The bedrock principle in the debate on the war in Afghanistan rests on the idea that whatever military action the US undertakes in the country will only serve as ‘a prelude to, rather than a substitute for, Afghanistan taking over the security job.’
That is saying that the ‘White House wants to make sure surge will [...]

NATO Secretary-General Anders Rasmussen admits that the countries within the Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative share the northern alliance’s interests in stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan. This is for the reason that instability in Afghanistan will cause the spread of instability in the region. Pakistan, specifically, is of grave concern in terms of [...]

A massive truck bomb devastated a police station in the city of Peshawar in Pakistan and claimed the lives of four people and injured 30 more, in a region that been marred by a serious of terror attacks in retaliation of  the military offensive against the militant outfits in the region. The intensity of the [...]

The Taliban have apparently been fighting for the institutionalization of the Muslim Sharia law, imposing extremist views on the population. These militants and religious fundamentalists forced ‘their ultraconservative brand of Islam in and around the Swat.’ In the process, they have also been ‘displacing centuries-old traditions,’ as claimed by the Pashtuns.
One of the aspects that [...]

While the terrain is, indeed, extremely rugged, the area along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border is heavily populated, contrary to popular belief. The area of the FATA has millions of Pakistani residents, and most of them are ‘extremely conservative and hostile toward the Pakistani government.’ In 1998, South Waziristan had a population of nearly half a million [...]

Upon assessing the remaining terrorist threat from Afghanistan, the US president’s national security adviser former Marine Gen. James Jones said, “The al-Qaida presence is very diminished. The maximum estimate is less than 100 operating in the country, no bases, no ability to launch attacks on either us or our allies.”
If the US were to go [...]

The Mehsud tribes are some of the fiercest militant fighters and Islamist gangs in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). The Pakistani army has vowed to attack the lairs of the Mehsud militants and crush them. At the behest of the United States and the West who have held Pakistan primarily responsible in solving its insurgency [...]

New colonialism in a globalized world is a curious thing. Countries buying vast parcels of farmlands in poor countries poses new emerging problems. In such cases, only the countries’ respective heads of state know the full details. It gets complicated when provincial governors have auctioned off their land to the highest international bidders such as [...]

Because Joe Biden thinks he always has a gentleman’s agreement upon every backslapping event with his president, he is confident that his president listens to his every advice regarding the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. One of his self-admittedly salient recommendations is not to increase number of troops in Afghanistan. This time, he just might [...]

When it comes to Afghanistan and Pakistan, US Vice President Joe Biden enjoys the privilege of having his president’s faith in his advices and recommendations. Biden’s proposals include American forces to ‘ concentrate on eliminating the Qaeda leadership, primarily in Pakistan, using Special Operations forces, Predator missile strikes and other surgical tactic,’ and ‘not increasing [...]