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Pakistan goes for militants' jugular
The pieces are all in place for Pakistan to launch an all-out attack on the
Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaeda in the Waziristan tribal areas on the Afghan
border. The formerly reluctant military is fully on board, the United States is
actively assisting with intelligence, and most important, the financial
lifeblood of the militants is being squeezed as never before. - Syed Saleem
Shahzad (Oct 6, '09)
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US stands right beside Islamabad
The Barack Obama administration now believes that the Pakistani Taliban have
effectively over-reached and that Pakistan's elite, including the army, has
come to see it and its al-Qaeda allies as a much greater threat to the country
than ever before. - Jim Lobe (Oct 6, '09)
Give and take on North Korea
North Korea's Kim Jong-il on Tuesday promised visiting Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao that Pyongyang will return to the six-party talks that the North has
previously spurned. Beijing will take credit for arm-twisting the recalcitrant
North Koreans, while Kim will believe he has played his cards just right. - Donald
Kirk (Oct 6, '09)
More power to Afghan warlords
The West's strategy of promoting 
democracy in Kabul while taking on the Taliban in the field with unproven
Afghan troops and overstretched allied forces has left it staring at defeat in
Afghanistan. The plan ignores an alternative that succeeded spectacularly in
2001: arming tribal warlords and turning them loose on the Taliban. - Richard M
Bennett (Oct 6, '09)
India plays down Chinese incursions
Reports of Chinese incursions into Indian territory are on the rise, with
alleged firefights, air space infringements and graffiti. But New Delhi has
downplayed them, saying there are diplomatic mechanisms for such issues. At the
same time, the Indian military is making its own assessment. - Priyanka Bhardwaj
(Oct 6, '09)
China's satellite diplomacy shifts a gear
China offers satellites to developing countries at
bargain-basement prices, however, accurately calculating the exact cost of
these satellite projects is difficult because rarely, if ever, is anything done
in the open. - Peter J Brown (Oct 6, '09)
Ghost of Thaksin's past visits
Abhisit
Even as Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva works hard to assure foreign investors
and diplomats that Thailand's recent turmoil is no cause for concern, he is
struggling to control his unwieldy and scandal-tainted coalition. Whether
Abhisit can maintain his clean image while in league with coalition partners
and party members who seem bent on self-enrichment may determine his political
future. - Seth Kane (Oct 6, '09)
 SPENGLER
Obama's permanent depression
The toxic cocktail of fiscal stimulus combined with near-zero interest rates in
the United States allows financial institutions to profit while further
depressing the productive economy. The resulting deteriorating jobs market is
now instilling panic in Barack Obama's White House. The parallels with Japan in
1989 are uncanny. Japan, though, had one advantage: it knew how to export. - Spengler
(Oct 5, '09)
Manmohan's smile masks Indian woes
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's rare relaxed manner at the Pittsburgh
Group of 20 summit reflected well his own and India's growing international
stature. At home, there is less to cheer, with vital mega-buck industrial
projects bogged down amid opposition from marginalized citizens and Maoist
militants. - Santwana Bhattacharya (Oct 5,
'09)
New doubt on US's Iran plant claim
Washington's charge that construction on Iran's second uranium-enrichment
facility is part of a covert decision to violate its International Atomic
Energy obligations is being questioned. Further analysis of satellite photos of
the site suggests Iran is not in the wrong. - Gareth Porter
(Oct 5, '09)
Seeds of change in Iraqi Kurdistan
Leaders from Iraqi Kurdistan's upstart political opposition, the Movement for
Change, say the party's departure from traditional clan-based politics led to
its unprecedented success at recent regional elections. The group is part of an
unexpected democratic progress that has forced Turkey, Iran and Syria into a
strategic rethink. - Derek Henry Flood (Oct
5, '09)
Iraq's Maliki gathers his forces
Hard on the heels of the formation of a new Iraqi party comprising Shi'ite
heavyweights to contest January's elections, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has
unveiled his own new coalition, which he touts as cross-confessional and
secular. This it might be, but it comprises mostly political lightweights. - Sami
Moubayed (Oct 5, '09) |
Sex and security in Afghanistan
Apart from rollicking romps at the United States Embassy in Kabul, allegations
have emerged of private security contractors in Afghanistan frequenting
brothels notorious for housing trafficked women. - David Isenberg
(Oct 5, '09)
 CHAN
AKYA
Double or quits
As the employment picture in the United States grows ever more bleak, Keynesian
economists are producing their standard calls to government - spend more, and
the good times will come. This after seeing vast amounts already poured into
rescuing the economy come to little effect. It is the cry of despair of a
failing gambler. (Oct 5, '09)
US storms troops into the
Philippines
About 3,000 United States Marines are due to arrive in the Philippines for
training and humanitarian missions in the wake of recent floods there. That's
the official line, anyway. With extremists having recently killed two US
soldiers on war-torn Sulu island, the marines might have another mission in
mind. - Al Labita (Oct 2, '09)
October surprise in US-Iran
relations
The meeting on Thursday between Iran and the six countries dealing with its
nuclear case resulted in agreement for a follow-up encounter, in itself an
important development, given the heated atmosphere in the lead-up to the talks.
