Editor’s Note:  I’ve been sitting on this post for a few weeks now and finally have a chance to post it.  Fortunately for me, questions still linger about Pakistan’s motivations behind the recent spate of Taliban arrests.
SUMMARY
The first two months of 2010 have brought about a sea change on the ground in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  [...]

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HAKIMULLAH DEAD, PROBABLY.
Multiple media outlets reported today that Hakimullah Mehsud, leader of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), succumbed to his wounds from the January 14th drone strikes on Shaktoi, South Waziristan.  Pakistan’s interior minister, Rehman Malik, also stated that there was credible information that Hakimullah was dead.  (Insider Brief sources claimed on January 17th that Mehsud had [...]

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Summary
Despite widespread skepticism of the Pakistani military’s will and ability to fight the Taliban, the second Swat campaign appears to be on the road to a successful conclusion with the expulsion of the Taliban from the once scenic valley.  Backed by civilian support, Pakistan’s military leadership looks to have plotted and executed a well thought [...]

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Summary
Today, Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, chairmen of Pakistan’s two largest parties agreed in principle to impeach President Pervez Musharraf. The agreement, however, is contingent on all coalition partners supporting the move. Just as there has been little-to-no “progress” on the reinstatement of the justices Musharraf sacked, it is just as unlikely that [...]

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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 [...]

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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 Attack [...]

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The News: Reuters
With Gen. Ashfaq Kayani’s ascendancy to the role of Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Reuters published an article on Nov. 28th [...]

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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 [...]

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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 Corps [...]

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The blasts in Karachi have left the people of Pakistan shocked and horrified while the country’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies scramble to find those responsible. As investigations continue, major questions remain unanswered.
WHAT WE DO KNOW
The tactics and means involved in the attack make us believe with near certainty that they were carried out by [...]

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