I believe
cinema must be watched in a cinema. Not on a laptop, not on a phone, not
on a TV—however smart or flat its panel may be. With each shrinking of
the screen, something vital is lost. The medium’s emotional charge, its
visual grandeur, its immersive power—all diminish when its canvas
contracts. That may sound purist, even a little curmudgeonly, in this
era of OTT abundance and algorithm-driven viewing. But I’ll say it
anyway: when it comes to movies, the bigger the screen and the darker
the hall, the more potent the magic.
Don’t believe me? Watch three films: To Each His Own Cinema, an exquisite anthology of 34 shorts by directors from 25 countries, all meditating on the act of watching; Cinema Paradiso, Giuseppe Tornatore’s love letter to the vanished small-town theatre; and Abbas Kiarostami’s Shirin, which flips the lens to film women watching a film, their faces lit only by flickers of light and feeling.
Each
of these films captures the same elemental truth: there is a peculiar
alchemy in the darkened theatre. Strangers, briefly released from the
burdens of their own lives, become co-conspirators in collective
dreaming. Walter Benjamin wrote that cinema doesn’t merely entertain,
but it creates a shared space for experience. When the lights go down
and the images begin their hypnotic dance, we see democracy in its most
radical form. Not at the ballot box or on the streets, but in the quiet
surrender to someone else’s vision of what it means to be human (or not;
such a disclaimer is needed in this AI era).
I agree that this ritual has taken on new urgency in our age of
digital fragmentation. Political tribes retreat into algorithmic echo
chambers, cultural dialogue is filtered through outrage cycles, and
shared references grow scarce. Yet, against the odds, humanity still
gathers in darkened halls to lose themselves in story. For those
luminous hours, we become porous to each other again. Vulnerable.
Hopeful. Human. It is indeed not an exaggeration to say cinema is our
last universal language. A visual Esperanto of the soul.
The
impact is visible in the numbers. The global film and video industry
generated more than $300 billion in revenue in 2024, surpassing the GDP
of more than 170 countries (about 85-90 per cent of all recognised
nations). But these figures only skim the surface. In the 1960s, James
Bond films boosted tourism to featured destinations. Bollywood’s soft
power runs so deep across West Asia and South-East Asia that Hindi filmi
phrases have entered everyday speech in countries where few have ever
met an Indian. But cinema’s influence is much more than merely
commercial; it’s mythopoeic. It functions as a collective unconscious,
showing not just how societies look at themselves, but how they wish to
be seen.
“Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk” is the title of a soon-to-be-released film featuring photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, the most recent of more than 208 assassinated Gazan journalists.
With no prior knowledge of that film’s content, I knew it
emanated from Palestine. These eight words embodied reiterations of a
portrait that for many months incessantly haunts me, a photo that had
become too routine, and to most of the world, a fleeting image. Even the
few who catch glimpses of those slowing moving tributaries of walkers
with no destination turn silent.
The Gazans walk on, steadily, seemingly
willingly. Away from everything they loved and what each of them is – a
soul, a sentient being, a history. They walk on obediently, now perhaps
less by fear than from habit and dissolution. They walk without a
terminus.
Most refugees worldwide have some geographic objective, however
murky, unrealistic and adaptable. Not Gaza’s Palestinians. They are
simply vacating a place that they have been warned is unsafe. Their
objective is simply to get out of the paths of cordons of ‘predators’
stalking them from all directions, including the sky. If not to save
themselves, they are compelled to help their elders, their sick and
their children.
The number of displaced people and refugees
today is of a staggering magnitude never recorded in any era of world
history. Most often war and military occupation is the motive for their
uprooting. Or famine, or economic sanctions stemming from conflict. From
all across Europe to the Americas; from Tibet to India; from Uganda to
the U.K.; from Vietnam in all directions; from Africa northwards through
destroyed Libya; from Afghanistan east into Pakistan or westwards
anywhere; from Myanmar to Bangladesh; from Iraq and Syria to the Gulf
States, Iran and Turkey; from Rwanda to Congo or Congo to Uganda and
Tanzania; from Hong Kong and Taiwan to Australia; from Bhutan to Nepal;
from Cuba and Venezuela, mostly forced into penury by U.S. sanctions.
