its peoples' history. - K Gajendra Singh
(Jul 30, '03)
Gulf Arabs:
Window of opportunity for reform
The US-led war on Iraq has changed the balance of
power in the Persian Gulf region, which may spur Gulf nations to address their
domestic and security challenges - or face socio-economic problems that might
become as critical as those of much poorer societies in the developing world.
(Jul 30, '03)
Why the US needs the
Taliban
It may sound unbelievable, but the United States
is prepared to permit the return to rule in Afghanistan of its erstwhile
arch-enemies, the Taliban. The reason, Ramtanu Maitra explains, is that
Washington needs Pakistan as a friend more than it needs the Taliban as an
enemy. (Jul 29, '03)
Anti-US
resistance spreads through Iraq
As attacks on US targets increase in central
Iraq, a terror network has established itself in the north, and in the south a
firebrand imam and would-be mehdi is stirring up the
hitherto subdued Shi'ite community. - Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Jul 29, '03)
WMD threats as
political football
Trumpeting nuclear threats where none exist (Iraq)
and downplaying nuclear programs where the threats are all too genuine (India
and Pakistan), all for the sake of political points on the domestic front,
would seem the height of folly, yet the Bush and Blair administrations play
this dangerous game - abetted by US media - as a matter of policy.
(Jul 29, '03)
Turks, Kurds and the
US-Turkish relationship
With the possibility increasing that the Turkish military will occupy parts of
northern Iraq because no other allied forces are around to do it, prewar fears
of ethnic Kurdish-Turkish conflict could still come true.
- Robert M Cutler (Jul 28,
'03)
A voice of sanity amid
Iraq's chaos
From the vacuum that
is today's Iraq, there are signs of a slowly but steadily emerging political
agenda. Syed Saleem Shahzad speaks to the man at the forefront of this
process. (Jul 28, '03)
Behind the scenes
of the Iran-Canada rift
The murder of a
Canadian-Iranian photojournalist while in Iranian custody is the ostensible
reason for the sudden chill in formerly cordial relations between Ottawa and
Tehran. However, there are grounds for suspecting that other factors are at
work. - Hooman Peimani (Jul
28, '03)
Mission
impossible for the Afghan army
Ill-trained, poorly paid and with suspect loyalties, the new Afghan army has
been launched into an offensive against Taliban/al-Qaeda resistance that to
date has defied the best that US forces can throw at it. Casualties are
expected to be heavy, but the big loser will be Afghanistan. - Hooman
Peimani (Jul 25,
'03)
And
then there was Saddam
Expect more of the same in Iraq until Saddam Hussein is run to ground. Much
more so than his recently slain sons, Saddam is the one person who knows how to
push the buttons that make Iraqi society work - or not, as is the case,
reports Syed Saleem Shahzad from Kurdistan.
(Jul 24, '03)
Japan's army: From water boys to
fighters?
While authorization to deploy Japanese troops to Iraq wends
its way through the political system, the military has not been sitting on its
hands, despite the US spurning Tokyo's offer to have its soldiers handle the
drinking-water detail at Baghdad airport. On tap is not only a "hearts and
minds" leaflet campaign, but training in actually fighting guerrillas and
terrorists, just in case. - Axel Berkofsky (Jul 24,
'03)
Arab-American relations: A new
perspective
The relationship between Arabs and the United States must be seen as part of a
wider challenge to Arab political thinking, and it needs rethinking. But change
cannot happen as long as Arab debate is dominated by "sloganists" with
predetermined ideologies and conclusions. (Jul
24, '03)
COMMENTARY
Missteps in the US march
It all began so well. The Bush administration was able to project US power into
the heart of the Middle East with its occupation of Iraq. But now a combination
of setbacks is making it ever more difficult to begin the next phase -
"reshaping" the region into a form suitable to Washington's national and
economic interests. (Jul 24, '03)
Kurds show Iraqis a way
forward
Iraq's Kurdistan, which over the decades suffered more than
any other region at the hands of Saddam Hussein, has emerged as the most
settled part in an otherwise troubled country. An example, perhaps, for others
to follow. - Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Jul 22, '03)
Turkish-US tensions cast
dark clouds
In the relative calm that is Iraqi Kurdistan, the last thing that is needed is
discord between the US and Turkey over the region. Yet this is exactly what
happe
/td src=/A color=FONT color=100%BRned with the US seizure of a number of Turkish soldiers. - K Gajendra
Singh (Jul 22, '03)
COMMENTARY
The
consequences of invasion
The way things are going in Iraq, the United
States is heading for another Vietnam, or even worse, a Chechnya-type situation
in which it will become bogged down in a long, bloody struggle. So what's the
plan now? (Jul 21, '03)
DANCES WITH BEARS
Perfidious Albion
and the lying American
Just as happened in the early stages of the Vietnam
war, the little lies over Iraq are turning into big ones. And like the British
defense expert who took his life last week rather than live with the deceit,
there will be more casualties. - John
Helmer (Jul 21, '03)
'Honest broker' raises
UN profile in Iraq
 United
Nations special envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello has taken a somewhat ambiguous
Security Council mandate and used it to raise the profile of the UN in the
political transition under way in Iraq, while at the same time forging a
productive relationship with the US civilian administrator, L Paul Bremer.
