The New York Times – Getting Pakistan Wrong

December 14, 2009

The Huffington Post
December 11, 2009

By Wajiha Ahmed, Freedom Forward Boardmember

In her December 5, 2009 New York Times article, reporter Sabrina Tavernise looks to history to explain why many Pakistanis are so critical of America. Unfortunately, Tavernise looks to the wrong history, focusing on Pakistan’s trauma after the partition with India. Instead, she should have focused on US support for successive Pakistani military dictatorships. Read the rest of this entry »


“Pretend Secrecy” Shields the White House from a Drone Missile Debate

November 5, 2009

The Huffington Post
November 5, 2009

By Sanjeev Bery, Freedom Forward Boardmember

It is time to set aside the notion that U.S. drone missile attacks in Pakistan are some kind of secret. The pretense of secrecy has saved Obama Administration officials from having to publicly defend the military tactic. Read the rest of this entry »


Urge Secretary Clinton to answer questions on drone missile attacks

October 30, 2009

Pakistan Map

The Associated Press reported that while in Pakistan this week, Secretary Clinton avoided answering questions from students regarding U.S. drone missile attacks.

Click here to take action.

U.S. drone missile attacks are not a government secret. They have killed hundreds of Pakistani civilians and caused significant Pakistani anger at the U.S.  It is fair and reasonable to question this tactic.

Urge Secretary Clinton to answer public questions about U.S. drone missile attacks.

Click here to take action.


Take Action: End U.S. drone missile attacks in Pakistan!

October 16, 2009

Freedom_Forward_Logo_stackedAccording to U.S. military adviser David Kilcullen, 98% of the victims of U.S. drone missile attacks in Pakistan have been innocent civilians.  Now Vice President Biden wants to expand these attacks.

Click here to say no.

Drone missile attacks kill innocent Pakistani civilians, undermine U.S. political objectives, and fail to weaken Taliban or Al Qaeda forces.  At a time when Vice President Biden is arguing for more drone missile strikes, our policymakers need to hear from us.

Click here to email key policymakers in the Obama Administration and State Department.

Your message will arrive in the specific inboxes of the officials responsible for U.S. foreign policy — not some generic email folder.

Tell them to end these attacks.

Read the rest of this entry »


Join Freedom Forward on Twitter!

October 14, 2009

Freedom_Forward_Logo_stackedJoin us on Twitter for updates on our campaigns:

http://twitter.com/freedomforward


From Pakistan to the U.S. — New Voices Join the Call

October 1, 2009
Map of Pakistan

An Islamabad student, a journalist in Bonn, a U.S. Navy veteran outside Seattle — these are some of the people adding their names to The Call for a New U.S. Policy Towards Pakistan.

The list of signers has grown to include corporate managers, professors, lawyers and others across multiple continents.

Consider joining The Call.

Now is the time to support the rule of law and democracy in Pakistan.

Read the statement / Sign the statement


Join the Call: A New U.S. Policy Towards Pakistan

September 24, 2009
Map of Pakistan

For too long, U.S. foreign policy has supported individual Pakistani leaders and dictators at the expense of Pakistani civil society and democracy.  This needs to change, and you can help.

A core group of independent  scholars, activists, and human rights advocates has authored The Call for a New U.S. Policy Towards Pakistan.  Freedom Forward is proud to be one of the participants in this effort.

Read the statement / Sign the statement


The Call for a New U.S. Policy Towards Pakistan

September 23, 2009

Dear President Obama and Members of Congress,

We urge you to end America’s “one-leader” approach to Pakistan, an approach that has long prioritized supporting individual Pakistani political leaders or dictators at the expense of Pakistani civil society and democracy.

For too long, Pakistani citizens have struggled under corrupt and undemocratic leaders who undermined the rule of law.  Of these leaders, the most damaging have been the military dictators who ruled Pakistan for more than half its existence. Each of these dictators undermined Pakistani democracy while receiving U.S. aid for supporting U.S. foreign policy.

Read the rest of this entry »


Pro-reform groups to protest Mubarak in Washington DC

August 15, 2009

Peaceful Demonstration in Front of the White House
Supporting Democracy & Human Rights in Egypt

Organized by: The Alliance of Egyptian Americans, Voices for a Democratic Egypt, Houkouk  Alnas, International Quranic Center, Coptic Assembly of America,  and Ibn Khaldun Center For Development Studies

Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009
11 am to 4 pm
Between Madison Avenue and 15th Street
Read the rest of this entry »


WP: “Carter Decries Gaza Curbs, Asks Israel to Halt ‘Abuse’”

June 17, 2009

By Howard Schneider
Washington Post Foreign News
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

JERUSALEM, June 16 — Former president Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were being treated “more like animals than human beings” by Israeli rules that have limited travel, banned the import of all but basic goods and prevented reconstruction since a three-week war ended earlier this year.

“Never before in history has a large community been savaged by bombs and missiles and then deprived of the means to repair itself,” he said.

Full article @ The Washington Post