They sleep on the road and huddle with strangers in camps. They
thrash around capsized boats, hide in city or forest, then set off to reach a temporary safe haven
where they might file papers to secure asylum somewhere along a route
through several nations. Resourcefully, they gather fragments about the
safest crossing point, the most trustworthy smugglers, where temporary
succor might be found.
Just a few months ago Elon Musk was heralded as a political kingmaker when he had a hand in helping Donald Trump win the US election.
Musk has since meddled in the politics of the UK, Germany, Spain and elsewhere but has struggled to convert his political prowess into victories for his chosen conservative parties.
In fact, being in any way similar to Trump or Musk has been a dead weight around the ankle of political campaigns over the last few months.
It was clear the DOGE dynamism had officially worn off when federal elections in Canada and Australia saw both conservative parties lose by a landslide.
Given that Musk and the other tech bro billionaires have so much influence over how we communicate, why are they seemingly struggling to actually influence our politics?
A bankrupt liberal class, by signing on for the Zionist witch hunt against supposed antisemites and refusing to condemn Israel for its genocide, provided the bullets to its executioners.
The media, universities, the Democratic Party and liberals, by
embracing the fiction of “rampant antisemitism,” laid the groundwork for
their own demise. Columbia and Princeton, where I have taught, and
Harvard, which I attended, are not incubators of hatred towards Jews.
The New York Times, where I worked for fifteen years and which Trump
calls “an enemy of the people,” is slavishly subservient to the Zionist
narrative. What these institutions have in common is not antisemitism,
but liberalism. And liberalism, with its creed of pluralism and
inclusiveness, is slated by our authoritarian regime for obliteration.
The conflation of outrage over the genocide
with antisemitism is a sleazy tactic to silence protest and placate
Zionist donors, the billionaire class and advertisers. These liberal
institutions, weaponizing
antisemitism, aggressively silenced and expelled critics, banned
student groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice
in Palestine, allowed police to make hundreds of arrests of peaceful protests on campuses, purged professors and groveled before Congress. Use the words ‘apartheid’ and ‘genocide’ and you are fired or excoriated.
Zionist Jews, in this fictional narrative, are the oppressed. Jews who protest
the genocide are slandered as Hamas stooges and punished. Good Jews.
Bad Jews. One group deserves protection. The other deserves to be thrown
to the wolves. This odious bifurcation exposes the charade.
In
April 2024, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, along with
two board members and a law professor, testified before the House of
Representative education committee. They accepted the premise that
antisemitism was a significant problem at Columbia and other higher
education institutions.
When Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees of Columbia University David Greenwald and others told
the committee that they believed “from the river to the sea” and “long
live the intifada” were antisemitic statements, Shafik agreed. She threw students and faculty under the bus, including long-time professor Joseph Massad.
The
day after the hearings, Shafik suspended all the students at the
Columbia protests and called in the New York City Police Department
(NYPD), who arrested at least 108 students.
“I have
determined that the encampment and related disruptions pose a clear and
present danger to the substantial functioning of the University,” Shafik
wrote in her letter to the police.
NYPD Chief John Chell, however, told
the press, “the students that were arrested were peaceful, offered no
resistance whatsoever, and were saying what they wanted to say in a
peaceful manner.”
Tikal – An ancient Mayan city in Central America. Mayan society is thought to have collapsed from a combination of environmental stress and class conflict.
A newly published study (“Economic inequality is fueled by population
scale, land-limited production, and settlement hierarchies across the
archaeological record,” PNAS, April 14, 2025) provides insight into the
initial rise of class societies across the world. Using data from 1,100
archaeological sites from Europe, Asia and the Americas, the researchers
trace the beginnings of wealth inequality back to over 10,000 years
ago, millennia before the first major civilizations (e.g., Egypt,
Mesopotamia, the Maya). The study elucidates some of the primary factors
in the transition from egalitarian hunter-gatherer social groups to
early farming societies in which indications of wealth and status
differentiation can be discerned.
