July 2007


Pakistan ripe for regime change
It's by no means a done deal, but the US-inspired talks between President General Pervez Musharraf and former premier Benazir Bhutto over a power-sharing arrangement indicate that Pakistan is venturing down a new political road. The military is another matter. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Jul 31, '07)

US arms for Arab authoritarians - again 
The proposed massive armaments sale to traditional Arab allies in the Persian Gulf region shows that Washington has all but abandoned its democracy-promotion rhetoric - at least insofar as it applies to its regional allies. In essence, the US is returning to its 60-year-old preference for stability over democracy. - Jim Lobe (Jul 31, '07)

Hostage crisis has US, Karzai under pressure
The 22 South Korean hostages held by the Taliban aren't just Seoul's concern. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been asked by Korea to press Afghan President Hamid Karzai to make concessions he isn't prepared to make. And in South Korea, the hostages' Christian fervor has their countrymen questioning the entire Korean missionary movement. - Donald Kirk (Jul 30, '07)

Blurred line between war news, propaganda
Although it dwells too long on the obvious, a new documentary called War Made Easy presents a stark and troubling view of the mainstream US news media's coverage of the Iraq war. The film, narrated by actor Sean Penn, does not deny that the press is self-correcting and is willing to investigate its own reporting lapses. But it presents ample evidence of continuing media collusion with government and military. (Jul 30, '07)

Turkey's Islamists pay a price for victory
Middle Eastern politics have been in a whirl the past week, with Turkey's elections acting as the centriguge. The Middle East's main protagonists and Western power brokers found common ground to congratulate Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan on the victory of his "Islamist" party, though few in the region are likely to follow Turkey's democratic example. For Erdogan, the nature of his success means that he will have to rule through consensus, and the "Islamists" won't have things their own way. -M K Bhadrakumar (Jul 27, '07)

DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA
Iraq withdrawal follies
Withdrawal, the word, has come out of the closet. But as US politicians, opinion makers and the public have begun to grow comfortable with the concept of an Iraq withdrawal, there has not followed any will to act on it. Perhaps it's time to stop worrying about the what-ifs and gamble on the unknown. - Tom Engelhardt (Jul 27, '07)

Bring 'em on: Jihadis in Pakistan await US
The United States wants to take matters into its own hands to root out "high-value" targets in Pakistan's tribal areas. Hardline al-Qaeda commanders organizing the Pakistani Taliban and militants there can't wait - they are ready for a fight they believe will further their aims. President General Pervez Musharraf is caught in the middle, reduced to the role of a bystander. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Jul 26, '07)

Washington's befuddling line on Iran 
The Bush administration's narrative on Iran's role in Iraq appears to be gaining traction in the US, threatening to obscure the bigger picture. In fact, Iran's strategic interests in Iraq are far more 
compatible with those of Washington than those of the Sunni regimes in the region with which the US has aligned itself. - Gareth Porter (Jul 26, '07)

Hunting for diamonds in Iraq
US officials in Baghdad are desperately sifting through the wreckage to find reasons to give the "surge" a chance. In Washington, Congress can't agree on exit plans for Iraq, while in the Pentagon, those who could produce detailed withdrawal plans are afraid to do so. Meanwhile, the ghost of Vietnam hovers over them all. - (Jul 26, '07)

In cold blood: Sunnis feel the heat
Few took any notice of the first killing, but the second one set alarm bells ringing. Both victims were close aides of Iraq's leading Shi'ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Suspicions that Shi'ite warlord Muqtada al-Sadr was involved in the murders, which were clearly aimed at silencing Sistani himself, are fanciful. A far more likely culprit is al-Qaeda, for whom the voice of moderation in Iraq is anathema. Still, Iraq's Sunnis will be the scapegoats. - Sami Moubayed (Jul 25, '07)

US-Iran dialogue on a tortuous path
Iran's potential to help bring stability to Iraq is hindered not only by the US refusal to acknowledge the Saudi role in encouraging anti-Shi'ite violence in the area, but by Tehran's own inability to bridge the ever widening gap between its foreign-policy rhetoric and its actual behavior. Can Iran close the chasm and enhance its international image? - Kaveh L Afrasiabi (Jul 25, '07)

