Latest Articles about South Asia
ASSESSING THE LATEST MESSAGE FROM BIN LADEN
Osama bin Laden's videotaped address to the American people, originally broadcast on the al-Jazeera satellite network on October 29, incorporates both new ideas and familiar themes in perhaps his most lucid explanation of the case for jihad thus far. [1] Eschewing the fatigues of a... MORE
SOFT TARGETS IN POST-ELECTION AFGHANISTAN
President Hamid Karzai's announcement that terrorism had been defeated in his country may return to haunt him and his administration, but there is no denying the magnitude of the success against terrorism in Afghanistan that was embodied in the results of the recent election. The... MORE
NEW ZAWAHIRI VIDEO
The latest videotape, featuring bin Laden's deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, aired by the al-Jazeera satellite channel on November 29, poses a number of questions both in terms of the content and the quality of the production. The content features the standard warning against the United States... MORE
WITH KARZAI LEADING, TALIBAN STUMBLES OVER INTERNAL DISSENT
Predictably, the October 9 Afghan presidential election is heading toward a landslide victory for Interim President Hamid Karzai, the U.S.-backed candidate who is considered to be the most moderate and acceptable to the Western world. As of October 20, various wire service reported that Karzai... MORE
ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS ON KARZAI LOYALISTS POINT TO HIS UNPOPULARITY
As Afghans prepare to vote in their landmark presidential election on Saturday, October 9, an air of suspense is cloaking the country. The formal campaigning ended on October 6, 48 hours before election day. Interim President Hamid Karzai, backed by the United States and European... MORE
TWO PRESIDENTS DEPEND ON AFGHANISTAN BALLOT
The October 9 poll to elect a new president in Afghanistan holds no surprises. Most foreign observers and Afghans perceive the election campaign as a farce, and that if the Bush administration wants to continue interim President Hamid Karzai in his present post for another... MORE
SEARCH FOR AL-QAEDA REMNANTS MAY FURTHER ALIENATE LOCALS ON AFGHAN BORDER
The Pakistani military's six-month hunt for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants along Afghanistan's southeastern border has escalated into new incursions to other areas of the South Waziristan Federally Administered Tribal Area. More ominously, these new offensives are in the territory of the more numerous and better... MORE
Credibility Of Afghan Presidential Elections Already In Doubt
Afghan President Hamid Karzai kicked off his re-election campaign with a September 12 press conference in Kabul. Many of his opponents or their representatives have also begun to carry their messages to various provinces (VOA, September 12). Despite the full-throttle campaigning, there are questions about... MORE
Karzai Fires Herat Warlord Ismail Khan
On September 11, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai dismissed Ismail Khan, widely known as the "warlord" of Herat province in western Afghanistan. The move came one day before Karzai announced the programs and policies for his next term of office. Karzai's decision was believed to be... MORE
Two Blasts Claim Victims In Afghanistan
Just before 6 pm on Sunday, August 29, a powerful bomb blast shook the DynCorp office in central Kabul. Reports say as many as seven people, including some foreigners, were killed. This explosion was one of the biggest of its kind in recent months, and... MORE