Many Afghans were pleased about the NATO airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
NATO Airstrike Highlights Af-Pak Animosity as Well as U.S.-Pak
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Europe & Central Asia
NATO Airstrike Played Right Into Pakistani Insurgents’ Hands
Ostensibly Pakistani forces fired upon joint NATO-Afghan forces.
Droning On
Someday soon, you’ll be checking your new Clear Skies app as a routine part of your preparations to go out for the evening. First, you’ll look at your smart gizmo to read your latest email to make sure there hasn’t been any change in plans. A quick glance at Facebook lets you see who’ll be joining your group of friends at the bar. Weather and traffic apps inform you of what to wear and what route to take. Twitter will tell you about any major news developments you should be retweeting to your tweeps to prime the conversational pump over drinks. And your new Clear Skies app will let you know if any unmanned drones are hovering 12 miles up in the stratosphere with your head in their sights.
Disaster Times Two in Pakistan
After last year’s failures, and with monsoon season a fairly predictable occurrence, why are Pakistan and the international community again unprepared for the flooding that has been looming for months? So far, U.S. bilateral assistance has been limited to a modest $19 million emergency relief package from USAID. In a political climate where Mitt Romney and other Republican candidates have suggested cutting off all aid to Pakistan, Washington appears reluctant to offer more help.
Is Europe Over?
Europe has always been a rather tenuous concept. A rump continent, Europe represented the barbarous hinterlands for the Greeks and Romans. The first use of the term “European” occurred in a chronicle describing the forces of Charles the Hammer that turned back the northward advance of Islam at the battle of Tours in 732. Long celebrated in Europe as a victory of civilization over barbarism, the Battle of Tours was, as historian David Levering Lewis reminds us in God’s Crucible actually the opposite: “the victory of Charles the Hammer must be seen as greatly contributing to the creation of an economically retarded, balkanized, fratricidal Europe that, in defining itself in opposition to Islam made virtues out of religious persecution, cultural particularism, and hereditary aristocracy.”
Arab Spring Takes Back Seat to U.S. Military Aid for Egypt
There’s no accommodation that President Obama can make that will satisfy Americans hawkish for Israel.
Obama to Aid Uzbek Dictatorship
The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, in a move initiated by the Obama administration, has voted to waive Bush-era human rights restrictions on military aid to the Islam Karimov dictatorship in Uzbekistan, one of the most brutal and repressive regimes on the planet. The lifting of the restrictions, now part of the Foreign Operations bill, is before the full Senate and appears to have bipartisan support. The Obama administration has indicated that it intends to provide taxpayer-funded military assistance to Uzbekistan once the legislation passes both houses of Congress.
Is Alarm About Seven Billion People Just Modern-day Eugenics?
Many believe that attempts to control population growth are a conspiracy by the “global elite” to keep the world’s population to a controllable minimum.
The Irish Election: From Paramilitary to Presidential Nominee
Irish presidential candidate martin Martin McGuinness has even admitted on numerous occasions that he was a leading member of the IRA Army Council in Derry from 1970 until 1974.
Afghanistan: To Soothe the Militant Mind
A high-powered yoga teacher dreams of bringing the Taliban and Western troops together for meditation and yoga.