By William Pfaff
May 06, 2009 “Truthdig” — An account from the Taliban side of the Afghanistan war, which was published in the New York Times on May 5, provides devastating evidence of the failure that almost certainly will eventually overtake the United States and NATO. It is a long interview with a young Taliban “logistics tactician” who has been speaking with Jane Perlez and Pir Zubair Shah of the Times for many months about the Taliban view of the war, and about what he sees as their inevitable victory. Read more »

As the world teeters on the brink of financial disaster, leaders are calling for a new world order. As early as the late 1990s, David Rockefeller, author of the idea of private power that is due to replace the governments, said that the world was on the threshold of global changes. He invoked the need of “some large-scale crisis that will make people accept the new world order…” Is the current crisis being used as a mechanism to stoke civil fear and unrest, inducing people to succumb to a system of transnational private power? Olga Chetverikova believes we are in the final stage of that long-time planned ’global control’ agenda. Read more…

There were strong hints of this even in Michelle Obama’s speech on Tuesday to the workers of the US Mission to the UN as she quickly segued from the (manufactured) crisis in Pakistan to the (manufactured) swine flu crisis to express how boundaries or borders can’t stop danger and trouble from spreading to other parts of the world so they shouldn’t be able to stop a response to that danger from other parts of the world that feel they are endangered.

Secretive U.S. Prison Units Used to House Muslim, Animal Rights and Environmental Activists
Will Potter

The government is using secretive prison facilities on U.S. soil, called Communication Management Units, to house inmates accused of being tied to “terrorism” groups. They overwhelmingly include Muslim inmates, along with at least two animal rights and environmental activists.

Little information is available about the secretive facilities and the prisoners housed there. However, through interviews with attorneys, family members, and a current prisoner, it is clear that these units have been created not for violent and dangerous “terrorists,” but for political cases that the government would like to keep out of the public spotlight and out of the press. Read more…

By Dr Farooq Hassan  
Events since the last week of February have boldly demonstrated that sadly for the majority of the people in the country there is now an utter loss of trust in PPP’s co-chairman as a politician and as president. Constitutionally, politically as well as in his wideranging policy announcements and priorities, there is no coherence or a nationalist emphasis. Read more »

By Nadia Khan
At last, the deposed Chief Justice Ifthikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is restored and he will be in action from 22nd Mar 2009. The entire nation is celebrating this joyful moment – with a sense that Musharraf actions are being negated– and it would be, probably, the beginning of a new era for judiciary.

President Zardari, despite all assurances from Punjab Governor for cracking the mob when noticed the huge crowd with PML (N) chief Nawaz Sharif, had decided to change his mind, and allowed his party-premier to announce the restoration of deposed judges, a case pending since over an year after 18th February 2008 elections due to number of reasons, likely the NRO as most of his critics say, which might implicate President Zardari in a legal battle with Supreme court leading to his disqualification. Read more »

There is a famous saying that “whenever foot of a female monkey burns, she puts her children’s under her feet’’.

Zardari has reached to a point of no return and he is trying to sabotage human rights and shackle liberty of citizens. Recent destructive orders issued by presidency are witness that multiple personal and external pressures have exposed his mental disabilities and highest degree of schizophrenia. His mental sickness has considerably worsen and in the interest of country he requires to be forcefully quarantined somewhere in Pakistan. Read more »

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Also see: Welcome to Zardaristan

Informed sources told this correspondent that Malik accused Sherry of leniency towards the press and asked Zardari to put the PEMRA, a regulatory body for electronic media, under his ministry’s control instead of the information department. He pleaded for a crack down on errant channels and anchors to suppress dissent.

We have written before about Police State under Rehman Malik.

Rehman wanted Pemra under him! It could be Rehman is exercising this power of Pemra under him to block Geo/Aaj without public knowledge.

Read more »

Imagination and reality collide to administer a new awareness. What you are about to see will become your worst nightmare. We must unite to save ourselves and our families from the madness that seems so out of control. What loss of control are “We the People” experiencing at the hands of their elected leaders?

Is this real or imagined? A barrel of money for a loaf of white bread…. $100 a gallon for gas……. is it around the corner at this minute? What are you going to do about it… sit back and go along for the ride. We hope not. It is time to act… write, call, send a telegram… do something people!