The life and times of the CIA
Tim Weiner's just-published history of the Central Intelligence Agency, Legacy of Ashes, illuminates the roiling, disastrous, thoroughly destructive path of America's top covert-operations agency over the past six decades. Reviewing the book, Chalmers Johnson focuses his microscope on the "agency of rogues", including the Wall Street brokers, Ivy League professors, soldiers of fortune, ad men, newsmen, stuntmen and con men who have been on active duty for the US. (Jul 25, '07)
 
Pakistan's Pashtun 'problem'
Pakistan's military authorities have persuaded the West to accept their ill-conceived tribal policies of promoting radical extremist leaders to the detriment of more traditional moderate Pashtun leaders. This might serve the short-term interests of Islamabad, but it is already backfiring against the long-term interests of the West. - Haroun Mir (Jul 25, '07)

A change of US plan for Pakistan
The Pakistani Supreme Court standing up to President General Pervez Musharraf was not a part of the US-envisaged plan, and Washington has quickly had to rewrite the script. Ideas of a united "moderate center" with a former premier at the core are in the bin. Expect a US military raid into Pakistan, followed by the declaration of a state of emergency. - M K Bhadrakumar (Jul 24, '07)

The world's worst suicide bombers
Almost half of the suicide bombers in Afghanistan over the past two years have succeeded in killing only themselves - the worst "kill average" in any theater in the world. The underwhelming performance has been blamed on the bombers being "deranged, on drugs, duped, bribed or brainwashed".  Or it could just be that Afghans don't have the heart for the bloody business. (Jul 24, '07)

DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA
Yes, Bush is naked, what of it?
There's half-hearted talk and precious little action to be found in US President George W Bush's announcement of a new Middle East summit. All the players - including Bush's faithful sidekicks the Israelis, Mahmoud Abbas, the Arab regimes and Europeans - know the script and will dutifully recite their lines. Though few will sound convincing, delivering a thoroughly cynical and craven performance is another matter. Who will take that honor? - Tony Karon (Jul 24, '07)

Pakistan in the grip of a big squeeze
A stinging defeat at the hands of the judiciary is just the beginning of President General Pervez Musharraf's problems. The emboldened opposition is after his blood on a number of fronts, including fallout from the army's attack on the radical Lal Masjid (Red Mosque). But it's the United States' threats to go after al-Qaeda and Taliban targets inside Pakistan that will really test Musharraf's grip on power. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Jul 23, '07)

SPENGLER
In defense of genocide, redux
It is a measure of how much the world has changed since September 11, 2001, that the prospect of genocide shocks neither right nor left. Indeed, genocide was the norm, not the exception, in the formative years of modern Europe and America, and it will likely dominate the modern formation of the Middle East as well. Still, genocide is not inevitable. (Jul 23, '07)

DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA
The terror of state health care
Six years into the "war on terror" and the secret's finally out: government-run health-care systems breed terrorism. That's the view being pushed by one influential US television station after the abortive attacks in Britain allegedly by members of the medical fraternity. Americans are being frightened into fearing both foreign-born medical personnel and universal health coverage. - Julian Delasantellis (Jul 23, '07)

Iran's clerical spymasters
Mahan Abedin puts the recent detention of four Iranian-American academics on spy charges in the broader context of US and Iranian intelligence-gathering operations. After being severely burned trying to recruit agents in the conventional manner, the Americans turned to "consultants". But in doing so they blurred the distinction between spying and legitimate research. (Jul 20, '07)

THE ROVING EYE
Fun and games on the Arab Riviera
What better place than the French Riviera for President George W Bush to hold his proposed Middle East peace summit? The region's movers and shakers own villas in the quaintly named "California" estate, where they escape the scorching summers of the Middle Eastern desert. Pepe Escobar explores a corner of Europe divided not by Christian vs Muslim, but by ultra-haves and aspiring have-somethings. (Jul 20, '07)

One crisis after another for Pakistan
Security personnel in Pakistan's tribal areas - where suicide bombings have claimed scores of lives in the past week - are becoming increasingly demoralized, to the point of quitting. Adding to the government's woes, its judicial crisis just won't go away. (Jul 20, '07)

