Posted on 10/07/2006 4:16:12 PM PDT by MadIvan
THE British general commanding Nato troops in Afghanistan is to confront Pakistan’s president over his country’s support for the Taliban.
Among the evidence amassed is the address of the Taliban’s leader in a Pakistani city.
Lieutenant-General David Richards will fly to Islamabad tomorrow to try to persuade Pervez Musharraf to rein in his military intelligence service, which Richards believes is training Taliban fighters to attack British troops. He will request that key Taliban leaders living in Pakistan be arrested.
The evidence compiled by American, Nato and Afghan intelligence includes satellite pictures and videos of training camps for Taliban soldiers and suicide bombers inside Pakistan.
Captured Taliban fighters and failed suicide bombers have confirmed that they were trained by the Pakistani intelligence service, known as the ISI. The information includes an address in Quetta where Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader, is said to live.
Musharraf had publicly acknowledged “a Taliban problem on the Pakistan side of the border”, said Richards. “Undoubtedly something has got to happen,” he added.
“We’ve got to accept that the Pakistan government is not omnipotent and it isn’t easy but it has to be done and we’re working very hard on it. I’m very confident that the Pakistan government’s intent is clear and they will be delivering on it.”
The initiative emerged as the commander of British forces in Afghanistan, Brigadier Ed Butler, called for more troop-carrying helicopters. He was responding to a promise by Tony Blair that the forces could have whatever extra resources they needed. But a defence source said it was difficult to see where new British transport helicopters could be found.
Political leaders have been reluctant to put pressure on Musharraf for fear of destabilising a nuclear-armed country in which Islamic fundamentalists are strong.
This week’s intervention comes at a sensitive time for Blair after the ISI apparently helped avert the alleged planned bombing of transatlantic airliners flying from Heathrow. But the Taliban’s re-emergence has coincided with mounting evidence of ISI involvement, prompting frustration in Afghanistan, where 30 British servicemen have been killed.
“I feel real vitriol seeing our boys dying because of Pakistan,” said one British officer.
A senior US commander added: “We just can’t ignore it any more. Musharraf’s got to prove which side he is on.”
Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, has repeatedly complained of Pakistan’s role in providing a haven for Taliban fighters, saying they have openly run camps in Karachi and Quetta. “There is an open campaign by Pakistan against Afghanistan and the presence of coalition troops here,” he said.
In Washington two weeks ago Karzai handed Pakistan the names and addresses of alleged handlers of suicide bombers using a camp near Peshawar that had been infiltrated by an Afghan informer. Last Wednesday a rubbish bag was discovered in the camp containing his body.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
Canada has been getting vocal about that too.
Nuke the city.
And I do not say that in jest.
This is war and we need to show no mercy to the merciless muslims.
Besides, they don't even like dogs!
I'll second that!
We should send them a message on the back of a tomahawk right into ISI headquarters. That is the only language they understand.
Good! Anyone with half a brain knows Islamabad and points nearby is where the terrorists are!
I never trust Pakstein if Pakstein really want too they would allow us get Bin Laden
Agreed. I also find ridiculous the notion that Bin Laden skulks around from cave to cave. He has the backing of influential people who guard him in more luxurious circumstances than the averge American wants to believe. I think it is a function of not wanting to believe that he is so thoroughly eluding US capture.
Wow, big scandal. Taliban in Pakistan!!!!!
Pakistan IS Taliban you idiots!
I wonder is Pakstein President really fighting war on terror I doubt it maybe to A POINT that is
Correction: Britain has some explaining to do. Why it created Pakistan. Why it supported an Islamic, dictatorship for 50 years. Why it has replaced its culture with a Dhimmi one.
"Lucy, you got some 'splainin' to do!"
Go to hell. Pakistan was created against Gandhi's wishes because Mohammed Ali Jinnah wouldn't have it any other way. We did not "support" the dictatorship any more than you did. And we're no more a "Dhimmi" culture than you are about to start speaking Spanish as you've gone Hispanic. Habla espanol, Senor?
Ivan
Tut, tut, tut. Sensitive, aren't we? Guess the truth hurts.
You're confusing reflexive anti-British bias with the truth. I realise that confusing bias and emotion with facts is a Democrat failing - as such, I wonder if you're on the wrong site.
Ivan
So just because one disagrees with you, one is a "Democrat"? Or because one tells the truth about British role in Pakistan (such as Blair sucking up to Mush), one is a "Democrat"?
If that is your logic, you are on the wrong side, not me.
I looked up the links on your homepage - it would seem you are of Indian derivation. I realise that it's fashionable in some circles in India to regard the British as being the source of all of the subcontinent's problems. As you've been independent for nearly 60 years, I would submit, you wanted independence, you got it, and on terms which you agreed. What you made of it afterwards is your own damn fault. If you want to be an adult nation, start acting like one and taking responsibility for your own mistakes. We did not want to create Pakistan - that was the choice of the Muslims in India. What became of it afterwards was more shaped by the people living there than anything Britain or the United States did. If you can't accept that, then you're acting like the lefties who scream that the West is to blame for all the problems in the Third World...and thus, like a Democrat.
Ivan
Attacking individuals rather than their opinions is one of the lamest and most juvenile tactic. People who do that have already lost the discussion. As you have. When you care to discuss intelligently, reply. Otherwise, discussion over.
Strange, this "observation" of yours directly applies to what you said; psychologists refer to your condition as "projection". That said, I have no desire to speak to fools who suffer from intellectual incontinence, who cannot back up their baseless accusations with any reasoned argument or proof. Begone.
Ivan
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