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Pakistan: Thoughts on the NATO supply line hullabaloo

By Ahsan Butt Tue, May 22, 2012 11:59PM UTC View Comments

You want to know how deep the divide is between the U.S. and Pakistan? The two countries papers of record can interpret the exact same event in diametrically opposed ways. In the U.S., the New York Times had a pessimistic take on the Obama “snub” of Zardari and the prospects of reaching a supply lines...

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Opinion: Rhetoric has consequences, U.S.-Afghanistan edition

By Ahsan Butt Tue, Mar 13, 2012 4:25AM UTC View Comments

An Afghan woman, center, clad in burqa walks past a soldier at a checkpoint following Sunday's killing of civilians by a U.S. soldier in Kandahar province, south of Kabul, Afghanistan. Pic: AP.

I recall that when Congresswoman Griffords was shot and almost killed, a number of news outlets in the U.S. (fairly) asked the question of the extent to which Sarah Palin and her rhetoric of “targeting” certain lawmakers mattered. The reasoning was simple: that while one cannot directly “blame” Palin for the assassination attempt, violent and...

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The U.S. soldier shooting incident is not an isolated one

By Ahsan Butt Mon, Mar 12, 2012 5:24AM UTC View Comments

Even amidst the daily humdrum of violence during war, certain incidents simply belong in a category of their own. The details of the U.S. Army Staff Sergeant’s war crime (if this does not qualify, I don’t know what does) really have to be read to be believed: The unnamed soldier, thought to be a staff...

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Newt Gingrich’s vile and underhanded bigotry

By Ahsan Butt Thu, Jan 19, 2012 2:42AM UTC View Comments

I’ve watched a number of Republican debates in this primary season. The first thing I would say about them is that they provide a very revealing window in a world I am very unfamiliar with. I don’t read right wing blogs (with the exception of Greg Mankiw’s econ blog) , I don’t really have many...

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Herman Cain is not a serious candidate, and yet he’s somehow the Republican frontrunner

By Ahsan Butt Mon, Oct 17, 2011 6:05AM UTC View Comments

I was reading this Yglesias post the other day and it really made me think, specifically this bit: The ridiculous thing about these Republican debates is that you keep needing to wade through this vast field of candidates who are essentially doing book tours in order to hear the actual presidential candidates debate. Rick Santorum...

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