Iran-Syria alliance on uncertain ground
Overwhelmed with Iraqi refugees, facing uncertainty in Lebanon and playing footsie with Israel and Turkey have Syrian President Bashar al-Assad under pressure to reconsider his country's previously strong alliance with Iran. Assad and Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad could find themselves rethinking, or perhaps remodeling, their bond. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi (Jul 20, '07)

Loose Saudi cannons in Lebanon
Lebanon has long been a prime destination for Saudi tourists, gamblers and investors. Now Saudi terrorists are making a name for themselves in the country, notably in fighting alongside Fatah al-Islam in that group's battle with the Lebanese military. It's all part of a US-Saudi plan to undermine Hezbollah in Lebanon. But it's starting to backfire. - Sami Moubayed (Jul 19, '07)

Another US nudge for Pakistan
With the US intelligence community's latest assessment of al-Qaeda clearly pointing the finger at Pakistan, where the group is said to enjoy a "safe haven", the pressure grows on President General Pervez Musharraf. If his record is anything to go by, the US might soon have to take matters into its own hands. - Jim Lobe (Jul 19, '07)

Iraq exit a simple alternative for US
While US lawmakers debate conditions and timetables for troop withdrawals from Iraq, larger questions remain unanswered, such as how many soldiers should remain and where should they be based. Meanwhile, an obvious solution is staring them in the face. The mission has failed, and if there is no mission, ipso facto there should be no troops. Period. - Daniel Smith (Jul 19, '07) 


The way to go in Iraq
Iraq's government has not met one of its US-assigned benchmarks and, with the exception of the revenue-sharing law, they are unlikely to be met. But even if they were, it would not help. Provincial elections will make Iraq less governable, while the process of constitutional revision could break the country apart. The Iraq war's intellectual boosters, meanwhile, insist the "surge" is working, and are moving to assign blame for defeat. They have already picked their target: the American people. - Peter Galbraith (Jul 18, '07)

Al-Qaeda regrouping points to US attack
Al-Qaeda has focused on promoting worldwide unity among jihadi groups - Sunni and Shi'ites - more in recent months than at any other time since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US. There has been demonstrable progress in achieving this Islamist unity, which al-Qaeda wants in place before its next attack. - Michael Scheuer (Jul 18, '07)

The terrorist threat to the US homeland
The US faces a persistent terrorist threat over the next three years, especially from al-Qaeda, says the National Intelligence Estimate released on Tuesday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Al-Qaeda is pushing other extremist groups to adopt its efforts to supplement al-Qaeda's capabilities, according to the Estimate. (Jul 18, '07)

A sharp reminder for Musharraf
President General Pervez Musharraf has been accused of using the militant unrest in border areas to deflect attention from his political problems. The suicide attack on Tuesday at a protest rally over a judicial crisis will refocus minds on the general's moves to retain his grip on power. - Philip Smucker (Jul 18, '07)

US presence fuels Iran-Bahrain tension
An Iranian newspaper editorial questioning the legitimacy of Bahrain's independence has raised hackles in both countries. But beneath old arguments over disputed territories and national sovereignty lies a deeper reason for the dig: Bahrain's support for the US military machine. (Jul 18, '07)

Pakistan struggles with damage control
With scores of its personnel already killed, the Pakistani military establishment is doing its best to defuse reaction to the crackdown on Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad. The emergence of a loosely interlaced network of underground militants across the country makes the task all but impossible. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Jul 17, '07)

Beijing keeps Islamabad honest
US pressure on Pakistan to clear the region of the Taliban and al-Qaeda has forced Pakistan into an ever tighter embrace with China. And Beijing, with its huge investment in the country and with similar security concerns to Islamabad, is calling the shots. (Jul 17, '07)

Bush's plan: 'Too little, too late, too risky'
President George W Bush's push for a "West Bank First" tactic to isolate Hamas and support Palestine Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah has drawn little but scorn from Middle East experts who say he's once again letting ideology and some chump change override a complex and dark reality. - Jim Lobe (Jul 17, '07)

Philippines casts a wide new terror net
The Philippines' new anti-terrorism law, which took effect this week, has been criticized as being overly broad and a threat to civil liberties. It could define common crimes such as highway robbery as being acts of terrorism and mandate a 40-year sentence. By some interpretations, even demonstrating against the president could be considered terrorism. (Jul 17, '07)