As significant, the United States and Iran made an initial direct contact,
raising hopes of a real breakthrough. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi
(Oct 2, '09)
India and China profess brotherhood
With flashy ads and eloquent statements, India congratulated China on its 60th
anniversary, with Beijing in turn touting its commitment to India's economic
development. Beneath the surface, however, a number of issues simmer,
particularly border disputes. - Sreeram Chaulia
(Oct 2, '09)
CHAN
AKYA
One man's terrorist ...
Behind the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka and the
killing of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud are stories of countries
creating bands of terrorists to do things that were impossible for those in
power to be seen to be doing directly. In this dangerous game, blowback is
inevitable. (Oct 2, '09)
THE ROVING EYE
Jumpin' Jack Verdi, it's a gas,
gas, gas
Washington wants reluctant Europeans to wean themselves off Russian gas and do
more to protect Pipelineistan - that network of real and virtual routes
intended to channel from the planet's most fractured political landscape the
lifeblood of the world's richest industrial area. It's a new great game, and
it's still the Cold War. It's pure opera, on a grand, grand scale. - Pepe
Escobar (Oct 2, '09)
Indonesia a cut above Malaysia
 A
long-running feud between Indonesia and Malaysia over cultural ownership of
traditional dance, music and dress styles has been re-ignited with the former's
batik method of decorating cloth now added to a United Nations heritage list.
Jakarta claims it as a victory, while Malaysians say an Indonesian inferiority
complex is at work. - Sara Schonhardt (Oct 2,
'09)
 BOOK
REVIEW
Named and shamed
Bailout Nation by Barry Ritholtz with Aaron Task
The United States government has thrown billions of dollars at rescuing
companies and their officers who should have been bankrupted, exposed as
charlatans, in some cases jailed, argues Ritholtz in a compelling and
devastatingly accurate indictment of the financial and political establishment.
- Muhammad Cohen (Oct 2, '09)
China maps an end to the Afghan war
A senior Chinese official has publicly put forward an unusually forthright and
timely view on the Afghanistan conflict, proposing concrete steps to be taken
towards unlocking the stalemate there. This, he argues, is an Afghan issue,
while al-Qaeda is not a big factor. Not the least important: US troops should
go home. - M K Bhadrakumar (Oct 1, '09)
China's military struts its stuff
The military took center stage on Thursday during celebrations to mark the 60th
anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Significantly,
the massive parade in Beijing featured hitherto unseen advanced hardware
developed and made in China. The People's Liberation Army has been equally open
in outlining its ambitious modernization plans to make it the best fighting
force in the world. - Cristian Segura and Wu Zhong
(Oct 1, '09)
The night Zhou was drunk under the table
While out-drinking Chinese premier Zhou Enlai, arguing over literature with Mao
Zedong's wife and sharing turkey with the Gang of Four, a young Westerner in
Beijing at the time of the Cultural Revolution was blissfully unaware of the
Moscow-style purges going on behind the scenes. - Ian Williams
(Oct 1, '09)
A MANUFACTURED CRISIS, Part 3
The case for Iran
 Fiery
rhetoric aside, Iran's leaders are now being cautious, and their military
intentions are defensive. They know all too well how sanctions would cripple
the economy, and the Iranian people have no desire to replicate the horror of
the defensive war they waged against Iraq for most of the 1980s. - Jack A Smith
(Oct 1, '09)
This concludes a three-part report.
