Fields Of Joy

Two lost Kandaharis, Opiumzai and Hashishuddin, were wandering aimlessly when they chanced upon something very special...

Whose Life is it Anyway?

A simple question evoked by an image in a local English daily, showing an old mother hugging the blood-soaked dead body of her teenager son in Baquba, Iraq.

Paper Trail

To produce five sheets of 8 x 11 inch paper we use the equivalent energy of an 80 watt bulb operating for an hour; but at a cost far greater than that of electricity.

Who Moved My Cheese

Mr Gore wasn’t afraid of looking foolish, he’d take his presentation wherever people would listen. His persistence ended up creating a climate of global acceptance of global warming.

Chillchinga, the US Soldier

The only desire now
To go home
To converse few words
In Spanish as he pays the price
For migration and adventure

Mind the Gap, The Generation Gap That Is

Between 9/11, Afghanistan, Bush and Iraq, a new generation is forming which will define America for the next thirty years at the least. I call it the angry generation.

Gen. Petraeus & Crocker's Washington Show is a Damp Squib

If an act of mercy is twice blessed, then an act of illegal invasion and brutal occupation has since proved to be doubly cursed for the invaders as well.

Simply Outrageous!

In their recent visits, the US officials kept looking for those who could listen to them and nod in the affirmative. They found none.

Kashmir Liberated, Others Languish

Kashmir Singh spent 35 years in various Pakistani prisons before Ansar Burney, the caretaker minister of human rights found him and obtained a presidential pardon.

Warday

A continuation of the Graphic novel WARDAY, but from the perspective of ex-patriot Pakistani population stranded after a 36 hour nuclear holocaust.

Long Road Ahead

PML(Q) showed a very dismal performance with managing just 38 seats against the boastful claims of more than 110 seats in national assembly before the elections.

February 18th, 2008-Election Day

Election in Tribal Areas and Pukhtunkhua province has been marred by violence. There have been attacks on the offices and rallies of all major political party.

Afghanistan - A Strategic Analysis

Afghanistan remains haunted and plagued by its violent history and its neighbours continue to enjoy the fruits of war and crisis in Afghanistan.

Child Interrupted

The boy who blew himself in Dera Ismail Khan last Muharram was hardly 17 years old. Still a child, legally speaking, dying a violent death, martyr to some, and terrorist to others.

Charlie Wilson's War Stretches the Imagination

How does a US Congressman learn about helping the Afghan resistance to the Soviet Empire in 1980? By listening to Dan Rather on TV while soaking in a Jacuzzi full of young women.

Fall of Dacca

December 16 comes every year to haunt the nation, particularly those few remaining who were witness to the debacle.

Home, a state of mind?

Home is not necessarily a four-walled structure that has traces of one’s childhood days and it certainly does not represent the country or city one lives.

Why the American War on Terror is Failing Miserably

USA's counter terrorism effort in the Global War against Terror is frankly creating more terrorists than it is stopping.

Pakistan at War

There is little doubt that Pakistan is under attack by the combined forces of Al Qaeda and Taliban. It is equally clear that the war is not going well.

Medals of Freedom for Justice Chaudary

He (Justice Chaudhry) sat on four pivotal Supreme Court benches between 2000-2005 that validated the military takeover by General Musharraf, his referendum, his LFO and the 17th amendment

Artifice of Scholarship : CSPI on FrontPage

Where will Mr. Warner hide when faced with the ignobility of logic deserting his beloved Christianity? What will he do when the devil of duality is discovered in his own sacred texts?

Will President Bush Invade Iran?

President Bush has raised the stakes by mentioning the possibility of World War III in a recent press conferences. He has declared the Iranian National Guards as terrorists.

General Colin Powell: Political Casualty of Iraq War

Can he make a comeback? Had he resigned, he would have stayed in the limelight as an elder statesman at the political front.

The Current Mess in Iraq—putting things in perspective

One of the major debates that continue to take place within the global media today is that what future course of action shall the United States take in Iraq.

Of Taufel, Howard And An Apology

Same day that Simon Taufel expressed disappointment with his decision, another Australian, PM John Howard, ruled out an apology to the Indian doctor Mohammad Haneef

Wars of Errors

Evil is self-destructive, you will find if you read Shakespeare; and patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, said an Englishmen more than two centuries before.