The initial processes that
eventually led to the emergence of class societies (although the word
“class” does not appear anywhere in the PNAS article) began to appear
during the last stages of the Pleistocene and the beginning of the
Holocene (the post-glacial period in which we have lived for
approximately the last 10,000 years). Since there are no written records
from those times, the researchers employ a proxy data set—dwelling
sizes—specifically the in-ground footprint of structures which are the
usual housing remnants, if any, found in archaeological sites. No
standing buildings survive from the time period in question. The study
gathered data from over 47,000 residential structure remains, documented
at 1,100 archaeological sites from around the world. The large sample
size alone gives a degree of confidence in the study’s results.
The study identifies several commonalities in the initial emergence of economic inequality:
Growth
of wealth differences among households has been a long-term though not
universal trend in the Holocene. Marked increases typically lagged plant
domestication by 1,000 y[ears] or more and were tightly linked to
development of hierarchies of settlement size and land-limited
production. We infer that the social upscaling (growth of polities in
population and area) that typically began one to two millennia after
agriculture became locally common, and continued in some areas
throughout the Holocene, interfered with traditional leveling mechanisms
including enforcement of egalitarian norms.
In
general, in egalitarian societies the dwelling sizes of constituent
family groups tend to be similar at any given settlement, reflecting a
general equality in economic and social status. As wealth and social
stratification developed, the study found that differences in dwelling
sizes begin to appear. As societies become more complex, the number of
levels of dwelling sizes increases, reflecting the different levels of
social stratification.
Afghan refugees who had been removed by force from Pakistan arrive near the Afghanistan-Pakistan Torkham border in Nangarhar province on April 10, 2025. IMAGE/AFP via Getty Images
The US owes Afghans a huge debt, but instead of starting to repair decades of harm, Trump is banning them from the US.
During Donald Trump’s first term, the Afghan American community
dodged a bullet. This time, we weren’t so lucky. The new “Muslim ban
2.0,” the successor to Trump’s original Muslim ban, went into effect
today, with 12 countries on its list, including Afghanistan.
When President Trump began his second term in office on January 20,
he issued an executive order asking for a 60-day review of vetting
requirements for certain nationalities. As of 12 a.m. ET on June 9,
Afghans are now barred from entering the U.S. This news comes as most of
our community celebrates Eid-al-Adha and many Muslims around the world
finish the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
While some of this policy is framed as legal language in the name of
“national security,” it is clear that this masking was done in an
attempt to help the order pass challenges in the courts. Despite its
narrow exception for Special Immigrant Visa holders, this policy is
clearly a sweeping expression of racism and anti-Muslim prejudice.
The U.S.’s Role in Creating This Crisis
Afghanistan isn’t merely a Muslim country that happens to be a target
of this administration’s ire. The U.S.’s role goes back to the 1970s,
when the CIA covertly supported and armed the Afghan mujahideen fighting
back against the Soviet invasion, part of a Cold War era-proxy war.
This was followed by USAID-funded school textbooks in Dari and Pashto
produced by the University of Nebraska that taught young Afghan students
violence in refugee camps across Afghanistan and Pakistan. Years later,
the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in the fall of 2001 in the wake of the
September 11 attacks and fought a war against elements of al-Qaeda and
the Taliban. During this 20-year war, the U.S. funded endemic
corruption, backed notorious human rights violators and helped build an
aid-reliant government that was essentially a house of cards. The war
killed almost 180,000 people and culminated in bringing back a regime in
2021 that has instilled what many now call “gender apartheid.”
Afghanistan today is the only country on the planet where women and
girls are barred from education past the 6th grade.
This 40-year history means that the U.S. owes Afghans and Afghan Americans a huge debt. Instead of repaying this debt and undoing the harm it has caused over four decades, Muslim ban 2.0 has been yet another deep betrayal and abandonment.
First the U.S. bombed Afghans, then it abandoned Afghans. Now it has barred Afghans.
