Some CIA officers involved in the agency’s drone strikes program in Pakistan and elsewhere are privately expressing their opposition to the program within the agency, because it is helping al Qaeda and its allies recruit.
The differences between the policies of Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama are not as great as we think.
Instead of a torpedo, was the Cheonan sinking the result of grounding, a collision, or friendly fire?
The Obama administration never warmed to Hatoyama. But it was the Okinawa base issue that sealed the deal.
America’s failure to talk peace is undercutting its influence in the Middle East. It has cleared the way for proactive nations like Turkey and Qatar, who want a quieter neighborhood to push their economic growth, to step in and broker deals such as the recent Iranian nuclear fuel swap and the Lebanese accord of 2008. Continued U.S. intransigence may lead them to try and sort out issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well.
There is a certain irony that Italy’s Prime Minister Berlusconi, a media mogul, should find himself beset by the electronic media.
Yesterday was almost equally violent for both India, where suspected sabotage of train by Maoists left at least 74 dead in West Bengal, and Pakistan. In Lahore, an equivalent number were killed in the attacks on the two Ahmadi mosques. According to the New York Times: “Geo TV, a leading news channel in Pakistan, reported that members of the Punjab branch of the Pakistani Taliban were claiming responsibility for the attacks.”
Thimphu, the capital of the Himalayan nation of Bhutan, wore its culture on its sleeve for the 16th South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit at the end of April. The uniform architecture of the buildings and colorful flags fluttering on both sides of the streets welcomed delegates from the nine member states (Nepal, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan) and the nine observer states, including China and the United States. Bhutan’s display of its culture was a strong assertion of its sovereignty, as well as its distinctiveness from neighbors India and China.
Was Gilad Shalit’s father’s offer disingenuous?
The U.S. State Department’s claim that the “international community” is behind the U.S. is increasingly sounding like whistling past the graveyard.