February-March 2009 Links

February-March 2009 Links

Afghanistan-Pakistan-Kyrgyzstan

• 'Pashtunistan'--the borderlands between Afghanistan and Pakistan--holds key to Obama mission


• Afghan leader accused of bid to 'legalise rape' among Shi'a minority


• Afghan sepulcher?


• Afghan Women Slowly Gaining Protection


• Afghanistan: Chaos Central


• Afghanistan: Experiment with Democracy


• Afghanistan: Lost in translation


• America’s Confused Cause in Central Asia


• An Alternative to War in Afghanistan


• Another War Lost?


• Barack Obama's Afghan quagmire keeps getting deeper


• Blown Up in Bin Laden Country


• British Muslims 'providing Taliban with electronic devices for roadside bombs'


• British to play smaller role as U.S. troops fight 'losing battle'


• Can Sufi Islam counter the Taleban?


• Chaudhry’s Reinstatement Lifts Pakistanis’ Hopes


• Court Backs Afghan Journalist’s Prison Term for Blasphemy


• Deals with the Taliban could be dangerous


• Drawn and Quartered


• Dreaming of Splitting the Taliban


• Emergency Rule, Mass Arrests Leave Pakistan on the Brink


• Enduring Warlord


• Former warlord to fight Karzai in Afghanistan polls


• Glasnost in London, War Fever in Washington


• Going the Distance


• Grim struggle continues for women in Afghanistan


• Handing the Swat Valley to the Taliban was shameful and wrong


• Hundreds Arrested in Punjab, Suspension of Civil Liberties Instituted, and Some Set Out on Long March


• In Pakistani Opposition, a Mix of Motivations


• Kyrgyzstan's Revenge


• Many in Afghanistan oppose Obama's troop buildup plans


• Marching for Democracy in Pakistan


• Militant attack on cricket team in Pakistan could backfire


• Military Ultimatum Forced Resolution to Pakistan Crisis


• NATO is deeper in its Afghan mire than Russia ever was


• No Quick Fix for Pakistan's Tribal Areas


• Obama and the War in Afghanistan


• Obama anti-terrorism plan could be doomed to fail


• One Country, Three Futures


• Ousted Pakistan Chief Justice Restored: Crisis Appears Over


• Pakistan's evolving sectarian schism


• Pakistan's tenuous gains on Taliban


• Pakistan in Turmoil Over Sharif Bans


• Pakistan Lurches Toward the Abyss


• Policing Afghanistan: Obama's New Strategy


• Poll Shows Afghan Populace Losing Faith in Govt, NATO


• Protests against Pakistani government turn violent


• Taliban Commander’s Death Ends an Embarrassment for Karzai Government


• The Cambridge chaplain fighting fanaticism by radio in Pakistan's Swat valley


• The Other Side of the Coin


• Twilight in Afghanistan


• U.K. troops fighting British Muslims in Afghanistan


• U.S. aid effort under fire in Pakistan border area


• U.S. finds new Afghan supply route


• U.S. Gear Ending Up in Pakistan Markets


• U.S. military has lost 222,000 weapons sent to Afghanistan since 2001


• U.S. supply routes in Afghanistan squeezed 2 ways


• U.S. supply routes to Afghanistan suffer two huge blows


• Where the Wild Things Are


• Who Will Rein in the War in Afghanistan?

Africa

• Battling Christian Terrorists


• No No-Fly Zones over Darfur


• The feud over Ishmael Beah's child-soldier memoir, A Long Way Gone


• Why Arab leaders embrace Sudan's indicted president

American-Israeli Relations

• Abrams Confirms His New Role


• Breaking the Taboo on Israel's Spying Efforts on the United States


• Chas Freeman and Saudi Money


• Israel's national security aide barred from U.S.


• Ex-Lobbyists in U.S. Case of Espionage Win a Round


• Intelligence Chairman Freeman Stirs Israeli Ire


• Is the Israel Lobby Running Scared?


• Jeffrey Goldberg's gasping, dying smear tactics


• Lobby? What Lobby?


• Should AIPAC Decide What's Classified?


• The Defamation League

Balkans

• Clinton's Kosovo Frauds


• Former Serb president cleared of Kosovo crimes


• NATO Cluster Bombs Still Threaten Thousands in Serbia: Report


• The EU is still divided over Kosovo's status, one year on from its declaration of independence


• The legacy of Kosovo? International paternalism


• The Nation Formerly Known as Yugoslavia


• The Prophet's Fifth Column: Islamists Gain Ground in Sarajevo

Iran

• A Call To End 'Death To America' Chants In Iran


• Don't Let the Iran Headlines Scare You


• Iran's Détente Gesture to Obama?


• Iran, the Jews, and Germany


• Khatami quits presidential race, supports fellow reformist


• Muslim Weapons of Mass Destruction


• On the streets of Tehran, even the hardliners are weary of presidential platitudes


• Return of the War Party

Iraq

• A coup for Maliki and a secular Iraq


• Debt as a unifying force in Iraq


• Interview with Patrick Cockburn: Preliminary results from the Iraqi provincial elections, the strong performance of nationalist and secular parties compared to religious parties, the whereabouts of Muqtada al-Sadr and the role his militia and political factions will play in Iraq’s future, the patronage system developed between Nuri al-Maliki’s Dawa party and tribal councils that contributed to their electoral success, and the near-certainty that U.S. occupation is coming to an end.