Complex Problems can have Simple Solutions

Cool roof systems with high reflectance (percentage of solar energy reflected back from the surface to the atmosphere without absorption ) and emittance (percentage of energy that is radiated back to the air after absorption) stay up to 70ºF (39ºC) cooler

Blue Line

They have seen right through my nonchalance as I picked up the pregnancy test at the airport, kept my shaking hands at bay, and walked with assumed confidence through the hotel doors.

Karachi’s Plastic Bag Ban

The ban applies to not just the manufactures and sellers but also the users of the plastic bags. Yes, that means us.

Honored

Humanists honour psychiatrist and writer Dr. Khalid Sohail

A Nation Reborn

Just when I thought my people would once again silently ignore this new form of oppression, and resign themselves to a fate written by politicians and generals, they responded! They awoke! They said in one voice, “enough is enough!” I have ne

The Dispatches On War: Part X

Metternich And the European Politics of Power: 1815-1850

Sabre Rattling in the Persian Gulf

After the experience with the Iraq war and the cooked-up evidence pertaining to the weapons of mass destruction for which Iraq was invaded, the American public has become wary of the administration's intentions in the Middle East. It does not have stomach

Psychology of Guerrilla War

Ironically, twentieth century that started with guerrilla warriors, followers of Lenin, promoting Communism, ended with Muslim guerrilla warriors, followers of Osama, attacking Communism

Last Gasp of the Imperial Misadventure

The American public is rightly concerned about the chaos in Iraq and they believe that it is not for American army to fight a civil war; let Iraqis sort out their problems themselves.

Venus, Earth, and Mars - The Untold Story

Some scientists speculate that the three planets, Venus, Earth, and Mars, shared approximately similar geology at the time of their cooling from their molten newly-born states. The evolution of these three planets along different lines from a similar dist

Texan Poker Bluff and Persian Chess Moves

Many analysts have been warning since 2004 against a planned US attack alone or in cahoots with Israel on Iran, one of the so called axis of evil, in the hoary Western tradition of demonizing those they want to invade, colonise and then loot.

Invasion of Iraq-II

How the Western media failed the whole world on the whole brouhaha of Iraq.

Blood Diamonds

Like selfishness holds hands with carelessness And recklessness goes together with dominance Then how can I explain to your fiancé That in her wedding ring is a blood diamond Representing the sacrifice of native virgins

Iraq Study Group, a day late and a penny short!

You can dress it the way you like it but for all intent and purpose Iraq is done; you can put a fork in it.

What Went Wrong?

Have you noticed a faint air of desperation around the western world capitals these days? Ok, so it is not faint but quite visible. The desperation is around the Iraq war particularly and to a lesser extent, the Afghanistan war.

Invasion of Iraq, the hidden story

This essay focuses on the political issues and reasons that led to the American invasion.

Of Men And Rats

So it was rats who challenged the human supremacy. Unlike other species they neither ran away from human settlements nor let themselves domesticated; rather, they preferred to stay close … just 14 ft down.

Politics of the Mid-Term Elections

No wonder that the war on terror remains awry because much of it is fought to project the administration’s image against the democrats who are labeled as ‘cut and run’ strategists.

Oily ‘Oil Wars’

It is only a matter of time from hence to year 2040 when the fence sitters, equally thirsty of oil, would lose patience about US wrangling under the dream-world – like slogans of peace, prosperity, democracy, justice, human rights and above all safe

Martial Myths

The Death of a Nawab

Akbar Bugti is dead, what next for the Baloch rebellion?

Facing the Inevitable (Part I)

How different are China and the US anyway?

Psychology of Suicide ’Bombers’

A ’suicide bomber’ symbolizes a contradiction, vulnerable yet strong. He wants to die and yet also live forever. He is the most rational being in planning his attack and yet acts in the most irrational way by being destructive to himself and o

Children of a Lesser God

The US Military officials caution against seeing the cases of abuse and murder as part of any broader pattern, noting that the incidents in question are isolated and rare! But as Bush himself has said, “we are different from our enemies” ̷

Socialist Yuppies 2: Hanging Crowd

Khasi: The problem with Peshawar in particular and Pakistan in general is that we are under the iron grip of the Mullah, religious extremism...
Khabees: Exactly my point, we need the dance parties in Peshawar.

Corporate War on Terrorism

After decades of brutal war, emergence of Islamized violent power group in Afghanistan under the name Taliban was a sign of colossal failure of the idea of society and intellectual bankruptcy.

US QDR Impacts the World Scene

US Quadrennial Defense Review Report-2006 is a document that combines in it the attributes of philosophic prose of realities and phenomenal wishes studded with Mr. Rumsfeld’s impact of steely personality.