(Jul 21, '03)
Al-Qaeda pawn in
Iran's hands
Kuwait's refusal to take a senior al-Qaeda member
off Iran's hands opens up the possibility of Tehran passing him on to the
United States - provided that there is a significant quid pro quo. -
Hooman Peimani (Jul 21, '03)
Enemies from
within: Iran and Saudi Arabia
While regime change is a distinct possibility in Iran, and to a lesser extent
Saudi Arabia, even without the help of the United States, the ramifications
should this happen would extend far beyond the borders of the two countries. -
Ehsan Ahrari
(Jul 21, '03)
Moscow turns up heat
on radicals
In what is seen as a bid to bolster its interests
in Central Asia through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Russian law
enforcement agencies are cooperating with their regional counterparts in a
crackdown on Islamist groups. - Sergei Blagov
(Jul 21, '03)
COMMENTARY
Will the UN
bail out Bush?
"Vietnam", "Watergate", "crisis" ... these words
are being heard again in Washington, and are spelling deep trouble for the Bush
presidency. And suddenly almost everyone is looking to the United Nations to
extricate the US from its Iraq quagmire. The question is, will Bush be willing
to pay the UN's price for bailing him out? - Jim
Lobe (Jul 18, '03)
US won't take India's
'No' for an answer
With Washington
refusing to accept that the Indian government's decision not to send troops to
Iraq is the final word on the subject, the United States' carrots and sticks
have come out into the open. New Delhi, it seems, is going to have to confront
the thorny issue again, and it's unlikely that the US carrots will take away
the nasty taste in India's mouth. - Sultan Shahin
(Jul 18, '03)
THE ROVING EYE
No kharabba
at the end of the tunnel
Most Iraqis don't have
the luxury of even thinking about politics. Their most pressing problem is the
absence of kharabba - electricity. The US estimates that it will take
three years to restore the electricity grid; meanwhile, temeratures and tempers
are rising. Kharabba, not jihad, may be the US's nemesis. - Pepe
Escobar (Jul 18, '03)
When terrorists fall out
The sordid story of the demise of Pakistan's
Jaish-I-Mohammed militant group involves greed and corruption, vested
interests, and deep differences over strategy. Small comfort: its hardcore
jihadis have simply gone underground, where they ache to avenge the Taliban and
al-Qaeda. - Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Jul 18, '03)
Real war, virtual weapons
Increasingly, it seems likely that Iraq's alleged
WMDs were as much a figment of Washington's imagination as they were a twinkle
in Saddam Hussein's eye. Yet a real war was fought ostensibly over these
virtual weapons, as a result of decisions based on weak evidence,
unsubstantiated statements and false hope, whispered in the ears of heads of
state by people with their own agendas. (Jul
17, '03)
Occupying Iraq: The
lessons of history
How does an army, which does not wish to resort to
unrestricted slaughter, manage the everyday running of a conquered country? The
answer is that it does not, and history provides the lesson. To its chagrin,
the US is now slowly discovering that the lesson was either forgotten or
ignored. - Alexander Casella
(Jul 17, '03)
US turns to Arabs to
keep the peace
The United States is testing the pulse of Arab
countries, particularly Egypt, to see whether they can lend their support - and
legitimacy - against increasing armed resistance in Iraq.
