By exposing how USAID finances people acting as agents of regime change for US imperialism, a number of anti-Iran operatives masquarading as journalists have been exposed. They have received tens of millions of dollars in payments over the years.
Even while claiming that he wants to be known as a ‘peacemaker’ Donald Trump is acting like an ugly imperialist. He wants to grab Greenland, Canada, the Panama Canal and has just renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the American Gulf. Welcome to American imperialism!
Sixtgeen years after they brought a case against a US military contractor, three victims of torture and abuse at Abu Ghraib won a landmark judgement against CACI Premium Technology. Will other victims also now get compensation?
The news from Pakistan is extremely depressing. It continues to slide deeper into debt while the elite lead a rapacious lifestyle. This is the direct result of the army’s gross interference in politics in complete violation of the constitution. The army installs people in power disregarding the wishes of the masses.
Through their control of all state institutions, the thugs in uniform are driving Pakistan into the ground. The economy is on life support; there is political instability and deep social divisions. Poverty stalks the land but the generals and their hangers-on continue as if nothing is remiss.
NATO was created during the west’s rivalry with the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. The Soviet Union is no more. It is time to disband NATO, too. Yet the western warmongers appear in no mood to do so.
Iranians will go the polls again in a week’s time to vote in the second round of presidential election. The two front-runners, neither of whom secured the required 50% plus one vote, will face off each other on July 5.
While the loss of President Raeisi and his Foreign Minister will be felt in Iran, the policies he pursued will continue. Islamic Iran’s system is not persona-based. Rather, it is based on the principles and values of Islam as its record since the Islamic revolution in 1979 shows.
America may have the world’s largest economy and the biggest war machine but it is a deeply divided country. To the traditional fault lines—race, urban-rural divide and great disparities in wealth—must now be added the very serious threat of conflict erupting between Trump and Biden supporters.
Criminal generals and corrupt politicians have stolen the people’s mandate and pushed Pakistan toward disaster. Amid political uncertainty, the economy teeters on the brink. The clueless generals and their puppet politicians keep running to the IMF for bailout packages. For how long?
Pakistanis will go to the polls on February 8 but the largest political party—Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf led by Imran Khan—faces immense hurdles. Its leader remains in jail on bogus charges and the party has been denied its party symbol intended to hamper its supporters.
Thousands of Baloch youth have been murdered in cold blood. They are accused of being terrorists. Hundreds of others have simply disappeared. Last month young girls and women from Balochistan converged on Islamabad to seek answers about the fate of their loved ones.
There is overwhelming evidence available even from the statements of Israeli officials that they have perpetrated war crimes. The question is where should these war criminals be tried: at the ICC or the International Court of Justice?
Hamas’s capture of Israeli prisoners, erroneously called “hostages”, gives huge advantage to the Palestinians resisting zionist aggression. Israel is holding more than 10,000 Palestinians. We highlight the contrasting treatment of the two sets of prisoners to show who is civilized and who is the barbarian.
The neo-cons have captured American policy both domestic and foreign. While they have pushed the US into endless destructive and expensive wars, they have not given up. We examine their roots and those who were and are its leading proponents.
Nothing exposes US—and western hypocrisy in general—better than their selective morality and outrage. Indiscretions of enemies are condemned but their own criminal conduct is conveniently ignored. Torture of US victims represents a glaring example of such hypocrisy.
Countries that once exercised dominance over global affairs find it difficult to adjust to the reality that they are no longer the top contender. This is what the US is currently going through: inability to admit that other powers have emerged to knock it off its stool.
The security of the Persian Gulf is the responsibility of regional states. Islamic Iran has consistently advocated this and has demanded that foreign forces should withdraw and let regional states determine its security.
The world is undergoing rapid change. China has emerged as a major global economic power. The Europeans have realized this and are scrambling to get in the good books of China, much to the annoyance of the US.
China surprised the world when it brokered an agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The negotiations, held in extreme secrecy, lasted five days. The Iranian-Saudi détente has also exposed the irrelevance of the US in global politics.
While March 20 will mark 20 years of the illegal invasion and destruction of Iraq by western hegemons, it is also important to not forget that heinous crimes were perpetrated in Iraq against innocent civilians.
American propaganda has been extremely successful in selling the idea of the “American dream” when in reality it is a nightmare. This is reflected in the number of murders, suicides and rising crime rates. The US incarceration rate is also one of the highest in the world. What dream?
America is not only prepared to fight against Russia to the last Ukrainian but that Europe has to pay the price. European industries are shutting down, unemployment is rising together with food and energy shortages and people are forced to eat pet food to survive.
Iran has been under western sanctions for decades yet it has taken major strides in self-defence. Its most impressive gains have been in the field of missile technology. Its enemies dare not attack it or they will get a drubbing like never experienced before.
Since his ouster from power in a US-dictated and army engineered coup, Imran Khan has attracted millions of people to his rallies. He demands transparent elections but that won’t solve Pakistan’s problems. It needs a revolution.
In recent days, threats to use nuclear weapons have escalated alarmingly bringing the doomsday scenario much closer. These threats are not issued by tin-pot dictators like Kim Jong un of North Korea but by those that call themselves leaders of superpowers: Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden!
The US Empire and zionist Israel are based on theft of land and resources of others. Their latest robbery involves stealing Syria’s oil and Lebanon’s gas. This could easily escalate into war. Both sets of thieves need to be confronted to prevent their grand larceny.
Since the regime change operation in Pakistan, there has been much discussion about the role of the army. All negative propaganda against the army is nonsense. We explain that it is the “best army” in the world!
The global geostrategic situation is changing rapidly. New players have emerged to challenge US piracy and gangsterism. Islamic Iran has emerged as an important player in this new set-up. Its massive financial, economic, political and strategic agreements are laying the foundations of a new global order.
Stealing other people’s resources and assets is a long-time US policy. It has in recent years resorted to piracy on the high seas of Iranian tankers. Now it coerces other countries as well to join in such piracy. When Greece tried to do that, Iran reacted sharply and gave a fitting reply. Greece had to back off but it may not be the end of US piracy.
