96 Articles

Saturday, November 7, 2009
Fort Hood Mass Homicide: American Muslims react with grief & fear of backlash
(4 comments) The seven-million strong American Muslim community has reacted, with grief and fear of backlash, at the shooting at Fort Hood in Texas by Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. All major Arab and Muslim organizations were swift in unequivocally condemning this heinous incident which claimed the lives of 13 people and injured scores other.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Pakistan is swiftly drifting towards an all out civil war
(1 comments) Pakistan's mercenary army has launched the long-awaited US-financed offensive in South Waziristan. Two army divisions, supported by an array of jet fighters and helicopter gunships, began a long expected offensive in the South Waziristan tribal agency on October 19. With at least 30,000 combat troops, plus thousands of logistical personnel, it is the largest military operation on either side of the Pak-Afghan border.

Sunday, October 25, 2009
Jundullah Attack on Iranian Revolutionary Guards: The Pakistan Connection
Pakistan's leading English newspaper Dawn has indicated that Oct. 15 suicide attack in the Iranian border town of Pishin that killed 42 people, including six commanders of Iranian Revolutionary Guards, may be in retaliation of Pakistan Army's current operation in South Waziristan.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Beggars can't be choosers: US rejects demand to change capitulating terms for $7.5 billion aid to Pakistan
Brushing aside concerns about the Kerry-Logar legislation as misinterpretation, Washington has rejected Pakistan's popular demand to bring any change to the capitulating conditions attached to $7.5 billion aid to the beleaguered nation. President Barack Obama signed the controversial legislation - the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009 - on Thursday without fanfare.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Capitulating Terms of the $4.5 Billion US aid to Pakistan
(1 comments) Major political parties of Pakistan have bitterly criticized the capitulating conditions attached to the $4.5 billion US aid to Pakistan under the Kerry-Lugar Bill passed by the Congress on September 4, 2009. Pakistan Muslim League, a leading political party, described the conditionalities similar to the notorious Pakistan-specific Pressler's amendment that was used as an arms twisting tool by the US administration.

Thursday, September 24, 2009
Unfolding drama of Iraq-ill-famed Blackwater operation in Pakistan
(3 comments) Amid persistent reports by media, political leaders and intelligence agencies, Interior Minister Rehman Malik has denied the presence of Iraq-ill-famed Blackwater (now renamed as Xe Services) in Pakistan. However, circumstantial evidence belies the tall claim of the Interior Minister.

Thursday, September 10, 2009
American Muslims eight years after 9/11
(1 comments) Eight years after 9/11, Muslims in America remained at the receiving end with assault on their civil rights and their faith. Muslims are the prime targets of the post 9/11 reconfiguration of American laws, policies, and priorities which have not been changed under the Obama administration. Defending civil rights remains the single most important challenge before the seven million-strong American Muslim community.

Friday, August 28, 2009
Teaching hate to school children
(3 comments) On August 24, a 10-year-old girl was sent home on her first day back to school in Gainesville, Florida, for wearing a shirt with the words 'Islam Is Of The Devil' printed on it. Who was this teen age girl. She was Faith Sapp, daughter of Wayne Sapp, pastor of the controversial church, the Dove World Outreach Center, in northwest Gainesville.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Pakistan Supreme Court’s Anti-Musharraf Verdict Shields President Zardari
On July 31, 2009, the Supreme Court shielded the incumbent President Asif Ali Zardari under the so called principle of the welfare of the people. In a well crafted unanimous verdict, the 14-judges full bench of Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Friday (July 31, 2009) declared illegal the emergency imposed in November 2007 by the then President General Parvez Musharraf but failed to invalidate 37 Ordinances issued by him.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Well crafted speech with little substance for the Muslims
Obama's Cairo speech was well crafted and rich with good gestures. Its tone was striking. It was very carefully worded, non-committal and lacking substance. But the much hyped speech did not amount to a breakaway from American policies that have created the deep divide between the United States and the Muslim World since 9/11. Vague and flowery rhetoric was used as an adjustment of the language to cloak the US policy.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Swat operation is fomenting separatism in FATA
In a virtual replay of the 1971 assault on civilian population in what was then the East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), Pakistani army has launched a brutal operation in Sawat and other areas in Northern Pakistan.

