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Infamy
in September: A three day hostage crisis at a
school in Northern Ossetia province of Russia by
terrorists resulted in the carnage that claimed the lives
of nearly 1,000 people many of them children. The
inconsolable residents of the city turned to spirituality
while the government took stock of the situation. Prime
Minister Putin echoed the shortcomings and vowed to revamp
the security. Aggressive Russian posture in the region
could alter the precarious balance between Russia and its
former republics.
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Source: CBS, AP
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3/11?:
On March 11, 2004 multiple coordinated bombings killed
nearly 200 and injured over a 1,000 rail commuters in
Madrid, Spain. Initial confusion about the origin of the
attack blamed ETA (Basque separatists) only later to back
track and blame Al Qaeda. The bombing led to a public
outcry and an electoral loss for Prime Minister Aznar
previously favored to win. Instead the shock of the
bombing favored the Socialist party candidate Mr. Zapatero
who favored disengagement from Iraq. Were the consequences
of the bombing calculated or serendipitous? ABC News
Reuters
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Source: ABC News Reuters
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Tightening
the Noose: The Maoist insurgency is a growing
thorn in the side of the Nepali government. In the past
year they have begun a slow assault on the capital, Phase
4, the final phase in their insurgency. Nepal lurches from
showdown between the military and the insurgents
punctuated by calls for talks. In late December 2004,
Katmandu resident faced a second blockade of the
valley’s highways leading to panic and hoarding. The
crisis resulted in renewed calls for negotiations.
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Source: STR/AFP/Getty Images
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Looming
Storm: The Islamists and their allies in
Bangladesh's military are now becoming increasingly
assertive. These people are closely tied to Islamist
groups in Pakistan, and view Prime Minister Khalida Zia as
being somewhat more “friendly” towards their brand of
politics. They also view Madame Hasina, the leader of the
Awami league, and daughter of the Sheikh Mujibur Rehman,
the founder of Bangladesh as close to India. The photo
depicts the aftermath of a stunning grenade attack that
nearly killed Madame Hasina and several of her top
advisors in Dhaka. Though no group claimed responsibility
- the finger of blame pointed quite naturally towards the
increasingly militarized Islamists. Persistent rumors in
the international press of the presence of Al Qaida
members in Bangladesh did little to calm frayed nerves.
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Source: http://www.despardes.com/ |
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Transition:
Prime Minister Vajpayee greets his successor Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh after the NDA suffered an
unexpected loss in the elections. Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh, former Finance Minister under the Prime Minister
Rao administration ushers in speculation that economic
reform will be given even greater importance during his
tenure.
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Source: Prakash Singh /AFP/Getty Images
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Sports
Fans: In continuation of former PM Vajpayee’s
hand of friendship to Pakistan, the Indian cricket team
toured that country after a gap of 14 years. The tour came
as a surprise to many, especially as other nations had
refused to play in Pakistan citing security reasons. The
government of Pakistan sent mixed messages by organizing
unprecedented security for the Indian players and
welcoming Indian fans; but then also choosing to conduct a
missile test just a day before the arrival of the Indian
team. The Pakistani people on the other hand welcomed the
touring team and treated Indian fans very hospitably. The
sporting clash turned out the best overseas result since
1986 for Indian cricket with the team winning the test
series 3-2 and the one-day series 2-1. Saurav Ganguly
became India’s most successful captain.
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Source: AP Photo KM Chaudhary
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Connections:
As terrorist violence continued unabated the army put in
place electronic surveillance equipment to hunt out the
infiltrators. In a sign of growing confidence the
government reduced the military presence in the state and
delivered an economic package while Chief Minister Mufti
Mohammed Sayeed said that J&K was safe in secular
India's hands. As the power-hungry state waited for the
completion of numerous hydel-power, projects cell phone
coverage increased exponentially with private players also
entering the growing market. The Jammu-Udhampur railway
line was completed and began operations igniting hopes for
its extension into the valley."
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Source: The Daily Excelsior Sunday Magazine |
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Ballot
box: Despite high security precautions and
threats, Afghans voted for their favorite candidates. The
vote was a strike against violence of proposed by the
resurgent Taliban. Curiously, the numerous threats of
violence directed at voters did not materialize except for
a few instances. Wheather the electoral process unites
Afghan under one nation or leads to further division is
speculative. Election posturing though designed to
energize a voter base must not be taken for policy. Afghan
leader have the unenviable task of ruling a disparate
population that often expresses its politics from the
barrel of a gun.
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Source: Ahmad Masood/Reuters Yahoo
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Unveiled:
Masooda Jalal, the only female candidate to run in the
Afghan Presidential race. She is a testament to the
journey of Afghan women in the post Taliban era.