Russia’s “special military operations” in Ukraine appear to be on track to achieve their objectives. The flooding of weapons and mercenaries into Ukraine seem not to have made much of a difference. America’s belligerent policy has also exposed cracks in the NATO alliance.
France will hold presidential elections on April 10. Facing a stiff challenge from racists and bigots, Emmanuel Macron has decided to join them to win over some of their supporters in his anti-Islam crusade. Macron confirms yet again that France is a racist country and he is promoting Islamophobia by his policies.
The world is not governed by any rules despite loud claims to the contrary. Might is right dictates how relations and policies are formulated. This is especially true for countries with enormous wealth but no capacity to defend such riches. We examine the plight of some rich but militarily weak countries.
The announcement that former British prime minister Tony Blair would be knighted in the New Year’s honors list aroused worldwide loathing and disgust. More than one million people signed a petition demanding this war criminal not be knighted. He was instrumental in unleashing the war on Iraq in 2003.
An odd assortment of tyrants, oppressors and war criminals masquerading as champions of democracy stand exposed by their unsavory behaviour.
Life has become intolerably difficult for the vast majority of people in Pakistan because of skyrocketing prices, endemic corruption and the rapacious lifestyle of its elite. Drastic changes are needed if the country is to get out of its current predicament.
Despite its defeat in Afghanistan, the US has not given up on mischief. It is exerting pressure on Pakistan to provide overflight rights to carry out attacks in Afghanistan. Pakistan should resist any such attempts.
Economic pressure and exploiting political differences among the Taliban are tools the US-Nato combine will use to undermine Afghanistan. The doom and gloom projections, however, are not likely to come true.
For American warlords, war is a racket. The $2.26 trillion spent on the 20-year-war in Afghanistan made a lot of people in the US extremely rich. Arms manufacturers, generals—retired and serving—used a revolving door to keep pushing for war.
America has an army of paid agents in Pakistan. These people cannot imagine life without American patronage and approval. They want every Pakistani to say, “how high sir” when the US says jump. These agents are upset because Imran Khan refused military bases to the US.
The neo-cons may be less visible today but they are not inactive. Their disastrous policies have inflicted colossal losses on the US economy but they remain unrepentant. They continue to plow ahead with their evil policies causing immense harm to people in distant lands.
American bullying and sanctions have forced many countries to move away from using the US dollar in transactions. The latest country is Russia. Together with China, Iran and a host of others, the move away from the US dollar will have major implications for global power play.
Millions of Iranians will head to the polls to elect a new president. In Iran, the president is limited to serve only two consecutive terms. In the current contest on June 18, all candidates vying for the office are new. Iran does not have political parties, only various political trends.
As neighbors, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey are natural candidates for road and rail links. Hitherto the railway connectivity was ignored but China’s Road and Belt Initiative has given boost to plans to build railway tracks to link the three countries and open the way for trade with Europe.
In the aftermath of the January 6 assault on Capitol Hill, American officials have been at pains to say, “this is not who we are.” A quick glance at US history shows that is exactly who they are. Denial will not solve America’s problems; confronting the truth and rectify it are needed.
Donald Trump’s anticipated departure from the White House has raised prospects of the US rejoining the Iran nuclear deal. Trump’s illegal sanctions have caused much suffering to the Iranian people. Tehran must insist on their immediate revocation before moving forward.
The November 3 presidential election has exposed the deep fault lines in America. The divide is so great that it may be unbridgeable. We offer a solution to America’s problem that may also bring some relief to the rest of the world at the receiving end of American benevolence.
Winston Churchill is held in high esteem not only in Britain but around the world. His statues are erected in many countries around the world. Churchill, however, was a racist and a bigot who insisted Blacks and other non-white people were inferior to whites.
The rush is on to ditch the US dollar and go for gold. This cannot be bad for the world, especially the oppressed and downtrodden that have suffered as a result of US hegemonic policies.
Pakistan and Pakistanis will celebrate Independence Day on August 14. Truth be told, Pakistan is not truly independent. It continues to be governed by the same laws bequeathed by the British colonialists. They didn’t leave; they merely handed over power to the Brown sahibs.
Iran’s oil and food shipments to Venezuela are a game-changer that challenge US hegemony in its backyard. Iran sees Venezuela as a fellow victim of US-Nato bullying and is willing to extend a helping hand.
The Trump regime wants to have it both ways. It repudiated the nuclear deal with Iran yet wants to use its provisions to push for continued sanctions against Iran. Other signatories of the JCPOA as well as members of the Security Council are not enthused by Trump’s antics.
Islamic Iran has achieved notable success in the rate of recovery of coronavirus patients. It is among the top two or three countries in the world despite America’s illegal sanctions that have caused much dislocation to its economy.
Amer Fakhoury, a notorious torturer and Zionist agent, escaped justice when he was whisked out of Lebanon by the US. He was warden at the Zionist-supervised, SLA-run infamous Khiam concentration camp where Lebanese strugglers including women and children were brutally tortured until its liberation in May 2000.
The world’s value system has become so distorted that almost all people think acquiring wealth is the road to happiness. This has created a mad scramble to accumulate wealth without worrying about the means. The Pakistani elite seem to be the worst in this regard.
The Ukrainian airliner mistakenly shot down by Iran on January 8 is being exploited by some quarters for political purposes. This is both shocking and disturbing.
Trump’s impeachment circus, fallout from Brexit, Islamic Iran’s continued rise, turmoil in Egypt, Saudi bloody nose in Yemen and Saudi-Emirati destabilization of Oman are some of the stories that will dominate 2020.
With massive help from friends and allies like Islamic Iran, Hizbullah and Russia, the Syrian government has been able to defeat the regime-change conspiracy of US, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
America’s illegal sanctions against Iran have hurts its economy but with determination and ingenuity especially its resistance economy, the Islamic Republic has overcome Washington’s disruptive policies.
Pakistan will gain nothing by recognizing Zionist Israel despite the clamor in some quarters that it will benefit the country. Islamabad would lose the moral and legal argument about Indian occupation of Kashmir.