A fight to the death on Pakistan's border
Scores of security personnel have been killed over the past few days in Swat in response to Pakistan's crackdown on the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque). In Bajaur Agency the mood is equally militant, but anger is directed toward Afghanistan, especially at a US base being built on the border. A pro-Taliban leader tells Syed Saleem Shahzad the base will be completed "over my dead body", even as Western forces prepare to renew the hunt for Osama bin Laden and his associates. (Jul 16, '07)

Delhi anxious over Islamabad's troubles
India's concerns over Pakistan's storming of the Lal Masjid go beyond the fact that one of the government negotiators is on New Delhi's list of most-wanted terrorists. Intelligence officials worry about a spurt in militant activities on India's borders, although the peace process with Islamabad remains on track. - Sudha Ramachandran (Jul 16, '07)

Al-Qaeda escapes US assault
By the time the US dropped its bombs on Iraq's volatile Baquba region, al-Qaeda had already fled. However, the ongoing operation, one of the largest ever during the US-led occupation of Iraq, has brought welcome relief to long-suffering residents. - Ahmed Ali (Jul 16, '07)

A new front opens in Pakistan
The situation is tense in Swat Valley in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province. The military has mobilized in numbers in preparation for a showdown with a banned group seeking to establish sharia law in the country. Its leader, Maulana Fazalullah, who spreads his word through a network of illegal radio stations, tells Syed Saleem Shahzad that he wants peace. Having just had one of its convoys attacked by a suicide bomber, the army will take some convincing. (Jul 13, '07)

An alleged terrorist goes legit
Having spent two years in prison on terror-related charges, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir is considering entering electoral politics, even running for president of Indonesia. The only way his candidacy would gather steam would be by linking voters' dissatisfaction over corruption of the elite with a sense of injustice against Muslims. - Simon Roughneen (Jul 13, '07)

War games, mind games or the real deal?
Israel's failure in Lebanon one year ago humiliated Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and shredded the myth of Israeli military invincibility. Hezbollah remains proud, defiant and active. Round 2 in Lebanon, or war with Syria, whether provoked or orchestrated, might be what Olmert needs to prove his mettle. - Sami Moubayed (Jul 13, '07)

Musharraf only over the first hurdle
President General Pervez Musharraf's military operation against the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) has achieved its immediate aim of eliminating a haven for extremists. Tackling the broader problems of radical religious schools and lawlessness in the tribal areas will be Musharraf's defining test. - Philip Smucker (Jul 12, '07)

Pakistan heading for a crackdown
Never before has Pakistan been so important to the United States, mainly to counter increasingly coordinated international moves by Russia and China. Washington therefore needs a power structure in Islamabad that it can manipulate, and President General Pervez Musharraf fits the bill, provided he can overcome the threat of a popular uprising. A military crackdown may be in order. And to shore up Musharraf's support among any wavering generals, he has just received some shiny new American F-16 aircraft, for a "nominal price". - M K Bhadrakumar (Jul 12, '07)

DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA
Planet Pentagon: The Earth, seas and skies
The Pentagon is one of the world's biggest landlords, with at least 766 bases in the US and around the world, including control of 20% of the Japanese island of Okinawa. In this way, the US avoids colonies, but nonetheless manages to garrison the globe. - Nick Turse (Jul 12, '07)

Misconceptions in the 'war on terror'
The "global war on terror" is based on fundamental misconceptions: an exaggeration of the threat and a gross misunderstanding of the nature of the terrorists and their motivation. The emphasis on military responses in Afghanistan and Iraq has only swelled the ranks of terrorist organizations. - John Feffer (Jul 12, '07)

Pakistan's post-mortem
While the military solution to the problem of the radical Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad has earned the praise of US President George W Bush, senior people in Pakistan who were involved in trying to prevent the bloodshed are bitter. The death of the deputy head of the mosque, Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, is particularly upsetting, and conspiracy theories abound. - Syed Saleem Shahzad  (Jul 11, '07)

Death from above
From Dresden and Tokyo to Hanoi and now Iraq's Baquba and Afghanistan's tribal villages, the US military has been "hooked on air power". The addiction will only grow stronger as US ground troops gradually withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan, increasingly leaving civilians, not insurgents, to continue to take the heat. -Tom Engelhardt(Jul 11, '07)