Saturday, March 21, 2009
Congressman Wolf's attempt to silence a leading American Muslim civil advocacy group
(3 comments) In an apparent attempt to silence a leading American Muslim civil rights advocacy group – the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) - Republican Congressman Frank Wolf from Virginia has expressed deep disappointment at the FBI's "insufficient response" to his letter that apparently sought negative information based on smears against CAIR by Muslim-bashers like Steven Emerson.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009
An African-American Elected as CAIR Chairman
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), nation's leading Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, on March 3, 2009 elected an African-American as its new board chairman. North Carolina State Senator, Larry Shaw replaces Dr. Parvez Ahmed, an Indian-American and a professor of the University of North Florida, who was elected CAIR chairman in May 2005.

Monday, March 2, 2009
Bigotry at the Capitol Hill: US lawmaker hosts anti-Islamic Dutch lawmaker
(3 comments) Continuing the Islamophobic policies of the Republican Party, Republican Senator Jon Kyl Thursday (2/26/2009) hosted screening of an anti-Islam film 'Fitna' at the Capitol building and invited anti-Islam far-right Dutch lawmaker, Geert Wilders, as his guest.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Obama embraces Bush's "war on terror" policy without naming it so
(4 comments) President Barrack Obama has virtually embraced his predecessor George Bush's "War on Terror" policy without naming it so.

Friday, February 20, 2009
UCLA Professor Claims Finding Bin Laden's Hideout in Pakistan
(3 comments) Osama Bin Laden is hiding in one of three big compounds in the town of Parachinar along Pak-Afghan border, claims Thomas W. Gillespie, a US professor of geography at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Friday, February 13, 2009
Obama ducks question on Israel's nuclear capability but expresses concern over Iran's nuclear program
(1 comments) Former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres said in July 1998 that Israel "built a nuclear option, not in order to have a Hiroshima but an Oslo." However, at his first White House press conference, President Barrack Obama avoided to answer when he was asked: "Do you know of any country in the Middle East that has nuclear weapons?"

Thursday, January 29, 2009
Will Obama Policies Bring Real Change for the Muslims?
(4 comments) In a bid to repair relations with the Muslim world that were damaged under the Bush administration, President Barack Obama told the Muslim world Tuesday that "Americans are not your enemy."In an interview with Al-Arabiya TV channel, Obama said: "My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy - we sometimes make mistakes - we have not been perfect."

Sunday, January 18, 2009
Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.
Monday, January 19 marks the Martin Luther King Day to celebrate the life and contributions of a great social peacemaker and iconic civil rights leader. This year the MLK Day has special significance. It falls on the eve of Barack Obama's inauguration as the first African-American President of the United States.

Monday, January 12, 2009
Massacre of Palestinians in Gaza rages with Israeli land assault
The year 2009 began for the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza with an all out air, land and sea assault from the Israeli armed forces. With the overt support of the Bush administration, meaningful silence of President-elect Barack Obama, and complicity of the US client Arab regimes, Israeli massacre of Palestinians in Gaza continues for the 10th day today (January 5, 2009).

Friday, January 2, 2009
2008: Another Difficult Year for American Muslims
(2 comments) Rightist columnist Cal Thomas urges ban on building new mosques in America and a Muslim woman in Georgia sent to jail for not removing head scarf (hijab). These episodes of bigotry, Islamophobia and discrimination of the month of December symbolize the dilemma of American Muslims in 2008 like the previous years since 9/11.Bigotry and Islamophobia reached its climax during the 2008 presidential election campaign.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Israeli massacre of Palestinians in Gaza: President Bush's departing gift to Palestinians
(2 comments) As the US-supplied Israeli F-16 warplanes and Apache helicopters dropped Saturday (December 27) over 100 bombs on dozens of locations in the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip killing more than 200 persons, the Bush administration was one of the first to offer its support for Israel's attacks by blaming the victims for the massacre.

Friday, December 5, 2008
Arab Americans Continue to Face Discrimination: Report
(1 comments) Arab Americans continue to face higher rates of employment discrimination in both the public and private sectors and continuing challenges associated with government watch lists and immigration enforcement, according to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) "Report on Hate Crimes and Discrimination Against Arab Americans."

Friday, November 28, 2008
Redrawing the map of Afghanistan, Iran & Pakistan
(1 comments) The Global Trends 2025 report says the future of Pakistan is a wildcard in considering the trajectory of neighboring Afghanistan. The release of the study last week coincided with a report in the New York Times that a redrawn map of South Asia has been making the rounds among Pakistani elites, showing their country truncated.