As America’s infrastructure crumbles and tens of millions of Americans live in abject poverty, the military-industrial-banking complex insist on more wars to line their pockets by further impoverishing the people.
Pakistan turns 72 this month. We examine how it has fared during this time and whether it has realized its true potential. If not, who is responsible for this situation.
That the US was forced to choose drab Warsaw in the middle of winter to hold an anti-Iran hate fest that few major European powers attended merely exposed US isolation.
The Zionists use different ruses to hoodwink gullible Muslims into embracing their narrative. Thanks to the efforts of one alert Muslim journalist Salih Muhammad Roshan of 5pillarsuk.com, such sneaky attempts have been thwarted causing great angst to the Zionists.
Even with a buffoon in the White House and an assertive Russia under Putin, the latter remains vulnerable in Central Asia where the US has much room for mischief.
As the only country in the world to have used nuclear weapons, America continues to indulge in its atrocious conduct when it comes to nuclear weapons.
After more than seven years of foreign-instigated blood-letting, the Syrian army drove the takfiri terrorists out of Dar‘a. It was in this non-descript town that the ‘uprising’ was instigated because it was close to the Jordanian border.
Going after the crooks in Malaysia has exposed some unsavory foreign characters as well, including the Saudis.
The 92-year-old former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad is back in power ousting his former protégé, the scandal-ridden Najib Razak.
The US-UK-French missile strikes on Syria (April 13/14) were completely illegal. However, the strikes merely exposed US impotence as it continues to lose influence in the world.
Indian hostility toward Pakistan is rooted in the Hindus’ refusal to accept the very existence of Pakistan. No peace is possible unless the Hindus reconcile themselves to Pakistan’s existence. All else will then fall into place.
For 70 years, the people of Kashmir have struggled for fundamental rights despite facing one of the most ruthless regimes in the world.
By a vote of 128 to 9, the UN General Assembly categorically rejected Trump’s declaration about Jerusalem calling it “null and void”.
Pakistan’s rookie Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi surprised most observers by his calm demeanor, ready wit and firm stand on issues during his maiden appearance at the UN.
The Bani Saud’s alliance with the Bani Israel became public recently but the history of Arabian rulers’ treachery against Islam and Muslims dates back more than a century.
Donald Trump and his minions are threatening the world with nuclear weapons while they accuse North Korean leaders of being ‘irrational’!
While the US (and the West) makes so much noise about the threat of terrorism, the fact is the number of people killed in gun violence is nearly 1000 times more than those killed in terrorist acts yet hardly anyone talks about gun control.
Is Trump truly ignorant, is he deliberately acting mad or is he mentally unhinged? We look at the options.
Al Jazeera tries to project itself as the voice of the Arab street but in reality it is an echo chamber for Western propaganda.
The first-ever refugee summit at the UN was long on rhetoric and short on action. Further, it was far too Eurocentric and ignored countries that really have taken in the largest number of refugees.
1The Najdi Bedouins have gone berserk in their hostility to the Islamic Republic of Iran. They are now openly courting terrorists.
1The Bani Saud are guilty of egregious crimes in Yemen, particularly against children. When the UN confirmed this in a report, the Najdi Bedouins kicked up a storm threatening to cut off funding to various UN agencies including those supporting the Palestinians. The UN caved in to Saudi blackmail.
Tehran, capital of the Islamic Republic of Iran, also suffers from the problem of modernity: traffic congestion and pollution. Officials need to pay serious attention to address both problems.
Colleagues, friends and admirers of the late Dr Kalim Siddiqui gathered in Toronto to pay tribute to this great son of Islam and a leading intellectual of the last century.
No political system is entirely free. In the West, elections are bought as we witness in the US. Yet Islamic Iran’s electoral system is ridiculed because it wants to protect the achievements of the Islamic revolution.
Two crucial elections are scheduled for this month in the Islamic Republic: for the Majlis and the Assembly of Experts. There is immense excitement about both.
The clowns in Saudi Arabia never cease to produce rabbits out of a hat. Their latest venture (or adventure) is the 34-nation anti-terror alliance that was announced without even consulting some of its supposed members.
While absolutely abhorrent, the Paris attacks, as others elsewhere, must be viewed beyond the self-serving statements of Western policymakers. Intensifying the same failed policies will not yield different results.
Some commentators have described Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to Washington (October 21–23) as a huge mistake. It is not difficult to see why. Smoke signals from the capital of the great Satan clearly indicated trouble ahead and it came aplenty so the question is, why did the “Lion of Punjab” (Mian Sahib to his buddies and admirers) still undertake the trip?
Relations between India and Pakistan have never been cordial, in fact often tense, but they have hit new lows in recent weeks. This was again illustrated by the abrupt cancellation of talks between the National Security Advisors of the two countries scheduled for August 23 in Delhi. The latest cancellation occurred against the back-drop of Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s virtual ultimatum to Paki-stan to decide by midnight August 22 whether it wanted to meet Indian officials or invite Kashmiri political leaders struggling for freedom from Indian occupation for a meeting in Delhi.
The heat wave sweeping the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent has led to soaring tempera-tures in more areas than one. It has killed a lot of people because of lack of water causing heat stroke.
Even while there are many problems afflicting the Muslim world, the issue of al-Quds and Palestine cannot be forgotten. That is what makes the annual Quds Day rallies so important.
Hoping for a security agreement, the GCC dictators returned empty-handed from Washington except for promises of more killing toys that they can use against fellow Muslims but not Zionist Israel.
Pakistan has so far resisted Banu Saud and allies’ pressure to send its troops to find their illegal wars of aggression, but for how long? Will Nawaz Sharif succumb to Bani Saud pressure?
America lectures others about ensuring religious freedoms for minorities yet in its own capital city Washington DC, committed Muslims have been denied this right for 32 years. Imam Muhammad al Asi and a dedicated group of Muslims are forced to pray outside in the snow because the Islamic Center of DC has been occupied by thugs.
Western regimes that trumpeted the ‘liberation’ of Libya with so much fanfare are now silent as rival militias, former military officers and others battle it out for control. The country is so dangerous that most western diplomats have fled.
