My Op-ed on Pakistan's Sovereignty

The Australian published it today. The conclusion that Pakistan's sovereignty has not been violated by U.S. actions in that country - including the killing of Osama bin Laden - is inescapable because there is plenty of evidence of consent by the country's leadership. Recent stories in the NYT and other media outlets show that the military establishment was in favour of drone strikes and that Pakistani protestations to the contrary are largely aimed at fooling its domestic audience.

You can read the article here.

My article on the Legality of Osama's Killing

is available at the WSJ site here. It can also be downloaded here.

Merkel Dragged to Court for Endorsing Osama's "Homicide"

Angela Merkel has run into trouble with a German judge for expressing happiness at the killing of Osama bin Laden. Der Spiegel - which had plenty of sanctimonious writing on the killing over the last week on the killing with lots of condescension at the Americans - reports:
Hamburg judge Heinz Uthmann ... alleges that the chancellor's statement was nothing short of illegal, and filed a criminal complaint against Merkel midweek, the daily Hamburger Morgenpost reported Friday.
"I am a law-abiding citizen and as a judge, sworn to justice and law," the 54-year-old told the paper, adding that Merkel's words were "tacky and undignified."
In his two-page document, Uthmann, a judge for 21 years, cites section 140 of the German Criminal Code, which forbids the "rewarding and approving" of crimes. In this case, Merkel endorsed a "homicide," Uthmann claimed. The violation is punishable by up to three years' imprisonment or a fine.

Seems like a stretch to me.

Was Mrs. Osama used as a human shield?

Discrepancies have emerged in some of the key details about OBL's killing. Via Politico:
The White House backed away Monday evening from key details in its narrative about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, including claims by senior U.S. officials that the Al Qaeda leader had a weapon and may have fired it during a gun battle with U.S. forces.

Officials also retreated from claims that one of bin Laden’s wives was killed in the raid and that bin Laden was using her as a human shield before she was shot by U.S. forces.
At a televised White House briefing Monday afternoon, Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan said bin Laden joined in the fight that several residents of the Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound put up against the Navy SEALs during the 40-minute operation.

“He [bin Laden] was engaged in a firefight with those that entered the area of the house he was in. And whether or not he got off any rounds, I quite frankly don’t know,” Brennan said.

At a Pentagon briefing earlier in the day, a senior defense official said bin Laden used a woman as a human shield so he could fire shots. “He was firing behind her,” the official said.

... during a background, off-camera briefing for television reporters later Monday, a senior White House official said bin Laden was not armed when he was killed, apparently by the U.S. raid team.

Another White House official familiar with the TV briefing confirmed the change to POLITICO, adding, “I’m not aware of him having a weapon.”
“The bottom line is the team that entered that room was met with resistance and took appropriate action,” said a third American official.
At the Monday evening briefing for TV reporters, a senior official also corrected what Brennan described earlier as “my understanding” that the woman who acted as a shield for bin Laden was one of his wives and was killed.


“A different guy’s wife was killed,” a different official familiar with the briefing for TV reporters said Monday night. Bin Laden’s wife was “injured but not killed,” the official said.
Another official familiar with the operation said it did not appear that any woman was used as a human shield, but that the woman killed and the one injured were hurt in the crossfire. The official said he believed Brennan had mixed up the episode involving bin Laden’s wife with another encounter elsewhere in the compound.

"Two women were shot here. It sounds like their fates were mixed up,” said the U.S. official.

Those of us outside the highest echelons of the intelligence apparatus and not privy to the video of the raid will just have to wait for the Hollywood movie to get the exact details. What's the betting that scriptwriters are beavering away at their laptops in LA as this continues to develop?!

New Pentagon Report on Afghanistan

What to do with Afghanistan? Despite President Obama’s 30,000 strong troop surge and millions of dollars being poured in, the Afghan bus has not managed to extricate itself from the ditch it has been stuck in. The Pentagon’s report to Congress yesterday underlines what most people already know: the population “sympathizes with or supports the Afghan government” in only 24% of the key parts of Afghanistan. As the report concedes, the insurgents “perceive 2009 as their most successful year.”

Progress on governance has been minimal: Afghans perceive their government to be corrupt and incompetent – 83% reported that corruption affects their daily lives - a fact exploited to the hilt by the Taliban. Damningly for the Karzai government, the Pentagon admits that the “Taliban … is an adjudicator in providing swift and less corrupt dispute resolution” and that “courts are understaffed and chronically corrupt.” Moreover, “only 50% of Afghans believed that prisons were capable of holding prisoners for the duration of their sentences” probably because of high profile prison escapes and pardons by corrupt politicians. The report also suggests that there is no political will to tackle corruption and that political meddling might actually be counteracting anti-corruption efforts.

What is the use of propping up Karzai if the Taliban offers superior justice to Aghan citizens?

Read more here.

Article on Russian bomb blasts

My article on the terrorist attacks was published in the Washington Times today:

Bomb blasts in Moscow and Dagestan this week are just the latest ticks from Russia's Islamic time bomb. Russia's Muslims - estimated at more than 23 million out of a total population of 142 million - are a reminder of the country's bloody past. Alienated by a succession of horrific acts dating back at least to the 1850s, the "Black Widows" and their sympathizers seek revenge. Still, Russia persists with rhetoric recalling the worst in its history: Vladimir Putin promising to "drag them out from the bottom of the sewers into the light of God," while Dmitry Medvedev calls the Black Widows "animals."

Read the full piece here.