Sunday, November 23, 2008
US expands military operations in Pakistan
In a rude shock to Pakistanis, the US has escalated military operations inside Pakistan with a missile attack on a house in Janikhel, Bannu district, 70 kilimeters from the border tribal region. At least four persons were reported killed and three others injured as a result of the attack.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Why Pakistanis not amused by Obama's 'change'?
The Baluchistan Provincial Assembly Friday denounced the latest attacks on tribal territories. Tellingly, speakers dubbed the missile attacks as international terrorism violating the borders of an independent state.

Thursday, November 6, 2008
American Muslims celebrate Obama's victory
(4 comments) A New York African-American Muslim teenager says he was beaten on election night by four white men furious that Barack Obama was elected as the nation's next President. The incident best symbolizes the dilemma of seven-million strong American Muslim community that apparently voted en masse for Obama with a conviction that the impending change would fully restore their civil rights.

Saturday, November 1, 2008
Why American Muslims are poised to vote en masse for Obama?
(2 comments) American Muslim voters are poised to vote en masse for Barak Obama, the Democratic Presidential candidate on Tuesday. The question is why the Muslims are leaning towards Obama and the answer is not difficult – they have been victims of anti-Muslim policies of Bush administration since 9/11. Muslims are optimistic that a sweeping change promised by Obama will alleviate their plight and guilt by association sufferings.

Saturday, October 18, 2008
Playing Al-Anbar roulette in FATA
(2 comments) The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) was once part of the battleground on which the 'Great Game' of imperial domination between the British Empire and Tsarist Russia was played out in the 19th century. More than a century later, the tribal territory along Pakistan-Afghanistan border is again part of the war in the New Great Game.

Saturday, October 11, 2008
Bigotry trickles down to local elections
With a desperate Republican campaign playing fear-mongering card to prop up John McCain, the bigotry and Islamophobia is filtering down to local politics. A Muslim candidate, Todd Gallinger, for Irvine City Council (California) has reported receiving a phoned death threat after being smeared by a council member's Islamophobic remarks.

Thursday, September 25, 2008
CAIR study 2008: American Muslims remain target of civil rights abuse
While the eyes of ordinary Americans were focused on the Capitol Hill to helplessly watch the unfolding drama of what many called "the Great Robbery at the Wall Street," the Council on American-Islamic Relations' (CAIR), a prominent national advocacy group published Wednesday its annual study on the civil rights violations of the seven-million strong American-Muslim Community.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008
FEC urged to probe Anti-Muslim DVDs sent to swing states
(1 comments) The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group, Tuesday filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) over the distribution of an anti-Muslim film to 28 million homes in presidential election swing states through mail and bundled in newspaper deliveries to voters in swing states.

Saturday, September 13, 2008
Why the US image declined in the Muslim World?
(6 comments) Seven years after 9/11, hostility towards the US remains at shocking levels in the Muslim world where the US has followed a double standard policy. Its relationship with the Muslim nations has been based on a kind of hegemony which had taken shape in the Cold War era and continued in the post-Cold War period.

Thursday, September 11, 2008
American Muslims Seven Years after 9/11
Seven years after 9/11, Muslims in America remained at the receiving end with assault on their civil rights and their faith in the name of "war on terror." Muslims are the prime targets of the post 9/11 reconfiguration of American laws, policies, and priorities.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008
American Muslim community mourns the death of W. D. Mohammed
American Muslim community mourns the death of Imam Warith Deen Mohammad who will be remembered as a person who brought the Nation of Islam carefully and consistently into mainstream Islam that rejected racial and ethnic divisions.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Little hope for Pakistanis under President Zardari
(1 comments) In less than one year, 160 million helpless people of Pakistan watched the second melodrama of a "presidential election." On September 6, Asif Ali Zardari, the co-chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party was indirectly elected as the 12th President of Pakistan. Like the last presidential election when General Parvez Musharraf was re-elected, Zardari's victory by a wide margin was a foregone conclusion.

Friday, September 5, 2008
Islamophobia at the RNC convention
(4 comments) Seven-million strong American Muslim-community was dismayed at the Islamophobic rhetoric at the Republican Party Convention that ended in St. Paul, Minnesota on September 4, 2008. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in their speeches made bigoted remarks that equated Islam with terrorism.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Dr. Sami Al-Arian is freed on bail
American Muslim civil rights groups have welcomed the release on bail of Dr. Sami Al-Arian, a Palestinian political activist and former professor of the University of South Florida. Dr. Al-Arain had been in federal custody for more than five years and was released in Virginia today after Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agreed with his attorneys that to hold him was a violation of his constitutional rights.

