Juan Cole

The NYT broke the news that the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence, with the cooperation of US intelligence, captured Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar a few days ago. Baradar, the number 2 man in the Old Taliban led by Mulla Umar, is the equivalent of military chief of staff for the organization. Depending on how much he is […]

In the pincer move of British, US/ NATO and Afghan forces on Marjah in poppy-rich Helmand Province, the Taliban have behaved differently in each area. In the north, as the British approached Nad Ali, the Taliban faded away and there was very light resistance. Afghan authorities charged that 35 Pakistani Taliban were fighting alongside Afghan […]

A string of bombings on Sunday targeted political offices of those parties willing to contest the March 7 parliamentary elections, including secular Sunnis. The violence comes as one more worry in the course of Iraq’s most controversial election. Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that over a hundred (145) candidates for parliament were disqualified from running by […]

Link BBC News – Afghanistan Nato operation 'meets first objectives' BBC reporting British advance from north, met ‘minimum interference’ from Taliban. US Marines were brought into Marjah city by helicopter. Four small firefights going on Saturday evening but in the city, as well, resistance seems less than expected. Taliban are guerrillas who know they are […]

Link: Official Site of We Are The World 25 For Haiti Here is the official site of the new ‘We are the World’ video for Haiti. Proceeds go for relief efforts for the earthquake victims. You know what to do. End/ (Not Continued)

AFP reports that the joint NATO/ Afghanistan National Army assault force of 15,000 on Friday moved toward the Helmand city of Marjah, at the center of the poppy growing heartland of Helmand Province. The city of some 80,000 has been surrounded for weeks. On Friday the road east to the capital, Lashkar Gah, was crowded […]

Israel Violates Economic Sanctions Against Iran by Grant Smith — Antiwar.com Economic sanctions don’t produce regime change in and of themselves. They mainly hurt the little people in places like Cuba or Iraq. And, they create black markets for the unscrupulous. Obama Iran sanctions another buying opportunity for the Marc Riches of the world. End/ […]

Palestinians dressed as ‘Na’vi’ from ‘Avatar’ join protest against the wall. | MONDOWEISS Courtesy Mondoweiss & the Nation Institute Yeah, but the implication from the film is also that you need some good people from the Israeli Army and academia to help out if the Na’vi aren’t to be obliterated. End/ (Not Continued)

The opposition press in Iran says that former presidential candidate Mir Hosain Musavi attempted to go to Azadi (Freedom) Square in downtown Tehran on the occasion of the commemoration of 31 years of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, but was prevented from doing so by a phalanx of plainclothesmen. Musavi had been prime minister under […]