• Iran Did Not Lose the Provincial Elections


• Iraq's Provincial Elections: What to Watch For


• Iraq's voices of pessimism


• Iraq shoe thrower sentenced to three years in jail


• Iraqi Refugees Returning to Danger Zone to Escape Poverty in Utah


• Iraqis worry over U.S. pullout


• Is the U.S. Paying Off the Italian Government for Forging the Niger Documents?


• Obama's Withdrawal Non-Withdrawal Plan


• Obama to extend Iraq withdrawal timetable; 50,000 troops to stay


• Pentagon knowingly exposed troops to cancer-causing chemicals, document shows


• Pssst, the War's Not Over


• Sadr facing leadership challenge


• Shoe-Throwing Journalist Sentenced to Three Years


• The mysterious case of Mohammed al-Dainy


• The Myth of Kurdistan


• U.S. tests military exit routes out of Iraq


• Violence and intimidation mark run-up to Iraqi elections


• We're really leaving Iraq


• Why 10,000 Ugandans are eagerly working in Iraq

Islam

• Banned Dutch MP Geert Wilders hits out at 'cowards' after being sent back


• Christian Middle East exodus worries churches


• Geert Wilders on HARDtalk: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 (YouTube videos)


• Islam and the West: Lines of Demarcation


• Let's Not Make Room For Islam In The Judeo-Christian Tradition


• Middle East Salafism and the Radicalization of Muslim Communities in Europe


• On Interaction With Non-Muslims


• Saudi Arabia says only mosques allowed


• Science and Islam in Conflict


• Science and the Islamic world: the quest for rapprochement


• Somali-Americans Recruited by Islamists


• The Darker Side


• The Kingdom in the Closet


• The War Within: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 (YouTube videos)


• Will Muslim Immigration destroy Western Democracy?

Israel-Palestine

• 'Most Israelis unsatisfied with election results'


• An Arab-made misery


• Arab men seek Israeli brides


• Hamas murder campaign in Gaza exposed


• How 'Canadians' almost ignited a war


• How Hamas uses murder and torture to erase Fatah rivals


• Let's leverage the good demographic news


• Netanyahu: The leader who struts like a superpower


• Palestinian orchestra shut down after performing for Holocaust survivors in Israel


• Remember Ophira?


• Secret Israeli database reveals full extent of illegal settlement


• The nightmare of Netanyahu returns


• The Rewriting, Un-rewriting, and Re-rewriting of History


• The Rise of Avigdor Lieberman


• Two Palestinian women become judges in Islamic court


• U.N. Halts Gaza Aid, Citing Hamas Thefts

Lebanon-Syria

• Hezbollah: A Primer


• Hezbollah spends millions to rebuild stronghold


• Israel, Hezbollah: Has deterrance worked?


• Lebanese in Shock Over Arrest of an Accused Spy


• Syria's interests in Lebanon

Russia and Its Neighbours

• Chechen leader imposes strict brand of Islam


• Georgia, a Nation Stalled On the Road to Democracy


• Ingushetia tries new tactics to quell insurgency


• To Russia, With Hate

Illegal and Questionable U.S./British Government Policies

• Britain’s omertà on torture is a crime


• Bush administration reversed claims of wartime powers


• Counter Intelligence


• If You Are Reading This, You May Already be a Terrorist


• Investigative Reporter Seymour Hersh Describes 'Executive Assassination Ring'


• John Yoo is Sorry for Nothing


• Masterful Masters on Our Masters


• Obama's Defense of Rumsfeld and Yoo


• Obama's efforts to block a judicial ruling on Bush's illegal wiretapping


• Obama's Policy on Civil Liberties: Bush Lite?


• Obama lawyers argue to drop Yoo torture suit


• Our Enemy, the President


• Post-9/11 reforms don’t stop passport fakery


• Prisoner's Harsh Treatment Foiled No Plots


• Prosecuting Terrorist Trials in U.S. Courts Poses Tremendous Hurdles


• Ron Paul agitates Jim Baker over War Powers during hearing (YouTube video)


• Science of Amerithrax


• Secret Bush Memo Authorizing Warrantless Seizure Of 'Terror Suspects' Released


• Some Truths About Guantanamo Bay


• The enemies of Jim Crow


• The failure to free Binyam Mohamed signals Obama's backsliding on torture


• The Groundwork Has Already Been Laid for Martial Law


• The Indefinite Future of Indefinite Detention


• The Martial Law Mindset


• The mission of the Beltway journalist


• The Newly Released Secret Laws of the Bush Administration


• U.S. Supreme Court Dismisses al-Marri's Challenge of His Detention


• U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Limits President’s Power to Detain Legal Residents


• Unredacted documents reveal prisoners tortured to death


• Was Binyam Mohamed brutalized at Guantanamo in the last month?


• Why Is the Obama Administration Defending John Yoo?


• Why it matters that the Army was on the streets of Samson, Alabama


• You Can't Be a Christian and Tolerate Torture

War and Intervention

• Anti-narcotics drive has fuelled drug cartels: U.N.


• Did the U.S. Learn Anything in Iraq?


• Farewell, Monroe Doctrine


• Germany and Poland square up in row over war


• Noninterventionists Need Not Apply


• Ron Paul: The end of the war in Iraq is not near (YouTube video)


• The Christian and War


• The Offensive Side of Missile Defense


• The Psychology of War

Uncategorized

• An Arab Poet Who Dares to Differ


• Annoying Words


• Caesar Is Not God


• Declaration of Cultural Independence


• Genetic Engineering of Crops Is Not the Answer


• Monsters in the making?


• Rethink Stem Cells? Science Already Has


• The End of Newspapers? Or Is There a Journalism School Model?


• The Great College Hoax


• The New Totalitarianism


• The Pope, HIV/AIDS, and Africa