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 War
and Terror
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August 2009
Border war rattles China-Myanmar
ties
The Myanmar military offensive against an insurgent group, which has pushed an
estimated 50,000 refugees into China, is a sign that the ruling generals are
asserting their independence from Beijing, the regime's main backer. Increased
efforts to disarm other rebels, including those that enjoy special ties with
China, may plunge the China-Myanmar border into widespread conflict. - Larry
Jagan (Aug 31, '09)
DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA
From My Lai to Lockerbie
When the Libyan jailed for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie
was freed, a furor erupted in the United States. At the same time, an apology
from an American sentenced to life in prison for the massacre of Vietnamese
civilians in 1971 - but who spent only three days locked up - was met with
little fanfare. - Nick Turse (Aug 31, '09)
Afghan elections fuel US war doubts
As United States President Barack Obama leans toward an escalated
counter-insurgency campaign in Afghanistan, a growing number of critics in the
foreign policy establishment and among the American populace have begun to
question whether defeating the Taliban and building a strong Afghan central
state is a war worth fighting. (Aug 27, '09)
Kabul draped in a veil of
uncertainty
As results slowly roll in from last week's elections, Afghans enter a holy
month gripped with equal parts of uncertainty, doubt and resignation. President
Hamid Karzai has stayed relatively out of sight, even as his challenger, Dr
Abdullah Abdullah, remains defiant and cries voter fraud. In this fluid
situation, the talk in Kabul's dusty lanes is of a possible coalition
government. - Derek Henry Flood (Aug 27, '09)
Leaked stories taint Iran nuclear
debate
Western officials leaked stories to the press last week to pressure
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei into including
allegations that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons in a report due out this
week. The apparent aim is to discredit an earlier US National Intelligence
Estimate ahead of tough negotiations on Iran's nuclear program. - Gareth Porter
(Aug 26, '09)
Iraq burns its bridges with Syria
Baghdad on Tuesday abruptly recalled its ambassador to Damascus over the recent
bombings in the Iraqi capital in which 100 people were killed. The move has
angered the Syrians, who resent the implication that they had something to do
with the attack. Syria is also bemused as to why Iraq would want to alienate
the country that just a week ago it hailed as holding the key to Iraq's
success. - Sami Moubayed (Aug 26, '09)
Shi'ites unite in a new power grab
An Iraqi coalition of 10  Shi’ite
parties, backed by Iran and led by Ibrahim al-Jaafari, was launched on Monday
to take on Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who will soon announce a fresh
alliance of his own. The forces now aligned against Maliki are formidable, but
they lack the one crucial faction the premier is assiduously soliciting - the
Sunnis. - Sami Moubayed (Aug 25, '09)
US steps up its Central Asian
tango
An axis with Uzbekistan influence in northern Afghanistan and Islamabad playing
a role in the country's south and southeast is required by the United States as
it addresses the Taliban's reconciliation and return to political life in
Afghanistan. But President Barack Obama has also to reach for the door that
opens engagement with Tehran. He may find the answer in the bazaars of Central
Asia. - M K Bhadrakumar (Aug 24, '09)
Karzai's rival cries foul play
On the eve of the 
announcement of the preliminary results of Afghanistan's presidential
elections, Abdullah Abdullah, the main challenger to President Hamid Karzai, is
crying foul. All the same, he will wait to see how complaints are dealt with
before acting. One thing is clear, though - he won't take part in any
power-sharing deals. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Aug
24, '09)
Seven steps to peace in Afghanistan
The ballots are still being counted in Afghanistan's elections, but a far more
important vote has already been decided. Contacts with the Taliban are well
underway in the first of what could be seven steps towards reconciliation. A
key negotiator, a former Taliban minister of religious affairs and now a
senator, Moulvi Arsala Rehami, believes the only stumbling block is Taliban
leader Mullah Omar. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Aug
21, '09)
Is Iran gas ban a step toward war?