By Nadia Khan
He has started his political career as the President of a student wing of a religious party that holds partial majority in Baluchistan and NWFP provinces. After the death of his renowned father he has set up his own faction of the party and laid down the foundation of “political inheritance” by disregarding many of his teachers and seniors. Read more »

Do ordinary non-indigenous Americans really think that they are or will forever be immune to the horrors their government directly or indirectly inflicted and still inflicts on indigenous Americans and citizens of other countries, that their government wasn’t and isn’t perfectly willing and able to do to them what they were and are doing to others? Really? Why? The elites always hold the masses in contempt, all the masses, everywhere, and consider us disposable, whatever they might say to the contrary. Sometimes the mask slips a bit and you see this -

US Justice department memos: the specter of military dictatorship

Memos Provide Blueprint for Police State

Harper’s editor: America had a dictator for eight years

"If this was a dictatorship it'd be a heck of a lot easier. Just so long as I'm the dictator."

By Nadia Khan
While Altaf Hussain was admiring the only woman Prime Minister of Pakistan – late Benazir Bhutto during his rally, I was recalling his interview given to Rediff, Mumbai (during his India trip) to its Senior Editor Sheela Bhatt, published on 18th November 2004, responding to her question: “Like you, Benazir Bhutto is also in exile. Do you meet her? Have you overcome your differences?” Mr Hussain said: “Please don’t compare me to her. She is a feudal lady. Her politics is to gain power, power, power. She raised the Taleban. And lives only for power.” (http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/nov/18inter.htm) Read more »

I have strong reservation on the role of West too. It is time that Western countries who are ready to broker deals in order to sponsor the imports of defunct leaders to Pakistan must take notice of barring opposition & the plight of deposed Chief Justice and the lawyers movement and they must impress upon Mr. Zardari to honour the pledges and give space to the opposition. If the West fails to make it clear strongly, we may miss the opportunity to have rule of law, justice and democracy in Pakistan for a long period to come which will destabilize the country & struggle for civil rights and will increase militancy and radicalization in the region. Read more »

This fascinating series by Adam Curtis provides insight into the manufacture of consent and managing the masses through the manipulation of desire and fear in an age of democracy.

Part 1 of 4

Read more »

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says of Palestinian resistance to ongoing Israeli ethnic cleansing:

“No nation should be expected to sit idly by and allow rockets to assault its people and its territories. These attacks must stop and so must the smuggling of weapons into Gaza.”

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says of ongoing Israeli ethnic cleansing (the scheduled demolition of over 100 houses in East Jerusalem):

“Clearly this kind of activity is unhelpful and not in keeping with the obligations entered into under the Road Map.”

Ethnic cleansing is “unhelpful” while resistance to ethnic cleansing is intolerable, not allowable, “must stop”. 

Read more »

By Nadia Khan
Be it after 1988 elections when PPP or IJI needed MQM national assembly votes to form govt or after successive elections for formation of federal govts, MQM (A) became the key bargainers’ group in forming such governments. Contrary to past, during Sharif brothers’ disqualification crisis, no major politician consulted Altaf Hussain to play a mediating role. In fact ANP & JUI (F) leaders met with President and offered their services to negotiate with PML (N). This feeling of being ‘sidelined or ignored’ from the national politics has crippled Altaf Hussain and he has started delivering statements to notify his presence also. Read more »

By Nadia Khan

Since then the governor rule is imposed in Punjab and Shahbaz Sharif is dismissed from the chief minister post, it is evident that President Zardari became successful in saying to his party men two weeks before that, “lets see how I will handle lawyers & their long march sit in ….” Read more »

The Presidency is eying for yet another politically demanding goal, the extension to Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar without a constitutional amendment, but the president’s spokesman asserts that Dogar will retire on March 21.

Though constitutional experts including even those who are considered close to Justice Dogar believe that this is impossible without a constitutional amendment, legal minds surrounding President Zardari are considering to achieve this impossible task through a court order. Read more…

Whatever was must for Musharraf is must for Zardari. Without being a civilian thug, what else on earth differentiate the new maniac tyrant from the old, depressed thug?

If you rule for you foreign handlers, you need a puppet judges, you need unconstitutional powers to undermine the democratic order any time you like. You need 58 2b. You need 17th amendment. You need Rehman Malik. You need Hussain Haqqani. You need foreign military bases. You need foreign troops. You need a war on your own people. You need to keep the factory of producing more victims, more reactionaries and yet more “terrorists” functioning. You need to turn a blind eye on all the subversive anti-state activities sponsored by the neighbouring stats and supported by your masters. You need to keep hugging your enemies. You need way more than this only because you rule for the outsiders and your own interest - not for the people as their true representative.