Obama has got it wrong on Iran

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Although President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would not explicitly say it, there was little doubt the Iranians preferred a 'President' Barack Obama to his Republican rival, when he spoke to a select few of us at a breakfast briefing in a New York hotel, arranged on the sidelines of last September's UN General Debate. This predilection for Mr. Obama was confirmed by the congratulatory note written by the Iranian President to his newly-elected counterpart just days after his victory. As is now known, President Obama felt compelled to respond: first, during his recently televised interview with al-Arabiya, where he adumbrated a different, friendlier approach in his Iran policy, followed by reports in a British newspaper, the Guardian, that an apposite reply is being framed by the U.S. State department, addressed to the Iranian public and to be sent to the Supreme Leader, "or released as an open letter." While....

How to deal with Pakistan

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Forget Iraq or Iran. It is relatively clear that Pakistan and its peripheral tribal areas today pose the greatest immediate threat to America and its war on terrorism. (In fact, just days after the audacious attack on Mumbai, the Taliban destroyed 250 NATO supply trucks in Peshawar, bound for Afghanistan, in consecutive attacks). No wonder President-elect Barack Obama, somewhat naively, gave India the imprimatur to take out 'high-value' targets in Pakistan and protect itself, like any sovereign nation, in response to the terror emanating from across the borders. Fortunately, a composite of better judgment on New Delhi's part buttressed by quick diplomacy from Washington and London prevailed, averting what would have been certain disaster had India proceeded to use the military option in wake of the Mumbai siege. Not only would a precipitous attack on terror camps in Pakistan and PoK have invoked war between two nuclear powers during....

An election memo from New York

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1)With a little over 48 hours left before the first polls close, many Americans are still wondering if Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama will indeed earn the title: President-elect. Although every national opinion poll gives Obama a comfortable victory over his Republican rival - including a 6.4% average of all polls taken by Real Clear Politics, a hugely-popular political website - many Democratic supporters are still hesitant about cooling the champagne just yet. And rightly so. As Karl Rove, President George Bush's senior adviser and strategist, reminded readers in his weekly Wall Street Journal op-ed column this week, that the pollsters, and the pundits who were watching these polls, had got it all wrong in 2000 and, again, in 2004. 2)In fact, if polls are any indication, Michelle Obama should be measuring the drapes of the White House by now. Forget national polls, even numbers out of most Battleground....

Hillary Clinton: The great wall or stonewall?

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There are only a handful in America today, who still believe that Hillary Clinton has a chance at the Presidency. It would be safe to assume that most of these optimists belong to the Clinton family. However, with every passing hour, especially after her slender victory in Indiana and her 14-point defeat in North Carolina on Tuesday, cries for her to throw in the towel and relinquish the campaign will increase. She is, of course, now being well-aided by disgruntled supporters, and some of the so-far reticent Washington pundits, and the media, to make this obvious, but difficult, decision. A former senator and supporter of Clinton, George McGovern, urged her to drop out on Wednesday, as did former strategist George Stephanopoulos. The gatekeepers of the American media - Matt Drudge and Tim Russert - didn't waste much time in appointing Barack Obama as the official Democratic nominee to....

The elephants in the American living room

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It was heartening to see presidential hopeful Barack Obama suggest a dialogue with Iran, if Iraq must be stabilised. These comments followed media speculation of a meeting between former President Jimmy Carter and Hamas leader, Khaled Mishaal, in Syria. Ignored so far, and due to sufficient reasons, by the Bush administration, exigencies in the Middle East today dictate the construction of a new foreign policy prescription and engage with both hostile regimes, Iran and Hamas, if it is to deliver a modicum of stability in the region. It's a truism by now that the Islamic state is responsible for much of chaos that has befallen Iraq since Saddam Hussein's capitulation. Although Iran assisted America in Afghanistan in 2002 and, then, subsequently proved helpful during Operation Iraqi Freedom in early 2003, the tenuous partnership was ephemeral, as the radicals in the government - on both sides, in Tehran, the hardliners....

Obama v/s McCain: The race to the White House?

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I almost saw Barack Obama on a crisp September evening, last year, at a rally in New York's Washington Square Park. I use the word 'almost' because some friends from Europe, and I, were keen to see a man who will, no matter the outcome in November 2008, become a part of America's political history, and, therefore, arrived a timely hour before its start. Unfortunately, we found ourselves relegated to outside the ground, sufficiently cheated, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with hundreds others. Inside were vociferous supporters, young, largely white men and women, with gumption and strong legs, who had assembled since early afternoon. Many were first-time voters, motivated enough to brave the heat and the large crowds, who were stuck to them physically and, now, in ideology. Thrilled at his reach, we however privately knew this wasn't a microcosm of America. Surely, much as we wished progressive states like New York....

Time To Move On

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The point has been well made. No doubt, it was important to have him absolved of all terrorism charges and, now, finally win the battle to reinstate his Australian work visa, but Dr Mohommad Haneef must be careful not to overreach. In many ways, a victory for the young doctor was also one for the country: when all charges against him were dropped in July, by a judge, in a packed Brisbane court, Indians living across Australia, including, admittedly, myself, popped champagne. The last few weeks had been stressful for all of us. After all, we are all ambassadors in our own small manner: whether you’re an immigrant who drives a taxi in Adelaide, or a worker from Chennai doing the late shift at a 7/11, or a journalist like myself, reporting from Sydney and Brisbane, we try hard to not only conduct ourselves impeccably on a day-to-day basis, so....