Historically, women held numerous posts in the pre Afghan
Jihad era. Their social position reached a nadir with
increasing restrictions by the Taliban, often bordering on
the ridiculous. Masooda Jalal depicts how much they have
achieved and how much they have yet to achieve.
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Source: AFP/Emmanuel Dunand, Yahoo
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Fundamental
Differences: 2004 was the year of the
election, the American Presidential election and its
accompanying debates drew sharp differences between the
two candidates and their vision of the world. The issues
dividing Blue from Red included Abortion, Gay marriages,
Iraq, terrorism and the economy. The debates both public
and private were among the most acrimonious in recent
memory.
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Source: Jeff Haynes /AFP/Getty Images October 13, 2004
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Realpolitik:
American forces in Afghanistan were faced with the
difficult task of pacifying the Pashtun belt. As a start
to this process they raided Al Qaida and Taliban positions
in the Shah-i-Kot area. The Al Qaida fighters fled into
Pakistan and took refuge in Wana. Nek Mohammed, the leader
of the Yargulkhai branch of the Ahmedzai Wazir tribe was
close to several Al Qaida and Taliban leaders. Nek and
sympathetic elements of the Pakistan Army worked through
the auspices of two newly formed groups, the Jaishul al-Qiba
al-Jihadi al-Siri al-Alami and Jundullah to provide
fleeing Al Qaida with regrouping facilities. The Pakistan
Army citing "general lawlessness in the frontier
regions" attempted to ignore this activity. However
under tremendous pressure from the US after the murder of
18 American soldiers in Shah-i-Kot, the Pakistanis carried
out a "major operation" against Nek Mohammed's
groups. This half-hearted operation quite predictably
failed to do anything meaningful and inflamed tribal
sentiments. The Pakistanis used the conflagration as a
excuse to hold a Jirga and sign a ceasefire with Nek
Mohammed's group. In exchange for the ceasefire, Nek
Mohammed agreed to stop all attacks on the Pakistan Army.
In this photo Lt. Gen. Safdar Hussain is seen meeting Nek
Muhammad, at the Tribal Jirga in Shakhai. Brig.(r) Mahmood
Shah Secretary FATA (Security) looks on in the center. The
photo summarizes the strain of duplicity inherent in all
Pakistani Army dealings on the issue of domestic support
for Al Qaida terrorists in Wana. Readers may note that
soon after this event, according to rumor the Americans
tired of duplicity killed Nek Mohammed in an airstrike.
The Pakistani Army quickly claimed credit for this, and
paid the price for it. A few days later the Karachi Corps
Commander Lt. Ahsan Saleem Hayat's convoy was challenged
in the high-security zone of Karachi city. The commander
survived the attempt but the aura of superiority the
Pakistan Army carries about itself in Pakistan was
considerably damaged.
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Source: Tariq Mahmood/AFP/Getty Images
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Staged:
This photo shows a large cache of arms captured by the
"Pakistan Army" from the Al Qaida sympathizers
in the Wana area. A trained eye can spot the distinctive
camouflage patterns of the troops in the photo and the SSG
flashes on the men in khaki. This is most likely a seizure
by the joint Special Operations Task Force comprising the
US SOF and the Pakistan Army. The equipment appears to
include all sorts of high-tech material. The presence of
such equipment in the middle of the "lawless,
underdeveloped, impenetrable tribal belt" of
Pakistan, where there is no electricity, roads etc... is
baffling to most observers. A skeptical mind could be
forgiving for believing that the equipment displayed here
was purchased in Karachi and planted in Wana for a
simulated success. Such a theory, though speculative would
offer a satisfying explanation for the continued use of
Wana by Al Qaida and resurgent Taliban groups for
operations against the US in Afghanistan.
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Source: STR/AFP/Getty Images
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Blowback:
A picture of a burnt out Pakistan Army truck near Wana.
This is somehow the most accurate image to come out the
region. The truck is witness to a furious ambush that
killed its occupants. As the list of posthumous award
winners on Pakistan's Army Day grows, images like these
tell the real story of their exploits. The ham-fisted
operations of the Pakistan Army are most likely producing
sizable civilian casualties and inducing revolts by local
tribes. While at a strategic level this may successfully
convince the Americans that the Musharraf regime cannot
actually stamp its authority on the Tribal belt and that
any attempt to dislodge Al-Qaida from Wana would result in
terrible consequences for Musharraf - the immediate
consequences of any strategy of deliberate provocation of
the tribals are likely to be borne by under equipped
Pakistani soldiers in the region. This picture bears
testimony to the fact that the Pakistan Army though
exceptional at creating other peoples' terrorists is quite
incompetent at fighting them on its own soil.
