CIA To Pakistan: Clean Up Your House
The Pakistanis have had a longtime thorn in their side with their own security agency. The ISI has been protecting and assisting the Taliban and al-Qaeda elements in the Waziristan region of Pakistan. We know this. Our soldiers have seen them assist the animals in cross-border raids. We have just about had enough of this, and CIA has basically put Pakistan on notice -- Clean up your house, or else:
The CIA has confronted senior Pakistani officials with evidence showing that members of the country's spy service have deepened their ties with some militant groups responsible for a surge of violence in Afghanistan, possibly including the suicide bombing this month of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, The New York Times reported.
A top CIA official traveled to Islamabad this month with new information about ties between Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency and militants operating in Pakistan's tribal areas, the newspaper said on its Web site late Tuesday. Its sources were American military and intelligence officials it did not identify.
The Times said the CIA assessment pointed to links between the ISI and the militant network led by Jalaluddin Haqqani, which American officials believe maintains close ties to senior figures of al-Qaida in Pakistan's tribal areas.
The CIA has depended heavily on the ISI for information about militants in Pakistan despite long-standing concerns about divided loyalties within the Pakistani spy service, which had close relations with the Taliban in Afghanistan before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The visit to Pakistan by the CIA official, Stephen R. Kappes, the agency's deputy director, was described by several American military and intelligence officials in interviews in recent days, the Times said. Some of those who were interviewed made clear that they welcomed the decision by the CIA to take a harder line toward the ISI's dealings with militant groups.
Pakistani forces have launched a new incursion into the Swat territory but we have seen this before. It is akin to lip service, and it usually falls apart thanks to the ISI, and rogue elements in Pakistan's military. They kill a few Taliban/al-Qaeda terrorists, and then they pull back.
This cannot continue to go on. The frustration that the Bush administration has with Pakistan is well-known and well-founded. We have seen them dawdle with the terrorists since they gave them refuge after our invasion in October 2001. When President Musharraf gave them "sanctuary" in Waziristan back in 2006, and in the peace agreement in March of 2008, it only emboldened the Taliban to not only ramp up efforts against US and NATO forces, but also against Pakistani forces. This thorn is not just one in our backside, but in President Musharraf's, as well.
Pakistani officials claim the rogue elements are not as widespread as the CIA claims, and that they have this under control. They had better hope so because the last thing they can afford to lose is our support because they will not deal with their problems. Additionally, the CIA has operatives in the Waziristan region that could easily be instructed to hunt down and kill the Taliban leaders. This, of course, would be a last resort, but it would not be outside the realm of possibilities we could initiate.
Marcie
The CIA has confronted senior Pakistani officials with evidence showing that members of the country's spy service have deepened their ties with some militant groups responsible for a surge of violence in Afghanistan, possibly including the suicide bombing this month of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, The New York Times reported.
A top CIA official traveled to Islamabad this month with new information about ties between Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency and militants operating in Pakistan's tribal areas, the newspaper said on its Web site late Tuesday. Its sources were American military and intelligence officials it did not identify.
The Times said the CIA assessment pointed to links between the ISI and the militant network led by Jalaluddin Haqqani, which American officials believe maintains close ties to senior figures of al-Qaida in Pakistan's tribal areas.
The CIA has depended heavily on the ISI for information about militants in Pakistan despite long-standing concerns about divided loyalties within the Pakistani spy service, which had close relations with the Taliban in Afghanistan before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The visit to Pakistan by the CIA official, Stephen R. Kappes, the agency's deputy director, was described by several American military and intelligence officials in interviews in recent days, the Times said. Some of those who were interviewed made clear that they welcomed the decision by the CIA to take a harder line toward the ISI's dealings with militant groups.
Pakistani forces have launched a new incursion into the Swat territory but we have seen this before. It is akin to lip service, and it usually falls apart thanks to the ISI, and rogue elements in Pakistan's military. They kill a few Taliban/al-Qaeda terrorists, and then they pull back.
This cannot continue to go on. The frustration that the Bush administration has with Pakistan is well-known and well-founded. We have seen them dawdle with the terrorists since they gave them refuge after our invasion in October 2001. When President Musharraf gave them "sanctuary" in Waziristan back in 2006, and in the peace agreement in March of 2008, it only emboldened the Taliban to not only ramp up efforts against US and NATO forces, but also against Pakistani forces. This thorn is not just one in our backside, but in President Musharraf's, as well.
Pakistani officials claim the rogue elements are not as widespread as the CIA claims, and that they have this under control. They had better hope so because the last thing they can afford to lose is our support because they will not deal with their problems. Additionally, the CIA has operatives in the Waziristan region that could easily be instructed to hunt down and kill the Taliban leaders. This, of course, would be a last resort, but it would not be outside the realm of possibilities we could initiate.
Marcie
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 9:37 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home