The United States isn’t officially at war with Pakistan. But that hasn’t stopped the U.S. government from bombing whoever they want whenever they see fit. Nor has it stopped  the U.S. media from dutifully following up with celebratory applause as was the case this morning when news broke that a U.S. drone strike may have killed the Pakistani Taliban’s number two guy, Waliur Rehman, a claim the Pakistani Taliban explicitly denies.

Never mind that the strike destroyed a house and killed six other people in the process because according to the Associated Press, “the death of Waliur Rehman would be a strong blow to the militant group responsible for hundreds of bombings and shootings across Pakistan.” I’m no expert on Pakistan but it seems to me that killing a handful of alleged militants and their commander might serve as a provocation for more violence rather than a “strong blow”.  Read More

A Pressure Cooker

Hussain Al-Khawahir, a 33-year-old Saudi Arabian man and father of three, was arrested at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on May 11 after Border and Customs Patrol found a pressure cooker in his luggage. Al-Khawahir will remain jailed until his preliminary hearing on May 28.

Pressure cookers have been under increased scrutiny since they were used  to make homemade explosives that killed three and injured over 250 people at last month’s Boston Marathon. But that doesn’t excuse throwing brown foreigners in prison on the flimsiest of charges, something the U.S. government tends to do to varying degrees in the aftermath of a terrorist attack (ever heard of Guantanamo?). Read More