KARACHI - On Jan 23, days after Barack Obama was sworn in as President of the United States, a series of missiles slammed into Pakistan's tribal areas along the Afghan border -- in continuation of Washington's policy of targeting al-Qaeda and Taliban elements regardless of sovereignty issues.
"The drone attacks anger Pakistanis because the government, in cahoots with the media, refuses to explain that Pakistani governments have been complicit in seeking rent from Washington to fight what now appears to be America's war," said military analyst, Ayesha Siddiqa.
No doubt some of President Obama's initial foreign policy moves are
an undeniable advance over his predecessor's way of dealing with the
world. What's very welcome is the lifting of the "Global Gag Rule," a
U.S. law that forbade family planning groups receiving U.S. funding
from even mentioning abortion. And after eight years of
head-in-the-oil-well denial, the United States is all set to join
forces with the rest of the planet in combating global warming.
Yesterday, at the US Institute of Peace in
Washington, a bright-eyed young Pakistani man, dressed in a brown cap
and brown robe, and sporting long stringy hair and a beard, pointed the
way out of the Afghan-Pakistan quagmire.
If only Washington were listening.
Obama's
choice for special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, arguably the most
critical area of U.S. foreign policy, is a man with perhaps the most
sordid history of any of the largely disappointing set of foreign
policy and national security appointments.
NEW DELHI - India successfully tested a supersonic cruise missile Tuesday in a remote desert close to the Pakistan border, officials said, amid continuing tensions with its nuclear-armed rival over the November attacks in Mumbai.
Indian officials say the launch of the Brahmos was only part of ongoing reliability tests, but some analysts say the timing was sensitive and could alarm Pakistan.
"The test was successful," a defense ministry spokesman said, without giving details.
There
is a deep affinity between the United States and Israel. I'm not
talking about the Israel Lobby, which concentrates its influence in
Washington. Or the connections between neoconservatives and the Israeli
right wing. Or the rhapsodizing of fundamentalist Christians, who
embrace Israel as part of their scenario for the Apocalypse.
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has redeployed thousands of troops to the border with India, officials said Friday, in a dramatic escalation of tensions with New Delhi in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh summoned his military chiefs to review New Delhi's "defence preparedness" while his foreign ministry advised Indians not to travel to Pakistan, saying it was unsafe for them to be in the country.
Peace activists in Pakistan and India are
attempting desperately to be heard above the din raised by warmongers -
elitist by all counts and claiming to be patriotic as well - in the
wake of the Mumbai carnage. Jingoism is in the air - be it from
so-called nationalists (posing as analysts on television) advocating a
nuclear attack for the defense of their country, or the man on the
street. Be they from Pakistan or India, they speak of war with great
abandon as if it is child's play. For the electronic media it is a race
for sensationalism.
A consensus is
emerging among intelligence analysts and pundits that Pakistan may be
President-elect Barack Obama's greatest policy challenge. A base for
terrorist groups, the country has a fragile new civilian government and
a long history of military coups. The dramatic attack on Mumbai by
members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e Tayiba, the continued Taliban
insurgency on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the frailty of the new
civilian government, and the country's status as a nuclear-armed state
have all put Islamabad on the incoming administration's front burner.
A few
months ago, trucks loaded with goods crossed a border. All over the
world, this kind of thing happens every day, but not here. October
marked the first time in 60 years that Indian trucks loaded with apples
and walnuts traveled to Pakistan. The trucks returned carrying a
shipment of Pakistani rice and raisins.
Around the same time, India and Pakistan increased the number of
goods the two nations could trade from just 13 to nearly 2,000. They
opened new freight train lines and refurbished custom houses in
anticipation of vigorous cross border trade.
