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Afghanistan / Pakistan
"Wikileaks" and Afghanistan
Much is being written about the exposure of 92,000 documents related to the Afghanistan conflict, released by the dissident activist organisation Wikileaks. This Update looks at the details and implications of these released documents....
Published: 30/07/2010 read more
Islamist Terrorism and Pakistan
In the wake of the failed May 1 Times Square bombing in New York and the subsequent arrest of Faisal Shahzad as the alleged bomber, much is being written about the lessons of the attempted attack, especially after the US government blamed the Pakist...
Author: AIJAC staff Published: 14/05/2010 read more
A Crossroads in Afghanistan
The capture of the Taliban's second in command in Karachi in early February has been treated in the media as a major US coup and a watershed event in US-Pakistani cooperation in the war against the Taliban. It is, regrettably, nothing of the kind....
Author: External author Published: 01/03/2010 read more
Obama's Surge / Hezbollah's New Manifesto
We begin today's Update with some analysis of US President Barack Obama's announcement he will send an extra 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. The decision comes after the US commander in Afghanistan, and architect of the successful surge in Iraq, ...
Author: AIJAC staff Published: 04/12/2009 read more
The Terror Triangle
US President Barack Obama has announced his intention to conduct a review of US strategy in Afghanistan from first principles before deciding whether or not to accept General Stanley McChrystal's proposed strategy and request for more forces....
Author: External author Published: 27/10/2009 read more
Pakistan's Conflicted War on Terror
I picked an interesting moment to visit Pakistan: four terrorist attacks in less than a week. The first was at the World Food Program office in the capital: five killed. The second was in the Khyber Bazaar in Peshawar: more than 50 killed....
Author: External author Published: 27/10/2009 read more
Essay: How to win in Afghanistan
When General Stanley McChrystal was selected on May 11 of this year as the American and NATO commander in Afghanistan, it was by no means certain which approach he would employ. His background is almost entirely in counterterrorism....
Author: External author Published: 27/10/2009 read more
Terror escalates in Pakistan/Hamas and Fatah's forced Egyptian marriage
Today's Update presents two articles that look at Pakistan, roiled by a slew of terrorist attacks this week as the bitter struggle against the Taliban continues. The third article looks at the ongoing tussle underlying the reconciliation talks betwe...
Author: AIJAC staff Published: 20/10/2009 read more
Hezbollah as a model for Afghanistan/Goldstone steps back
Today's first two articles look at the implications of a report from the Washington Post claiming some Obama Administration officials believe the Taliban cannot be beaten and must therefore be coaxed into the Afghan political process....
Author: AIJAC staff Published: 16/10/2009 read more
The Afghanistan Debate
The debate over strategy for Afghanistan and US President Obama's consideration of a request for more troops continues to rage, especially in the US....
Author: AIJAC staff Published: 09/10/2009 read more
Reviewing Afghanistan/ The Latest IAEA Report on Iran
Today's Update features two pieces on the situation in Afghanistan. First up, noted American strategic studies expert Anthony Cordesman, who helped advise the new commander in Iran, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, says that the principal reason the war ...
Author: AIJAC staff Published: 03/09/2009 read more
The Jakarta Bombings/ Understanding the Taliban
Today, we offer an interpretation of the most recent Jakarta hotel bombings from one of the world's top experts on extremist terrorism in Southeast Asia, Dr. Zachary Abuza of Simmons College in the US. Abuza agrees with the dominant view that Malays...
Author: AIJAC staff Published: 24/07/2009 read more
Lessons from Mumbai
There has already been so much material in the media generally about the terrorist attack in Mumbai... Therefore, this Update is devoted to analysing elements of the attack, and the lessons that can be drawn from it, which were less prevalent in the...
Author: AIJAC staff Published: 03/12/2008 read more
US Middle East Policy for 2008
This Update is devoted to pieces on likely US Middle East policy during the coming year, the final one of US President George Bush's term of office....
Author: AIJAC staff Published: 19/02/2008 read more
Musharraf's New Coup in Pakistan
As readers are probably aware, Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on the weekend promulgated a State of Emergency, and began a series of moves to control and muzzle the judiciary, political opponents, and the media in Pakistan....
Author: AIJAC staff Published: 07/11/2007 read more
Pakistan's problems/ Issues in Middle East extremism
This Update combines comment on Pakistan's problems with respect to terrorism and Islamic extremism, in the wake of the bloody assassination attempt on returning exiled politician Benazir Bhutto, with some other reports on Islamic extremism and terr...