(Jul 17, '03)
SPEAKING FREELY
Wars
and words
The "war on terrorism" - if it is a "real" war - lacks both the possibility of
a negotiated surrender and the existence of an enemy that can surrender. As
there is no chance of total victory in this war, to avoid a backlash from the
American people the White House should be framing it as a "war on drugs" kind
of fight, one that seeks to lessen the threat of terrorism without ever being
able to fully get rid of it. - Kamal Sidhu
(Jul 17, '03)
When intelligence
fails (Jul 16, '03)
Soldiers
pay in blood
If US intelligence is distorted for political reasons and becomes
unreliable - as some of it has already been officially acknowledged as being -
the impact on a battle or campaign could have serious strategic consequences.
As is shown by what is happening in Iraq right now. - Stephen Blank
Schemers have their way ...
As has been suspected for some time, clear evidence is emerging that the
September 11 terror attacks provided the perfect excuse for neo-conservatives
within the Bush administration and their friends on the outside to draw a bead
on Saddam Hussein, regardless of whether or not they had a case to justify
their war. - Jim Lobe
... but who takes the blame?
There can be little dispute that the events that have unfolded in postwar Iraq
over the past few months were not anticipated in the Bush administration. Who
is going to take the rap for such lack of foresight? - Jim Lobe |
Israel cautious over Pakistan's
overtures
Israel is playing coy over the very public statements by Pakistan President
General Pervez Musharraf that Islamabad should consider establishing diplomatic
ties with Jerusalem, even though such a development between the Jewish state
and the nuclear-armed Muslim nation would have many benefits.
(Jul 16, '03)
China shows its hand on
North Korea
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun's recent visit
to China did little to enhance his country's role as a major player in
Northeast Asian security. However, the summit was highly revealing on how China
sees its own role on the narrower, but critical, issue of Korean Peninsula
security. - Jaewoo Choo
(Jul 15, '03)
North Korea plays on
watchdogs' impotence
North Korea is the first regime to learn the
lesson from the standoff between the United States and the International Atomic
Energy Agency over Iraq: if you represent a real nuclear threat to the US, you
have a better chance of solving bilateral problems not by force, but by
negotiation. (Jul 15, '03)
India rules out its
troops for Iraq
New Delhi, after delaying for over two months, has
finally rejected a request from the United States to send troops to Iraq. While
it used as a justification the lack of a United Nations mandate, domestic
factors played a big part. - Sudha Ramachandran
(Jul 14, '03)
Iraq's history already
written
Rather than a crystal ball, a peek at history will provide some pointers as to
what Iraq can expect in the months (years) to come following the inauguration
on Sunday of a new governing council aimed at guiding the country toward a
semblance of political independence from the United States. -
K Gajendra Singh (Jul
14, '03)
Saudi hand makes US
uneasy
Officially, Saudi Arabia is involved in Iraq in supplying food donations and in
providing medical care, but the ever-sensitive United States authorities
believe that this just might be the thin edge of the wedge for greater - and
more nefarious - involvement. (Jul
14, '03)
COMMENTARY
Washington's
Afghan plan unravels
As tension rises between Pakistan and Afghanistan,
the United States, caught in the middle, can only watch as its carefully-laid
plans start to go horribly wrong. - Ramtanu
Maitra (Jul 14, '03)
Koizumi soars on winds of war
Unlike his British
counterpart Tony Blair, whose forthrightness on the "Iraqi threat" was almost
breathtaking, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was initially ridiculed
for his vagueness on the US-led invasion. Yet once again the dogs of war have
devoured presumption, and the Japanese leader has proved his shrewdness as a
political tactician. - J Sean
Curtin (Jul 14, '03)
Fearful symmetry:
Washington, Pyongyang
The streets of the two capitals are broad and the buildings monumental, but
there is more than appearance that makes the US and North Korean seats of power
eerily similar. Obstinacy, unwillingness to compromise, a "military first"
policy and a belligerent drive to tear down the painstaking progress of the
past are shared traits that have put the Kim and Bush administrations on a
collision course. (Jul 14, '03)
Pakistan fights back
Mosque killings and
bombs in Pakistan and anti-Pakistan demonstrations in Afghanistan have the
leaders in Islamabad crying for vengeance. They have roped in the erstwhile
opposition religious parties to help them against the perceived
culprit and their common enemy - India. - Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Jul 11, '03)