Nearly a million people have been made homeless in the Pakistan military assault on North Waziristan. The campaign is launched at the behest of the US to serve imperial interests. It will cost Pakistan dearly.
The problems of Palestine and Kashmir date back to the same time period but the world knows one—Palestine—far better than the other—Kashmir; why?
Recent visits by senior officials of the two countries have given rise to speculation that something major is in the offing. Will the two sides’ expectations be met or one side will use the other?
The Geneva-II Conference was not intended to usher peace in war-torn Syria. The participants talked past each other and only traded accusations. Nothing was achieved; none was expected.
The speed with which developments vis-à-vis US-Iran relations occurred in the last week of September has given rise to guarded optimism. There is, however, a long way to go.
It is unusual for military men to be tried for their crimes. General Pervez Musharraf is unlucky in this respect when he decided to return to Pakistan last March. Who advised him to do so? While on trial for the murder of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and possible charges of treason, his chances of being imprisoned much less hanged are considered very low.
True independence means to be able to formulate one’s own policies without having to appease foreign masters. Unfortunately, Pakistan like most other Muslim countries does not pass muster.
There are hundreds of political parties and tens of thousands of candidates chasing a few hundred seats in the May 11 general elections in Pakistan. We examine the parties, the issues and some of the same tired old faces that have dominated Pakistani politics for decades.
The great hopes arouse by the Pakistan resolution when it was first passed in Lahore in March 1940—seven years before Pakistan came into existence—remain a pipe dream. Instead, for most Pakistanis it has become a nightmare.
Indian occupation forces have been involved in horrible crimes against defenceless civilians in Kashmir for decades. While India refuses to allow international human rights organizations or the media to visit the state, an Indian human rights organization has painstakingly documented specific crimes and identified the names of perpetrators that the Indian government refuses to punish.
Pakistan faces an existential threat not from external enemies but from its own parasitical elites that thrive on its body sucking its blood and strangling the state slowly to death.
America’s drone warfare is not only killing innocent people in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but the UN is finally taking steps to examine whether these constitute war crimes.
1Muslims need to develop greater sophistication in determining the validity of alternate media, especially outlets like Al Jazeera.
Al-Qaeda is often trotted out as a bogey to justify US aggression against others. Al-Qaeda is an American creation and a handy tool. The nexus alliance has become fully exposed in Syria.
In the midst of an existential struggle for survival, Russian criticism of Saudi Arabia’s deplorable human rights record touched the kingdom’s raw nerve.
During his 2008 presidential campaign, candidate Barack Obama repeatedly said the war in Iraq was ill-advised and should be ended.
For a state to function reasonably well, it must fulfill certain basic needs of the people: provide security of life, limb and property as well as food, water, education and health services.
Pakistan’s story is like an unending tragedy in which there are no heroes, only villains. Each tries to outdo the other in how much evil he can perpetrate. It would be worthwhile to identify the villains, both institutional and individual. At the institutional level there are the feudal lords that control vast land holdings that were granted to their ancestors by the British colonialists.
Pakistan’s relations with the US have never been easy but recent developments have brought them to such a point that even the polite and usually soft-spoken Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani was forced to concede: “we do not trust the Americans.”
The West has gotten rid of another pesky dictator with the execution-style killing of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi on 10-20-2011 in Sirte. There was much jubilation in Western capitals as news of Qaddafi’s killing spread.
Pakistan’s relations with the US have never been easy. The differences go beyond the question of divergent perceptions about each other although there was always something unnatural about the rulers of a country best described as a “basket case” rubbing shoulders with leaders of claimant to the title of “sole superpower”.
It should be clear even to the most diehard optimists that relations between Pakistan and the United States have hit an all time low. A series of recent events has led to this development although from the very beginning the relationship was based on false premises and unrealistic expectations.
Tens of thousands of people blocked the road between Peshawar and the Pakistan-Afghan border post of Torkham on April 23 and 24. The call to block the road was issued by Imran Khan, leader of Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf (PTI, or Pakistan Justice Movement) in protest over the indiscriminate US drone attacks that have killed hundreds of people in the last year alone.
The release of Raymond Davis on March 16 has dismayed most Pakistanis who felt the American was guilty of murder and should have been dealt with according to the law of Pakistan. Instead, what this confirms yet again is the craven attitude of the government in its dealings with the US.
Last month’s events have confirmed, yet again, with striking clarity how deeply polarized the Pakistani society is. The killing of Salman Taseer, Governor of Punjab Province, by his own bodyguard on January 4 has scared the living daylights out of the already cowardly rulers.
We hardly needed WikiLeaks disclosures to tell us that Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is a crook. Or, that opposition leader Nawaz Sharif has no spine, not to mention grey matter under his now-restored hair, thanks to thousands of pounds spent on hair transplant surgery in London.
His majesty, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, aka Khadim al-Haramayn (Servant of the Two Holy Places but his sycophants insist on calling him “Custodian”) is not well. In fact, so unwell that he had to be taken in wheelchair to a fully equipped luxury-fitted 747 Jumbo Jet before being flown to the US on November 22.
At the other end of the country, violence has periodically erupted between different ethnic and political groups in Karachi
True to their aggressive nature, the Zionists resumed illegal construction on Palestinian lands as soon as their own declared deadline of September 26 expired. Israeli Prime Minister Ben-jamin Netanyahu had the temerity to say that
Zardari owns a huge property in France where his father Hakim Ali Zardari now lives
Each killing brings out more protesters onto the streets. The situation has now deteriorated to the point where the Indian army has been called out to enforce curfew that the people appear determined to defy
It must also be noted that dictatorial regimes in Central Asia and Azerbaijan are not typical examples of authoritarian regimes driven by some sort of “big evil idea...
All this is the gift of American friendship and the war on terror into which Pakistan has been sucked through US bullying...
Eight years after the spectacular attacks of September 11, widespread skepticism continues to exit regarding the official version put out by the US government. And this is not confined to Muslims alone who never bought into the US allegation that Muslim hijackers, working for Osama bin Laden had carried out these attack. Western academics in the US, Canada and Europe, many of them leading scientists have expressed grave doubts about what the US has claimed about the perpetrators...
