Sunday, January 20th, 2008...9:02 am
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ extraordinary attack on North Atlantic Treaty Organization efforts in Afghanistan – “they need to do a better job” – highlights Washington’s frustration at what is no longer a winnable war against the Taliban. Enter Britain’s Lord Ashdown as the United Nations’ super envoy to Kabul. The White House reposes confidence in him; he takes counseling and directions from London, which coordinates with Riyadh and Islamabad, and he understands the heart of the problem: Pashtun alienation. – M K Bhadrakumar (Jan 18, ’08)
Beyond dropping bombs, British efforts in Afghanistan have revolved around courting the Taliban, but without their leader Mullah Omar and any al-Qaeda-linked elements. The approach – opposed by the United States – has yielded few results, and serves as an object lesson for the new United Nations envoy to Kabul, Lord Ashdown. – Syed Saleem Shahzad
This is the conclusion of a two-part report. (Jan 18, ’08)
If there’s no need to hold elections until 2009, why is Malaysia’s ruling coalition gearing up for a snap vote in March? Pundits say it’s because popular dissent is likely to get worse before it gets better, and behind that lurks the encroaching eligibility of opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim. The longer Abdullah and company hold out, the more their support may dwindle. – Anil Netto (Jan 18, ’08)
Faced with a dearth of mid-ranking officers and a drain of high-ranking retirees, the world’s largest volunteer army is marching towards a leadership crisis. The lack of qualified brass is leading to calls for conscription and many are clamoring for publicity and perks to lure India’s best and brightest from the private sector. – Sudha Ramachandran (Jan 18, ’08)
Beijing’s limited foreign film quota, as well as Hollywood’s clout, have made it difficult for India’s Bollywood films to make deep inroads into China. More Indian films, though, could pave the way for a kind of silver screen detente that would benefit the governments of both countries and their moviegoers. – Debasish Roy Chowdhury (Jan 18, ’08)
Outwardly it looks as though China-India relations are becoming cozier, but a look at the history of United States-China relations provides a guide for how New Delhi within the next decade may “do a China” on China, by linking up with Washington the way Beijing did with the world’s most powerful country in the 1970s. (Jan 18, ’08)
Although the media are now in rapt discussion about just how “successful” President George W Bush’s “surge” has been, the reality is much more grave. After doctoring by Bush’s “undertakers”, moribund Iraq has a faint glow of life, but it won’t just get up and walk away, and neither, it seems, will the United States. – Tom Engelhardt (Jan 18, ’08)
Everything the George W Bush administration purports to know about the roots of terrorism is wrong, and a book that boldly goes where none has gone before explains why. Case studies show what various members of al-Qaeda have in common – and it’s not what White House experts would have us believe. – David Isenberg (Jan 18, ’08)
What unites Mitt Romney’s pledge to save Michigan, mounting US bank losses and the World Bank’s most recent corruption scandal in India with monetary tightening in China and the launch of the cheapest car in the world this week? Fool’s gold, mainly.
Chinese consumers may welcome the latest efforts by the government to rein in the rising cost of food and other necessities, but analysts warn that any slowdown in price rises will be a temporary affair. – Olivia Chung
US Fed chairman Ben Bernanke is ready to take “substantive additional action”, which the media and markets take as “Rates are going down, dudes!”, and The Mogambo interprets as “Inflation in prices is going up, dudes!”. Anyway, don’t look out the window: if inflation doesn’t take the food off your table, The Mogambo will.
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