Just days after the US government committed to providing the Pakistani military more than $2 billion in aid, the top general in the northwest said an operation in North Waziristan won’t happen anytime soon. From Dawn:
Pakistan will consider mounting an anti-Taliban offensive in North Waziristan only when other tribal areas are stabilised, a senior military officer said on Tuesday, a position likely to anger ally Washington.
Pakistan has resisted mounting US pressure to launch a major operation in North Waziristan to eliminate the Haqqani Taliban faction.
Pakistan’s army has repeatedly said it is too stretched fighting Taliban insurgents in other forbidding mountaineous regions, and that only it can determine if and when to strike.
Lt.-Gen Asif Yasin Malik, the main military commander for the northwest, said it would take at least six months to clear militants from Bajaur and Mohmand, two of Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal agencies.
“What we have to do is stabilise the whole area. I have a very large area in my command,” he told reporters on a trip to Orakzai agency. “The issue is I need more resources.”
There are already six brigades in North Waziristan which carry out daily operations, he said.
Surprising, isn’t it?
And as we noted, the Pakistani military is not carrying out operations in North Waziristan.
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7 Comments
They know what we want. We want Bin Laden and Zawahiri. Its very simple. Give us those 2 and then we will talk about Omar and Haqqanis, etc.
It seems that the time has come to up the tempo of drone attacks considerably. And use of Tomahawk missiles. And not just in North Wazoo. If a HVT is known to be in a location in Karachi or anywhere else . . . .
Just like the first night of the Gulf War (I), a cruise missile hit the primary “presidential palace.” As reported on CNN, it wasn’t to interrupt a dinner party.
They don’t have enough troops to tackle the Taliban (Sunnis) in North Waziristan, but they do have enough troops to form a blockade against the Shia in Kurram.
Pakistan discriminates against the Shias, yet Pakistanis say that they are discriminated against when in the Western World. That is an inconsistent way to participate in the world.
If they do not have enough resources at least leave de NATO to attack their bases.
Drones are no different than helicopters. And a assault can be much more effective than just bombing.
Anyway, Pakistan is suffering from the bombs of TTP and their are periodically kiiling soldiers.
Speculating wildly here, I am increasingly convinced that our government believes that it has a deal with the Pakistanis for their military to hand over Bin Laden and Al Zawahiri and/or Mullah Omar in exchange for $2B in military hardware. The haste in which this “aid” has been pushed through could even indicate a misplaced attempt at an October surprise. However, my sense is that it only underscores how deeply our policy makers underestimate Pakistan’s ability to be duplicitous, and this is just our money being provided to undermine our troops in Afghanistan. I sincerely hope that I am wrong about this, and that Pakistan will prove to be a valuable ally in the GWOT, but I doubt that this two-faced snake would ever change its stripes.
The grift was proffered because of the upcoming Mumbai project which has dominated the entertainment news.
We had to pay a tariff to Islamabad in order to attend, that is all.
Never, ever, forget that Islamabad regards the current campaign against America as integral to their Long War against New Delhi. From where ISI sits this is one unified campaign.
By using American money and the Indian as boogie man ISI can twist politics on the street to suit.
As it now stands the average Paki really believes that Crusaders, Hindus and Jews are blowing up mosques all over Pakistan. I know that’s incredible, but it’s true.
The average Pakistani is in the thrall of ISI agitprop. They believe that after enough effort, somehow India is going to hand over Kashmir. As IF!
ISI cannot suffer a peace. It lives for intrigue and conflict.
The GRU and KGB are cases in point: they lost A LOT of ’employees’ when Communism fell. Peace was NOT their profession.
Now that memoirs are published we discover every manner of cock-eyed schemes were initiated by Central. ( i.e. the First Directorate )
ISI is staffed with Pakistan’s best an brightest schemers. They all want to make a name for themselves — and freelance on the side.
(The opportunity to work side-bets has to be a fantastic recruiting tool. Obviously, all ISI operatives and staff are completely above the law, witness the Mumbai atrocity.)
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The ISAF needs to lay in enough supply to sustain adverse logistics which can pop-up at any time.
We must come to grips with the reality that ISI runs the show and that everyone else is a figurehead.
We must also understand that under no circumstance can ISI permit its No. 1 asset ( AQ ) to be destroyed. After all, it is the ultimate cash goat and ISI gets all of its clout and cash as a result of it.
Rather like the German High Seas Fleet circa 1916 — a fleet in being which ties down/ neutralizes the Royal Navy battle line — AQ is a threat in being which ties down/ neutralizes the American expeditionary force forever.
In this endeavour Islamabad is buttressed by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and most of the islamic states — particularly KSA.
None want a uni-polar world. None want any further expansion of the great danger: Democracy, and liberal democracy at that.
@blert; sharp and incisive commentary as ever! Since the ISI milks this cow for what it is worth to them, and it suits China as well to tie down/neutralize the US, what does history tell us of a way out of this trap? Break up the Ottoman (Pakistan) empire?