Pakistan and US foreign policy
Wajid Shamsul Hasan told The Sun in an exclusive interview
What a diplomatic triumph for the Pakistani diplomat in the UK! Regardless of what he actually says The Sun's website does not even show the story on the home page. There are an amazing variety of other news worthy stories and photos. So his interview is IMO "shooting himself in the foot".
I have listened to him before, in person and on TV. He is full of bluster and rarely advances his nation's cause - leaving aside which part of the nation he represents. For his background as a journalist:http://www.app.com.pk/en_/index.php?...42711&Itemid=2
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Hi Ray et al.:
Thanks to our favorite Brigadier (albeit you're the only one here :)) for the drone post re: Pakistan attempting to influencing the UK. Other factors (to the same effect as the Pakistani claims) are at work in the UK, as well as here in the US.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism has been pounding the drones - as its front page today shows. The TBIJ (About the Bureau) is:
Quote:
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism is a not-for-profit organisation based at City University, London, that bolsters original journalism by producing high-quality investigations for press and broadcast media.
The first of its kind in the UK, it was established in April 2010 with a £2 million donation from
The David & Elaine Potter Foundation. ...
The TBIJ and the Obama Administration are engaged (verbally, of course).
Also engaged verbally with the Obama Administration on the same topic is Philip Alston (from this side of the pond), former UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions. He has published a long article (164 pages), The CIA and Targeted Killings Beyond Borders, in the Harvard National Security Journal.
What effect all of this will have on the UK is not my department.
Its effect on the US (except for those like Alston who are already anti-drone) is likely to be minimal. Current US polls are running 80%+ in favor of President Obama's drone policy.
Regards
Mike
Pakistan on the Brink: The Future of America, Pakistan and Afghanistan
The regular writer on these issues Ahmed Rashid is back on tour - in the UK - for his new book and it maybe of note to view a few reviews.
Introductory remarks from one critical review:
Quote:
A sequel to his four earlier books on the subject since mid-90s, especially Descent into Chaos (2008), the study underlines the precariousness of the Pakistani state’s chances for survival and the urgent need for policy resolutions. It also explains the causes of the recent deterioration in US-Pakistan relations and how they can be rectified; pinpoints factors responsible for the failure of the Obama Administration’s approach towards Pakistan and the Afghan war; and suggests ways to stabilise Pakistan and achieve a lasting peace in Afghanistan, amid the withdrawal of US and NATO troops from the war-torn country by 2014.
For more:http://politicsinspires.org/2012/04/...n-the-brink-2/
Peter Oborne writes:
Quote:
Instead of writing very good books, he now writes very bad ones...Rashid has ceased to be a subversive reporter and instead has swallowed almost entire the conventional categorisation of the war on terror...Yet there is much of value in this book, which chronicles the collapse of relations between Pakistan and the United States over recent years. India, in a reverse of the Cold War system, has become the main regional ally of the United States.
Link:http://www.spectator.co.uk/books/777...erritory.thtml
On Amazon.com there are supportive reviews:http://www.amazon.com/Pakistan-Brink...DateDescending