|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
by Nomi Prins
By Tad Friend $16.49
$18
|
|
|
|
 AP photo / Henny Ray Abrams
|
Tina Fey, in character again as Sarah Palin for last weekend’s “Saturday Night Live,” made light of how the Republican vice presidential candidate was “literally” embraced by “a couple of them Pakistani guys” she met at the United Nations last week. Unfortunately for Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, though, the prayer leader of Islamabad’s Red Mosque isn’t laughing about Zardari’s encounter with Palin last Thursday.
|
 AP photo / B.K. Bangash
|
At least 40 people were killed and scores more injured Saturday when a truck bomb detonated near the entrance of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan—a destination for Westerners and other visitors to the Pakistani capital city—as heads of state dined at the prime minister’s house nearby.
|
|
By William Pfaff — The United States has just invaded Cambodia. The name of Cambodia this time is Pakistan, but otherwise it’s the same story as in Indochina in 1970.
|
 AP photo / Anjum Naveed
|
Asif Ali Zardari, widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, assumed the presidency of Pakistan on Tuesday, concluding a transfer of power that began with the resignation of former President Pervez Musharraf just two weeks ago. Zardari’s presidency is likely to be one of conflict, as an ongoing Taliban resurgence and a 26 percent approval rating already riddle his first days in office.
|
 AP photo / Ivan Sekretarev
|
After months of mounting pressure and speculation, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced Monday that he is stepping down, but not before defending his legacy, challenging his detractors and admitting that he “may have committed follies.”
|
 AP Photo / Ivan Sekretarev
|
For several months, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s political fate has hung in the balance, as last year’s state-of-emergency ordeal made all too clear. Now, the situation in Pakistan is becoming critical, with Musharraf’s opponents calling for his impeachment.
|
 AP photo / Gary Kazanjian
|
John McCain is showing his commitment to lessening America’s dependence on foreign oil by offering a $300 million prize to anyone who can conjure up a superior automobile battery, energy-wise, than the current standard. But at the same time, he’s supporting Bush’s push to lift the ban on drilling in U.S. coastal waters.
|
 AP photo / B.K. Bangash
|
The Pakistani National Assembly on Wednesday elected Fehmida Mirza to be the country’s first female speaker. The selection of Mirza, a leading member of the late Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party, marks the first significant transfer of power since opposition parties won a majority of seats in February’s general elections.
|
 AP photo / Emilio Morenatti
|
The death of Benazir Bhutto in December, tensions within the country and concerns over President Pervez Musharraf’s leadership (and his regime’s relationship with the U.S. government) registered in a loud and clear message from Pakistanis at the polling booths Monday: Musharraf is standing on shaky ground.
|
 politics-now.com
|
Roger Morris, who served on the National Security Council staff under Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, has written a fascinating history of the United States’ many interventions in Pakistan. It’s the sordid story of “the world’s longest running military despotism, and of America’s most generous and tragic patronage.”
|
 AP photo / David Guttenfelder
|
By Scott Ritter — Pervez Musharraf’s recent actions remind us, Ritter argues, that America’s special relationship with Pakistan serves neither country’s best interests.
|
|
By Eugene Robinson — I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: People in Washington really should get out more.
|

|
Um, is it just us, or did Rudy Giuliani’s camp seize upon the strike-induced lull in Hollywood to hire out talent to make what looks and sounds like a Mideast-themed action movie trailer to promote his presidential campaign? “A religion betrayed ... a nuclear power in chaos ... madmen bent on creating it. ... ” Steven Seagal’s people should take notes from this one.
|
|
By Amy Goodman — Benazir Bhutto and her supporters who died with her during the suicide attack Dec. 27 are the latest victims of decades of dangerous U.S. support for Pakistan’s military regime.
|
 news.bbc.co.uk
|
Benazir Bhutto’s teenage son has been named the chairman of her Pakistan People’s Party, although her husband will run the PPP until Bilawal finishes college. Asif Ali Zardari refused to allow his wife to be autopsied but has asked the U.N. and Britain to investigate her assassination.
|

|
Well, let’s just say that this video footage of the fatal attack on Pakistani politician Benazir Bhutto doesn’t help much when it comes to sorting out exactly what happened as her motorcade passed through the crowd at Ravalpindi on Thursday, but judge for yourself.
|