Escalation of Hostilities in Middle East

The current escalation of hostilities in the Middle East is dangerous for the whole world. Sadly, no super power seems to be concerned or willing to pressure the combatants to cease the hostilities. To allow this dangerous situation to unravel unchecked i

War for Peace

These wars will not end, they cannot end until the ’military metaphysic’ (the near religious dogma of these power elite, the driving force of their view of the world), the military definition of reality, an effect of institutional fusing, the

Control Room Documentary an Eye Opener!

If there really are two sides to every story; then this documentary puts forward an unparallel opening to scrutinize the other side and leave it up for its audience to make up its own mind.

The Globe Is Warm

Global warming has been suspended as in global w-a-r-m-i-n-g? Like deferred taxation it is something we will reckon with whenever, if ever. Is it time for the skeleton in the closet to be acknowledged?

The Long War: Rethinking American Options in the War on Terror

As the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attack approaches, the United States political thought still has not crystallized the manner in which it hopes to confront the challenges of the Global War on Terrorism.

Deforestation and Drought

Massive deforestation started in the 1990s. Between 1990 and 2000 Pakistan lost an average of 41,100 hectares of forest per year with an average annual deforestation rate of 1.63 per cent. Between 2000 and 2005, the rate increased to 2.02 per cent per ann

Gods of War

With atrocity upon atrocity piling up in the US war against terror, one has to wonder if the world’s most self-righteous nation will ever have the courage to be morally righteous or not.

Kill for a Pill

And then call this patriotism like Hitler
Then call it “christianity”
And murder, “sanctioned by jesus
And god bless America”

Dispatches On War (Part IX)

As Napoleon was busy consolidating his power in France, and in Europe, he was mindful of British influence and was determined to end it. He identified the source of British power as its ability to dominate the mercantilist trade of the time

The Quest for American Popularity in Pakistan

Public diplomacy may melt some icy precepts in Pakistan but American ideals will still flounder in the murky waters of conspiracy theories until there is tangible movement towards regional reconciliation

Red Sea Rising

America is still at the same place, using double standards and double edged swords to promote both Pakistan and India, the former by diplomatic patronizing and the latter with economic and military assistance. However, one key player has changed -- China

Protecting your ICT Software Rights

Are all of us thieves?

Holocaust

It was the year 1938...and German Jews were being slaughtered...

Dispatches on War (Part VI)

The American movie industry is a powerful institution, which can shape perceptions globally.

Withdrawing from Iraq: A Disaster Waiting to Happen?

The anti-US public opinion will be quickly mobilized by the terrorists to weaken or overthrow the government

Dispatches On War (Part IV)

The Battle of Somme offers that unique event in which the views of an entire generation and through them, the world’s perspective on a human phenomenon, war, would change and would never be the same.

The Dispatches on War (Part V)

Muslims and Crusades -- In the last five hundred years, the destiny of the Muslim world and the European continent seems to have undertaken diverse paths ...

33 Years and Counting

The issue of 54 prisoners from the 1971 war continues to fester- when will the truth come out?

Pardon, didn’t mean to kill you...

Three frozen moments of grief, captured by wire photographs at different parts of the world in one day last week stand out... Anguished families in Brazil, Kashmir, and Iraq, captured by Reuters and AFP cameras and printed in newspapers on July 25 are tie

London’s Hour of Reckoning

A surreal silence and eerie calm haunts Europe. Yet Londoners display steely resilience in the eye of the terror tiger.

Implications of Iraqi Instability

In the presence of 138,000 American troops, the first seventeen days of May witnessed 21 car bombings in Baghdad, while there were a total of 25 in all of the year of 2004.

Amrita Pritam

Today, I call Waris Shah, “Speak from inside your grave”
And turn, today, the book of love’s next affectionate page

Mr. Ahmed

With his grave manner and impeccable dress, one could imagine him to be, oh, a partner in a law firm, or maybe a funeral director. But he was a salesman, and a good salesman at that...

Dereliction of Duty

It seems that the VCOAS, General Ahsan Saleem Hayat, is an al-Qaeda member who as COAS would instantly scuttle the anti-terrorist drive. Or is it DG ISI who would sabotage the peace process with India in the absence of operational command of the visionary

The Dispatches On War (Part III)

The period from 1789 to 1815 saw a major evolution in the nature of warfare, as wars increased in duration, totality of effort and in a conceptual sense, which would set the stage for the industrial wars of the early twentieth century.

