NewsTrust - Pakistan - Most Recent Stories: News (Independent)

Nawaz Sharif poised to return as Pakistan PM

Sun, 12 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

aljazeera.com - May. 12 (Breaking News) - Nawaz Sharif, winner of the Pakistani elections, is holding talks to form a new government, with fixing the economy and tackling the armed insurgency likely to be his two biggest challenges. Partial, unofficial results from Saturday's elections represented a comeback for Sharif, 63, who was deposed as prime minister in a 1999 military coup and spent years in jail and exile.

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The Blowback from Interventionism

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Consortium News - By Melvin A. Goodman - Apr. 27 (News Analysis) - American foreign policy remains locked in a cycle of violence, with the Obama administration failing to escape the neocon insistence on a swaggering “tough-guy-ism” abroad. That reliance on military intervention also comes with the cost of “blowback,

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Intelligence Documents Suggest Obama Administration Lied About Who Drones Kill

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Steven Hseih - Apr. 10 (News Report) - The documents also provide a glimpse into the Obama administration’s seemingly thin rationale for executing some attacks. Contrary to claims of the CIA program’s precision and “ exceedingly rare” civilian casualties, the intelligence reports proves that “drone operators weren’t always certain who they were killing.” McClatchy’s report notes that several drone victims “died in what appeared to be signature strikes,” or attacks carried out based on a “signature” pattern of behavior, rather than a known identity.

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Brennan Exposed: The Truth About Obama's Drone Assassination Program

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0800

AlterNet - By Robert Greenwald - Feb. 13 (Special Report) - I went to Pakistan this fall and spoke with Pakistani officials, legal experts, public health officials, and journalists to hear, document, and learn more on the drone policy that has now garnered national attention. Prior to the CIA Director Nomination Hearing where John Brennan discussed the use and analysis of drone use and the white paper memo surfacing, there was little coverage in the media on the Obama's administration use of drones.

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Confronting the Bomb: Pakistani and Indian Scientists Speak Out

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0800

thebulletin.org - By Pervez Hoodbhoy - Feb. 13 (Special Report) - At a time when Pakistan was supposed to be just a "screwdriver turn away from having a bomb," Indian newspapers taunted Pakistanis: Had the Chinese forgotten to send the screwdriver over with the bomb? Or were the instructions written in Chinese? Most Indians firmly believed that Pakistan did not possess the bomb.

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Malala vows to continue with her campaign

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0800

aljazeera.com - Feb. 04 (News Report) - A Pakistani schoolgirl, who was shot by the Taliban, remains defiant in arguing for girls' education, saying she would keep up the same campaign that led to her attack. Speaking clearly but with the left side of her face appearing rigid, 15-year-old Malala Yousufzai said she is "getting better, day by day" after undergoing weeks of treatment at a British hospital.

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US strikes 'Taliban compound' in Pakistan

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0800

aljazeera.com - Jan. 06 (News Report) - At least 12 people were killed and eight others were wounded in a US drone strike against suspected Taliban compound in Pakistan's South Waziristan region, according to Al Jazeera's Pakistan bureau. More militants were believed to be in the locations whe

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Strategic Threat of Climate Change

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0800

Consortium News - By Consortiumnews.com - Jan. 03 (News Analysis) - Strategic Threat of Climate Change

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False Claims in Final Debate

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0700

FactCheck - By Eugene Kiely - Oct. 23 (Fact Check) - In the third and final Obama-Romney debate, the candidates again contradicted each other, while each offered incorrect or twisted factual claims.

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Remembering Our Forgotten War

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Mother Jones - By Tom Engelhardt - Aug. 27 (News Analysis) - This story first appeared on the TomDispatch website. In the wake of several deaths among its contingent of troops in a previously peaceful province in Afghanistan, New Zealand (like France and South Korea ) is now expediting the departure of its 140 soldiers. That's not exactly headline-making news here in the U.S.

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US Drone Strike in Pakistan Reeks of Political Retaliation Yet Again

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

emptywheel.net - By Jim White - May. 25 (News Report) - Today, US drones killed four more people in North Waziristan in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). This strike comes at a critical time in US-Pakistan relations, as many believed that the US and Pakistan would announce an agreement reopening NATO supply routes through Pakistan at last weekend’s NATO summit in Chicago. Instead of reaching agreement, however, Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari was essentially shunned at the meeting. Today’s strike adds to that insult, as Pakistan has been objecting strenuously to US drone strikes as an imposition on Pakistan’s sovereignty. Despite US claims that Pakistan does nothing to stop insurgents in the FATA, Pakistani jets also killed 12 people today in Orakzai Agency, which is near North Waziristan and also within the FATA.

