South Asia

Once upon a time, if it was big and it was a technological advance, I’d expect to hear it was happening in the United States. As Trump flushes the toilet on true American greatness (its intellectual capital, ability to attract talent from around the world, its open-mindedness and freedom for innovation, its commitment to the […]

Featured

India stands with Iran against Trump Sanctions

Juan Cole

India’s External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, on Monday did not mince words in delivering a sharp rebuke to US plans for sanctions on trade with Iran, including National Security Adviser John Bolton’s threats against third parties like India. She said, according to The Hindu, “Our foreign policy is not made under pressure from other countries […]

Afghanistan

On Memorial Day, US Troops still Dying in Afghanistan but 1/2 the Country is Lost

Juan Cole

The Afghanistan government controls only about half of Afghanistan, 229 of 407 districts. Maybe because it is a bad news story, our Afghanistan War, the longest in our history, keeps slipping our minds, along with thoughts of the Americans still fighting there. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, has issued a report […]

Pakistan

To Fight Talibanism, Pakistan finally gives Rights to People in Tribal Areas

Sajjad Tarakzai

Islamabad (AFP) – Pakistan passed legislation Thursday paving the way for its restive tribal areas, long a focal point in the global war on terror, to enter the political mainstream, ending a colonial-era arrangement that endorsed collective punishment and fuelled militancy. The constitutional amendment would see the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the […]

Music

Pakistan’s Sufi music fights to be heard after singer’s Killing

AFP

By David STOUT | – – Karachi (AFP) – Nearly two years after Pakistan’s foremost qawwali singer Amjad Sabri was gunned down in Karachi, the devotional music of Islam’s Sufi mystical sect is struggling to survive, as fears of sectarianism and modern pressures slowly drown out its powerfully hypnotic strains. Thousands poured into the streets […]

Afghanistan

Kabul Mourns Loss of ‘Invincible Hero’ in Anti-Shiite Suicide Blast

contributors

by Usman Sharifi | – – Kabul (AFP) – Whenever suicide attackers struck his fellow Shiites in Kabul, Wakil Hussain Allahdad would drop what he was doing and rush to the scene to help rescue survivors and carry away the dead. But on Sunday Allahdad himself became a victim, fatally wounded in the devastating blast […]

Afghanistan

Afghanistan: How a Shrine Bombing in Kabul tells us Trump’s Surge won’t Succeed

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – This year, the merriment of Now-Ruz in Kabul was marred by a suicide bombing that killed at least 33 persons and wounded 68, according to the Afghani Ministry of Health. The perpetrator was allegedly a member of ISIL (which really needs another name, since it isn’t […]

Afghanistan

Despite Trump Surge, Taliban Attack Afghan Army Post, Killing 18 Soldiers

contributors

TeleSur | – – A bomb attack also took place in the capital Kabul killing at least one person. Islamic State group in Afghanistan claimed responsibility. Taliban militants have attacked an Afghan army post and killed 18 government soldiers, the defense ministry said Saturday, while a suicide bomber in the capital killed one person and […]

Afghanistan

Did the Pentagon’s War on Drugs Confound Counter-Terrorism?

contributors

By Nick Turse | (Tomdispatch.com) | – – 2017 was a year of investigations for U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). There was the investigation of the two-star commander of U.S. Army Africa who allegedly sent racy texts to an enlisted man’s wife. There was the investigation into the alleged killing of a Special Forces soldier by […]