By Anwaar Hussain Robert Michael Gates, the 22nd United States Secretary of Defense, spoke at a press conference recently in Kabul.  “There is still much fighting ahead, and there will assuredly be more dark days….but there is reason to be hopeful that Afghan and coalition forces can rout the hardest elements of the Taliban and [...]

By Anas Abbas Aafia Siddiqui was finally convicted on 4th February 2010 for trying to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan.  She is now expected to face a maximum of 60 years in prison. Below is a study that will analyze some important questions that are related to Aafia Siddiqui’s case.  The questions are: What happened [...]

by Farhat Taj There is a deep abyss between the perceptions of the people of Waziristan, the most drone-hit area and the wider Pakistani society on the other side of the River Indus. For the latter, the US drone attacks on Waziristan are a violation of Pakistani’s sovereignty. Politicians, religious leaders, media analysts and anchorpersons [...]

By Anwaar Hussain President Obama’s decision to surge the troops’ level in Afghanistan is understandable. That is the only thing America can do in fact. They cannot just pack their bags and go home. They are losing the war with the present troop strength. All other conventional tactics have been tried out. The troop surge [...]

By Anwaar Hussain Strange title, eh? Wait a bit please. Hoh is the surname of a former Marine who fought in Iraq and became a diplomat in a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan and who on September 10 this year resigned in a high-profile protest of the Afghan war. In so doing, Matthew Hoh became the [...]

By Anwaar Hussain With the audacious Taliban attack at the GHQ main gate this Saturday, the very portal wherefrom these creatures came slithering out more than two decades back, the affair between the creator and the creations has come full circle. Knock knock, said the hypnotized oddballs, rudely shaking their masters out of their reverie– [...]

By Anwaar Hussain Some have romanticized them, others have idolized them, and yet others have abhorred them. All have feared them, however. Over the years, the Taliban have acquired an image of mysterious allure and danger, until the truth about them now hardly matters. Here is the situation. A leading religious politician, who is also [...]