There is absolutely no questioning the fact that Waziristan is a region rife with support networks and training grounds for guerrillas that ultimately operate against foreign forces along the Afghan frontier. It is also certainly not a stretch to say that elements within the Pakistani military infrastructure don’t merely ‘tolerate’ them but aid them. The ISI, for example, has a significant history of aiding the Taliban. That said; the BBC has learned that President Bush has, within the last two months, personally authorized US military incursions ...More »

It started on Thursday and now it’s blown open… » Pakistan denies ISI behind Indian embassy attack. » U.S. Presses Pakistan on Control of Its Spy Agency. » Pakistan vows to 'weed out' pro-Taliban agents. » Why Pakistan is unlikely to crack down on Islamic militants. » India says ties with Pakistan lowest in 4 years. From today’s New York Times (linked above)… “The Bush administration is increasing pressure on Pakistan’s fledgling civilian government to bring the country’s spy service under civilian control, according to American and Pakistani officials. During meetings in Washington ...More »

There are those that you antagonize because you know that there won’t be serious repercussions and those that you do not. Heated rhetoric aimed at Iran is one thing, but outing the Pakistani ISI is another matter altogether. Like it or not, agree with it or not, the reality is that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence is an extremely powerful entity, one that routinely transcends the authority of Pakistan’s government. The ISI has been referred to as Pakistan’s Ghost Government on more than one occasion, and even ...More »

As a follow up to an entry posted a few days ago, an article of note from the New York Times entitled - C.I.A. Outlines Pakistan Links With Militants… “The C.I.A. emissary presented evidence showing that members of the spy service had deepened their ties with some militant groups that were responsible for a surge of violence in Afghanistan, possibly including the suicide bombing this month of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, the officials said. The decision to confront Pakistan with what the officials described as a ...More »

The Toronto Star’s Rosie Dimanno quoted something yesterday from Steve Coll’s Ghost Wars that I had forgotten about. Benazir Bhutto’s role in the rise of the Taliban… “As Ghost Wars author Steve Coll so dryly put it: "Benazir Bhutto was suddenly the matron of a new Afghan faction." The late – twice – but no longer future prime minister of Pakistan was far, far from a stupid woman. The Taliban was a gamble she took, cunningly if not without considerable trepidation – and certainly at the behest ...More »

Some not so shocking news from the London Times this morning… “On the day she was assassinated, Benazir Bhutto was due to meet two senior American politicians to show them a confidential report alleging that Pakistan’s intelligence service was using US money to rig parliamentary elections, officials in her party said yesterday. The report was compiled by the former Prime Minister’s own contacts within the security services and alleged that the Inter-Services Intelligence agency was running the election operation from a safe house in the capital, Islamabad, ...More »

Interventionism can be a nasty business. In the case of Benazir Bhutto, whose return to Pakistani politics was dramatic, polarizing, and suspiciously timed, it ultimately took her life. True, Bhutto played the role of democratic savior and stood to make a significant impact in the upcoming elections, but despite the tragedy of her death, the root of why she returned to Pakistan should not be overlooked. Benazir Bhutto was an instrument of US interventionism that was playing just a risky a game as President ...More »

More to come on this topic tomorrow when I get some time to properly sit down and address it. One of the aspects in particular that has to be touched on is the US's role in foisting Ms. Bhutto on the nation as a democratic 'savior' in what can now only be classified as a significant foreign policy mistake. But more on that tomorrow. With regards to perceived culpability in Bhutto's assassination... According to the Pakistani ISI, a telephone call was intercepted from Baitullah Mehsud, a tribal ...More »

Politics is politics. Right and wrong only serve political ends when they suit political purposes, a reality that has spanned millennia. Today the Prime Minister called for Pakistan’s expulsion from the Commonwealth (updated: Pakistan has now been barred from the Commonwealth), something I’ll not argue given the undemocratic state of affairs in Pakistan. But one has to wonder why this wasn’t an issue during the years prior to this latest crisis? Is it because there is now a significant pro-democratic groundswell in Pakistan that justifies ...More »

To be frank, US threats that it will cut aid to Pakistan over recent occurrences there are nothing but lip service. The fact of the matter is that for the last six years they’ve done business with the very same military regime that they’re now appearing to condemn. When it comes to democratic reform, the yammering of the Secretary of State is about as far as it’s actually going to go unless the United States is faced with a government that is either considered hostile ...More »