Pakistan’s Software Industry

Pakistan’s Nascent, often over/under-rated software industry (depending on how you look at it), maybe ready for a take-off. Provided we make the right choices. This article summarizes the findings of an Original Research Study and draws conclusions.

Extraordinary Rendition - A Tool for Torture

Torture does not yield any reliable information. The victim who is brutalized beyond endurance will confess to any thing which the tormentors want. What is the practical use of such information? It is not reliable; it’s worse than no information.

In Defense of H

There are rumours circulating that after we rid of the waning moon on our flag ... a slight design flaw...the new emblem in the middle of the corrected rising moon would be...yes!...a shalwar...

The Dispatches on War (Part II)

The financing of wars.

The Dispatches on War

An ode to the game of war and those, who play it!

Demining Starts Healing War-torn Northern Sri Lanka

The ongoing efforts in Sri Lanka have lessons for both India and Pakistan. The borders of the two countries have seen huge swathes of territory being rendered useless and dangerous by landmines -- India alongwith the US, China, Russia and Pakistan is not

The Second Wave

Profiles of four outstanding filmmakers at the upcoming 4th Karafilm Festival ...

Pandora’s Box

For all intents and purposes Iraq is still an active war zone. Civilians (non-Iraqi civilians) have no job being there, if they go they put themselves in harm’s way. Unfortunately, rather than discouraging or disallowing civilians from entering Iraq

The Unbeatable Weapon

Washington doesn’t realise it faces a weapon capable of defeating superpowers.

The Forgotten 54 - When will the War Finish for Them?

It has been 32 years and a few months. “A long time” as most people say shaking their heads and dismiss it from their minds.

Bush: King of Genocide

Your mind if it ever awakens,
Does not possess the clarity to understand and decide,
In discontinuous bouts of a war on terror,
You are an uncrowned King of Genocide.

Complicity in Silence

Every smirking soldier and every dieing Iraqi is asking us to make a choice...

Lengthening Shadows of Iraq War

From all portents and signs, it appears that the coalition armies have not yet turned the corner in Iraq war; the shadows of the war continue lengthening and the end is not in sight.

Whither Hath This Winter Gone

Soon dandelions shall bloom
in March, dispersing
the winter’s gloom

To Die For.....the War at Wana

Images flashed on the television screen; a burning truck, scattered FC troops behind mud barricades and coffins wrapped in the national flag. This was the footage of the war taking place in Wana - where our soldiers are engaged in a bloody combat with the

Did Libya Stab Pakistan in the Back?

It wasn’t so much what Qaddafi had, or didn’t have, in his arsenal. But what was of importance to the Anglo-Americans was that they had managed to break the most vocal and loud-mouthed of the hostile Arab leaders.

Of Tiaras and World Peace

We hear more of world peace on the stage and see more blood shed in the real world but we take it all with a pinch of salt and allow them their moments of glory.

Reality and Illusion

After passing the door, four times his head bumped into a wall and four times he turned left and passed another closed door. This happened again, and again, and again, and again. But with the unwavering resolve and confidence that he would find an open do

One Down Two to Go

the fun has just begun... or the nightmare! …watch bush mangle this re: the trial …if it is in-camera he will be criticized …if it is in public the wily saddam will massacre US administrations …watch for a despicable despot turn in

How to get a Civil Award

If Mirza Ghalib (South Asia’s long-deceased great poet) were to have been nominated for an award, quipped a Net-acquaintance, somebody else would get it! The master just wouldn’t have pushed it through the merit-assessing bureaucracy.

Resistance is the first step towards Iraqi independence

Sooner or later, all foreign troops will have to leave Iraq. If they do not do so voluntarily, they will be driven out. Their continuing presence is a spur to violence.

Should Pakistan send troops to Iraq?

The Musharraf government operates in a complex domestic, regional and international scenario and has its limitations...If it needs to change the 'domestic viewpoint' then it must be able to communicate something to Pakistanis that assures them on their na

Greatest Indians

Ideally speaking, the Bharat Ratna award should give a list of the greatest Indians, but I was rather disappointed with it, it doesn’t fit into my definition of greatness. In any case, it comprises of people from the past 50 odd years only. So I dec

An Hour in the Life of a Soldier

An imaginary walk with a soldier on patrol

Coming to Terms with Kargil

Launching lashkars from our own territory to capture peaks inside the enemy territory; and then playing innocent was never a story that could be easily sold.

