The Pakistani Spectator

A Candid Blog

Author Archive

Ahsan Iqbal on Rethinking U.S. Policy

By kami • Aug 5th, 2008 • Category: Politics

On July 31, in Washington, I had a long conversation with Ahsan Iqbal, Information Secretary of PML-N, on Pakistan’s role in helping Afghanistan and to stabilize that part of the world.  I stated to Secretary Iqbal that on February 27, Secretary Nicholas Burns said at Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said “the fact [...]



Who Made Taliban Terrorists?

By kami • Jul 2nd, 2008 • Category: Politics

Last year in June, the New America Foundation (NAF) sponsored a Brown-Bag Lunch featuring Afghan ambassador Said Tayeb Jawad.  The ambassador gave a presentation on the ‘New Approach in Afghanistan Fighting Terrorism as a Phenomenon and Terrorists as Individuals.’ Mr. Peter Bergen, Senior Fellow at NAF and terrorism analyst, moderated this seminar.
While addressing the unfolding [...]



Donde Drug Trade Dollars De Afghanistan?

By kami • Jun 4th, 2008 • Category: Politics

As I mentioned in my last article, on February 27, 2008 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Bob Schieffer, anchor of CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” moderated a seminar where Nicholas Burns, then Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, commented about drug production in Afghanistan:
“It is a country that has seen its [...]



Cross Fire

By kami • May 30th, 2008 • Category: Politics

On February 27, 2008, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Bob Schieffer, anchor of CBS News’ “Face the Nation” moderated a seminar titled, The Status of U.S. Efforts in Afghanistan. Nicholas Burns, then Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, Colonel David W. Lamm, U.S. Army (Ret.) and former Chief of Staff, Combined [...]



Good Memories With Some American ‘Right Wing Bigot Christians’

By kami • May 23rd, 2008 • Category: Misc

Last year in April, Dr. John L. Esposito of Georgetown University offered a symposium exploring the definition of Muslim identity. This event was a global interactive conversation on religion moderated by Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham and Sally Quinn of the Washington Post.
A panel of journalists and religious scholars like Sherman A. Jackson, the Muslim Chaplain [...]



Blaming Jews and Christians for Our Own Follies

By kami • May 20th, 2008 • Category: Politics

In the response of my article nameD “Consensus Between PPP & PML (N) in Linking with Lobbying Firms In Washington”, Insaf Khan expressed his reaction by writing:  “In fact, the PML-N does NOT want to waste Pakistani tax-payers money by hiring any old or new (American Neo-Con, Zionist, Evangelist, Christian, or Jewish) lobby firms in [...]



A Democratic India For Ambassador Aftab Seth

By kami • May 10th, 2008 • Category: Politics

The Pew Briefing Series arranged a seminar on the Role and Responsibility of a Democratic India at the Hudson Institute, a think-tank generally controlled by Neo con’s, in their Washington, D.C. Headquarters.  Ambassador Aftab Seth, former Indian Ambassador to Japan, Vietnam and Greece was the ‘Spin-Meister’ for Indian diplomacy with a very much Muslim name. [...]



An Open Letter To President Musharraf

By kami • May 9th, 2008 • Category: Politics

Last year there were impressions in Washington that Pakistan was unraveling. In November, the Pakistani Ambassador Durrani hired a public relations firm named Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide by paying $45,000 per month for damage control which was result of the mess created with the firing of the Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftkhar Chaudhri (Ch).
In those [...]



Consensus Between PPP & PML (N) in Linking with Lobbying Firms In Washington

By kami • May 8th, 2008 • Category: Politics, Worth A Second Look

It is the norm that a new government in a country changes its lobbying link in Washington, DC as well. Presently, while the late Bhutto’s Pakistan People Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are busy in keeping their alliance intact on the issue of restoration of sixty judges, they are also discussing the selection [...]



Shutting Up: Pakistan’s Same old Power Structure Alive in US

By kami • May 3rd, 2008 • Category: Politics

As an Ambassador, Mahmud Ali Durrani gave his last press conference in the Pakistani embassy before he leaves for Islamabad to work there as a National Security Advisor (NSA).
This position was created by Asif Zardari, the husband of the late Benizir Bhutto, who desired a liaison between the army and his civilian administration. Importantly, he [...]