The decision to ban Afghans will mean that they will be left to fend
off a regime that has targeted anyone that has stood alongside the U.S.
for 20 years. That is not even to talk about the continued deportations
of Afghans by the Pakistani and Iranian governments or the fact that
Afghanistan is enduring a humanitarian crisis in which millions of
people do not have access to more than one meal a day, a situation
caused and exacerbated by U.S. sanctions policy.
Indian Air Force aircraft. IMAGE/Press Information Bureau website.
Chandigarh: Endemically plagued by budgetary
constraints, import restrictions, and bureaucratic delays in materiel
procurement, both India and Pakistan have long relied on jugaad, or locally executed battlefield improvisations, to keep their respective militaries effectively operational.
Whether it is retrofitting legacy combat aircrafts, refurbishing Cold
War-era air defence systems, patching submarines, hacking together
heating systems in high-altitude bunkers or adapting civilian platforms
for military employment, both the nuclear-armed rivals have consistently
turned inherent constraint into invention, forging capability where
none existed.
Over decades, these two militaries had become adept at successfully marrying systems that were never meant to meet.
Through jugaad, field commanders, mechanics and technologists –
military and civilian – have reframed the rules of physics, engineering
and industrial logic to augment their respective materiel capabilities.
In executing these retrofits, they had improvised solutions in
rudimentary workshops, far removed from air-conditioned and antiseptic
corporate research and development laboratories and factories. But the
outcome eventually enabled legacy and even a smattering of modern
platforms, to perform well beyond what their original equipment
manufacturers (OEMs) had envisioned.
To most Western militaries, however, jugaad was not only unimaginable but reckless and irresponsible.
Trained in precision, redundancy and systematised logistics, many
Western and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) militaries
regarded Indian and Pakistani ethos of battlefield improvisation with
bewilderment, albeit with some riveting, but objectionable fascination.
From fitting tractor parts into tanks to splicing together mismatched
electronic systems, jugaad was ingenuity born of necessity – an
approach largely alien to most Western militaries. The very idea of a
damaged fighter jet patched up by a local mechanic or ironmonger, or a
tank or infantry combat vehicle (ICV) being jump-started by villagers,
would appear absurd to NATO planners.
Mummies at the museum in San Miguel de Azapa, Chile IMAGE/Wikipedia
Seven thousand years ago, the Chinchorro people, along the Pacific coast of South America, began to mummify their dead. Their bodies remain hidden in the desert. This is episode 41 of Stories of Resistance.
Here on these barren desert hillsides along the Pacific coast of South America, no trees grow.
No shrubs. No cacti. No green.
The dry brown earth and the desert sand stretches as far as you can
see, rolling into the Ocean. But this barren landscape preserves life,
as it has for thousands of years.
Nine thousand years ago, communities of peoples lived on the
hillsides here. They were semi-nomadic. Fisherfolk. They survived off of
the ocean from the abundant seafood and fish.
Their water came from the nearby Camarones River, which poured down
from the Andes Mountains, like a vein from the gods, transforming its
meandering path into a fertile river valley.
This was one of the homes of the Chinchorro people. But here,
alongside the refreshing cool waters of the Pacific Ocean and under the
neverending blue sky, the Chinchorro suffered.
Miscarriages were common. Birth defects. They watched their babies die before they even took their first breaths.
The elders, the women and men, feared for future generations.
And it was this, the experts say, that led the Chinchorro mothers to
mummify their first deceased babies roughly 7,000 years ago. To try to
hold on to them.
“It’s like you’re still here. You’re still with me. And I want you to
stay. Even though you can’t speak, you’re still with us,” says
archeologist Jannina Campos.
They removed the organs and covered the skeletons with wood, mud,
earth, and clay. Then they gave their mummies a mask. Tiny eyes, nose,
and a mouth. A mask that still seems to speak thousands of years later. A
mask that seems to reach into their very souls and connect these people
into the present.
The Atacama Desert — the driest in the world — would preserve their bodies perfectly until today.
(From left to right) Reza Pahlavi, Yasmine Pahlavi, Sara Netanyahu, and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in April 2023 IMAGE/HispanTV
In a thousand places I come to an end I burn I become a fading star that disappears in your sky.”