A fallacy that bombs - literally
US and Israeli reliance on air power to fight urban guerilla warfare has unintended consequences. Dead civilians, decimated homes, schools and hospitals strengthen and unify opponents and portend an ominous future for US geopolitical goals. (Jul 11, '07)

Pakistan's iron fist is to US's liking
Despite being on the brink of an agreement to peacefully end the seven-day siege of the radical Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad, President General Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday suddenly opted for cold steel rather than warm words. Scores of people have been killed in the fierce fighting. Only the president knows why he changed his mind. And maybe Washington too. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Jul 10, '07)

Neo-cons try to rally, bully Republicans
Doubts about the effectiveness of President George W Bush's "surge" strategy in Iraq have some skeptical senior Republican senators fleeing to the other side of the aisle on war-related issues. Neo-con hawks have their talons bared trying to keep them and other doubters in line. - Jim Lobe (Jul 10, '07)

Thirsty in the land between the rivers
Iraq, dominated by the great Tigris and Euphrates rivers, has plenty of water, yet it's dying of thirst.  After four years of occupation and many years of sanctions before that, Iraq suffers severe shortages of electricity and fuel needed to run pumps. As one consequence, about 70% of the people live without safe drinking water. - Ali al-Fadhily (Jul 10, '07)

Suicide video gets Taliban message across
A Taliban video of a "graduation ceremony" for would-be suicide bombers destined for targets in the West complements the Taliban's new tactics and is designed to raise greatly the cost of Western governments staying in Afghanistan, where the NATO alliance is already strained. (Jul 10, '07)

A moment of truth for Pakistan
Pakistan's bloody six-day offensive against the radical Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad and the militants bunkered inside it is approaching its climax. For President General Pervez Musharraf, though, this is only the beginning of a new phase in the "war on terror" that could radically alter the country's delicate relationship with its jihadis. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Jul 9, '07)

It could be curtains for the Busharraf show
The United States' willingness to turn a blind eye to Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf's double games over al-Qaeda and Taliban networks is being undermined. It is affecting the campaign to portray Iran as the primary external source of instability and violence against US troops in the region. And President George W Bush faces a growing domestic political backlash. - Gareth Porter (Jul 9, '07)

India's sons live the dream - and wage jihad
Last month's attempted attacks in London and Glasgow exploded the myth that India's Muslims are immune to the siren song of jihadism. Police allege that at the core of the recent conspiracy were Indian professionals who turned into radical fundamentalists in the high-tech capital Bangalore. Indians are shocked, and intelligence authorities have to recalibrate their suspect profiles. - Sudha Ramachandran (Jul 9, '07)

Basra tears itself apart
Shi'ite militias and tribal forces are in a fierce struggle for control over oil resources, territory and political control in Basra, the second-largest and the richest city in Iraq. The situation could represent the country's future: political factionalism devoid of a functional government. (Jul 9, '07)

Pakistan's mosque fire spreads
Amid mounting casualties in the military siege of the radical Red Mosque in Islamabad, spreading violence, and even reports of an attack on the aircraft in which President General Pervez Musharraf was traveling, one man is calling for cool heads. Maulana Shah Abdul Aziz is charged with negotiating a deal between the military and the mosque. Pakistanis should be left to work things out without foreign interference, he tells Syed Saleem Shahzad. (Jul 6, '07)

BOOK REVIEW
Faith is part of the problem
God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens
Reviewer Ioannis Gatsiounis places Hitchens' screed against religion in the context of deeply Muslim Malaysia, where Hitchens' arguments for the supremacy of reason may not resonate. (Jul 6, '07)

How Syria helped win Johnston's release
Syria's involvement in the recent release of British journalist Alan Johnston is just the latest example of the positive role that Damascus can play in Palestine and the Middle East. The Syrians want to be seen as problem solvers and show the world that they can deliver in Palestine and even Iraq. Washington knows this, but is reluctant to admit it in public. - Sami Moubayed (Jul 6, '07)
 