Monday, August 11, 2008
The plight of prisoner No. 650 (Dr. Afia Siddiqui)
After intensive civil rights groups pressure and angry protests in Pakistan, the US authorities have formally acknowledged arresting Dr. Afia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist, five years after her mysterious disappearance in Karachi with her three teen age kids.

Thursday, July 17, 2008
Al-Arian granted bail but remains in prison
At a bail hearing at Alexandria, Virginia, Judge Leonie Brinkema has ordered a prominent Palestinian activist, Dr. Sami Al-Arian, released but he remained in prison since the judge refused to block immigration authorities from detaining Al-Arian as a prelude to his deportation.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Fear mongering in the name of satire
(6 comments) Depicting Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as militants and terrorist sympathizers "feeds into the terrible rise in anti-Muslim sentiment" during this election season.

Monday, July 7, 2008
Suicide bombers return to Islamabad
A suicide bomb attack in the heart of Islamabad killed 19 people, including 15 policemen, Sunday. The attack came minutes after the end of the Red Mosque Martyr Conference held to commemorate the first anniversary of a bloody military operation against the militants in the mosque and adjoining madrasa, Jamia Hafsa, killing dozens of student girls and boys.

Saturday, July 5, 2008
"Holding Muslims at Arm's Length"
(2 comments) Politics is not about honesty or principled stand but it is the art of possible.

Friday, July 4, 2008
American Muslims alarmed at the new profiling policy
(3 comments) American Muslim community is alarmed at the proposed Justice Department policy change that would allow the FBI to investigate Americans without evidence of wrongdoing, relying instead on a terrorist profile that could single out Muslims and Arabs.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Pakistan's paramilitary forces launch operation in FATA
Pakistan's paramilitary forces Friday launched an operation in the Khyber Agency to clear the supply route for the US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan. The operation comes only two days after the government authorized Chief of Army Staff, General General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, to launch fresh military operations in tribal areas.

Saturday, June 28, 2008
Dr. Sami al-Arian indicted on contempt charges
Palestinian activist and a former professor of South Florida University, Dr. Sami al-Arian, has been indicted on June 25, 2008, in Alexandria, Virginia on two counts of criminal contempt for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury.

Thursday, June 26, 2008
Under US pressure, Pakistan army is poised to launch a new operation in FATA
Under intensive US pressure, Pakistan army is poised to launch a fresh all out operation in Pakistan's tribal belt along its border with Afghanistan.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Pew surveys and the politics of demography
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life today released the second report of the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey on June 23, 2008 which again uses its 2007 flawed report about the population of Muslims in America.

Saturday, June 21, 2008
From embedded journalists to embedded media Generals
Two months after the revelation that the Pentagon used retired military officers to sell Iraq war, corporate media continues its criminal silence over the issue.

Thursday, June 12, 2008
Abandon peace talks with militants: US retched up pressure on Pakistan
A fresh massive US air strike in Pakistan's tribal region, killing 27 people including 13 soldiers, has again heightened tensions between the US and Pakistan where it is being seen as an example of US aggressive tactics to pressurize Islamabad to abandon its current peace negotiations with the militants.

Sunday, June 8, 2008
US double standards on talks with Taliban
In the face of its backing of Afghanistan for holding talks with the Taliban to put an end to their resistance, the Bush Administration's reservations about Pakistan's efforts to conclude peace deals with tribesmen presents a clear example of US double standards while dealing with the same issue.

Saturday, June 7, 2008
Another high profile "terror" trial ends in quandary
Judge Dennis Saylor's latest ruling to quash the January jury conviction of the defunct Islamic charity leaders vindicates what the civil right activists and groups have been saying that the American Muslim charities are being targeted to intimidate the seven-million strong American Muslim community that remains besieged more than six years after 9/11 terrorist attacks

Thursday, June 5, 2008
Secret plan to keep Iraq under US control
The British newspaper, Independent, reported Thursday, June 5, 2008, that a secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American military occupation of Iraq indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election in November.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Keffiyeh: The Politics of Symbolism
(1 comments) The campaign against the innocent use of keffiyeh in a commercial ad is the latest episode of anti-Arab, anti-Muslim and Islamophobic diatribe which is the best seller in the post-9/11 America where our administration has created a culture of fear, hate, anger and division among all Americans.