Parnia Abbasi — Above verse were prophesied by the 23-year old poet who along with her parents and 16-year old brother were murdered in an Israeli missile attack which hit their home on 13 June 2025.
532 CE (the Colombian Era)
On June 13, 2025, Israel, a nuclear power <1>, attacked many military sites and nuclear institutes in Iran because, Israel alleges, Iran is making nuclear weapons. Iran retaliated, and war is still raging on. Israel has killed many nuclear scientists, military leaders, and civilians in Iran.
On June 16, G7 leaders meeting in Canada defended Israel’s right to attack stating “Israel has a right to defend itself” and “Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”
No one can question, “why can’t Iran have nuclear weapon when Israel has?”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz supported Israel’s unprovoked illegal war against Iran, and told public broadcaster ZDF:
“This is the dirty work that Israel is doing for all of us. I can only say that I have the utmost respect for the Israeli army and the Israeli leadership for having had the courage to do this.”
To ARD, another public broadcaster, Merz threatened Iran:
“It would be good if this [Iranian] regime came to an end.” “[If they refuse to talk, then] Israel will go all the way.”
Peter Schwarz describes G-7 leaders:
“[US’ Donald]Trump, [Germany’s Friedrich Merz, [Britain’s Keir] Starmer, [France’s Emmanuel] Macron, and other imperialist leaders behave like mafia bosses, threatening Ayatollah Khamenei and other Iranian leaders with murder, the use of bunker-busting weapons, and even nuclear bombs.”
It’s year 532 CE (the Colombian Era) and the conquest of the white men continues in the form of annexations, killings, deaths, destruction, genocides, starvation, displacements, that began in 1492 when Columbus, almost lost on the sea, was discovered and welcomed by the Native Americans. Columbus and other Europeans repaid their kindness by taking over their land, killing them in wholesale, and restricting the remaining in reservations. In 1992, when the US and some other countries were celebrating 500 years of Columbus’ arrival in the Americas, Noam Chomsky’s new book was released: Year 501: The Conquest Continues.
Pahlavis
In 1925, British supported Reza Shah Pahlavi become the Shah of Iran, but he was removed by them in 1941. British were controlling Iran but were gentlemanly, if one could use such a word for the brutal colonial power, in their abdication order:
“Would His Highness kindly abdicate in favor of his son, the heir to the throne? We have a high opinion of him and will ensure his position. But His Highness should not think there is any other solution.”
He was exiled to Mauritius and then to South Africa where he died in 1944. Immediately, after the Shah’s removal, the British installed his son, Crown Prince Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The new Shah was ousted by Iranians in 1951 and he subsequently went into exile in Rome, Italy. The United States CIA and British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) put Shah back into power in 1953, by removing the elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in the words of US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, “madman Mosaddegh.” “Madman?” Because he had nationalized the British owned Anglo-lranian Oil Company (AIOC) and stopped the British from looting Iran’s wealth. The Shah let the company do business with a new name, British Petroleum.
The US supported Shah’s merciless rule that lasted till he was overthrown in an Islamic revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979. The Shah banished himself to Egypt. Then he went to Morocco whose King Hassan II had received a $110 million interest free-loan from the Shah. He expected the favor to be returned, but the cunning Hassan II was eyeing a portion of the $2 billion Shah had plundered. Shah left for Bahamas, and after sometime he ended up in Mexico. He had cancer and wanted it treated in the US but President Jimmy Carter was reluctant to let him come due to Khomeini government’s opposition; but Carter eventually had to give in for political reasons. Shah went to the US but had to leave because Iranian students in the US were protesting his presence, in addition to the Iranian government objection. Under heavy US pressure, Panama’s General Omar Torrijos had to take Shah in. Then he again went to Morocco, and ended up in Egypt where, after a little more than 18 months after leaving Iran, he died in 1980.
The US lost Iran, but it never forgave them, except for Obama who tried to improve relations. But his successor Donald Trump zealously reignited the enmity.