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With Control of Drone Strikes, Is Counterterror Chief John Brennan the U.S. "Assassination Czar"?

Thu, 24 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - May. 24 (News Analysis) - President Obama's counterterrorism chief John Brennan is heading up a new team to determine who should be targeted by armed U.S. drones overseas. The newly revealed procedure for drone attacks means Brennan's staff consults the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies before ultimately deciding who will be targeted. One official said there is growing concern over "how easy it has become to kill someone" under the administration’s drone strike policy. We speak with investigative blogger Marcy Wheeler of the website “Empty Wheel.” [Transcript to come. Check back soon.]

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The ‘Stan: An officer’s unvarnished view

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

armytimes.com - By Lance M. Bacon - Feb. 06 (Special Report) - An Army officer is fed up with “rosy official statements” that paint Afghanistan as a picture of progress, and he is demanding military leaders come clean about the “absence ofsuccess on virtually every level.”

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Obama's Expansion of Af-Pak War "Has Blown Up in His Face"

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Tariq Ali - Jan. 20 (News Analysis) - Amid ongoing U.S.-Pakistani tensions and fears of a military coup in Pakistan, we are joined by British-Pakistani political commentator, historian, activist, filmmaker and novelist, Tariq Ali. Ali discusses Pakistan's internal turmoil, as well as Pakistani attitudes toward U.S. foreign policy, the GOP presidential contest, and the prospect of a military strike against Iran. "[Pakistanis] are basically suffering because Obama, arrogantly, escalated the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan and thought he could get away with it. That has now blown up in his face," Ali says. [Rush transcript to come. Check back soon.]

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What's Happening in the Persian Gulf Explained

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Mother Jones - By Adam Weinstein, Hamed Aleaziz - Jan. 03 (Special Report) - The basics: Iran and the United States appear to be heading for a showdown in the Persian Gulf. Amid already-high tensions over Iran's advancing nuclear program, the US has imposed harsh new economic sanctions on the regime in Tehran and begun to move se

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U.S. Admits Fault in Fatal Bombing that Killed 24 Pakistani Troops

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Dec. 22 (News Report) - The Pentagon has admitted significant responsibility for an attack on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border last month that left 24 Pakistani solders dead. A military investigation found U.S. and Afghan commandos incorrectly determined there were no Pakistani forces in the area before the air strike. U.S. officials then provided inaccurate data to a Pakistani military representative and missed an opportunity to stop the fighting. Pakistan closed its border after the attack, shutting off a supply line to troops in Afghanistan. New York Times reporter Eric Schmitt, who has just returned from Pakistan, says the report details just the latest in a string of incidents that could hurt Pakistani-U.S. ties

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NATO Kills 24 Pakistani Troops in 2-Hour Assault on Pakistani Base, Tensions Flare in Region

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Nov. 28 (News Report) - NATO helicopters and fighter jets attacked two remote Pakistani military outposts on Saturday killing at least 24 Pakistani soldiers. The air strike took place along the Afghanistan border in Pakistan's tribal district of Mohmand. Pakistan has said the attack was unprovoked, but a senior Kabul-based Western official claims NATO and Afghan forces came under fire and responded in self defense. Pakistan responded Saturday by blocking vital supply routes for U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan, and demanded the United States vacate a base used to launch drone attacks. We speak with Glenn Greenwald, constitutional law attorney and political and legal blogger for Salon.com. “We may never know what happened here. ... But what is clear is that the endless war that the United States has been engaged in since 9/11 does not seem to be in sight of ending. Quite the contrary, it seems to be escalating by the week,” Greenwald says. [Rush transcript to come. Check back soon.]

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Inquiry Into the Murder of Journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad May Implicate Pakistan Intelligence Agency

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Jun. 29 (News Analysis) - Immediately after Shahzad’s murder, Human Rights Watch said the Pakistani government should establish an independent investigation into his killing and look into other allegations of serious human rights abuse by the Pakistani military’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. We speak with Ali Dayan Hasan, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch about Shahzad’s work, and how the allegations linking the ISI to his murder are the most direct connections yet linking the agency to threats to Pakistani journalists.

