Noncommital? Pakistan’s War on Terror

A year after the US attack that saw Osama bin Laden killed, efforts to crush the remnants of al-Qa’ida are at a pivotal stage.

By Mohammad I. Aslam | Notebook, Opinion, The Foreign Desk | Wednesday, 4 July 2012 at 2:00 am

Intelligent kill: The dirty art of secret assassination

State-sponsored foreign assassinations of military, religious, ideological and political figures are an ugly reality of world history.

By Mohammad I. Aslam | Notebook, Opinion | Tuesday, 19 June 2012 at 3:00 am

Obama’s Drone Wars strain the liberal principles he espoused in 2008

Clara Cullen thinks Obama’s drone strategy is a betrayal of all who supported him. In turn, the silence of all those who voted for “hope” and “change” is worrying; it suggests that the US liberal electorate would rather support Obama, who they perceive as a lesser political evil than his Republican adversaries, than actually questioning the political hypocrisy his foreign policy entails.

By Clara Cullen | Notebook, Opinion, iPolitics | Friday, 8 June 2012 at 3:57 am

The 12 most-read blogs of 2011

2011 has been a fantastic year for the blogs. With many new, talented writers being taken on board, we’ve seen a plethora of insightful and challenging views on a myriad of topics. Personally (and I’d like to think I’m not too biased…), I think blogging is a fantasic platform for writers to discuss and debate the news with honest opinions, and a connection to their readers.

So here’s a selection of the most read articles, as well as my own Editor’s Choice.

By Laura Davis | Notebook | Thursday, 29 December 2011 at 11:15 am

Can extra judicial killing ever be just?

This year has seen the killing of three wanted men, all active in politics in their own peculiar ways: Osama bin Laden of al-Qaeda, Anwar al-Awlaki, the Islamist internet preacher based in Yemen, and Muammar Gaddafi, the ousted ‘Brother Leader’ of Libya. The circumstances of these killings were different, but they have generated both an exuberant sense of justice done and, at the same time, serious concerns about the legality and ethics of such acts.

By Piers Benn | Battle of Ideas | Tuesday, 6 December 2011 at 10:16 am

The Bin Laden and Mladić Saga: A clash of civilisations?

“Why does Mladić who was allegedly a part of a state command that caused the death of 100,000 people including 8,000 in Srebrenica, deserve due process? And why was Bin Laden denied that same right having killed 2817 American citizens? The answer may lie in what Edward Said concept of orientalism.

By Fatima Kanji | Notebook | Thursday, 9 June 2011 at 3:46 pm

There’s more to leadership than killing terrorists

Clive Crook says “had the bin Laden operation gone wrong, it would have been all over for Mr Obama.” Well, that’s probably what conservative commentators like Crook would have argued. But that doesn’t make it true, or fair.

By Ben Chu | Eagle Eye | Wednesday, 11 May 2011 at 1:22 pm

Liberals should resist the macho politics game

It’s, of course, deeply satisfying to see the disgusting demagogues of the American right lost for words. And it’s, of course, a good thing that a terrorist psycopath like Bin Laden has been taken out of action. But it’s dangerous for liberals to promote the narrative that dispatching bad guys burnishes a leader’s credentials.

By Ben Chu | Eagle Eye | Thursday, 5 May 2011 at 12:31 pm

Osama Bin Laden: The Unknown Cost of Victory

The death of Osama Bin Laden will be analysed by hundreds of authors in hundreds of books and thousands of chapters for years to come, if only as a bookmark in the continued war on terrorism and fundamentalism.
However, it will be analysed in countless different ways. Some will write about a death fetishised by the [...]

By Oliver Duggan | Notebook, The Foreign Desk | Wednesday, 4 May 2011 at 1:22 pm

Caught & Social: Katy has a word about Osama

Daily gossip from the world of celeb

By Luke Blackall | Notebook | Tuesday, 3 May 2011 at 1:00 pm