Reza Pahlavi, who has been living in exile in the US since his father Shah of Iran and other family members had to leave Iran in the wake of the 1979 revolution, addressed Iranians recently in a three minute video.
He told Iranians that the Islamic Republic of Iran is going to tumble, a bright future is awaiting them, and that they’ll be together in a democratic Iran. He wanted all Iranians to revolt against the regime and informed them he has a plan for the first 100 days. He then predicted “Iran will not descend into civil war or instability” under him.
This guy wants to conveniently forget the lessons of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, etc. who were all victims of US imperialism, and when the US changed their regimes, ended up being unstable nations ravaged by civil wars.
If Reza Pahlavi really wants to serve his people than he should learn from the Iraqi experience where most Iraqi oil is being stolen by Western companies. Same is going to happen to Iran if the government falls there. He’ll be a “King” in name only — Israel and the US will be running the show while creating more trouble in Iran’s neighborhood, and forcing it to spend more on defense at the expense of majority of the people’s needs. After some time, who knows, Reza Pahlavi will be looking for a place to exile.
Reza Pahlavi should also remember that it was Netanyahu who was against Obama’s plan to resolve Iran’s nuclear program in a peaceful manner <2>. In 2012, Netanyahu had uttered the following threat:
“So the American clock regarding preventing secularization of Iran is not the Israeli one. The Israeli clock works, obviously, according to a different schedule.”
On June 15, a couple of days after Israel’s bombing of Iran began, more than 50 garlanded donkeys robed in satin and silk were paraded in Gaza while the children caressed them. The planners explained:
The Gazans should dedicate one more robed and garlanded donkey to Reza Pahlavi, too.
Pakistan Defense Minister
In a June 17 tweet, Khawaja Asif, Pakistan’s Defense Minister, minced no words to slam Pahlavi.
If Iranian people are energized and motivated according to you, show some balls and go back and lead them and remove the regime. Put your money where your arse is, bloody parasitical imperial whore.
Some people reminded Asif of how Shah of Iran had helped Pakistan and also criticized his language. Asif shot back with another tweet:
It is sad that there are people who are worried about linguistic niceties when a genocide is taking place under the watch of “civilized world”, 1000s of children are being butchered non stop.
This is not a sit down dinner where one should mind the language and manners. Pahlavi stands with Netanyahu a genocidal maniac, all he deserves is contempt and nothing else.
One cannot disagree with Asif’s advise. He should have added a couple of words when he branded Reza Pahlavi as “imperial whore.” It should be: “US imperialism’s imperial whore.”
But, now what?
Asif is the Defense Minister but all the decisions are taken by army chief Asim Munir who was in Washington DC on the invitation of Trump when Asif was tweeting the above tweets. Like Asif, Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence feels the same helplessness. She told the US Congress in March 2025:
“The IC [US Intelligence Community] continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamanei [sic, Ali Khamenei] has not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003.”
Well, the above statement didn’t align with what Trump wanted or was made to want by Israel lobbyists. On 17 June, in answering a reporter, Trump said: “I don’t care what she said.” Three days later, he called Gabbard a liar by stating, “she’s wrong.”
On June 10, Gabbard <3> made a social media video of her visit to Japanese city of Hiroshima, the place where the world’s first atom bomb made by the US, was dropped on August 6, 1945. She also talks about dangerous consequences of nuclear holocaust and that it should be avoided. She should show some more courage and speak out for Palestinians, too.
If Asif is really serious about doing something concrete and constructive, he could do something similar to Gabbard: either he or his department could make a video to draw world’s attention to the looming disaster. about how Iran’s fall could affect the entire Middle East and several other countries, could damage the environment, could displace millions of people, could create resisters or in the western imperialist lingo “terrorists,” thousands of or more orphans and widows. He could produce a solid plan to stop this war and the genocide of Gazans rather than issuing statements.
He could request Egypt, UAE, Morocco, Qatar, Turkiye and other countries to stop doing business with Israel,
He could stir up China, Pakistan’s best friend, to wake up and do something. He could remind China that it started Belt and Road Initiative to avoid the US encirclement. In 1921, China and Iran signed, Iran–China 25-year Cooperation Program, for discounted Iranian oil. If the US and Israel occupy Iran, then that program will be moot and the US could accelerate its plan to strangle China economically.