Author: AIJAC staff Published: 23/10/2007 read more
Saudi Concerns / The State of Afghanistan
Today's Update leads with two pieces dealing with the often destructive Saudi Arabian influence on international terrorism and Iraq, in the wake of the recent US policy decision to provide a large arms deal to Saudi Arabia, and smaller ones to vari...
Author: AIJAC staff Published: 14/08/2007 read more
Trouble along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border/ Holocaust Inversion
As widely reported, a major renewal of fighting in Afghanistan is expected shortly. The Taliban, based across the border with Pakistan, are expected to make large scale incursions as soon as the mountain snows allow. This Update leads with two piece...
Author: AIJAC staff Published: 17/04/2007 read more
Signs of Progress in the Iraq "Surge"?/ Afghanistan Battle Looms
While most of the additional US troops promised as part of the Iraq "surge" announced by US President Bush have yet to arrive, the change in strategy which is also part of the plan has already begun to be implemented over recent weeks....
Author: AIJAC staff Published: 08/03/2007 read more
Creativity and realism required for success in Middle East talks
YESTERDAY in Washington, President Barack Obama formally launched the resumption of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians after a 19-month hiatus. International expectations for the talks are low because there appear to be a number of fac...
03/09/2010 read more
Hamas, Israeli Security and Peacemaking
Following the Israeli-Palestinian Summit in Washington yesterday (in which the details of discussions were kept discreet), this Update features some comments on Hamas' role as a potential spoiler in the wake of the Hamas terror attack Tuesday, which...
03/09/2010 read more
Today's Israeli-Palestinian Summit in Washington
As readers are doubtless aware, Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu is meeting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas today in Washington in a summit designed to formally re-launch direct Israeli Palestinian peace talks. This Update offers backgrou...
02/09/2010 read more
Editorial: In the Balance
The next prime minister of Australia should be whoever can more convincingly promise a stable coalition able to undertake the responsibilities of government more effectively. Overseas and Australian state government experience demonstrates that s...
27/08/2010 read more
Scribblings: The BBC Pre-empts Flotilla Inquiries
Israelis have been much focused in recent weeks on the testimony of various top officials to the Turkel inquiry - looking into the flotilla clash off Gaza on May 31 that left nine Turkish activists dead. On top of this, the Israeli government has ma...
27/08/2010 read more
AIR New Zealand: A Tzur Thing
When Israel reopened an embassy in Wellington in April this year, it seemed obvious that the new Ambassador, Shemi Tzur, and his staff had a big job in front of them. Almost a decade without on-the-ground representation, as well as some years of tro...
27/08/2010 read more
Fall of the Teflon Terrorist?
On Aug. 9, 2010, members of Indonesia's elite counter-terrorist police force arrested the militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir as part of their ongoing investigations into a terrorist training camp discovered in February 2010 in Aceh, plots to kill Pres...
27/08/2010 read more
Israel's Endangered Deterrence
There are few journalists specialising in strategic and security affairs more experienced than Ron Ben Yishai. After fighting as a paratrooper in the Six Day War, Ben Yishai turned to journalism full time. Since then he has covered, from the battlef...
27/08/2010 read more
Hamas' Gaza Killing Spree
News stories about bodies found at sea are occasionally published by Gaza newspapers. The number of such bodies isn't huge, yet not all those drowning victims chose to go swimming voluntarily. The Gazans who found their death at sea include mid-leve...
27/08/2010 read more
The State of the Iranian Revolution
Since coming to power in 1979, the Islamic Revolution in Iran has had two main aims. First, it wished to remain in power and if this was the aim of the Islamic Revolution, 31 years later, it has been successful. But revolutions don't come about simp...
27/08/2010 read more
Essay: Decade of Disappointment
It's been a decade since Israeli and Palestinian leaders met as peacemakers only to part at loggerheads. Now, with most of the Camp David summit's protagonists long gone from the scene, that ill-fated conclave's military, diplomatic and political re...
27/08/2010 read more
The Last Word: Ideology Above Humanity
What struck me then, and continues to strike me, was their complete lack of concern, sometimes even contempt, for the human beings they claimed to champion and the hatred for the human beings on the other side of the political divide. There was no r...
27/08/2010 read more