Month

Archives: Asia

Trump to Send 4,000 More US Troops to Afghanistan as Mattis admits ‘Not Winning’

TeleSur | - - The Trump adminstration plans to deploy 4,000 more troops, extending the nearly The official says troops will train Afghan soldiers, and fight Taliban and Islamic State group forces.…

Popular Protest against US-backed Government in Kabul: What is going On?

By Solaiman M. Fazel | (Informed Comment) | - - Two days after a deadly blast in Kabul’s diplomatic quarter, why did thousands of residents and civil society activists participate in a…

The Climate Catastrophe Trump Promotes: Bangladesh between Flood and Drought

World Bank | (Video Clip) - - "Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change impacts. Watch how communities in areas afflicted by recurring floods…

Apocalypse Soon: Does Trump Downgrade of Diplomacy in Koreas threaten us All?

By Rajan Menon | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - Defense Secretary James Mattis remarked recently that a war with North Korea would be “tragic on an unbelievable scale.” No kidding. “Tragic” doesn’t…

Could public anger over Kabul Bombing shake Afghan Government?

By Frud Bezhan. ( RFE/RL) | - - How did a sewage tank truck packed with explosives penetrate a heavily fortified area of the Afghan capital and carry out the deadliest attack…

Trump’s Great Retreat, from Asia Too

John Feffer | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | - - Asia has been the future for more than a generation. When Americans try to glimpse what’s to come, images of the Pacific Rim…

Trump, Paris Accords and the End of the American Century

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - As Trump seems likely to pull out of the Paris Climate accord, he will be creating several kinds of leadership vacuum. One is…

Is US Winning its Longest War? Huge Bomb Hits Kabul Embassy Row, kills at least 80

TeleSur | - - Health ministry spokesman Ismael Kawoosi said: "They are still bringing bodies, and wounded people to hospitals." A powerful vehicle bomb has hit the diplomatic area of the Kabul.…

Coal in Death spiral as India cancels 14 gigs, and Solar prices Plummet

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - China and India have knocked the United States off the top spot of the index of best places to invest in renewables. Analysts…

Is China Now the Adult in the Room? Xi and Macron Consult

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Donald Trump preferred the Neofascist Marine Le Pen as president of France, who wanted to pull out of NATO and the European Union.…

How America’s Myth of the Infallible Generals gets us in Trouble

By Danny Sjursen | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - More, more, more. I was guilty of it myself. Commanding a small cavalry troop of about 85 soldiers in southwest Kandahar Province back…

China’s covering a Football field with Solar Panels Every Hour in Quest to End Coal

By Janet Xuanli Liao | (The Conversation) | - - China’s remarkable growth over the past three decades has elevated it to global superpower status. But its economic miracle has also attracted…

India’s Electric-Car Plans could Leave Trump & US in Dust

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - India's announcement that it wants to have its automobile fleet go completely electric by 2030 is a bigger deal than it seems on…

Taliban Attackers Kill at Least 140 Soldiers at Afghan Base: Officials

TeleSur | - - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani visited the base on Saturday, and in a statement condemned the attack as "cowardly" and the work of "infidels." At least 140 Afghan soldiers…

Sorry, Trump: China is Leading World toward first “Ecological Civilization”

David Tyfield | (The Conversation) | - - The Trump administration’s hostility towards climate action and research leaves a void in global climate politics. Could China step up? The world’s largest absolute…

Isolated Saudi Arabia pivots to Asia; but will it spread Extremism There?

By Babak Mohammadzadeh | (The Conversation) | - - Capital cities across Asia spent the last month rolling out the red carpet for a rarely seen visitor: Saudi Arabia’s ageing King Salman,…

Does Trump’s slashed Foreign Aid Budget give China the Advantage?

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The US foreign aid budget is not mainly about helping the poor. It is an instrument for buying influence in countries important to…

“Dear Nasemi: ‘I’m Sorry.'” (ICE doesn’t Keep out Afghan-American Coffins)

By Jonathan S. Addleton | (Informed Comment) | - - Dear Nasemi – I’m sorry. It is hard to believe that it was almost four years ago that we walked together along…

Afghanistan: We Lost a long Time Ago, and are Still at War

William J. Astore | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | - - America’s war in Afghanistan is now in its 16th year, the longest foreign war in our history. The phrase “no end in…

Why ISIL is Targeting Tolerant Sufi Islam

By Peter Gottschalk | (The Conversation) | - - On Feb. 16, 2017, a bomb ripped through a crowd assembled at the tomb of a Sufi saint, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, in southeastern…