Monday, June 2, 2008
Iraqis resisting US capitulation
(2 comments) Iraq's key Shiite and Sunni leaders have rejected a new open-ended security agreement with the United States that envisages permanent US military bases, immunity to American military personnel and security contractors if they killed civilians and allowing the United States to detain Iraqis indefinitely.

Saturday, May 31, 2008
'Narco-dollars' feeding militancy in Afghanistan, Pakistan
Baitullah Mehsud, the most prominent militant commander in Pakistan's restive tribal belt, along the border of Afghanistan, is spending around 50 million dollars annually on procuring weapons, equipment, vehicles, treating wounded militants and keeping families of killed militants fed.

Friday, May 30, 2008
Surveillance of LA, San Diego mosques spark calls for congressional hearing
Alarmed by a report that the mosques in Los Angeles and San Diego are under surveillance, civil rights groups have called for congressional hearings. The call for public hearings followed a San Diego newspaper report that a group of military reservists and law enforcement officers at Camp Pendleton Marine base stole the data from a federal surveillance program that monitored mosques in Southern California.

Saturday, May 24, 2008
Despite US reservations: Pakistan goes ahead with peace deal with militants
(1 comments) In the face of stiff US opposition, the provincial government of NWFP Wednesday signed a peace accord with militants in Swat where a bloody army operation was under way since November 2007.

Thursday, May 22, 2008
Bush apologizes for shooting of Quran by US soldier in Iraq
(4 comments) After US army's prompt apologies for shooting of the Quran by a US soldier stationed in Iraq failed to calm down this potentially explosive situation, President George Bush has stepped in and offered apology to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Monday, May 19, 2008
Why US soldier shot at Quran for practice?
(3 comments) An unnamed sergeant's use of the Quran for target practice emanates from an unabated and persistent anti-Islam and anti-Muslim propaganda, desecration of the Quran and attacks on mosques.

Friday, May 16, 2008
American Muslims alarmed at the new report on "Violent Islamist extremism"
(1 comments) American Muslims are alarmed at a new government report on "homegrown terrorism" which claims that the threat posed by "violent Islamist extremists" now comes increasingly from within the U.S.

Thursday, May 15, 2008
Zardari's spin on judiciary issue
After weeks of spin by Asif Ali Zardari, co-chairman of the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) , on the issue of restoration of the sacked judges, former prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League has quit the coalition government. The outcome of the long and protracted talks between the two leaders in Islamabad, Dubai and London were not unexpected.

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Mutilating the judicial system in Pakistan
After dragging feet on the issue for weeks, Pakistan People's Party led by Asif Ali Zardari, has reportedly acquiesced to the demand by President Musharraf to create two parallel Supreme Courts to accommodate the so-called PCO judges and curtail powers of the Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, when he is restored.

Friday, May 9, 2008
Mock attack on the fake mosque in Illinois sends a wrong message
(4 comments) Six years and eight months after the 9/11 tragic attacks, Muslims in America remain at the receiving end with the reconfiguration of American laws, policies and priorities to target them. The latest assault on the Muslim community comes in the form of a simulated attack on a fake "mosque" by the law enforcement authorities in Illinois.

Monday, May 5, 2008
The ordeal of Al Jazeera cameraman Sami Al-Hajj
After six and a half years of imprisonment in Guantanamo Bay military prison, Al Jazeera cameraman, Sami Al-Hajj, was released on May 2, 2008 in a very bad shape. He was carried off a US air force jet on a stretcher when he arrived in Khartoum, Sudan, and immediately taken to hospital. Al-Hajj's case symbolizes the policy of torture and human rights violation of the Bush Administration.

Thursday, May 1, 2008
Evangelicals highjack the National Day of Prayer
(2 comments) "Evangelicals attempt to exclude non-Christians from National Day of Prayer," this Mother Jones headline best reflects the controversy over the National Day of Prayer (NDP) being observed on Thursday, May 1, 2008. The National Day of Prayer (NDP) was once a symbol of American unity and faith in God that transcended boundaries but in recent years the decades-old tradition has become mired in divisions.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Kabul attack a virtual replay of 1981 assassination of Anwar Sadat
In a virtual replay of the 1981 assassination of the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, the Afghan militants attempted to assassinate the Afghan President Hamid Karzai during a military parade in Kabul last Sunday.

