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Pakistanis: OBL assisted by “rogue elements” in ISI
Hotair ^ | 05/09/2011 | Ed Morrissey

Posted on 05/09/2011 2:48:58 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

Well, what else did we expect the Pakistanis to say? We’re so incompetent that we can’t even detect an invasion? Oh, wait

A senior official in Pakistan’s civilian government told ABC News, “Elements of Pakistan intelligence — probably rogue or retired — were involved in aiding, abetting and sheltering the leader of al Qaeda,” the strongest public statement yet from the Pakistani government after the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound.

This is based on the government’s judgment that the number of years bin Laden spent in Abbottabad — and it now appears in a village outside the city of Haripur — would have been impossible without help, possibly from someone in the middle tier of ISI, Pakistan’s intelligence agency, who grew up fighting alongside the mujahidin against the Soviets, said the official.

According to the official, the military and ISI have been weeding some of them out but many remain.

Probably rogue elements and retirees? There’s a confidence builder, eh?

The worst part of this statement is that it’s probably true. I was making the same point to some Americans while traveling in Rome last week. The ISI has long had a relationship with the Taliban — in fact, they more or less sponsored the Taliban for years, only ending the relationship after 9/11, or more accurately, officially ending the relationship. The ISI still saw the Taliban and their al-Qaeda allies as a useful force for aggressive Pakistani policy in Afghanistan and in the disputed Kashmir region, and even with the official kibosh on terror links, some elements in the ISI were not about to eschew that kind of power. The civilian government tried purging those elements over the last few years, with not too much obvious success.

The problem for the civilian government is that they exert only a moderate amount of influence over the ISI, but this may change things. The humiliation of having the US execute a military operation completely undetected just yards away from their version of West Point, as well as the realization that the world’s most hunted terrorist has been hanging out in the suburbs of their capital for years, may give the civilian government an opening to better control of both the ISI and the military. The civilian government has until now operated more or less at the pleasure of the military and ISI, either of which could have conducted a coup at any time and seized power as has happened in the past.

After this, their prestige is near zero. That may turn out to be the best thing that has happened to Pakistan in a long time. (via QandO)


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: isi; osamabinladen; pakistan; pakistanis; pakitrash

1 posted on 05/09/2011 2:49:01 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: All

Click The Pic

2 posted on 05/09/2011 2:53:46 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo (FreeRepublic.com. Now, More Than Ever.)
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To: SeekAndFind
Reality check:

100% of the country is pro Osama.

100% of the country is anti-american.

Nevertheless, Pakistan is a necessary "working" enemy.

3 posted on 05/09/2011 2:58:11 PM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: SeekAndFind
OBL assisted by “rogue elements” in ISI

I think I found a picture of their meeting place:


4 posted on 05/09/2011 3:01:56 PM PDT by Michael.SF. (When you hear hooves, think horses, not zebras.)
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To: SeekAndFind
Just what other areas due these rouge elements have access to or influence over? Nukes perhaps?
5 posted on 05/09/2011 3:09:48 PM PDT by JPG (Zawahiri, you're next.)
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To: SeekAndFind
The entire ISI is one big rogue element. If we want their cooperation and secrecy, it's simple pay them on the side, one at a time.

The fact is that most of our targeting intel for our UAV's comes from ISI operators.

6 posted on 05/09/2011 5:22:39 PM PDT by gandalftb (Fighting jihadists is like fighting an earthquake, harden yourselves.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Dear Pakistan:

01100010 01110101 01101100 01101100 01110011 01101000 01101001 01110100

Fun Binary Converter < http://www.paulschou.com/tools/xlate/ >


7 posted on 05/09/2011 10:05:38 PM PDT by Kevmo (Turning the Party over to the so-called moderates wouldn't make any sense at all. ~Ronald Reagan)
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To: Kevmo

Thanks!
I needed that and booked it...


8 posted on 05/09/2011 10:15:21 PM PDT by GOYAKLA (Flush Congress in 2010 & 2012)
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To: SeekAndFind

Bush’s fault. /s


9 posted on 05/09/2011 10:17:27 PM PDT by Gene Eric (*** Jesus ***)
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