Tag Archives: Pakistan

Five things about the killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

By Mark | October 27, 2019

In the early morning hours of May 2, 2011, a U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group, as part of an operation code-named Neptune Spear, entered a fortified compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and executed Osama bin Laden, the head of the Islamist terrorist group Al-Qaeda. In a televised announcement later that day, a sober Barack Obama […]

Posted in Other, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Abbottabad, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, al Qaeda, assassination, Barack Obama, baseball, booing, chants, credit, crying, Donald Trump, hypocrisy, hypocrisy watch, Idlib, ISIS, Kurds, lock him up, Mike Pence, Navy SEALS, Neptune Spear, Osama bin Laden, Russia, screaming, September 11, Situation Room, Syria, terrorism, threats to Democracy, Washington Nationals, whimpering, William McRaven, World Series | 67 Comments

How should we talk with our young daughters about Malala Yousafzai?

By Mark | November 20, 2012

Tonight I have a question for those of you out there with young daughters… I’m wondering how, if at all, you’re talking with your daughters about Malala Yousafzai, the incredibly brave Pakistani 14 year old, who, several weeks ago, in response to her vocal activism on behalf of girls in her country, was shot in […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Mark's Life | Also tagged assassination, Clementine, District Child Assembly Swat, Education, Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Prize, school, sexism, Swat Valley, Taliban, teachable moments | 15 Comments

Juan Cole on the spread of democracy in the Muslim world, and the anti-democratic legacy of 9/11 at home

By Mark | September 11, 2011

As reluctant as I am to jump on the “Let’s Milk the 10th Anniversary of the 9/11 Attacks for Ratings and Ad Revenue” bandwagon, I just read a very thoughtful piece by U-M history professor Juan Cole, and felt as though it deserved to be passed along. Here’s a clip. I’d encourage you, however, to […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, History, Politics | Also tagged 9/11, Abu Ghraib, al Qaeda, Arab Spring, Bush, Bush administration, CIA, democracy, democracy protests, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Juan Cole, Osama bin Laden, Pervez Musharraf, Qaddafi, surveillance culture, Tahrir Square, terrorism, threats to Democracy, Tunisia, two state solution, war for oil, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali | 14 Comments

Obama administration kills Osama bin Laden, secures reelection

By Mark | May 1, 2011

Eight years to the day after George Bush appeared on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln and announced “Mission Accomplished,” it’s being reported that Osama bin Laden has been killed by the CIA in Pakistan. “Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted action,” said the President… I want to say something […]