Saturday, April 19, 2008
Why MPAC declined to join interfaith meeting with Pope Benedict
(1 comments) The Muslim Public Affairs Council, a leading civil rights group, declined to join a meeting between the visiting Pope Benedict XVI and about 200 religious community leaders in Washington, DC, due to the absence of a "meaningful dialogue on Muslim-Catholic issues."

Friday, April 4, 2008
Pakistan 29 years after Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's execution
April 4 marks the 29th anniversary of the execution of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto by the army junta led by General Ziaul Haq. By executing a popularly elected Prime Minister, Pakistan became the second Muslim country to execute an elected Prime Minister by a military junta. Turkey was the first Muslim country that executed its popularly elected Prime Minister Adnan Menderes on September 17, 1961.

Thursday, March 27, 2008
This is not our war: New Pakistani leadership tells US
(1 comments) Alarmed at the expected shift towards a negotiated and peaceful handling of the problem of militancy in Pakistan's tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan, two senior US officials arrived in Islamabad on March 24, hours after Makhdoom Yusuf Raza Gilani was chosen Prime Minister by the newly elected parliament.

Monday, March 17, 2008
Abuse of judicial system to keep Dr. Al-Arian in prison
(1 comments) Dr. Al-Arian is in a Catch-22 situation. Asst attorney Gordon Kromberg, is setting up for him a perjury/obstruction trap. If Dr. Al-Arian again refuses to testify because of the no-cooperation agreement, he will be charged with obstruction of justice. If he testifies, he faces a 'perjury' trap based on past practice with other acquitted Palestinian defendants.

Thursday, March 13, 2008
Pakistan resists capitulating to new US demands
(1 comments) More than six years after 9/11, the US has handed over a new list of 11 demands to Pakistan. US Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen's two recent visits to Pakistan were reportedly linked to the new 'wish-list' envisaging immunity for the US military and auxiliary personnel to be deployed in Pakistan under a new US plan.

Thursday, March 6, 2008
The forgotten oil war in Sudan
According to F. William Engdahl, author of the book, 'A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order, the present concern of the current Washington Administration over Darfur in southern Sudan is not, if we were to look closely, genuine concern over genocide against the peoples in that poorest of poor part of a forsaken section of Africa. No. "It's the oil, stupid."

Saturday, March 1, 2008
New massive survey of Muslims belies Bush rhetoric "why do they hate us?"
(3 comments) The war on terror was premised on this key question: why do they hate us? The common answer from Washington is that Muslim 'radicals' hate our way of life, our freedom and our democracy. It means that Muslims do not believe in freedom and democracy, in other words they are primitive people. Tellingly, the presidential rhetoric stands refuted and exposed by the latest survey of 500,000 Muslims in more than 35 Islamic states.

Thursday, February 28, 2008
Pakistan's post-election scenario
Whatever the configuration of the new government, Washington is facing a changed political landscape in Pakistan, including the diminished fortunes of its favored ally, Musharraf, in the battle against extremism.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Fear mongering and racism in presidential race
(4 comments) A furor has erupted as a photo of Barack Obama in a white turban spread across the Web, drawing accusations of fear-mongering and racism from the Obama campaign.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008
The Oil factor in Kosovo independence
On February 17, Kosovo broke away from Serbia and declared its independence. Not surprisingly it was instantly recognized as a state by the U.S., Germany, Britain and France. With 4203 square miles area, Kosovo may be a tiny territory but in the great game of oil politics it holds great importance which is in inverse proportion to its size.

Sunday, February 24, 2008
Was 1991 Gulf War a prelude to the 2003 Iraq debacle?
(1 comments) Historian Dr. Stephen J. Sniegoski, is perhaps right when he says: the neocons could not have initiated the 2003 war if the 1991 Gulf War had not taken place. In that sense the first Gulf War was a prelude to the 2003 war on Iraq, in which the U.S. government would pursue a policy in complete harmony with the thinking of the neocons to precipitate regime change and destabilize the Middle East.

Thursday, February 21, 2008
Pakistan polls a repudiation of Musharraf as well as the Bush administration
Not surprisingly, the elections in Pakistan were seen as a referendum on President Musharraf's eight year's autocratic rule. They are also a repudiation of the Bush administration, which has staunchly backed Mr. Musharraf for more than six years as its best bet in the campaign against the militants in Pakistan.