Academic freedom, like most other freedoms in North America, has become a thing of the past. Not just the US but also Canada has been affected by a virulent strain of racism couched in the excuse that "things have changed" since September 11, 2001...
American ‘televangelists’ (missionaries or preachers who reach large audiences by television) are able to influence public opinion heavily; unfortunately they tend to be not the most honest people. Since September 11 last year, televangelists and zionists have launched yet another campaign against Islam and Muslims...
These are tough times to be a Muslim in North America, especially living in the US. Muslims travelling from Canada to the US at the beginning of September to attend the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) annual convention in Washington DC were told bluntly by US customs officials that Islam and America do not mix...
Within hours of the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon on September 11 last year, Muslims in America were being blamed and made the targets of retribution. WASEEM SHEHZAD examines the problems American Muslims have faced over the last year...
Each year August 14 is celebrated as Pakistan’s Independence Day. Flag-hoisting ceremonies are held in most major cities. Whether such ceremonies will be held this year as well given the turmoil gripping the country and the military engaged in fighting its own people is an open question...
After more than two months of military operations in Swat Valley, the Pakistan army spokesman, major general Athar Abbas claimed that 95 percent of the Valley had been cleared of militants.
By Waseem Shehzad Amid all the confusion surrounding the Pakistan army’s month-long campaign against the Taliban or whoever they are fighting in Swat and Malakand, the only certainty is that it has created nearly 2.5 million refugees, dubbed
Like the chicken and egg question, what came first: the torturers or torture memos? Despite the mounting evidence, for years, officials in the Bush administration brazenly maintained: “TheUnited States does not do torture.” This was not stated merely by low level officials. Starting from former US President George Bush down, everyone had memorized this mantra about torture.
Pakistan may have averted a major political crisis when Asif Ali Zardari, besieged in the presidential palace in Islamabad, agreed to the demand of lawyers and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif to reinstate the deposed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, but it would be premature to state that its troubles are over.
Will the deal announced on February 16 in Swat bring peace to the troubled region that has been engulfed in violence for nearly two years now? More importantly, will it hold considering that it was criticized even before all the details were known? Both the US and its agents in Pakistan have launched a vicious campaign, raising the specter of a Taliban takeover of the rest of the country as well.
Calls to try Israeli leaders for war crimes for their conduct in the war against the civilian population in Ghazzah are getting louder. The first serious criticisms came from two officials at the United Nations: Migual D’Escoto, President of the General Assembly, and Professor Richard Falk, the UN Human Rights Rapporteur for Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP) has become a virtual war zone, thanks to the US-led war in Afghanistan that has now engulfed Pakistan’s tribal areas as well. On November 18, two American missiles struck the village of Janikhel near Bannu, a settled area, killing several people.
Pakistan is faced with the most serious threat to its existence comparable to what it faced in 1971 when it resulted in the breakup of the country. It is on the verge of bankruptcy; the skyrocketing food and fuel prices have led to extreme uncertainty among the masses who are unsure where their next meal would come from. This is compounded by intense US pressure to attack militants in the tribal area.
A powerful truck bomb tore through the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad a few hours after Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan’s newly-elected President, addressed a joint session of Parliament on September 20. According to police sources, 53 persons were killed and more than 250 injured.
The long-overdue resignation of former general Pervez Musharraf from the presidency of Pakistan may have lifted his dark shadow from the political scene, but the problems of the people of Pakistan are far from over. They are now confronted by the frightening prospect of Asif Zardari, leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), becoming the country’s president.
Suspicions that Pakistan is being set up for a major US military operation, probably in the tribal areas in the north-west of the country, have intensified in recent weeks, given added credibility by the endorsement of two retired Pakistani generals known for their keen observation of events in the region.
The manner in which Asif Zardari is wriggling out of his promise to reinstate the judges who were illegally dismissed by general Musharraf on November 3 last year has increased people’s cynicism about Pakistani politicians. At long last the people thought that they had found in the judiciary, especially former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, someone who would deliver them badly needed justice, but now they feel betrayed.
Getting on the wrong side of the US involves great risks, but being its friend is no less dangerous. No country proves this better than Pakistan. Since its creation, successive Pakistani regimes have attempted to cultivate close links with Washington. The result has been an unmitigated disaster: today Pakistan is on the verge of disintegration, thanks to the stifling embrace of the US, especially since 9/11, and to Washington’s deliberate attempts to undermine the country.
Pakistan has a brand new prime minister—Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, scion of a feudal family from Multan, who was sworn in on March 25. He has served as minister and parliamentary speaker in earlier governments and under General Pervez Musharraf’s military rule and spent five years in jail on charges of nepotism for awarding jobs to undeserving people when he was speaker of the National Assembly.
If there is any truth in the saying that people vote against, rather than for, someone or something, then the results of the general elections in Pakistan on February 18 are a stinging rebuke to General Pervez Musharraf and the party, the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e Azam faction, PML-Q), that he created as a civilian façade for his brutal rule.
Jose Padilla, a 37-year-old American citizen, was sentenced to 17 years in prison on January 22, after being found guilty of terrorist offences. The prosecution alleged that he had enrolled in a military training camp in Afghanistan as part of a conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism against Americans.
Intense debate has erupted in Washington about why sixteen US intelligence agencies unanimously endorsed the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) report on December 3 relating to Iran’s nuclear programme, which has openly contradicted (and therefore embarrassed) US president George Bush. For years Bush has accused Iran of working on building a “nuclear bomb”, despite vigorous denials from Tehran. The NIE report has confirmed what Iran had been saying all along: that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes and that its enrichment activities comply fully with its Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) rights and obligations.
Like a spoiled child that throws a tantrum when it cannot get what it wants, the US government is threatening to place the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) of Iran on the list of “terrorist” organizations unless the UN Security Council agrees to tougher sanctions against Tehran. The idea is so preposterous that even Washington’s friends have baulked. How can an important arm of government be described as a “terrorist” organization, they ask incredulously.
