Towards resolving FATA conflict
	The war on terrorism has brought to the surface our identity crisis in full force in two ways. On the one hand there is a large number of Pakistanis who challenge the policy of the government for aligning with the West in this war. On the other hand there are those in government, especially in the security services who are fighting against their own brethren! This creates a dilemma for an average Pakistan More » Posted by Khalid Aziz on August 11, 2008

	Pakistan’s agony
	Admiral Mike Mullen the chairman of the US joint chief of staff and the deputy director of the CIA, Stephen Kappes visited Pakistan on July 12 before the prime minister’s Washington visit. They had brought proof of ISI’s complicity with Jalaludin Haqqani a Taliban commander with links to al-Qaeda who ran a militant network in Afghanistan’s Khost province. Pakistan was warned to clean up this mess or face other consequences. It was after receiving this warning that the prime minister before his departure for Washington ordered the issuance of a notification bringing the ISI under the control of the interior ministry. More » Posted by Khalid Aziz on August 3rd, 2008

	Our man in Washington
	The visit of the Pakistani prime minister is taking place at a crucial time both for Pakistan and the US. The prime minister’s visit to the US comes at the cusp – the end of a presidency and the start of a new one. President Bush is at the tail end of his tenure and would wish to leave behind a memorable legacy. These are risky times for both Pakistan and the US. However, personalities do not change the geo-strategic interests of states. For more than one reason, the destiny of Pakistan and US is interlinked. It ought to be a sobering thought for both the leaders to remind themselves that however severe the current turbulence in relationships, both Pakistan and the US need each other for the foreseeable future; although this is a cause for optimism yet it should not dull the mind to recognize the fact that a misstep could cause irretrievable damage to this partnership. More » Posted by Khalid Aziz on July 28, 2008

	The need for clear thinking about the war on terrorism
	Pakistan is facing a dangerous situation today. It is a nuclear power yet it is fast losing control over parts of her territories because of the pressure applied on her to sacrifice her security for peace in Afghanistan. Should we be paying that price? Finding answer to this and other similar riddles is essential for our future security. More » Posted by Khalid Aziz on July 22nd 2008

	Clear and present danger in tribal areas
	Since the last couple of months the media has been selling another product; this time it relates to building a demand in the public mind for undertaking operations inside Pakistani tribal areas by US troops. Was this what President Karzai referred to when he said some weeks ago that Pakistan should stop militant attacks from tribal areas or Afghan forces would enter to remove their safe havens? We all know what the capacity of the Afghan military is – it was a message from the alliance forces. More » Posted by Khalid Aziz on July 19th 2008

	Agenda for Fata reform
	Before presenting the case for reform in Fata an analysis is presented regarding a weakness within the basic design of the Pakistani state which is responsible for the periodic crisis endangering her security. The principle cause of Pakistani difficulties lies in the existence of large physical spaces of land in which more than 40 million people of Fata and NWFP live. They are stripped of identity and their land is considered as a geo-strategic space with names that resemble formulas from a chemistry text book – Fata, NWFP – rather than places where people dwell! More » Posted by Khalid Aziz on 10th July, 2008

	The significance of the Khyber operation
	An ambiguity developed in law enforcement when they played the guard and the supervisor during long martial law regimes – by doing so they compromised their procedures when transacting socially with the warlords. For example a Corp Commander visited Nek Muhammad in Wana in 2004 and anointed him with official approval. Or more recently the commandant of a scout unit attended a school function in the company of Namdar. No good has ever come out of collaborating with evil. More » Posted by Khalid Aziz on July 7th, 2008

	Mangal Bagh and the fragmenting state
	The economic and financial consequences of warlordism are akin to the growth of cancer in the human body. If Pakistan fails to treat this menace it will begin to fade away since it will gradually lose the capacity to raise money for running its services, maintaining the military and undertaking development. The militants are bad for businesses and taxes. Peshawar’s industrial estate is partially shut because of the presence of the police and Frontier Constabulary within factories. These preventive measures are necessary but at what cost. More » Posted by Khalid Aziz on July 1st 2008

	Fata: Internal Security and Pakistan’s International Obligations
	This report has misgivings about the ultimate success of the peace deals without building a monitoring capacity which scrupulously follows the implementation of the peace agreements on a daily basis. It should be ensured that the peace deals do not transfer militancy to Afghanistan. Secondly, it is argued that simultaneously a comprehensive peace plan needs to be launched so that the economic and social causes of militancy are addressed in a holistic manner. Such a plan may last for 10-15 years. This report questions the personal approach which was followed for confronting militancy from 2001 to 2008. It is argued that Pakistan must immediately articulate a comprehensive counter insurgency strategy. Its absence has led to ignoring the monitoring of obligations by Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US. This has amongst other shortcomings encouraged cross border raids. More » Posted by Khalid Aziz on June 20th, 2008

	Has Waziristan stabilized?
	Pakistani efforts at reducing pressure on her embattled institutions, through the peace deals has been criticized by allies and termed as a policy of appeasement adversely affecting the security of foreign troops in Afghanistan. NATO states that the rise in insurgent attacks between March and April this year is due to the peace deals. The recent establishment of a parallel Taliban court system in NWFP districts would naturally fuel such concerns. More » Posted by Khalid Aziz on June 7th,2008