Iraq: A future perfect
Unlikely though it may seem, an Iran-Saudi alliance to rebuild Iraq's oil sector following a US withdrawal could stabilize the region and allow political-religious concerns to dissipate. Then imagine a new, fully functional Iraq joining the community of nations. There is historical precedent. (Jul 6, '07)

Net closes on mosque - and Pakistan A three-day siege of the radical Red Mosque in Islamabad is coming down to a bitter end game between diehard militants holed up inside and the encircling security forces. The fallout from the clash, though, is turning scores of thousands of jihadis against the Pakistani establishment that once nurtured them. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Jul 5, '07) Follow the leader ... or not The leader of the Red Mosque, Maulana Abdul Aziz, caught leaving the mosque in a full-length women's veil, told state-run television he was not trying to surrender, yet he called on those still besieged to give up. (Jul 5, '07)

THE ROVING EYE
Iraq, the new Israel
While US President George W Bush fiddles, Baghdad continues to burn, fueled by divide-and-conquer tactics inspired by Israel's occupation of Palestine. - Comment by Pepe Escobar (Jul 5, '07)

Mahmud Ahmadinejad - the movie
Iran's President Mahmud Ahmdinejad has rejected "Great Satan" movie director Oliver Stone's request to make him the subject of a movie. Perhaps Ahmadinejad understands that Stone, for all his anti-US-establishment leanings, would have to show both sides of the coin - one  of which is democratically shiny, while the other is badly tarnished. - Sami Moubayed (Jul 5, '07)

Al-Qaeda's new talent in Afghanistan
The naming of Mustafa Ahmed Muhammad Uthman Abu al-Yazid, a highly experienced and shrewd jihadi who has over the years been a thorn in the flesh of Egypt, the US and others, as the "general leader" of al-Qaeda's activities in Afghanistan shows that Osama bin Laden sees support for the Taliban as a top priority. - Michael Scheuer (Jul 5, '07)

Pakistan in crisis over mosque attack
After months of tense standoffs, Pakistan security forces on Tuesday attacked Lal Masjid in Islamabad, a known hotbed of support for the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The move is part of President General Pervez Musharraf's renewed efforts to stamp out spreading extremism. It is more likely to stoke the fires of radicalism and force the government into a critical showdown. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Jul 3, '07)

US blame game pressures Iran
The US military's allegations that Iran's special unit, the Quds Force, is complicit, with Lebanon's Hezbollah, in training and arming militant Shi'ites in Iraq, are bound to anger Tehran's leaders. They are likely to reassess their desire for a second round of talks with the US on Iraq's security. This might be exactly what some in the Bush administration want. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi (Jul 3, '07)

Lebanon bends under extremist challenge The rise of Fatah al-Islam and its conflict in the Nahr el-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon indicate a pattern of growing Sunni Islamic militancy in the country. This suits the Lebanese government and Saudi Arabia, but also plays into the hands of Hezbollah. The biggest loser of this complex web of local, regional and international rivalries is, however, Lebanon. - Mahan Abedin (Jul 3, '07)

Al-Qaeda makes a new mark in Yemen
For some months there have been indications that al-Qaeda in Yemen has re-established itself with the help of members trained in Iraq. Monday's suicide attack in Yemen, which claimed the lives of nine people, including seven Spanish tourists, is further evidence. (Jul 3, '07)

US to hunt the Taliban inside Pakistan
With his back to the wall over domestic troubles, Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf will allow US-led coalition forces a free hand in going after the fast-growing Taliban bases and al-Qaeda presence inside Pakistan. The general is taking a big gamble. But so too is the US in risking an escalation in the "war on terror". - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Jul 2, '07)

Afghanistan is moving backward
Since the collapse of the Taliban in 2001 and even before, Afghanistan has been moving backward: the government is corrupt and riddled with nepotism, the middle class has fled and education is creaking. But the stakes are too high to let a dysfunctional Afghan government undermine NATO's efforts to stabilize the country. - Haroun Mir (Jul 2, '07)

Fighting terrorism - but at what cost?
Richard M Bennett questions whether Britain can afford the level of intelligence to guard against home-grown Islamic terrorism such as occurred this weekend in London and Glasgow, not to mention the Irish Republican Army and spies from Russia and China. At the same time, he questions whether people really want to pay the price - in treasure and liberties - to crush terrorism. (Jul 2, '07)

June 2007