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// Recently the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made an offer of a peace and a non-aggression treaty to Pakistan. At the same time there are rumors of a possible settlement of the Siachin and Sir Creek dispute between India and Pakistan. The Indian Prime Minister warned that it would be a mistake to keepRead More »Changing relationships

// In this news letter we analyze yet another attempt to deal with the issue of reform in the tribal areas. The President has formed three groups that are examining reform of the tribal areas. Mr. Imtiaz Sahibzada, former chief secretary of NWFP, is examining the strengthening of the institution of the political agent (PA).Read More »Reforming the tribal areas

// We witnessed plenty of drama in the last couple of days. The first event was the visit of the most powerful man in the world  the US President. I was on a flight back from Lahore by an ancient 40 year old Fokker of the Pakistan International Airlines; we were forced to make anRead More »About this & that

// According to reports there have been heavy casualties from the recent army action in Miramshah, North Waziristan. Unconfirmed reports speak of 20 army dead and tribesmen claim that they have an equal number in custody; the tribal dead are thought to be more than 150, including women and children. The local clergy have givenRead More »Operations in Waziristan

// The concept of Peak Oil was explained in the context of the Hubbert  Curve. It showed that after peaking, fossil fuel was finishing rapidly. Alternate energy was not kicking in fast enough. Larger supply demand gaps and oil price hikes were inevitable, with black outs in the developed economies kicking in about 2015.  �     Pakistan must examine its relationshipRead More »Pakistan’s relations with Central Asian states in the perspective of energy depletion, economic & population growth & terrorism

// President Karzai in his recent visit to Pakistan gave a list of Taliban leaders, who he says are in Pakistan  mainly in NWFP and Baluchistan. President Musharraf says that this list is misinformation planted by Indian intelligence services. Pakistan, is thus in denial and if the lists are the work of the Indians thenRead More »Karzai’s complaint

// Pakistanis have witnessed a horrible fortnight. First to disturb peace was the insane controversy from Denmark. Then we had Mr. Karzai from Afghanistan, who gave his not too friendly interview the other day, in which he warned us to stop interfering in his country. To substantiate his complaint, he gave Pakistan a list of 17Read More »Agitation, exploitation & external threats

// On the call of the religious and other political parties, processions came out in Peshawar, on the 15th of Feb to protest against the insult to the dignity of the Prophet (PBUH) by the wretched cartoons. They began peacefully, but when they ended public property worth millions had been either burnt or destroyed. LootingRead More »Mass hysteria over cartoons

// Section 266b of the Danish Criminal Code provides: �Any person who, publicly or with the intention of wider dissemination, makes a statement or imparts other information by which a group of people are threatened, insulted or degraded on account of their race, colour, national or ethnic origin, religion, or sexual inclination shall be liableRead More »Provoking Islam – is it a conspiracy? The Law in Denmark & Norway Part III

// CULTURE CLASH (An article appearing in the Opinion Journal, New York) Bonfire of the Pieties BY AMIR TAHERI Wednesday, February 8, 2006 12:01 Islam prohibits neither images of Muhammad nor jokes about religion. BY AMIR TAHERI "The Muslim Fury," one newspaper headline screamed. "The Rage of Islam Sweeps Europe," said another. "The clash ofRead More »Provoking Islam Is it a conspiracy? Part II