India: The games the
Pentagon plays
Bit by bit, a report commissioned by the Pentagon
on United States-India ties has been leaked in India, and it does not make
pretty reading for the Indian army and its officers, who are variously
described as "intellectually arrogant" and "protocol-driven". More sinister,
though, is how the report sees Delhi's ties developing in relation to China. -
Sultan Shahin (Jul 11, '03)
COMMENTARY
Spy vs spy
When it came to intelligence, or lack thereof,
about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, what the Bush administration
ultimately saw was what it needed to see to justify action it was determined to
take: the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. A flurry of hearings on the intelligence
issue will not make the public any wiser; Saddam himself knows the truth, but
he, like the WMD, has not been found. - Marc Erikson
(Jul 11, '03)
THE ROVING EYE
Bremer a quick study in
colony building
While US proconsul Paul Bremer imposes America's will on Iraq, talk of an Iraqi
democracy rings hollow. A government of Iraqis, approved by Bremer, may end up
ruling Iraq, but one question bedevils everyone in Iraq today: What about
Saddam? - Pepe Escobar (Jul
11, '03)
Uzbekistan and US: Strange
bedfellows
Despite the fact that Uzbek President Islam Karimov has been
blasted for human rights abuses, the United States has been allied with the
regime since September 11, 2001, because of the Central Asia nation's strategic
importance to the "war on terrorism", which some say doesn't bode well for US
fortunes in the region. (Jul 11, '03)
Pact signed on intercepting N Korean
arms
After two days of talks, 11 member nations
of the Proliferation Security Initiative have agreed in principle to the
interception of North Korean shipping, air or land transport of possible
materials associated with weapons of mass destruction or missiles. Critics of
the move question the wisdom of provoking Pyongyang further.
(Jul 11, '03)
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WMD: Flaws and deformities
(Jul 10, '03)
Digging for dirt
Having come clean over "one little flaw" in its evidence against Saddam
Hussein's purported weapons of mass destruction, Washington, rather than set
minds at rest, has got people thinking that maybe it's time to dig a bit
deeper. - Jim Lobe
A little bit of help,
for some
The protracted saga of Agent Orange, designed by the US to kill foliage and
disrupt food supplies during the Vietnam war, takes another twist next week
when a bill will be introduced in Washington to aid the children of war
veterans affected by the spray's toxic residue. Help for only US sufferers,
that is.
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Iraq's other looting
The United States has got what it wanted in Iraq by
gaining strategic control over the country's considerable oil wealth. It has
also got a lot of unwelcome problems that will make milking the cash cow a lot
more testing than originally expected. (Jul 10, '03)
Murder, machination in Pakistan's
backyard
The slaying of 53 Shi'ite Hazaras in Pakistan last week during a suicide attack
on their place of worship is on the one hand a manifestation of the ongoing
secular violence that has bedeviled the country for many years. On the other
hand, it shows that al-Qaeda and the Taliban will go to any lengths to silence
their enemies. - B Raman (Jul 9, '03)
The power of silence
Two journalists who have earned a world-wide reputation for telling the "other"
side of the story lament the self-censorship, and even worse, the selective
silence, that characterizes much of the world's media nowadays. They do take
heart, though, because there is a potent force that can help put things right.(Jul
9, '03)
THE ABDUCTION OF MODERNITY
Part 1: The race toward
barbarism
 Western
thinkers, many of whom cannot speak or read any non-Western language, are held
back in their analysis of modern civilization by the assumption that modernity
is an exclusive characteristic of the West. At a time when the sole superpower
is resurrecting the practice of imposing national will by military might, Henry
C K Liu examines this assumption in a series of articles. (Jul
8, '03)
COMMENTARY
In Iraq, 'v'
doesn't stand for victory
Evolving a political model that is acceptable to the largest
groups of Iraqis is better than imposing the American preference of making Iraq
a secular Western-style democracy. And the sooner this is done, the less likely
that the dreaded "v" word will echo in the corridors of power in Washington. -
Ehsan Ahrari (Jul
8, '03)
Guantanamo move puts US on trial
The United States' announcement that six of
its foreign captives in its "war on terrorism" are eligible to be tried before
military tribunals - where they could potentially be given the death penalty -
appears likely to annoy some of its strongest allies, especially Britain.