PART 1: The
facts of the matter
PART 2: It's
sanctions or bust
China warily watches US-Myanmar detente
Ongoing concern in Bejing over unrest near the China-Myanmar border, which led
to a mass influx of refugees into southern China, has been heightened by
diplomatic overtures by the junta to the United States. China's leaders are
suspicious of any US attempt to counter its influence in the region. - Larry
Jagan (Oct 1, '09)
THE ROVING EYE
It's bomb, bomb, bomb Iran time
Israel, sundry Sunni Arab puppet rulers and dictators, the American right and
the European right, these all fear Iran's regional clout and want to castigate
Tehran in Thursday's nuclear talks. Iran's nuclear dossier - and new
revelations about a second, not-so-secret enrichment plant - could not be a
more convenient cover story for regime change. - Pepe Escobar
(Sep 30, '09)
If Afghanistan is its test, NATO is
failing
As it celebrates its 60th birthday this year, the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization is cracking, with its internal politics having become fractious to
the point of dysfunction. What was once billed as the most powerful military
alliance in history will surely outlive its failures in Afghanistan and its
adjustment to new global threats. But it may survive in name alone. - John
Feffer (Sep 30, '09)
 SINOGRAPH
A culture at ease with war
A common perception of China is that over the centuries there was a conflict
between culture and literature on the one side and military affairs on the
other. Similarly, a belief grew that China was unfit for war and an easy
pushover. An exhaustive new book tells another story, showing how the Chinese
are well prepared for opposing armies. - Francesco Sisci
(Sep 30, '09)
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David P
Goldman
(Oct 2, '09)
...never before has the US stock market traded as if it were [in] a
banana-republic.
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Shanda
Games
shows its wrinkles
China's Shanda Interactive is laughing all the way to the bank after the US$1
billion spin-off and Nasdaq listing of its Shanda Games unit, while buyers of
the stock are wondering why their fingers got burnt. Perhaps they forgot that
when it comes to games, age matters. - Sherman So
Payback time
Efforts to cut back on the vast rewards to United States bankers whose
activities undermine society as a whole could be bad news for girls happy to be
named on the school "slut list" in up-market New Jersey - unless their folks
actually work for Goldman Sachs. - Julian Delasantellis
THE BEAR'S LAIR
How to disarm the
liquidity bomb
Policymakers in the United States talk of reversing the unprecedented liquidity
pumped into the financial system while signaling that interest rates will
remain near zero for some time to come. Yet it is essential to raise rates
before removing the liquidity. The other way around won't work. - Martin
Hutchinson
FROM THE BLOG
Basket-case stocks
The US stock market is repricing to a basket of alternatives to the dollar.
That doesn't spell the end of the US dollar as a reserve currency - for now.
But keep it up, and the world will eventually find a substitute for the dollar.
- David Goldman
 Dry
guide
to 'recovery'
United States legislators, woefully ignorant of how the financial system works
and how it got the world into the present mess, need only a glance at the
exotic-sounding Baltic Dry Index to find out how strong the so-called recovery
is - it isn't. |
CREDIT BUBBLE BULLETIN
No way to fix a collapse
Credit bubbles are fundamentally about a confluence of undisciplined behavior,
from monetary system management, through lending and investment, to spending
throughout the economy. The consequences of increasingly bold policy activism
include a more unbalanced economic structure, as witnessed today.
(Oct 5, '09)
Doug Noland looks at the previous week's events each Monday.
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"[S]ince the Islamic Republic [Iran] came into being nearly three decades ago
it has not violated the borders of any sovereign state, neighboring or distant
... Can the same be said for the United States over the same period? ...
[Bigbird's] perceived Iranian religious "madness" scares me less than my
observed American great power hubris. ..." - MonsoonWind
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From Our Mailbox
Perhaps the most salient fact in
Uyghurs face an education dilemma [October 6] by Paloma Robles, is the
very existence of the "two school systems". It seems to repudiate the charge of
the Han Chinese majority's total insensitivity to minority cultures.
Jeff Church
USA
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to Letters to the Editor |
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ATol Specials
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By Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Jan '09) |
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VIDEO
Taliban's new breed of leader
(May '08) |
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The
Gates
Inheritance
By
Roger Morris
(June '07) |
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Syed Saleem Shahzad reports on
the Afghan war from the Taliban side
(Dec '06)
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How
Hezbollah defeated Israel
By
Mark Perry and
Alastair Crooke
(Oct '06)
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Mark
Perry and
Alastair Crooke
talk to the 'terrorists'
(Mar '06)
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China:
The
Impossible
Revolution
By
Francesco Sisci
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The Coming
Trade War
By Henry C K Liu
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A series
by Henry C K Liu
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Sinoroving
Pepe Escobar in China
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Money, Power
and
Modern Art
A series by Henry C K Liu
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Andre Gunder Frank on Uncle Sam and his
shrinking dollar
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By Pepe Escobar with
photographs by Kevin Nortz
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Nir Rosen goes inside the Iraqi
resistance
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Nir Rosen rides with the US 3rd
Armored Cavalry in western Iraq
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