The Acorn  

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Washington and New Delhi must understand how the jihadis have drawn their battle lines
The first message, mainly for those in the Obama administration who use catchy phrases like ‘offshore strategy’ and ‘light footprint counter-terrorism’, is that with drone attacks, you can never really be sure whether the target was taken out. Baitullah Mehsud is probably [...]

A big catch goes unnoticed
It is amusing to see the international media report the capture of Baitullah Mehsud’s two-bit spokesman as a headline story and if at all, somewhere towards the end of the page, mention that Qari Saifullah, the allegedly late Mr Mehsud’s “close aide” had also been taken into custody. Amusing because if [...]

When to worry a little and when to worry a lot
In an article for West Point’s CTC Sentinel (pdf) Bradford University’s Shaun Gregory draws attention to a serious matter—the terrorist threat to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. (linkthanks Swami Iyer)
Before we discuss the controversial part, let’s look at his conclusion.
The risk of the transfer of nuclear weapons, [...]

India need not be defensive, apologetic or overly concerned about correcting Pakistan’s allegations of meddling
Yesterday’s post pointed out why the mention of Balochistan in the India-Pakistan joint statement at Sharm-el-Sheikh hurts India’s interests.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s giveaway enables Pakistan’s military-jihadi complex to distract attention from the Talibanisation of the Pakistani state, and unite the [...]

But it’s likely to go downhill for him from here
One of the primary tasks Ashfaq Pervez Kayani set for himself when he took over from Pervez Musharraf as Pakistan’s army chief was to restore the image of the Pakistani army at home and abroad. It was in November 2007 when the popularity of the Pakistani [...]

The United States’ Af-Pak strategy is silent on the most important challenge
The main issue in President Barack Obama’s just-announced strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan boils down to this: just how is the United States going to ensure that the Pakistani military establishment plays ball?
As this blog has pointed out before, to win in Afghanistan the [...]

US counter-insurgency in Afghanistan, Pakistan army’s choices and implications for India
In today’s Mint. Sushant & I argue that General Kayani’s political decisions will depend on the course and outcomes of US negotiations with ‘moderate’ Taliban. We suggest that while moderate Taliban is an oxymoron it is also “a label of convenience, using moral connotations to [...]

Quetta in the crosshairs
If you have a dim view of the US government, then you could conclude that allowing the New York Times to announce that the CIA intends to conduct drone strikes against Mullah Omar & Co at their sanctuaries in Quetta is the Obama administration’s very own Tora Bora (via The Washington Independent). [...]

The Talibanisation of Pakistan does not necessarily need the Taliban to take over
Over at Informed Comment, Juan Cole argues that fears of the Taliban taking over Pakistan are overblown (via Chapati Mystery):
The Pakistani Taliban are not going to take over the Pakistani government. That worry doesn’t keep me up at night. They are small, and [...]