- Jim Lobe
(Jul 8, '03)
Death of a dirty fighter
 As
a CIA agent, Anthony A "Tony Poe" Poshepny waged secret wars for the United
States in Indonesia, Tibet and Laos. Severed enemy ears and heads were among
his weapons of choice against the communists, whom he fought from
the 1950s to 1975. This real-life Kurtz was buried on the weekend. -
Richard S Ehrlich (Jul
7, '03)
SPENGLER
Why radical
Islam might defeat the West
Spengler sets out to vanquish lesser thinkers over the danger
to Western civilization and the possible triumph of radical Islam. In the
process, he pronounces Socrates wrong, Machiavelli a lightweight, and
Eric Garrett the worst nightmare of Leo Strauss.
(Jul 7, '03)
Iranian change of tack on ME in the
wind
If a letter from an influential Iranian cleric to the Western media is anything
to go by, Tehran appears to be testing the waters for a possible softening of
its stance on the Middle East conflict - perhaps to see what benefits it can
leverage from the US as a result. - Hooman Peimani
(Jul 7, '03)
THE ROVING EYE
Culture shock and awe
The awesome American military machine was
able to smash the remnants of a pitiful Iraqi army who dared to show up for
battle, but they are having a much harder time coming to grips with the
cultural nuances of the country, to the extent that even key Shi'ite leaders
are losing patience. - Pepe Escobar
(Jul 3, '03)
Al-Qaeda clone takes root in the US
Even as Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf was
telling his American hosts that the terrorist activities of the Lashkar-e-Toiba
had been halted, some members of the group were being rounded up in the United
States on charges, among others, of planning attacks on India. They could just
be the tip of the iceberg. - B Raman (Jul
2, '03)
Post-September 11 roundup 'backfired'
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US diplomacy every which way (Jul 2,
'03)
Iran, North Korea: The multilateral path
Unlike the "shock and awe" route it took with Iraq, the United States is
emphasizing a multilateral approach to put pressure on North Korea and Iran
regarding their nuclear programs. But it remains to be seen whether this change
of heart toward the other two "axis of evil" members will last. - Ehsan Ahrari
Humanitarism:
The unilateral approach
The placement of the management of humanitarian and reconstruction work in
post-conflict Iraq solely within the Pentagon reflected an assessment of
lessons learned from earlier postwar reconstruction efforts. Unfortunately, the
new model has also revealed fatal flaws.
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Mistrust and misconceptions
Hardly surprising given the ongoing problems in Iraq, public
support in the United States for the military operations there has eroded
significantly over the past two months, according to two new polls. Much more
startling, though, is that 23 percent of the public believes that weapons of
mass destruction have been found in Iraq. - Jim
Lobe (Jul 2, '03)
Iraq's square pegs in round holes
Iran lines up its
al-Qaeda aces
Iran's admission that it is holding a number of al-Qaeda members - including,
possibly, very senior ones - opens up intriguing possibilities for Tehran to
score some points with the countries of origin of the terrorists. And with
Washington, too, should the Iranians fancy a risk. -
Hooman Peimani (Jul 1, '03)
The long arm of
resistance
With its soldiers in the front lines, the United States is bearing the brunt of
the resistance movements in Afghanistan and Iraq. But rulers in other countries
- notably Pakistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia - are watching with keen concern lest
the events across their borders set off undesirable chain reactions. -
Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Jul 1, '03)
Sidewinder on the
hunt in Iraq
US forces are conducting
a massive operation in Iraq to root out resistance and stop the deadly attacks
on American troops. The military says that Operation Sidewinder is aimed at
Saddam Hussein loyalists. However, they are not the only problem that the
coalition faces. (Jul 1, '03)
India
makes a meal of Iraq dilemma
The Indian government is
tying itself in all sorts of knots over whether or not to send troops to Iraq,
when it could save itself the angst by simply listening to the voice of
its people. (Jul 1, '03)
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