Many in Washington view Iran's shortage of refined petroleum products - namely
gasoline - as an opportunity to coerce Tehran into abandoning its nuclear-arms
program. Still, cutting off gas could be especially risky because it would
strengthen the hand of conservative clerics in Tehran and may entail a naval
blockade, setting off a chain reaction of violent moves. - Michael Klare
(Aug 21, '09)
THE ROVING EYE
The Afghan pipe dream
Washington says success in Afghanistan involves "diplomacy, development and
good governance" - but all that the world sees is the 96,500 - and counting -
coalition troops now on the ground to "fight the Taliban". As for the election,
who cares who's the winner - President Hamid Karzai, Abdullah Abdullah or
anyone else? Afghanistan will be ruled by Barack Hussein Obama. - Pepe Escobar
(Aug 19, '09)
Powers line up to stir Afghanistan's
pot
 If
Afghan President Hamid Karzai secures a clear-cut victory in the first round on
Thursday, he will bring into power a coalition that the United States will find
extremely hard to control. As such, regional capitals are concerned the US
might now engineer a post-election "Iran-like situation" to muddy the waters
and install a surrogate power structure in Kabul. - M K Bhadrakumar
(Aug 19, '09)
The US has a plan for Afghanistan
With an unexpected boost from a heavyweight Uzbek warlord, Afghan President
Hamid Karzai's chances of winning re-election on Thursday have significantly
increased. Pakistan and the United States, though, are looking beyond the polls
to the creation of a broad-based administration that would include all the
major players - and a sprinkling of Taliban. - Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Aug 18, '09)
A fog swirls in the Hindu Kush
As the Pentagon prepares to expand its Afghan mission well beyond the Barack
Obama administration's early focus, President Hamid Karzai's re-election bid
presents it with an uncomfortable challenge. The United States needs an Afghan
leader in step with its overarching goal of an extended stay in Central Asia -
not one working against it. - M K Bhadrakumar
(Aug 17, '09)
Taliban rooting for Karzai's defeat
The Taliban are warning voters in the strongholds of President Hamid Karzai to
stay away from Thursday's voting - they perceive that a defeat for the
incumbent will play into their hands. For people still planning to go to the
polls, the Taliban have a special message for them. - Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Aug 17, '09)
Afghan race becomes Karzai's
cliffhanger
By ostentatiously distancing itself from former ally President Hamid Karzai in
recent days, the United States has sent a clear signal that its preferred
candidates in next week's Afghan election are former finance minister Ashraf
Ghani and ex-foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. Inside Afghanistan, there is a
growing conviction Washington is fixing the election to suit its geopolitical
priorities. - M K Bhadrakumar (Aug 14, '09)
US tweaks its rules of engagement
 With
record numbers of its soldiers dying in battle over the past two months, the
United States is yet again broadening its strategy in Afghanistan. Civilian
experts from the fields of governance, media, terrorist-financing and
agriculture will be assigned to complement the ongoing military efforts.
(Aug 14, '09)
DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA
A slo-mo withdrawal from Iraq
Within any administration, someone once said, you can afford to be a hawk and
be wrong, just not a dove and right. When it comes to the many retired American
military commanders who've become TV war commentators, that seems to hold true.
These ex-pros use slo-mo replays and cool graphics as they dance to the
Pentagon's drum. In the end, the US still occupies Iraq, and no one even asks
why. - Tom Engelhardt (Aug 14, '09)
Pakistan, US look across the border
Compared to the situation a few months ago, Pakistan, with active help from the
United States, has taken big strides towards containing militants in the tribal
areas. Yet the root cause of this militancy lies across the border in
Afghanistan, and that is where Islamabad and Washington are intensifying their
efforts to reconcile with rank-and-file Taliban. - Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Aug 12, '09)
More of the same for Baitullah's
fighters
Baitullah Mehsud's Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan is a loose nexus of militant
groups bound by an ideology that pits them against the United States-aligned
Pakistan state and its military. The groups enjoy a very high degree of
independence, which will continue even if reports of Baitullah's death in a US
missile attack turn out to be true. - Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Aug 11, '09)
Guessing games over Taliban leader
Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud has been variously described as "dead
and buried", "gravely ill" and "alive and well" following a drone missile
attack on his South Waziristan region last week. It could be he is simply lying
low to take some of the heat out of Islamabad's intensifying crackdown on
militancy - it's a tactic al-Qaeda and the Taliban have used before. - Syed
Saleem Shahzad (Aug 10, '09)
Shi'ite unity deal explodes US myth
Even though Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was ostensibly cooperating with
the United States against rogue elements of Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army in
2007 and 2008, the Maliki regime was also cooperating secretly with the Sadrist
forces. Maliki - with the encouragement of Iran - was also working for the
withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, which he did not reveal to the Americans
until 2008. - Gareth Porter (Aug 10, '09)
New nuke report debunks Iran hawks
The United States' latest estimate of when Iran will be able to produce enough
highly enriched uranium to make a nuclear weapon is the year 2013, years later
than alarmist reports would have it. This news, in tandem with political
uncertainty in Iran, has heightened calls for Washington to go easier on
Tehran. (Aug 10, '09)
Hope's gone AWOL in Echo platoon
United States soldiers caught absent without leave are often consigned to Echo
platoon - a special "holding" group at Fort Bragg, North Carolina - to await
trial. Platoon members say it's a bleak state of legal limbo, with dire living
conditions and verbal abuse. Traumatized by past combat, many refuse the
fastest route out - redeployment. - Dahr Jamail and Sarah Lazare
(Aug 10, '09)
Baitullah: Dead or alive, his battle
rages
Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud has been reported killed in a United
States Predator drone attack in his South Waziristan tribal area. Baitullah is
the glue that binds al-Qaeda, Pakistani militants, tribal militants and the
Afghan Taliban. Although he would be a hard man to replace, he has built a
network that will carry on his uncompromising brand of resistance. - Syed Saleem
Shahzad (Aug 7, '09)
The West has its own suicide bombers
From the Bay of Tripoli in 1804 - where American seamen introduced the use of
the suicide bomber in a battle against Muslims - to Will Smith in the
futuristic vampire movie I Am Legend , Westerners in reality and in
popular culture have acted as suicide bombers. The West has its suicide bombers
- they're called heroes. The culture of indoctrination is called basic
training. When Westerners kill civilians, it's called collateral damage. - John
Feffer (Aug 7, '09)
Kurds turn up the heat on Baghdad
It took Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki three years before making his first
journey from Baghdad to the semi-autonomous Kurdish region. He might wish he
had stayed in the capital. The Kurds, with a freshly re-elected president, made
it clear they want to go all the way in their claim for the oil-rich Kirkuk
region, leaving Maliki with the choice of confrontation, or ceding the
controversial territory. - Sami Moubayed (Aug
6, '09)
SPEAKING FREELY
Jundullah a wedge between Iran,
Pakistan
Jundullah - a Sunni fundamentalist group with ethnic separatist goals - has
impaired relations between Iran and Pakistan. Unless the United States and
Pakistan crack down on this terrorist outfit, it may succeed in bringing Tehran
and Islamabad to the brink of war, and in energizing the Taliban. - Raja
Karthikeya (Aug 6, '09)
US shrugs off Pakistan-Taliban links
When the US Congress last month approved US$6 billion in aid to Pakistan, there
was no mention of evidence linking Pakistani army chief General Ashfaq Pervez
Kiani to a major military assistance program for Taliban insurgents in
Afghanistan and Kashmir. - Gareth Porter (Aug
5, '09)
Helmand's 'dagger' cuts three ways
The governor of Afghanistan's Helmand province believes the United States-led
Operation Dagger is running smoothly, with no civilian casualties. A Helmand
member of parliament, meanwhile, says over a dozen civilians have been killed,
with many more displaced. The Taliban describe the offensive as the last nail
in the coffin of the US's Afghan strategy. - Wahidullah Mohammad
(Aug 4, '09)
A search for motives in Christian
attack
Al-Qaeda and linked groups are being blamed for riots in which seven Christians
were torched to death at the weekend in Pakistan's Punjab province. The area,
though, is the stronghold of the country's leading opposition party, and
politics can't be ruled out. - Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Aug 4, '09)
US's $1bn Islamabad home is its
castle
The United States is forging ahead with a US$1 billion upgrade of its embassy
in Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad. Washington dismisses charges the
expanded facility will house hundreds of marines, but there is no disputing it
will serve as a hub for the US's ambitious regional plans - plans for which the
Taliban and al-Qaeda are already preparing. - Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Aug 3, '09)
Ten steps to liquidate US bases
If Washington continues to operate in the role of a global hegemon, with its
military inventory of 865 facilities in more than 40 countries and overseas US
territories, it could well follow in the former Soviet Union's footsteps and
become a crippled economic power. - Chalmers Johnson
(Aug 3, '09)
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ATol Specials
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Syed Saleem Shahzad reports on
the Afghan war from the Taliban side
(Dec '06)
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How
Hezbollah defeated Israel
By
Mark Perry and
Alastair Crooke
(Oct '06)
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Mark Perry and
Alastair Crooke
talk to the 'terrorists'
(Mar, '06)
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The evidence for and against Iran's alleged
nuclear weapons program
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Nir Rosen goes inside the Iraqi
resistance
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Nir Rosen rides with the 3rd
armored cavalry in western Iraq
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Islamism, fascism and
terrorism
by Marc Erikson
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For earlier articles go to:
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