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Source: Nor Mohammad /AFP/Getty Images
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Birds
of a Feather: The death of the charismatic Nek
Mohammed created a vacuum in the media. This was quickly
filled by Abdullah Mahsud, a recently released inmate of
Guantanmo Bay, who took up terrorism the instant he
touched Pakistani soil. One of the first acts he committed was
to kidnap Chinese engineers working on the Gomal Zam Dam
project. It is commonly held among analysts that these
"engineers" are most likely PRC intelligence
officials keeping tabs on US activity in the region. The
kidnap saga was given considerable press coverage and the
PRC emissaries in Islamabad began to put pressure on Gen.
Musharraf to resolve the crisis in favor of China. Soon
afterwards the Pakistan Army's SSG conducted a high
profile operation where they tried to rescue the Chinese
engineers and killed one of the hostages in the process.
This photo released soon after the operation had most
Pakistan watchers wondering that given the abundance of
shalwar-kameez's and balaclava caps in this photo; how did
the SSG assault team distinguish between each other, the
hostages and the terrorists. Incidentally the Pakistan
Army also initially claimed they had killed Mahsud, but
then he mysteriously reappeared elsewhere, by which point
most Pakistan watchers were rolling their eyes.
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Source: Reuters/Stringer October 14, 2004
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Zealot:
Maulana Nizamuddin Shamzai,éminence grise of Jamia ul
Uloom Banuri Town, heir to the legacy of the late Maulana
Mohammad Yousaf Ludhianvi, head of the
Majlis-e-Tawwun-e-Islami, spiritual godfather to the Jaish-e-Mohammad
and the Harkat-ul-Mujaheddin, was shot to death outside
his office in Karachi. Maulana Shamzai considered the most
respected Sunni Deobandi cleric in Pakistan after Maulana
Rafiuddin Usmani of the Pakistani Government's Council for
Islamic Ideology, was revered by the people across the
globe that took his revisionist and exhibitionist version
of Islam seriously. While there can no doubt of the late
Maulana's scholarship, his uncompromising stand on
sectarian issues and on support for the Taliban and Osama
Bin Laden had made him many enemies in America and
Pakistan. The Maulana had made several attempts to
communicate with western observers however the gap was
becoming increasingly unbridgeable. In the picture we see
Maulana Iskander, the rector of Jamia Binuri, offering prayers at his funeral. The
killing of Maulana Shamzai showcases an internal coupling
of Pakistan's establishment supported Jihads. The Jihadis
so-beloved to the Pakistan Army, are almost always
uncompromising Sunni fundamentalists like Shamzai.
Whenever the US pressurizes the Pakistan Army into giving
way on terrorism issues, the Sunni groups take out their
wrath on the Shia minority in Pakistan. Pretty soon a high
profile Sunni cleric turns up dead - and the Shias are
blamed again feeding a cycle of violence.
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Source: http://www.liputan6.com/
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Strife among the Faithful: As stated
earlier, the slightest opportunity to blame the Shias
offers the numerically Sunni groups a cause to riot or
worse target Shia imambargahs with suicide attacks. If
ever a Shia officer of the Pakistan Army is involved in
any American anti-terrorist raid in Pakistan, his qaum
(community) is automatically targeted in response to that.
The result is responsive rioting by the Shias and pretty
soon a cycle takes hold. Such cycles coupled with the
"madrassization" of the education system in
Pakistan breed fanaticism and that for the most part feeds
the ranks of the Al Qaida's allies in Pakistan. In this
photo we see Shia mourners at the funeral of one of the
worst suicide bombings of a Shia Imambargah.
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Source: Yahoo, AP Photo/K.M.Chaudary
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Carnage:
Several powerful bombs simultaneously ripped through Assam
and Nagaland on the 2nd of October killing over 69 people
and injuring hundreds of others. The bombings timed with
the birth anniversary of the apostle of peace, Mahatma
Gandhi, and may have been aimed at sabotaging the peace
talks between the government of India and the National
Socialist Council of Nagaland (IM). Those talks however
were successfully held and the NSCN(IM) condemned the
gruesome bombings. The police suspected the hand of the
United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National
Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) in the terrorist
attacks.
Image Source: AFP Yahoo
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Rage:
One of the most shocking and telling scenes from Iraq. In
April 2004 a burst of anger directed against
representatives of western businesses. Four contractors
were beaten, killed and the burnt corpses were mutilated
by a youthful jubilant mob. World audiences recoiled in
horror at the actions of a “liberated” people.
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Source: Sabah Arar/AFP/Getty Images March 31, 2004
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Nefarious:
Abu Musab al Zarqawi the notorious terrorist with
Jordanian roots and the so called Emir of Al Qaeda
operations quickly rose to fame in June 2004 after
beheading an American contractor Nick Berg. The subsequent
beheadings of international workers in Iraq chilled a
sheltered audience and brought the war in Iraq into the
hearts and minds of the world.
