MQM in the US, Ikram Sehgal,Syed Saleem Shazad, Glen Beck, McChrystal Blackmailing Obama?<

The sudden emergence of a top MQM delegation in Washington for talks with the policy makers, officials and think tanks of Washington has also raised many questions as the official Pakistani diplomatic channels were totally cut off and I gather that this was done at the insistence of the US side more than the MQM leadership.Not even a courtesy meeting between Governor Ishratul Ebad and Ambassador Husain Haqqani was held until four days after the arrival of the MQM delegation and meetings with top strategists, including Bruce Riedel, John Negroponte, Richard Boucher, and current State Department officials, including Richard Holbrooke.A similar exercise has now been planned with the ANP chief while he will be here in the presidential entourage.What happened in these meetings is known only to the MQM leaders and the US side but the tone and tenor of MQM in the coming weeks and days will give the first hints of whether the course of the PPP-MQM alliance is changing in stormy waters in the middle of the sea. How the ANP reacts is also to be seen but already Asfandyar Wali is said to be very happy with the praise for his party’s governance in the NWFP by US officials as well as the promises to give them direct financial aid. With the MQM and the ANP almost on board, I will be eagerly waiting for the first signs of the new US strategy unfolding in the days and weeks to come. Shahid Masood

The present system is an inheritance of two centuries ago, it is not only illogical and incorrect, why subscribe to something that militates against human nature? Unless we abandon the practices of the 19th century, choosing pragmatism over tradition, how does one hope to create the military mindset necessary for the coming battles of the 21st century? Ikram Sehgal

The US on a new mission in Pakistan - General Stanley McChrystal, the top United States commander in the Afghan war, has given a blunt warning of possible mission failure. Now the Barack Obama administration has adopted a two-prong approach towards Pakistan, which it sees as inseparable from Afghanistan, to prevent any such failure there. Aid will continue to flow into Pakistan, and expect some unusual guests in Washington. - Syed Saleem Shahzad

[VIDEO] Glenn Beck Compares Liberalism to His Own Alcoholism By Array - In a devastating interview by CBS News anchor Katie Couric, Glenn Beck says only his alcoholism allowed him to be a liberal. Then he sobered up.

The general and his Afghan labyrinth - The leaked assessment of the war in Afghanistan by top United States commander General Stanley McChrystal, obviously an effort to force President Barack Obama to agree to a significant increase in US troops, presents a highly discouraging picture. Even more pessimistic are McChrystal's views on the Integrated Civilian-Military Campaign Plan, which he agreed to just weeks ago. - Gareth Porter (Sep 23, '09)

5 Things the Corporate Media Don't Want You to Know About Cannabis By Paul Armentano - Recent scientific reports suggest that pot doesn't destroy your brain, that it doesn't cause lung damage like tobacco -- but you won't hear it in the corporate media.