Category: Blogs

NATO Supply Route to Afghanistan Disrupted by Pakistan Floods

By Rob Crilly, Telegraph (UK): Pakistan transport officials said long lines of trucks with food, fuel and equipment for troops were caught up in a 30-mile tailback on the main highway from Karachi to Islamabad as floodwater in the south of the country had reduced traffic to single file.

More Helicopters Needed for Pakistan Relief Efforts

By The Hindu

From The Hindu: With eight lakh people still stranded in areas cut-off from land routes across the country, the UN on Tuesday night issued an urgent appeal for 40 additional heavy-lift helicopters. This SOS came amid reports of the Pakistan Army pulling out some helicopters from the ongoing operations against militants in the tribal agencies […]

Eurasia Reimagined

By Samuel Charap and Alexandros Petersen

As Kyrgyzstan descended into chaos after President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted in April 2010, most observers were focused on the fate of the key U.S. airbase there. They feared that Moscow had orchestrated the unrest as revenge for Bakiyev reneging on his alleged promise to shut down the base and would now demand that the […]

Iraq: Mission Accomplished…Again

By Derek Reveron

Pakistan At Risk: Rains or Guns of August?

By Harlan Ullman

As the rains continue and floodwaters roar into Sindh and Punjab, the future of Pakistan as both a state and nation is in grave doubt. To understand the magnitude of this catastrophe, imagine if in the United States much of the landmass from Boston to New Orleans east of the Mississippi was under 20 feet […]

Marines Chief: Withdrawal Date Encourages Enemies

By Phil Stewart and Sue Pleming, Reuters

From Phil Stewart and Sue Pleming, Reuters: President Barack Obama‘s July 2011 date to start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan has given a morale boost to Taliban insurgents, who believe they can wait out NATO forces, the top U.S. Marine said on Tuesday.

France’s Economic Recovery Targets Impressive or Unrealistic? View from Europe

By Scott Bleiweis

While neighboring Germany has been praised for record levels of economic growth, France has been criticized for setting targets it will have a hard time reaching. Even though the French government recently reduced its economic growth targets for 2011 from 2.5% to 2.0%, some think the lower figure is still too optimistic.

Pakistan Flooding of Biblical Proportions

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

Pakistan Flood Recovery: Can Zardari Deliver Aid?

By Shuja Nawaz

The current flood in Pakistan is the worst ever-natural disaster to strike that country even as it is fighting an existential threat from a major Taliban insurgency inside its Western border. The grim situation: 20 million homeless, a fifth of the country affected by floodwaters, and a government that was unprepared, despite warnings from its […]

Petraeus: July 2011 deadline not the start of sudden troop exodus from Afghanistan

By David Stringer, the AP

From David Stringer, the AP:  In an interview with British Broadcasting Corp. television, Army Gen. David Petraeus urged caution over hopes for the planned pullback of American troops, which is scheduled to begin in July 2011.