On the eve of Turkey’s parliamentary elections, Hurriyet, a daily paper in Ankara, predicted that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) would not get more than 30 percent of the popular vote. In the election on July 22, the AKP increased its vote by 12 percentage points to 46.5 percent from a crowded field of 14 political parties and 700 independent candidates. Despite increasing its share of the electorate’s votes, the AKP’s seats declined slightly to 341 from the 354 it had had in the outgoing parliament of 550.
When it hit the airwaves in 1996, Al-Jazeera took the Arab world by storm. Compared to the sterile reporting of government-controlled channels in the Arab world, Al-Jazeera came as a breath of fresh air, although the better informed knew this was a mirage. Al-Jazeera was slick and took on some subjects (though not all) that the rest of the Arab media dared not broach.
On May 25, Turkish president Ahmet Necdet Sezer vetoed a proposed constitutional amendment that had been passed by the Turkish parliament, by which the president of the country would in future be elected by a direct vote of the people, rather than by the present arrangement in which he is elected by parliament. The amendment had also proposed to reduce the president’s term from seven to five years but allow him to stand for a second five-year term.
Three times in the last 50 years – in 1960, 1971 and 1980 – the Turkish military has seized power from civilian governments whose policies they deemed unacceptable. In 1997, Turkey suffered a “soft coup”, when the military forced prime minister Necmeddin Erbakan out of power for being too Islamic.
Although they are usually secretive in their dealings, the Saudis are showing far too much political activism these days to go unnoticed. The Arab League is holding its summit in Riyadh on March 28-29 (after Crescent press time), and the top item on the agenda is the Arab regimes’ desire to recognise Israel.
Pakistan turns 60 this year, yet there are few signs of the kind of maturity one would expect of a polity of such age. Its political elites continue to behave like juvenile delinquents and the military, in power for more than seven years in its latest turn at the helm of affairs, has clearly failed in the one area that should have been its strongest point: law and order.
Throughout history, Arab rulers have repeatedly betrayed the interests of the Ummah by aligning themselves with the enemies of Islam. Since the division of the Middle East into nation-states by the West at the turn of the last century and the installation of tribal chiefs as rulers, these rulers have done everything to undermine the Ummah. From aligning themselves with Britain to destroy the Uthmaniyyah khilafah to facilitating the implantation of Israel in Palestine, and more recently supporting the Western-backed Iraqi invasion of Islamic Iran (1980) and then joining the West’s onslaught on Iraq in 1991, they have never failed to indulge in treachery
Attacks against foreign occupation forces in Afghanistan have escalated both in frequency and intensity to a point where large parts of the country are in a state of total insurrection and lawlessness. According to NATO, as of mid-November there were 97 suicide attacks this year that killed 217 people.
On September 18, almost exactly four years after Canadian citizen Maher Arar was arrested at John F Kennedy airport (New York) on September 26, 2002, as he returned from a family vacation in Tunisia, Justice Dennis O'Connor released an 822-page report into his arrest and torture in Syria.
Israel's assaults on Ghazzah (starting on June 28) and on Lebanon (since July 12) have nothing to do with the capture of three Israeli soldiers, one by the Palestinians and two by Hizbullah. The demand for their release was merely a pretext to launch a war that had been planned in conjunction with the US several months ago.
The supposedly inferior position and treatment of women in Islam is often used by Westerners to attack Islam. A recent poll of Muslim women reveals very different attitudes towards their own lives, Islam and the West. WASEEM SHEHZAD reports.
The US does not want to be known as the world's jailer, according to US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, yet she is apparently happy about her country being the world's number one torturer. US officials, however, are reluctant to admit that they torture people.
There is an old saying about Afghanistan that goes something like this: when God wishes to punish someone, He sends them to attack the Afghans. The US and its ally, Britain, have blundered into Afghanistan on the pretext of fighting terrorism, but in reality to advance Western interests.
The donors' conference in Islamabad on November 19 might as well have been held on Mars, as far as the victims of Pakistan's devastating earthquake are concerned. Donors pledged US$5.8 billion ($0.6 billion more than what Pakistan had asked for), but the sting is in the detail.
As if Hurricane Katrina had not caused quite enough damage, Rita came roaring in and swept across Louisiana and Texas, putting out of action more than 25 percent of the US's oil-refining capacity.
Nothing illustrates the West’s hypocrisy better than its attitude to the issue of nuclear technology and its use for the generation of energy. There are several layers of hypocritical behaviour: countries that do not possess nuclear know-how must be denied its use because it is alleged that this would lead to their making nuclear weapons.
Shockwaves from the bomb blasts in London's underground system on July 7 were felt thousands of miles away in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, as well. No sooner was it discovered that three of the four bombers were of Pakistani origin, than all the accusing fingers were pointing at Pakistan.
Ordinary Americans can be forgiven for failing to understand why people around the world hate their country and their government so much; successive governments in Washington and the media have kept them in the dark about the true nature of US policies that adversely affect the lives and welfare of billions of people everywhere.
With the US Congress and the White House almost completely controlled by them, the zionist brigade has launched a strong assault on what is left of academic freedom in the US: the purpose is to force intellectuals to teach zionist myths at American universities.
The conviction on February 10 of Lynne Stewart, a leading civil-rights lawyer, on five counts of conspiring to aid “terrorists” and lying to the government has shocked the American legal profession. Others, too, have expressed concern about civil liberties and see fascism on the march in the US under George W. Bush and his army of “neo-cons”.
In addition to the three official candidates– George Bush, John Kerry and Ralph Nader– two others are likely to influence the outcome of the US presidential elections on November 2: Osama bin Laden and Pakistani president general Pervez Musharraf...
President George Bush's aggressive and militaristic policies have not only alienated millions of people abroad, but have also caused deep fissures at home. The American society has never been more divided, nor more vulnerable than under Bush and his extremist ideologues (better known as the neocons)...
It was supposed to be a mopping-up operation, with a number of al-Qa’ida and Taliban suspects being arrested and presented as trophies to Colin Powell, the visiting US secretary of state...
The dispute over the state of Jammu and Kashmir, a legacy bequeathed by the British before their departure from the subcontinent, has bedevilled relations between India and Pakistan since August 1947...
