Panetta’s Pentagon exit smoother than Rumsfeld’s crash
Compared to the way President George W Bush's defence secretary left office, Leon Panetta is easing out of the Pentagon with no strife, no blame and with a great deal…
Panetta’s hubris
Pakistan must be grateful to US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta for articulating a clear, unambiguous US line of action in regard to Pakistan’s perceived inability to proceed against groups that…
Endless denial
In the Blindman’s Buff variation of tag, a child designated as ‘It’ is tasked with tapping another child while wearing a blindfold. The sightless child knows the other children, all…
Welcome to a season of leaks
‘Tis the season of leaks – except there is nothing festive about it. Pakistanis have been given involuntary access to closed-door and hitherto private conversations most of which, at least…
A win-win formula
A few questions first about the current Afghan situation, in order of their importance. Is Afghan peace hostage to big power rivalry? What policy should Pakistan adopt vis-a-vis various warring…
Preparing for President Biden
“Pakistan is fifty times more important to the United States, than Afghanistan”, Joe Biden to former Afghan president Hamid Karzai, January 2009. How can Pakistan best prepare for a Biden…
Pak-US relations in the Trump era
The most important single event in the Pakistan-US relationship in the last decade was the November 26, 2011 slaughter of over two dozen Pakistani soldiers on the border with Afghanistan…
Longer war
Anti-Russian hysteria in America reached its apogee as Democrats tried to divert attention from embarrassing revelations about how the Democratic Party apparatus had rigged the primaries against Bernie Sanders by…
This is not goodbye
According to a recent report in the New York Times, President Obama has signed a secret order authorizing US forces to continue executing missions against the Taliban and other militant…
Lying to ourselves
EVER hear of Counter terrorism Pursuit Teams? The CIA’s 3,000-strong personal army culled from the best fighters in Afghanistan? The one the CIA keeps along the Pak-Afghan border and uses…
