Posted on 11/01/2001 3:37:09 PM PST by motife
Pakistan arms Taliban by the night
CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
WASHINGTON: Pakistan is clandestinely continuing to supply the Taliban regime with military supplies, US officials have affirmed, confirming the assessment of Indian intelligence agencies first reported in the Indian media.
The military goods, including ammunition and fuel, are being sent with the help of elements of the Pakistani government, officials familiar with intelligence reports of the transfers were quoted as saying in The Washington Times.
The trade is said to take place at night by trucks. The goods travel from Quetta to the Pakistani border town of Chaman and then on to Kandahar, the Taliban stronghold.
"There are two border control regimes: One before sundown and one after sundown," the paper quoted an unnamed US official as saying. The paper also quoted Indian intelligence assessments first reported in Indian media.
The Pakistan embassy in Washington, expectedly, denied the report. The State Department, which has long sought to project that the war on terrorism has the full support of the Musharraf regime, said it is unaware of any such reports of official Pakistani transgression but is aware that "there are pockets of influence in Pakistan for the Taliban." It is possible that some private individuals may be sneaking in supplies to the Taliban, a state department official said.
But US officials have repeatedly indicated in recent days that sections of the Pakistani army and intelligence with pro-Taliban proclivities have been undermining the American effort. Several newspaper editorials and commentaries have also warned the Bush regime of the double game being played by the Pakistani establishment. There are also calls against showering Pakistan with economic largesse without tighter controls over its maverick intelligence agency and oversight of its nuclear weapons program.
Doubts and distrust of the Pakistani establishment first surfaced within days of the September 11 attacks when Washington forced General Musharraf to purge pro-Taliban elements around him, including his intelligence chief Mahmoud Ahmed and several top generals. This was followed by the arrest of three top Pakistani nuclear scientists said to have close links in Afghanistan.
The State Department had been publicly effusive about the "full cooperation" the administration is receiving from Pakistan, despite General Musharraf’s comment soon after the September 11 attack that he was supporting the United States because it is "lesser of the two evils."
But the action in the background betrays other sentiments. Along with the aerial bombardment and ground attack in Afghanistan, Washington is also fighting a shadowy battle in Islamabad against Taliban sympathisers within the Pakistani establishment.
O.K.,................................................Nuke them 'at night'.
We need many more planes, parts, and personnel than we have, in order to back up our troops.
Good! . . . They won't be in any position to complain when we annihilate a few fuel convoys headed west into Kandahar.
The Packies are in league with the Taliban as we know so this will put Musharaf on notice to own up to his agreement with us or someone may look away at a critical time and who knows what evil lurks out there? Fair weather friends that have to be bought off with bribes and threats are not dependable and as last reported the weather report is changing, and a bad Moon has risen!
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