Last month’s conviction of three Serbs as war criminals at the Hague Tribunal brought little joy to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Hundreds of thousands still await the results of forensic tests to identify relatives after their bodies were exhumed from mass graves...
Differences over internal policy have emerged into the open among the usually secretive members of the House of Saud, who have until now maintained a facade of unity in times of crisis.
Most Americans have now seen through the hoax perpetrated by president George Bush and his fellow right-wingers to justify the US invasion and occupation of Iraq. Bush himself was forced to concede in a speech on September 17 that there was no link between Saddam Husain’s regime and al-Qa’ida but he couched his admission in language that still left most people with the impression that he was. Not surprisingly, most Americans(between 57 and 70 percent, depending on which poll one consults) still believe that Saddam, no doubt a tyrant, was somehow linked to the September 2001 incidents.
Two years after the attacks on the WTC and Pentagon, it has now been acknowledged even by US congressmen that president George Bush and his advisors had foreknowledge of the impending attacks but did nothing to prevent them. Even when it became known that passenger planes had been hijacked...
A storm of protest has erupted in Canada, instigated by elements opposed to Islamic Iran, as well as anti-Muslim groups, over the death of Zahra Kazemi, 54, an Iranian-born photo-journalist, in Tehran.
There have been two inter-related constants in Pakistan’s foreign policy: appeasement of the US, and warding off predatory India. The latter has been the bane of Pakistani policy-makers since the country came into existence in 1947; the core issue that has soured relations with India is the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir.
US attorney general John Ashcroft remains unrepentant despite a stinging rebuke by Glenn A. Fine, his department’s own inspector general, confirming enormous abuses of detainees since September 2001. In a report released on June 3, Fine highlights the mistreatment of 762 persons, some of them held by the government for as long as eight months without charge.
During his African tour this month, there were both questions about the invasion of Iraq and jokes about president Bush, especially relating to the growing US budget deficit. On Iraq he was asked about Iraq’s alleged purchase of uranium from Niger.
How serious is Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee about a dialogue with Pakistan to resolve the thorny issue of Jammu and Kashmir by peaceful means? In Pakistan there seems to be great euphoria about the volte face in India’s stance, first announced on April 18 by Vajpayee during a visit to Srinagar, capital of Indian-occupied Kashmir.
1After defying international law by holding about 660 Muslims in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since January 2001, the US has been forced to admit that there are juveniles among the detainees. The admission on April 22 came after ABC television of Australia reported that children are being held at Camp X-ray.
The tragedy of the Iraqi people is turning into a farce in the Arab rulers’ hands. As if the insults traded between colonel Mu’ammar Qaddafi of Libya and crown prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at the Arab League summit on March 1 were not enough, the OIC also got in on the act on March 5 in Doha.
Dr Sami al-Arian, the Tampa-based Palestinian professor suspended from the University of South Florida (USF) after September 11, was arrested at his home in Tampa, Florida, on February 20 on charges of being a terrorist, specifically of being a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
US president George Bush’s obsession with Saddam Husain of Iraq has eclipsed other trouble spots in the world, such as Kashmir, Chechnya and Palestine. True, Saddam is a brutal dictator who waged a vicious war against Iran for eight years, and who has tortured his own people, but is the Iraqi ruler the only tyrant in power to be guilty of such crimes?
Companies that were once proof of American entrepreneurial skill are having to retreat in the face of a boycott by Muslims of US products in protest against the US’s support for Israel. Although it is not sanctioned by Muslim governments, which are fearful of American reprisals, the boycott has hit such American giants...
After effectively taking control of the executive and legislative branches of the American government and media, the zionist lobby has now turned its attention to Canada.
A new US immigration policy that discriminates against some Canadian citizens born in the Middle East and South Asia has been widely condemned in Canada. The controversial policy came into effect on September 11.
The correct dates for the beginning of Ramadhan and the celebration of Eid al-Fitr and issues which often cause confusion in the community. Here WASEEM SHEHZAD explains how the dates are determined, and what the dates for these blessed days are this year.
Within hours of the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon on September 11 last year, Muslims in America were being blamed and made the targets of retribution. WASEEM SHEHZAD examines the problems American Muslims have faced over the last year...
Dr Mazen al-Najjar’s history encapsulates the plight of the Palestinians: they are accused of everything, but nobody is prepared to listen to their story. Dr Najjar, 43 years old and a former instructor at the University of Southern Florida, was finally released on August 24.
In a speech that appeared to have been written in Tel Aviv rather than in Washington, US president George Bush demanded that the Palestinian people find a leader to replace Yasser Arafat if they hope to have a state of their own in some distant future.
The boycott of American and Israeli goods and products is gaining momentum, especially in the Middle East, although most Arab regimes have not officially endorsed it. The movement is spreading rapidly, with individuals and groups taking the campaign to new areas, largely through the internet...
Flushed with their success in controlling news at home about the ‘war’ in Afghanistan, some Pentagon planners want to extend such manipulation to other parts of the world. The name of the game is deception: planting lies in newspapers, and on radio and television channels around the world...
America’s treatment of prisoners from Afghanistan has embarrassed even its closest allies. France and Germany have officially urged Washington to ensure that the prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba are treated lawfully, and the European Union has called for their rights to be protected.
Two kinds of air wars have been waged in Afghanistan. One, with planes and bombs, has been conducted exclusively by the Americans, against which the Afghans and supporters of Usama bin Ladin have had no protection...
Propaganda is an important tool of war but, like everything else the Americans do, it is one which they wield crudely. On October 22 the Taliban reported that a hospital in Herat had been bombed, killing more than 100 people, including many children.
As delegates from around the world prepare to head for South Africa at the end of August to attend the UN Conference on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (August 31-September 7), it is already clear that much intolerance exists even among the delegates who are working to hammer out a draft communiqué for the conference.
Is the past finally catching up with Ariel Sharon, better known as the “Butcher of Beirut”? A case was lodged in a Brussels court on June 18 by survivors of the massacre at Sabra and Shatila refugee-camps (1982), accusing the Israeli prime minister of genocide and crimes against humanity.
Americans are furious after the US was expelled from the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) earlier this month.
