For many countries and politicians, last month’s fall of Kabul came as a surprise; leaving them clueless as to how to handle the Taliban situation. To avoid messing up the whole region, China, Russia and Pakistan have coordinated their response as recently confirmed by Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov. After a recent meeting on the sidelines […]
Rebutting Blatant Falsehoods
My article “Evaluating the Lessons of the Afghan War” evoked anger among some born Pakistani-haters, they could be of Indian origin or they could be disgruntled Pakistanis with a grouse either against the Army or me, personally. An American friend–someone who I have always admired and cherished for nearly five decades–sent me the person’s frustrated […]
Evaluating the Lessons of the Afghan War
Although the Taliban had no hand in the barbarous 9/11 attacks (15 out of 19 attackers were Saudis), the presence of Osama bin Laden on Afghan soil became their connection. While all the hijackers were affiliated to Al Qaida, the Taliban neither had any knowledge about the plan nor were they involved in it. However, […]
Fudging the Lessons of History
Speaking on September 6 at the British security think tank, Royal United Security Institute (RUSI), Tony Blair confirmed that not only (1) has he not learnt any lessons from history, but (2) wishes to stick to his old policy of denying established fact and substituting them with what he is universally known for blending outright […]
Out-of-Box Security Measures
Even if our western borders may temporarily stop being hostile, simmering hostility by disparate groups inimical to Pakistan would still persist. Consequent to this, the evoking of dormant activists within Pakistan can also not be ruled out. We have to retain credible deterrence capability for both Eastern and Western fronts. The difference between the two […]
The Panjshir Bluff
Only days after the Taliban takeover of Kabul, a fresh resistance has raised its head in the Panjshir valley. The self-proclaimed leader of this resistance movement is Amrullah Saleh, who served as vice-president in Ghani’s toppled government. After Ghani’s cowardly flight from Afghanistan, Saleh declared himself president while referring to the Afghan Constitution. However, he […]
The Fall of Kabul
The world has watched with amazement the fall of Kabul and the cowardly flight of Ghani to Uzbekistan. “After 20 years, the war is over,” exclaimed a Taliban spokesman in front of media, last Sunday. The evacuation of US personnel by helicopters-though more organised—reminded many of the well-documented and hasty US departure from Saigon many […]
Courage of conviction
While most of us fast, we seldom adhere to the revelation of the Quran, which marks Ramadan as a month for reflection. God is admonishing the believers to reflect on the meaning of the Quranic stipulations by using one’s logic and reason while fasting. Every Muslim is responsible for his or her conduct personally when […]
A new Intifada?
Dozens of bombs and constant shelling by self-propelled guns targeting the densely populated coastal areas of Gaza was the response to the Palestinian organisation Hamas firing dozens of rockets at Israel. This in itself was a reaction to the extreme right-wing Israeli extremists entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque under cover of the police, Israel police; later […]
France – a real friend in need
Pakistan is staring down another home-made calamity. Known for its provocative editorials and cover images, particularly on politics and religion, French satirical magazine “Charlie Hebdo” suffered a deadly jihadist strike on its offices in Paris back in 2015 as retribution for printing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Last September, the weekly republished these images […]