|
When point-blanked by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer about how he would handle the current situation in Pakistan, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul blasted U.S. alignment with “military dictator” Pervez Musharraf and accused Washington of fostering unrest among anti-U.S. factions in Pakistan by setting up a “puppet government.” Rep. Paul was on Thursday’s “Situation Room.”
|
|
By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — The Bhutto assassination came as a brutal reminder of the gravity of the decision Iowa’s voters will make Thursday. Its impact may be felt most powerfully by Democrats who have been thinking less about issues than about the candidates’ styles and leadership qualities.
|
|
American presidential contenders from both sides of the aisle sounded off on Thursday about the suicide attack that claimed the life of erstwhile Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto as she was campaigning for a comeback following years of self-imposed exile from her homeland.
|
 AP photo / Mohammed Javed
|
Pakistan is in a state of turmoil following a suicide attack that killed former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and at least 20 others in Rawalpindi on Thursday. Bhutto had appeared at a rally to drum up support for Pakistan’s upcoming elections on Jan. 8 when a gunman shot her and blew himself up, sparking protests and more deadly clashes around the country.
|
 AP photos / Manuel Balce Ceneta / Adam Rountree / Lefteris Pitarakis
|
By Robert Scheer — Everybody seems to have a pick for president, or even a couple of picks. Problem is, neither Musharraf nor Bhutto nor Sharif stands up very well when the historical record is scrutinized.
|
 time.com
|
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has heeded strong hints from his concerned friends in the U.S. government by announcing that he’ll give up his post as his country’s army chief this week—but he’ll remain “supreme commander” of Pakistan’s armed forces.
|
 AP photo / Anjun Naveed
|
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is showing signs that he’s feeling the heat from the West, loosening his regime’s steel-trap grip by lifting some of the most severe measures he enforced since imposing a state of emergency rule in his country. As of Tuesday morning, in fact, 3,416 people who were jailed during the initial crackdown had been released, according to a government spokesman.
|

|
As the democratic crisis in Pakistan continues, opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has broken with Musharraf and called for the president’s resignation, while Musharraf argues that “so-called democracy” would threaten the nation’s survival.
|
 news.bbc.co.uk
|
The Commonwealth, a kind of shadow U.N. for the former British empire, has threatened to suspend Pakistan’s membership unless President Pervez Musharraf puts an end to his emergency rule within 10 days. Pakistan was banned from the organization between 1999 and 2004 after Musharraf came to power through a coup.
|
|
As Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf faces an ongoing crisis in his volatile country, President Bush and members of his inner circle are signaling their overall support of Musharraf while criticizing some of his choices in recent days. Meanwhile, Musharraf’s apparent alliance with Benazir Bhutto has sparked concern among those skeptical of her motives and leadership abilities.
|
 AP photo / J. Scott Applewhite
|
By Robert Scheer — So, Musharraf, treated ever so respectfully by George Bush throughout his administration, has turned out to be just another crummy dictator. But he was our dictator, kind of a modern, even westernized one who could stand up to all those bearded Islamic terrorists. Well, not exactly.
|
 AP photo / Pakistan Television
|
If any further proof was needed that Pakistan represents a major global concern at present, President Pervez Musharraf just provided it by declaring a state of emergency and storming the Pakistani Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the U.S. is “deeply disturbed” by these developments.
|
 news.bbc.co.uk
|
More than a hundred Pakistanis were killed Thursday by two bomb blasts as a crowd of 200,000 gathered to witness the return of exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Bhutto herself escaped unscathed and was rushed to her home.
|
 AP Photo / Ivan Sekretarev
|
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is busily offering olive branches, and even pledging to resign his military post in the near future, during the final hours before Saturday’s presidential election. It looks like his strategy may work, as the election is expected to result in victory for Musharraf, even as his legitimacy as a candidate is being contested and reviewed by the nation’s top court.
|
 AP Photo / Lefteris Pitarakis
|
Here’s a bit of news that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf no doubt finds unwelcome: Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (pictured), whom Musharraf overthrew in a 1999 coup, is coming out of exile and plans to return to Pakistan to challenge Musharraf’s position.
|
View the most popular tags overall?
|
|