Following the examples of the US and Britain, the Canadian government has launched its own so-called anti-terrorism bill which, according to Muslims, will target them more than anyone else.
While the west and its Muslim admirers have been gripped by a frenzy of grief over the destruction of Buddha statues in Bamiyan (Afghanistan), Hindu fascists in India have busied themselves with burning copies of the Qur’an and killing Muslims.
Black activist Al Sharpton, who organised a vigil at the site of the shooting on February 9, asked at a forum on police brutality on the night of the shooting, ‘Are we talking about policing or are we talking about a firing squad?’ He pointed out that Amadou must have fallen to the ground after being hit twice or thrice.
Three years after an oppressive law - the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 - was signed into law by US president Bill Clinton, Muslim organisations have intensified their efforts to get it repealed
Steve Emerson has achieved a certain notoriety among north American Muslims. This self-styled expert on ‘terrorism’ is the producer of the scandalous documentary ‘Jihad in America’, which was first aired on PBS television on November 21, 1994
Indian authorities admitted on May 26 that they have used aircraft to attack mujahideen controlling the area around Kargil, a town 220km northeast of Srinagar. It is the first time they have used aircraft against the mujahideen since the uprising began 10 years ago.
India is an artificial State. This may surprise many in the Indian-doting west brought up to regard India as being the ‘largest democracy’ in the world, but this is gradually becoming apparent
There was poetic justice in the conviction of Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari on corruption charges by the Ehtesab Bench of the Lahore High Court on April 15. Each was sentenced to five years in jail and fined US$8.6 million
Rudolph Giuliani, dubbed Adolf by critics, had hoped to shoot his way into the US senate. The New York mayor nearly succeeded until Amadou Diallo’s murder by the police on February 4...
It was Lawrence Eagleburger, the former US secretary of State, who had predicted that once the ‘cold war’ was over, it would be sorely missed. Astonishing as this admission from a senior official of one of the leading members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)...
Rubbing salt into the raw wounds of Muslims, police arrested thousands of Muslims across India on the eve of the sixth anniversary of the demolition of the historic Babri Mosque in Ayodhya.
Amnesty International, the London-based human rights organisation, has just discovered that there are widespread human rights abuses in the United States.
Days before Iran’s foreign minister Kamal Kharazi met his British counterpart Robin Cook in New York on September 24 agreeing to restore full diplomatic relations, the British media had launched a campaign linking this to the Salman Rushdie saga.
Had they been animals, there would be loud protests in the streets of almost all western capitals to save them. Leaders of the ‘civilised’ west would be vexed over this tragedy and call it an affront to humane values.
To their eternal shame, Kemalists in Turkey continue to expose themselves as a morally bankrupt bunch. They ban Muslim girls and women who wear the hijab from attending school or university but insist that adultery is permissible.
Rapists, muggers, thieves and murderers all have their rights protected under American law. This right, however, does not extend to Muslims who show any sympathy for their suffering brothers and sisters in other parts of the world.
Barely two decades ago, oil prices were closely tied to international political events. Every major crisis sent the price of a barrel of crude shooting upward, much to western consternation.
Indian elections are always a violent affair. Scores of people are killed on all sides of the political divide. With politics dominated by syndicated criminals, this is natural. Over the years, violence has escalated alarmingly.
Aware that verbal bluster, for which the Russians are notorious, could easily degenerate into a full-scale war with the Chechens, political leaders in Moscow quickly distanced themselves from remarks by interior minister Anatoly Kulikov.
Arab regimes on the western shores of the Persian Gulf are taking their first tentative steps towards normalising relations with Iran.
The government and media in the United States have led a shrill campaign against Saddam Husain for seven years obfuscating truth about the suffering inflicted on the Iraqi people as a result of sanctions.
If the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) summit (held in Tehran from December 9 to 11) had only brought together heads of State and senior representatives from 55 Muslim countries, and achieved nothing else, it would be considered a major success.
The schizophrenic existence of the Pakistani ruling elite was on display during the six-day visit of Queen Elizabeth, the British monarch, to the ‘land of the pure’ from October 6 to 12.
If Mir Aimal Kansi were of Jewish origin, he would not be sitting in a Virginia County jail today. Kansi’s problem is that he has the wrong religion even if he does not take it seriously. As for his looks, he could perhaps pass for an East European Jew.
After four years of civil war which has left more than 100,000 dead, and the economy in shambles, the people of Tajikistan have had enough.
Nearly three years after the scandalous allegations made against him in the documentary, ‘Jihad in America’, US law enforcement agencies have come up with nothing to implicate Dr Sami al-Arian, a University of South Florida (USF) professor, in any wrongdoing.
America’s voracious appetite for energy resources and an itch born of its self-appointed role as the world’s policeman has led it into adopting strange postures.
Readers of Muslimedia and its sister-paper, Crescent International are familiar with the writings of the late Dr Kalim Siddiqui (right). His articles regularly appeared in these newsmagazines over many years. He first introduced the concept of the 'Global Islamic Movement' which today has become a household word among Islamic activists worldwide. No discussion about the Islamic Movement is complete without reference to Dr Kalim Siddiqui or his thought.
Just as the European Union (EU) announced that its members were sending their envoys back to Tehran after a 20-day hiatus, the Rahbar (Leader) of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatullah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, delivered a powerful slap on their collective face.
Shaikh Omar Abdul Rahman, the 60-year-old blind teacher, sits in his stinking cell, in Springfield, Missouri, isolated but not broken. Suffering from diabetes and heart disease, he has been denied numerous fundamental rights.
America is a deeply divided society. Nothing symbolises this better than the perception of blacks and whites towards O J Simpson, the celebrated football player whose trial has gripped America for more than two years.
People in Africa have good reason to be wary of the new, USS 25 billion initiative launched by the United Nations on March 15 to help the impoverished continent. Called the ‘System-wide Special Initiative on Africa,’ the programme will be phased over a 10 year-period.
Even as Muslims in the US were celebrating their small but significant victory in getting the US News and World Report to apologise for its willful distortion of historical facts, another magazine repeated the same lie.
