Pakistan's Neighbours Are Wary Of Islamabad's Support For Sunni Jihadists And Terror Groups

DW: Unhappy neighbors - Afghanistan, India, Iran wary of Pakistan's 'jihadist support'

Iran has warned it would target militant hideouts inside Pakistan if Islamabad doesn't act against Sunni jihadists. Pakistan's other two neighbors - Afghanistan and India - also accuse Islamabad of backing terrorists.

Keeping aside diplomatic niceties, Iran has reacted in the strictest possible manner against Sunni militants' activities along its southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, bordering Pakistan.

Jaish al Adl (the Army of Justice), a Sunni militant group based in Pakistan, killed at least ten Iranian border guards last month. The guards were shot with long-range guns, fired from inside Pakistan.

Jaish al Adl has previously claimed responsibility for attacks that killed Iranian troops in 2013 and 2015. The anti-Iran and anti-Shiite militant group is fighting against what it says is discrimination against Sunni Muslims in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province. Sunni militant groups consider Shiites as apostates.

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WNU Editor: When one looks at the leadership of the terror groups that are striking eastern Iran, Afghanistan, and India .... all roads lead to their safe havens in Pakistan.

A Case Is Made For Why Pakistan Is Not An Ally In The War Against Terrorism

President Obama's Bilateral Meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan. YouTube

Long War Journal: Pakistan: Friend or Foe in the Fight Against Terrorism?

Editor’s note: Below is Bill Roggio’s testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade and the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. A PDF of the testimony, with footnotes, can be downloaded here.

Chairman Poe and Chairman Salmon, Ranking Members Keating and Sherman, and other members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me here today to speak about Pakistan and its support for terrorist groups that threaten the security of the United States and its allies.

This Committee rightly asks the question of whether Pakistan is a friend or foe in the fight against terrorism. While Pakistani officials and forces have assisted the U.S. in hunting senior al Qaeda figures at times, Pakistan’s overall strategy is pro-jihadist and therefore puts it in the foe category. Pakistan does battle some terrorist groups within its borders, but it only does so because these groups pose a direct threat to the state.

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WNU Editor: As long as Pakistan keeps this brave man in jail .... Doctor who helped US in search for Osama Bin Laden jailed for 33 years (The Guardian) .... or permit terrorists like Hafiz Saeed to operate freely .... I can never accept Pakistani claims that they are serious in the war against terrorism.

After The Drone Killing Of Taliban Leader Mullah Mansour, Who Else Is Hiding In Pakistan?

Bombed vehicle in which Taliban leader Mansour was said to be traveling in.

DW: Mullah Mansour's gone, but who else is hiding in Pakistan?

Time and again Pakistan has denied the presence of high-profile terrorists on its soil, and time and again the US has targeted them inside Pakistan. Should former Taliban chief Mansour's death be a lesson for Islamabad?

On Wednesday, June 1, Pakistan's army chief Raheel Sharif said the US drone strikes within the South Asian nation's territory were a violation of his country's sovereignty. They "must stop," he insisted.

The general was referring to the US aerial attack on May 21 that killed the former Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in the western Balochistan province near Afghanistan.

At first, the Pakistani authorities denied that Mansour was killed in the US drone strike along with his driver.

But on Sunday, May 29, the Islamic country's interior ministry announced that a DNA test confirmed that Mansour had been killed in the attack.

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WNU Editor: Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri is probably the "biggest fish" hiding in Pakistan today .... a claim that Pakistan has also consistently denied.

Pakistan's Support For Islamic Extremism Is Now Backfiring

A mother mourns her son Mohammed Ali Khan, 15, a student who was killed during an attack by Taliban gunmen on the Army Public School, at her house in Peshawar December 16, 2014.

Credit: REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

Pakistan’s Dance With Terrorists Just Backfired and Killed 132 Children -- Chris Allbritton, Daily Beast

For decades, Pakistan’s generals have treated jihadi groups as assets to use against India. That policy didn’t protect their very own children.

Today’s horrific attack in Peshawar on a military school, in which scores of children were killed by the Pakistani Taliban, should put Pakistan’s security choices over the last few decades in a stark light. And while the immediate reaction from the Pakistani military will no doubt be swift and terrible, Pakistan needs to think long and hard about what kind of country it wants to be when the initial retaliation is over.

Will it be one that continues to treat extremist groups as assets to use against its regional rivals? Or will this stomach-churning attack finally be the last straw that convinces the “establishment,” as it’s called, that playing with the fire of Islamic radicalism cannot continue.

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Update: How Pakistan's Great Game in Afghanistan Gets Kids Killed at Home -- Tom Lasseter and Natalie Obiko Pearson, Bloomberg

My Comment: Regular readers of this blog know that I have never been a fan of Pakistan's "secret policy" of supporting certain extremist groups that have been waging war against the Afghan government and U.S./NATO forces for the past decade. The discovery of Bin Laden hiding in Pakistan was the final nail in the coffin (for me) that Pakistan was (and is) no longer a reliable ally. I also knew that if you dance with the devil you will get burned .... so yesterday's school massacre was not a surprise .... when you permit maniacs to operate in your country to wage mayhem in neighboring countries .... they will eventually target you.

Is Pakistan Becoming A Failed State?

Trying to fix the tracks near Lahore. Pakistan’s railways, which once linked a fractious young nation, have been neglected. Andrea Bruce for The New York Times

Pakistan, Rusting in Its Tracks -- New York Times

In a Journey on a Crumbling Railway, a Picture of a Nation’s Troubles

RUK, Pakistan — Resplendent in his gleaming white uniform and peaked cap, jacket buttons tugging his plump girth, the stationmaster stood at the platform, waiting for a train that would never come. “Cutbacks,” Nisar Ahmed Abro said with a resigned shrug.

