Theater Oobleck presents a conversation with Juan Cole of the “Informed Comment” blog and Chuck Mertz of the This is Hell radio program, to follow our 2pm Sunday performance of Spukt. They will be talking about Juan’s new book, “Napoleon’s Egypt: Invading the Middle East,” which is indeed the very subject of Oobleck’s new musical […]
The Choice in Pakistan is Democracy or Talibanization: Guest Op-ed by Shahin M. Cole
Shahin M. Cole, Esq., writes: ‘I am one of those Pakistan-trained lawyers you have been hearing about. I have spent the last few days watching on television how my colleagues have been dragged, kicked, and beaten by hired hands, just because of their political views. My former law school professors, some of whom are now […]
Suggested Reading
Barnett Rubin warns that knee-jerk support for Pakistani military dictator Pervez Musharraf is not exactly ‘realism’ of the sort some Washington politicians like to boast of. Josh Marshall hosts a piece by Spencer Ackerman on how most of the billions Bush has given Pakistani military dictator Gen. Pervez Musharraf has been an un-audited free gift […]
Major Bombing of KDP HQ in Kirkuk 12 Dead; 14% of Iraqis Displaced
14 percent of Iraqis are now displaced from their homes. That would be the equivalent of 42 million Americans forced from their places of residence. I mean, it is a Stephen King-style futuristic apocalypse for Iraq. Only it has just happened, during the past 4 1/2 years. And the American government is responsible for kicking […]
Extremists Expand in Swat Bhutto, Iftikhar Call for Rallies Media Defiant
While the Pakistani military is bothering innocent human rights activists and attorneys who want to defend the country’s constitution, it is ignoring Muslim radicals’ advances in the north of the country, according to Zee News: ‘ Pro-Taliban militants have strengthened their hold on the Swat valley in northwestern Pakistan by seizing several key towns after […]
Massive Bombing in Afghanistan Kills 50, including 6 MPs
In a further sign that the Bush-imposed order in Afghanistan (and the Middle East) is unraveling, a suicide bomber in Baghlan near Kabul unleashed a bomb amid a parliamentary delegation that had come to visit a sugar factory. The blast left at least 50 dead and killed 6 members of the Afghanistan parliament. Around 50 […]
2007 Deadliest Year Yet for US Troops 30 Bodies found in Tharthar Shiite on Shiite Tensions in South
2007 will be the deadliest year yet for US troops in Iraq. Seven American soldiers were killed on Monday alone, bringing this year’s total to 853, more than at any time since 2004 (the year of the Mahdi Army uprising among Shiites and the Salafi Jihadi push on Baghdad). As Michael Munk writes, ‘ US […]
Cole in Salon on Bush and Musharraf’s Grand Illusion
My article on the Pakistan crisis, “Bush and Musharraf’s Grand Illusion,” is now available online. Excerpt: ‘ In the fall of 1999, as he campaigned for the presidency, George W. Bush was asked by a reporter to name the leader of Pakistan. Bush could not. He famously replied: “The new Pakistani general, he’s just been […]
Attorney Protests, Arrests Benazir Pledges Rally Urdu Press on Musharraf’s State of Emergency
The Financial Times reports that Pakistan’s cabinet has decided to hold elections in January after all, backing off statements made over the weekend that they might be postponed for a year. The FT suggests that the vehemence of the response from demonstrating lawyers and other elements of civil society has been stronger than Gen. Musharraf […]
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