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Use Our Coverage to Understand Pakistan’s Terror Connections and the 2008 Mumbai Attacks - ProPublica

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

ProPublica - Jun. 07 (Investigative Report) - CBC.caUse Our Coverage to Understand Pakistan's Terror Connections and the 2008 ...ProPublica(Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) ProPublica's Sebastian Rotella has spent more than a year investigating suspected links between Pakistan's intelligence service and terrorist groups as well as the failure of the US government to detect the growing threat ...Headley asked ISI to help Rana get back to Pak: FBIEconomic TimesMumbai terror trial defense done after 2 witnessesDanbury News Timesin depthCanadian's terror trial reveals Pakistan military linksCBC.caMangalorean.com -Chicago Tribuneall 248 news articles »

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Islamist Militants Attack Pakistan Naval Base

Mon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Adil Jawad - May. 23 (News Report) - Islamist militants stormed a naval base in the Pakistani city of Karachi late Sunday, attacking a US-supplied surveillance aircraft and battling commandos dispatched to subdue them in one of the most brazen attacks in years, ...Pakistan: Huge Blasts At A Pakistan Naval Air Base In Karachi - Global VoicesMilitants attack Pakistani base - Rocket NewsMilitants attack Pakistan navy base, four killed - Pakistan Defence ForumSee all 15 blogs.

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Pakistan to turn over copter tail

Tue, 17 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Atlanta Journal - By Karin Brulliard - May. 17 (News) - Pakistan has agreed to return the tail of the U.S. military helicopter that malfunctioned during the Osama bin Laden raid, Sen. John Kerry said Monday, part of a “specific series of steps” aimed at reducing suspicion between Islamabad and Washington.

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Pakistan: Blasts kill 80 to avenge bin Laden death

Fri, 13 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

CTV - May. 13 (News) - Suicide bombers in Pakistan blew themselves up outside a military training facility Friday, killing 80 people in an attack designed to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden.

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Pakistani Military Faces Scrutiny As Unfolding Evidence Suggests Direct Role in Harboring bin Laden

Thu, 05 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - May. 05 (News Report) - Numerous questions have been raised on how Osama bin Laden could have been living in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad just down the street from Pakistan's premier military academy. CIA Director Leon Panetta has reportedly said Pakistan was either "knowledgeable or incompetent" when it came to bin Laden's whereabouts. Some evidence has emerged to indicate that the Pakistani military may have had a direct role in harboring bin Laden. Meanwhile, the Pakistani government is claiming it warned U.S. intelligence two years ago about the compound where bin Laden was killed. We go to Pakistan to speak with Graeme Smith, an award-winning foreign correspondent for _The Globe and Mail_ newspaper in Canada. He was in Abbottabad yesterday investigating the mystery behind the bin Laden compound.

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Discovery of Bin Laden Hideout Spotlights Concerns About Pakistan's Intelligence Service

Mon, 02 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

ProPublica - By Sebastian Rotella - May. 02 (News Analysis) - The killing of Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani city dominated by the military has spotlighted a conundrum that Western counterterror agencies have grappled with for years: Is Pakistan's powerful intelligence service an ally, an enemy or a mix of both? This time the debate is likely to take place in public, not behind the closed doors of national security outposts in Washington. In fact, White House homeland security adviser John Brennan seemed to confront the issue head-on Monday when he said that the presence of the world's most wanted man in a fortress-like compound near the homes of retired generals and a military academy raises questions that the Pakistani government must answer. The Obama administration took the extraordinary step of keeping Sunday's commando raid secret from Islamabad. Although Obama cited "counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan" as a factor in the successful hunt for bin Laden, U.S. officials have not given details on the extent and nature of that Pakistani assistance. The ISI has been suspected of playing a double game in previous cases: the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002, the mysterious escape from Pakistani custody in 2007 of an al-Qaida operative accused in the London transport bombings and a plot to bomb U.S.-bound commercial flights, charges of ISI involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attack and recent allegations by top military brass that the ISI supports militant networks fighting U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

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Did Pakistani Gov’t Know Where Osama bin Laden Was Hiding?

Mon, 02 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman, Tariq Ali, Mosharraf Zaidi - May. 02 (News Analysis) - "The idea that bin Laden got from Tora Bora to that house over the last seven or eight years without a single element of the Pakistani state knowing about it just doesn’t ring true," said Pakistani journalist Mosharraf Zaidi, who has been reporting in Abbottabad. "What rings even more hollow is the notion that somehow U.S. military choppers and gunships could fly into Pakistan undetected." Pakistani writer Tariq Ali questions how bin Laden could have been living inside a fortified compound within a mile of Pakistan’s premier military academy.

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