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Source: Reuters/TV Al Arabiya via Reuters Television
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India’s
End of an Era: Former Prime Minister Rao’s
sudden death shocked India and an outpouring of grief and
fond memories emerged from an indebted nation. During his
tenure as Prime Minister, his steady hand guided India
thru the early Post Cold War uncertainty, economic
instability and internal upheavals. Many of today’s
successes such as a booming economy, burgeoning
confidence, and engagement of the world can be attributed
to his farsighted vision. Prime Minister Rao’s decided
measures during difficult times set the stage for a rising
India.
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Source:AFP Yahoo
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America’s
End of an Era: Former President Reagan succumbed
to a decade long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
President Reagan’s tenure was marked by skyrocketing
brinkmanship and ground breaking peace. Engagement of the
Soviet Union thru brinkmanship and peacemaking helped to
ease the world out of Cold War without threatened nuclear
annihilation. President Reagan’s steely resolve will
serve as an example for future generations.
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Source:Reuters/Peter Jones
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Grief:
2004 was a tragic year for Ismail Khan, Emir of Herat.
Earlier in the year, his son, Mirwaiz Sadiq (Minister of
Aviation) was killed under suspicious circumstances while
investigating a failed assassination attempt on his father’s
life. Several days of attacks between Ismail Khan’s
forces and Afghan National Army forced Kabul to deploy
further troops in the region. As the year progressed,
Ismail Khan forces were attacked and forced to retreat as
Amanullah Khan, a rival Pashtun warlord attacked the
border region. The tragedy culminated as he was removed
from his Governorship by President Karzai at the inception
of election campaign.
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Source: AP Photo Ihlas News Agency
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Passing
the Torch: The Chairman of the Palestinian
Liberation Organization, Yasser Arafat passed away on the
11th of November at the age of 75. The Head of the
Palestinian Authority had been hospitalized at Paris for
the last few days. Yasser Arafat founded the Al-Fatah
movement and began a violent struggle against “Zionism”,
later becoming the Chairman of the PLO. He eventually
recognized the state of Israel and began working towards
establishing a state for the Palestinians before death
intervened. Chairman Arafat was given a state funeral at
Cairo in Egypt. While alive he symbolized Palestinian
resistance in death he may become a symbol of Palestinian
statehood. Mahmoud Abbas ponders the future while a
portrait of Chairman Arafat dominates the background.
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Source: Reuters/Ammar Awad
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Hands
across Asia: Bangladesh India Myanmar Sri Lanka
Thailand Economic Cooperation expanded to include Nepal
and Bhutan. Furthermore, the organization was renamed Bay
of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and
Economic Cooperation with a pledge towards establishing a
Free Trade agreement. The organization focuses on tourism,
people to people contacts, energy and infrastructure
cooperation. The Tran regional group bridges the economic
potential of Indian subcontinent with the dynamic
Southeast Asia.
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Source: Getty Images Kittiwongsakul / AFP
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October
Surprise: In a stunning move the Junta expelled
one of its top leaders, Lt General Khin Nyunt, wore many
hats as Prime Minister and head if Military Intelligence.
His downfall was mare more shocking as he was widely
speculated to be the next leader of Myanmar. The Junta in
a coordinated move placed Lt General Nyunt under house
arrest citing health reasons and arrested his top
supporters in Military intelligence. Myanmar watchers
predicted further clamp downs and economic roll backs but
the only certainty is that Myanmar’s regime is
unpredictable.
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Source: AFP File/Hoang Dinh Nam
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Tragedy:
On the 26th of December, at 6:29 am IST, an earthquake
measuring 9 on the Richter Scale hit the seabed off the
coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. It generated a massive
Tsunami tidal wave, which within minutes swamped the
Indonesian province of Aceh and India's Andaman &
Nicobar Islands. In a short two-and-a-half hours later the
towering wave neared the coast of India, Sri Lanka and the
Maldives decimating up to kilometer of habitation. A
failure of communication compounded the catastrophe
resulting in greater devastation and loss of life. India
was the first country to organize rescue and relief
efforts despite personal loss. The Indian Armed Forces
pledged hardware and personnel and took a lead role in the
entire Indian Ocean region. The enormous tragedy compelled
other governments to join the relief effort and promise
aid. Money was promptly raised by individuals and
charities across the world to assuage the families of the
hundreds of thousands who died in this tragedy. The
satellite image starkly depicts the effects of the worst
natural calamity in human history.
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Source: AP Photo/Space Imaging Yahoo
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