Asif should look inward too. The Balochistan Province has many grievances which he could request his government and army chief to take care of before outsiders take advantage of the situation, especially if the US prevails over Iran, the next door country with almost 600 mile common border.
He should ask Munir as to the nature of his talk with Trump, during the two hours he spent in the White House.
(From left to right:) Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir, Chief on the Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt. Gen. Muhammad Asim Malik gesture during the inauguration of the National Intelligence Fusion and Threat Assessment Center Headquarters at the ISI Headquarters in Islamabad on May 6, 2025. IMAGE/Arab News
(I failed to find a single photo of Defense Minister Khawaja Asif and Army Chief General Asif Munir, just the two of them.)
US and Pakistan
On President Donald Trump’s invitation, Munir had lunch at the White House. Pakistan’s army chiefs who have also been presidents (Ayub Khan, Zia-ul-Haq, and Pervez Musharraf) have been invited in the past. But just an army chief being invited was unusual. He was accompanied by national Security Advisor Lieutenant General Asim Malik where as Trump was accompanied by his special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Many Pakistanis felt honored and many Indians felt jealous. But one thing’s for sure: this lunch one hopes won’t be the worst one of Munir’s life. If it is, then it will cause gut-shattering diarrhea. Trump doesn’t meet anyone without demanding something or expecting some reward. No photos of the lunch or meeting were released nor was any statement issued.
Then on June 20, Rubio called Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and talked about Iran and other issues. Pakistan formally recommended Trump’s name for 2026 Noble Peace Prize for helping end the war between India and Pakistan.
It would have been great if Munir had received a guarantee that he would not attack Iran before the Nobel Peace Prize announcement. If terrorists like Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and US National Security Advisor/Secretary of State Henry Kissinger can get it, then why can’t Trump?
Questions
As defense minister, Asif should try to find out, that is, If Munir answers …
If Trump asked Munir to allow the US to use Pakistan’s territory for fomenting trouble in Iran?
Is the US planning to station its troops in Pakistan?
Lunch is never free in the US, so what is the price Trump demanded in return?
Was Pakistan asked to join the war against Iran, that is, if the US officially joins the ongoing US supported Israeli war against Iran? <4>
…
Note
<1> Israel, after getting recognition as a country on a stolen land of Palestinians in 1948, didn’t wait long and started finding ways to develop nuclear program. By 1967, it had the expertise and the material for making bombs; today, it has 90 plutonium-based nuclear warheads and has enough material to make 100–200 weapons. Israel has never wanted that any power in the region could challenge its thuggery or who would extend support to the Palestinians. The GCCP and other countries want good relations with Israel and have no concern for the Palestinians.
<2> The tragedy of US presidents is that they cannot question Israel, a nuclear power, as to who gave them the right to dictate the US as to how it should conduct its policy. Well, the fear of Israel Lobby which has spread like cancer in major institutes and government. The New York Times was also advising Obama about Iran’s nuclear program.
<3> Gabbard was accused by Hillary Clinton as “Russian asset.” Hillary also smeared Green Party’s Jill Stein with the same label. No proof was ever produced. In 2022, the New York Times repeated the same nonsense. Neither of them are Russian assets. However, one cannot deny Gabbard’s charges about Hillary:Gabbard called her “the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long …” Hillary, like so many others in every corridor of power in the US, an be called a foreign asset. Yes, Israeli asset. Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi, Donald Trump, and so many others are Israeli assets too.
<4> When in the early 1980s the US wanted Pakistan’s help in giving the Soviet Union its “Vietnam,” Pakistan’s military dictator was offered $400 million for joining the US war against the Soviet Union’s occupation of Afghanistan. Zia rejected the offer as “peanuts,” so the price was increased. During the US war against Afghanistan in 2001, Pakistan was threatened to join the war or else it will be bombed to stone age. Pakistan joined them, and as a result suffered a lot.
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com
