Background Ahmed Wali Karzai, brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, was assassinated by a longtime associate on July 12th while entertaining guests at his home. The Taliban claimed responsibility, stating that the associate, Sardar Muhammad, was a sleeper agent. Analysis At first glance, this was a typical Taliban assassination against an official in the U.S.-backed [...]

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In the wake of the successful operation to kill Osama bin Laden, questions have emerged with respect to Pakistan’s role in the affair. Did Pakistan have advance knowledge of the raid? If it didn’t, did it at least detect the incursion? Many have hypothesized that Pakistan’s role has been understated to shield the Pakistani government [...]

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A military helicopter went down in South Waziristan today. All eight on board were killed including Major General Javed Sultan, the recently promoted commanding officer of Kohat garrison as well as two brigadiers. The official explanation from Islamabad is that the crash was due to “technical reasons.” However, sources report that the helicopter was one [...]

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THE ARMY ADVANCES … Hot off its relative success in sweeping Swat of militants led by Maulana Fazlullah, sources report that the Pakistan Army has set its sights on Baitullah Mehsud, the purported mastermind behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. In addition to military action, sources also report that a major facet of the newfound [...]

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As Pakistani military operations in Swat wrap up and displaced residents begin to return home, we would like to proudly present our readers with another Insider Brief exclusive — video footage of army operations in Swat. (Also make sure to check out our newly updated Multimedia section for other audio/video clips.) Part I: AH1 Cobra [...]

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Casuistic Crisis The world is fixated on the “crisis” in Pakistan spawned by Pres. Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s imposition of emergency rule. The media is bombarding us with news that the regime is unstable, the nation is “plunging into chaos” and that the country’s nuclear weapons are at risk — frankly, nothing could be further from [...]

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Editor’s Note: In a recent exchange with Gen. Aziz, I mentioned American willingness to throw financial and military resources at the US presence in Afghanistan to “finish the job.” Here’s his response. “Finish the job,” you say. Hunt out Osama? Wrap up global terrorism? Not long ago, you taught a set of values to these [...]

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Tonight, I have the pleasure of introducing the Insider Brief’s very first guest: Lieutenant General Shahid Aziz. A retired general of the Pakistan Army, he has had an extraordinary military career that gave him a front row seat to some of Pakistan’s most pivotal events over the past decade, culminating in his role as Lahore [...]

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