The Razor’s Edge

The United States seems to be losing the proverbial battle for the “hearts and minds” of the Afghans. The biggest problem was that the United States was not prepared for the post-war situation and had no plans to tackle the problems

President Pervez Musharaff’s Views

The present line of control, he asserted, is the issue over which the two countries have fought three wars. So how can that be a solution to the problem, he asked with all the emphasis he could invoke.

The Follies of the Natives

A circus called Pakistan

History Rehearsing: Dark Ages of Islam

poor masses hopelessly in search of a savior

Pakistan and India - Lets Compromise

The program began by applauding Indian PM Vajpayee’s concession to meet Jamali, his Pakistani counter-part

Saddam Hussein Lives!

The Future of America’s Occupation is Failure

When Democracy Failed: The Warnings of History

The 70th anniversary wasn't noticed in the United States

Survival of the Fittest

If Pakistan is next then what are the options?

Origins of the Modern World Capitalist Economy

A Stable Political Order in Post-War Iraq?

A new political order in Iraq is likely to be strife-ridden

The Wages Of Death

Wars are political acts of concentrated violence and yet, there is violence in this war, but there is no rhyme to its logic.

Three Arguments Against a War

As America prepares for war, I want to present three arguments for peace:

Dam it?

Protest against the extension of Mangla Dam continues despite the mainstream media's ignorance

The March of Folly

Is It A War On Islam?

What, then, should be the strategy for all those who believe in a just world and are appalled by America's war on the weak?

All The Bridges Are Burning

The United States’ foreign policy has historically oscillated between recklessness of unilateralism and the cautious nature of multilateralism.

Road Blocks in Normalising Relations

If cross border terrorism ceases, facilitating a dialogue between India and Pakistan, will a dividend of long term peace follow?

India’s Potential Lose-Lose-Lose Scenario

India may actually be helping Pakistan in the long run, not harming it, with its current war hysteria

The Panel of Vendettas at UC Berkley

A true hero would make a radical notion and never back track

An Interview with Noam Chomsky

I don’t feel that I have important messages to convey

The Future Is Another Country: 2050 And Beyond

Osama bin Laden has his own vision of a perfect world and millions will die

Enough is Enough

Some of us, like Noah’s family, will be saved

Running Naked

Looking at the current India, Pakistan conflict as Manto would have

Muslims and The West After 11th September

America has exacted blood revenge for the Twin Towers

The Clash Of Un-Civilizations And Osama-ism

It is misleading to think and give an impression that these issues will just disappear if Osama is captured or killed today.

A Decision to Regret

the Afghans have always resisted a government imposed from abroad

Journalists or Americans?

Is Islamist even a word?

Jihad: Paradoxes and Defining Moments

There will always be a lunatic fringe in the Muslim society

Crisis and Opportunity

This crisis is ultimately a consequence of myopic policies in the US and in the Muslim world

Group Captain Cecil Chaudhry, SJ

An interview with a war hero ...

An Eulogy For The Hawks

Your administrations’ talks with President Musharraf

Refusing the Sitara-I-Imtiaz

...look at our generals – they get a shovel-full of impressive medals each year that they proudly wear on their chests. But tell me how many wars have they won?

A Different Story

The winds of change are slowly whispering their way across the South Asian sub-continent

When Pakistan Defeated Herself...

there was no way for it [India] to convincingly prove that Pakistan indeed harbored territorial ambitions on i-Kashmir

Can Clinton Stand in Front of the Taj?

Vices or not, Clinton certainly got to go as far as India

Different Eagles, Same Genus

For the Indian war planners, the Pakistan Air Force is their worst fear...

International Monetary Fund (IMF) __ Friend or Foe?

The friendship of IMF is like that of a bear. Its embrace will kill you.

Why An Interim Civilian Government will Fail

Putting up a front government will achieve simply nothing

A Road To Siachen

An analysis of the Pakistani military thought and its interests in the present crisis

WW III? An Analysis of Yugoslavia

The media has been lying to the world about the crisis in Kosova

A Line Runs Through It

Siachen-Kargil: India, Pakistan, Kashmir and forgotton lessons of history

Is Accidental Nuclear War Impossible?

...the truth is that accidents, sabotage, and tragedy have frequently haunted our two countries.

Building Homes and Building Software

Only when people are living the design will the design come alive

Onwards to the Nuclear Abyss

India, Pakistan and the March of Folly

The Hard Choice

A Pakistani physicist’s view on the eve of the Pakistani N-tests

Poet Sheikh Ayaz

He was incarcerated many times for his seditious writings and was also sentenced to death, but escaped gallows due to the sudden change of government.