Ahmed Rashid on the flood disaster in Pakistan

summary:
Because the pakistani government has lost ground in flood hit provinces KP and Balochistan, and the international relief response has not yet met minimum requirements, it is likely that extremism will increase rapidly in the area. That will not only affect the war in Afghanistan, as the Pakistan Army is not capable of defending the [...]

SufiLore #6 – Pakistan’s water

I have earlier linked to a very good report on water issues in Pakistan here. Following are some links to recently observed water issues in the country.

Selling democracy – what’s our tactic?

When Musharraf was in power, the West had it’s major evil in Pakistan: it’s not a democracy. Now having a, in the West’s eyes, democratic government in place we are back to dealing with the country through the Army and Secret Service rather than the elected representatives. What has the West done for a democratic Pakistan? Cheered at a brick-throwing lawyers movement? Shoved in a government that so far has shown little will to bring in the original constitution?

The Opinionators Influence

On how the pundit’s writings, sometimes not even fully thought through – why else would he in retrospect claim “As one who used to advocate strongly for the liberation of Iraq (perhaps more strongly than I knew)” – can influence soldier’s choices on the ground. Christopher Hitchens in Vanity Fair.

US “presence” in Pakistan

Financial support to Pakistan by the US is extensive, discussions about the security of the state’s personel there ongoing (here and here) but all the foreigners I see on the ground are non-US citizens. In 4 years in Lahore, Kashmir, the Northern Areas, the Tribal Areas and Peshawar I have met 4 American Nationals. I do not count my visits to horrible expat paries in Isloo with tipsy girls and tough guys or my encounter with well-built guys on the airport, who had a special escort past the queue and were obviously not here to taste Daal or learn a foreign language but to look grim and foster a clicheed, conspirational Xe-image, US citizens based in Pakistan nowadays have.

Rethinking interests

Raul R. Pillar is probably right with his theory , that terrorists (foremost al-Qaeda) do not necessarily need Afghanistan as a safe haven to attack the US in future and that the presence of US troops in the area should not be justified with just this target – to eradicate such breeding places.

on pakistani identity

Two new Pakistani Nationals and NADRA a mess: Hussein here and Malek here.

The capture of Jundullah leader Abdolmalek Rigi

Abdolmalek Rigi, the leader of Jundallah militant group, was nabbed in Iran on 23rd Feb in a dramatic fashion. His post-arrest statement and a photo allegedly showing him at a US base in Afghanistan just 24 hours before his arrest has sparked an interest debate on US role with Jundallah under Obama’s administration.

Although Pentagon spokesman [...]

Looking for trust – in the wrong place.

The Western media, especially after Mullah Abdul Ghani Akhund and some other high-up Talibans where pinned down by ISI/CIA, are trying to understand the ISI and the Pakistani army again. When news of Ghani’s arrest broke, the first reaction was “yeah, finally they do what we want”, only to be immediately followed by “I am sure they are tricking us again” (claiming that the ISI captured him in Karachi making sure he could be kept in their custody and wouldn’t be interrogated by ISAF/CIA at Bagram, Penetta yesterday requested a transfer there)

SufiLore #4 – Pakistan has a Rock scene?

It’s quite old by now, and wasn’t picked up for more than 3 articles really, but for a glimpse the Western media was as if they had discovered something new (which it wasn’t): PakRock. It’s worth documenting the videos at least.
[Article/Video] Pakistan Rock against the West by Adam B. Ellick
In my opinion he chose examples [...]