A high-powered yoga teacher dreams of bringing the Taliban and Western troops together for meditation and yoga.
Afghanistan: To Soothe the Militant Mind
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War & Peace
Yet Another Excuse for the Military to Favor Drones
U.S. Air Force stealth fighter pilots lose critical training time to mechanical malfunctions.
Pakistan: Reversing the Lens
Since the United States invaded Afghanistan in October 2001, Pakistan has lost more than 35,000 people, the vast bulk of them civilians. While the U.S. has had slightly over 1800 soldiers killed in the past 10 years, Pakistan has lost over 5,000 soldiers and police. The number of suicide bombings in Pakistan has gone from one before 2001, to more than 335 since.
“Terrorism,” as Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari says, “is not a statistic for us.”
Target: Africa
An informal competition took place during the Bush years for the title of “second front” in the war on terror. Administration officials often referred to Southeast Asia as the next major franchise location for al-Qaeda, with the Philippines in particular slated to become the “next Afghanistan.” Then there was the border between Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, which State Department officials termed a “focal point for Islamic extremism in Latin America.” Worried about the spread of al-Qaeda operatives in North Africa, the Bush administration also developed the Pan-Sahel Initiative, which became the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Initiative before finally being folded into the Pentagon’s new Africa Command.
When a Clandestine Nuclear Program Is Good News
The United States is selective about which states engaging in nuclear proliferation that it condemns.
To the U.S. Government, UFOs Are a Threat to Its Sovereign Rule
The U.S. government views UFOs as a form of competition.
Gaddafi Took Knowledge of Where Bodies Were Buried to the Grave
Moammar Gadhafi’s death means no trial that could have been embarrassing for Western governments and oil companies.
Defending Bloated Military Spending
The Association of the United States Army packed hundreds of exhibitors into two halls the size of football fields at its annual convention. Companies from around the world came to the event, recently held at the Washington Convention Center, to sell the Army everything from mammoth tanks to micro-thin wires. Corporations such as Raytheon and KBR erected multi-level installations nearly big enough to generate their own zip code, complete with conference rooms and coffee bars.
More Isn’t Necessarily Better With Pakistan’s “Nuclear Security Culture”
Pakistan needs to take care that its plans to dramatically increase its nuclear security forces don’t provide an opening for infiltration by Islamist extremists.
Putting a Face on Iran Policies a Study in Frustration
It’s just as difficult determining who makes the decisions about Iran’s nuclear program as whether the Revolutionary Guard is behind the plot to assassinate the Arab ambassador.