Monday, February 18, 2008
Feudal factor to determine polls in Pakistan
Pakistanis vote in general elections Monday (Feb. 18) amid accusations of pre-poll rigging and concern about security situation in the wake of rise in suicide attacks. Hundreds of international and local observes are in place to ensure fair and free elections. However, if history has any guidance, manipulation or no manipulation, the results are very much predictable at least in the rural areas where most of the voters live.

Sunday, February 17, 2008
Reflections on the Black History Month
(1 comments) Knowledge of the past is a key to understanding the present. French Philosopher Paul Valery says it is necessary to study history, even to study it deeply, in order to obtain a clear meaning of our immediate time. There is always a connection between the way in which men contemplate the past and the way in which they contemplate the present.

Thursday, February 14, 2008
How intelligence agencies frame "terrorism" charges?
(1 comments) A British Court of Appeal, on February 13, 2008, completely exonerated Lotfi Raissi, a British pilot of Algerian origin, from the charges that he trained some of the hijackers in the 2001 terrorist attacks on World Trade Center and Pentagon. His episode is the latest example of how British and U.S. intelligence agencies try to frame terrorist charges against innocent people.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Lessons from the Japanese internment during WWII
(1 comments) The February 19 marks the Day of Remembrance when President Roosevelt signed an Executive Order that sent about 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry to concentration camps during the World War Two.

Monday, February 11, 2008
Manufacturing a fig leaf of Democracy in Pakistan
Popular perceptions about the integrity of the electoral process in Pakistan are dismal. Only 21% of the country's voting age population believes elections in the country are free and fair. This is one of the lowest in the World. In a Gallup International study of around 60 countries, Pakistan is ahead of only Philippines (19%) and Nigeria (9%).

Monday, February 4, 2008
Pakistan's military establishment abandoning Musharraf

Wednesday, January 30, 2008
India alarmed as Chinese-built Gwadar port of Pakistan becomes operational
India has expressed concern over the Chinese built Pakistani port of Gwadar. Indian Naval Chief, Admiral Sureesh Mehta said last week that the Gwadar port has "serious strategic implications for India." "Being only 180 nautical miles from the exit of the Straits of Hormuz, Gwadar, being bulit in Baluchistan coast, would enable Pakistan take control over the world energy jugular and interdiction of Indian tankers."

Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Why Musharraf rebuffs US plan for joint operation in volatile tribal territories?
In an atmosphere of mistrust and misgivings about American policies in the region, it is difficult for President Musharraf to yield to US pressure for joint military operations in the volatile FATA region. Already Pakistan army's bloody operations, which are now spilled into the interior of the country in the shape of suicide attacks, have damaged its image. Many in Pakistan see this operation as against their own people.

Thursday, January 24, 2008
Islam-West division is worsening
(2 comments) Majority of the people in Muslim and western countries believe that Islam-West division is worsening while each side thinks the other disrespects their culture, says a report on Muslim-Western relations released on January 21, 2008 in Davos, Switzerland.

Friday, January 18, 2008
Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
(1 comments) On January 21, the nation pauses to remember one of its most important civil rights leaders with a national holiday. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most influential and respected civil rights leaders who inspired the world and helped bring about laws that ensure fairness and equality for all Americans.

Monday, January 14, 2008
Imagine a world without Islam!
(2 comments) Take away Islam, and the world would still be left with the main forces that drive today's conflicts, including colonialism, cross-national ideologies, ethnic conflicts and terrorism, says Graham Fuller, a former Vice-Chairman of the National Intelligence Council at the CIA.

Thursday, January 10, 2008
Why Pakistanis see US bigger threat than Al Qaeda?
Majority of Pakistanis see the American military presence in the region a far greater threat to their country than Al Qaeda, according to a new survey by the World Public Opinion Organization.

Saturday, December 29, 2007
Benazir's assassination: History is repeating itself
Assassination of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto

Sunday, December 16, 2007
Cindy Sheehan: Impeach Pelosi for collaboration with Bush administration on torture
(1 comments)

Sunday, December 16, 2007
Happy Bill of Rights Day: Little is left by Bushies to celebrate
(2 comments) Bills of Rights day

Friday, November 30, 2007
Senate hearing on: "The Role of Local Law Enforcement in Battling Violent Islamic Extremism"

Monday, November 26, 2007
The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act 2007
Comment on the Rationalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act 2007 bill that was passed by the House of Representative on Oct. 23, 2007.