For the past three decades he’s been known as “The Sheriff”, “The Admiral”, and more generally as the world-famous icon of French counter-terrorism. The pipe-smoking, Magnum-packing judge became counter-terrorism’s international celebrity through exploits that included (but were far from limited to) tracking down and …
Af-Pak
Six Things to Watch from Hillary Clinton’s India Tour
President Obama grabbed hearts and headlines with his state visit to India last fall, and there was a lot of talk about bringing the two countries closer together. It’s “a defining partnership of the 21st century” between “natural allies” who have committed themselves to a “strategic dialogue.” What does it all mean? …
Why the CIA’s Vaccine Ruse Is a Setback for Global Health
Last week, the Guardian broke the news that in the run-up to the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound, the CIA used a vaccination campaign as a ruse to get DNA evidence from the al-Qaeda leader’s kids. With help from a Pakistani doctor, Shakil Afridi, they set up clinics in two neighborhoods, delivering doses of the Hepatitis B …
Is the CIA Helping Run a Secret Prison in Somalia?
An interesting exposé in The Nation, the left-of-center U.S. newsweekly, explores how the CIA has participated in the running of secret detention and interrogation centers in Somalia. The article’s author, Jeremy Scahill, claims the CIA mans an operation in a “sprawling walled compound” by Mogadishu’s airport and sends out …
The Saga of Bibi Aisha Is a Reminder of What We Owe Afghanistan, and What It Owes to Itself
The revelation that the only man ever arrested in connection to the brutal maiming of Afghan teen Bibi Aisha has been set freea mere six months after being taken into custody should not come as a surprise. Dismay and frustration, to be sure. But given the current state of justice in Afghanistan, not to mention official disregard …
Militant Groups Would Benefit if Pakistan is Blamed for Latest Mumbai Attacks
There’s no reason yet to believe the latest Mumbai terror attacks bear the same signature as the 2008 massacre that left 164 people dead. Wednesday’s multiple explosions appear from early reports to have involved small-scale and relatively crude bombs, even though they appear to have inflicted substantial casualties. That might point …
Thousands of Afghans Flee Shelling at Border, Leaving Worrying Vacuum Behind
The specter of unintended consequences has haunted most military decisions made since the U.S. declared its war on terror nearly a decade ago. And so it should not be surprising that the death of Osama bin Laden — once envisioned as the blow to end this now-global fight — may itself be causing a fresh and unforeseen aftershock in …
The Assassination of Ahmed Wali Karzai: Careful What You Wish For
It is no small irony that his morning’s assassination of Ahmed Wali Karzai, the Afghan president’s half brother, politician, and perennial thorn in the side to the U.S. counter-insurgency effort, could not have come at a worse time. For years U.S. and NATO officials have made their displeasure over his outsize political …
Why Cuts in U.S. Military Aid are Unlikely to Change Pakistan’s Behavior
The Obama Administration clearly wants the American public to know it is not allowing Pakistan’s double game in Afghanistan and on militant jihadists to go unpunished: The New York Times reports that the U.S. is withholding some $800 million — one third of the aid designated for the Pakistani military — to send a message that …
A.Q. Khan’s Revelations: Did Pakistan’s Army Sell Nukes to North Korea?
Abdul Qadeer Khan is tired of being a scapegoat. The controversial father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb shared hi-tech secrets and equipment with a host of rogue regimes — including North Korea and Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya — earning himself international notoriety and a 2005 TIME magazine cover that dubbed him “the Merchant of …
Will Pakistan Play the Spoiler to U.S.-Taliban Talks?
That the U.S. has been talking to the Taliban has been known for some time now — Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged as much two weeks ago. A political agreement with the Taliban remains the key to securing a U.S. departure from Afghanistan, because the idea that the Afghan security forces will be able to hold the line against …
A Rock and Roll Jihad: Pakistani Pop Goes Global
Many musicians have declared that Rock & Roll will save the world. Few, it seems, have as much resting on that gamble as Pakistani rocker Salman Ahmad, founder of South Asia’s hottest rock band, Junoon. Ahmad, who goes by the nickname Sufi Sal, has struggled for year to showcase his peculiar brand of Sufi-inflected rock outside of …
Kabul Terror Strike: The Taliban Warns That it’s Not Negotiating From a Position of Weakness
Tuesday’s deadly attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul was a painful reminder that the U.S. drawdown from Afghanistan will not occur under conditions of Washington’s choosing. The Obama Administration strategy has been to escalate its offensive against the Afghan insurgents, particularly targeting their leaders, in order to …