Ruk Station, in the center of Pakistan, is a dollhouse-pretty building, ringed by palm trees and rice paddies. Once, it stood at the junction of two great Pakistani rail lines: the Kandahar State Railway, which raced north through the desert to the Afghan border; and another that swept east to west, chaining cities from the Hindu Kush mountains to the Arabian Sea.

Now it was a ghost station. No train had stopped at Ruk in six months, because of cost cutting at the state-owned rail service, Pakistan Railways, and the elegant station stood lonely and deserted. Idle railway men smoked in the shadows. A water buffalo sauntered past.

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My Comment: A must read analysis from the New York Times. An excellent graphic on Pakistan's woes can be seen here.

The Pakistan-Haqqani Alliance

Photo: Jalaluddin Haqqani. Reuters

Pakistan-Haqqani Ties Threaten To Thwart U.S. -- Ashish Kumar Sen, The Washington Times

Western officials and analysts say U.S. and U.N. pressure is failing to persuade Pakistan to cut its ties to a terrorist network whose attacks coalition forces fear could complicate the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

The Haqqani Network, based in Pakistan’s northwest region, receives financial and logistical support from Pakistan’s military and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, Western officials say.

“The support operation [in Pakistan] for the Haqqanis’ war-fighting is intact,” said a former Western official who spoke on background, citing security concerns.

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My Comment: Pakistan's refusal to cut it's ties with the Haqqani group is a guarantee that bloodshed and mayhem will continue in Afghanistan. This post is a must read for those who want to understand Pakistan's role in the war in Afghanistan, and what is it's relationship with the Haqqani network.

Why Pakistan Is Hated (A Commentary)

Why Muslims And Chinese Hate Pakistan -- Musings

Pakistanis evoke highly negative emotions worldwide, including in Muslim majority countries, says a US survey. Not just the elites but the common Pakistani too is culpable in the country’s spectacular failure.

It has never been easy being a Pakistani. Pick a terrorist act committed anywhere in the world and chances are it has Pakistani fingerprints all over it. In many places, the word ‘Pakistani’ is a four-letter word.

So it must be a nasty kick in the guts for the Pakistanis to learn that their only allies, the Chinese, as well as the majority populations of several Muslim countries, including Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan and Lebanon, see them as a bunch of baddies.

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My Comment: Regular readers of this blog know that I have never been a fan of Pakistan, and even a fiercer critic of U.S. military and financial aid to that country .... and do not get me going on finding Osama Bin laden in the country. Having said all that .... it's good to know that my views are at least shared by a majority of Muslims around the world, as well as by Pakistan's neighbors.

The Afghan Supply Routes May Re-Open, But Differences Still Remain Between The U.S. And Pakistan

A Pakistan national flag is mounted on the top of a fuel tanker, which was used to carry fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan, as drivers sit nearby, at a compound in Karachi July 3, 2012. Athar Hussain / Reuters

Pakistan Reopens Afghan Supply Routes, But Larger Diplomatic Crises Loom -- Ishaan Tharoor, Time

Pakistan's decision to re-open the overland supply routes into Afghanistan may be a slight boost for Washington-Islamabad ties, but there's much more wrangling ahead as the U.S. steps up its plans to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2014

It never hurts to say sorry. That’s the trite lesson behind Pakistan’s confirmation Tuesday that it was re-opening ground supply routes into Afghanistan used by the U.S. and its allies to provision NATO forces there. Following a phone call with her Pakistani counterpart, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement that amounted to something of public apology for the U.S. role in a shootout along the Afghan border last November that claimed the lives of 24 Pakistani soldiers. That incident prompted weeks of heated protests in Pakistan, reinforced by a blockade of trucks conveying NATO materiel into Afghanistan and marked yet another climactic chapter in the turgid chronicle of the U.S.-Pakistani relationship.

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My Comment: I see nothing happening in Pakistan that would make me feel comfortable that better times are ahead. Pakistan still supports some of the most dangerous extremist groups in the world, and is refusing to even make a token effort to solve any of its many social/political/economic problems.

The Slow Internal Collpase Of Pakistan

Pakistan Collapsing From Within -- CNN

Tensions that flare between Pakistan's ineffective civilian government and influential judiciary reached an all-time high last week when the country’s Supreme Court disqualified Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani from holding office.

The unprecedented ruling came less than two months after Gilani was charged with contempt for his refusal to ask the Swiss government to reopen corruption charges facing President Asif Ali Zardari. It was followed days later by parliament electing a replacement, Raja Pervez Ashraf, who has also been accused of corruption in the past.

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My Comment: What's my take .... because of its nukes as well as having a large extremist Islamic militant presence (and support) within the country .... there are times when I consider Pakistan to be more dangerous to our national security than Iran.

America Is Right To Be Outraged At The Treatment Of Shakil Afridi

Still Looking Both Ways -- The Telegraph editorial

America is right to be outraged at the treatment of Shakil Afridi.

For several years before his death, Osama bin Laden took refuge in Abbottabad, a Pakistani army garrison town. It was always fanciful to believe that no one in the country’s military or intelligence service was aware of the al-Qaeda leader’s presence there. But when American special forces eventually tracked him down, the Pakistani government was adamant that it had not harboured the world’s most wanted man. President Asif Ali Zardari pointed out that no country had suffered more than Pakistan at the hands of terrorists.

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My Comment: I agree with this editorial 100%.

Update: Only in Pakistan... -- Bill Roggio, Long War Journal

Why War, Conflict, And Civil Strife Will Continue In Pakistan

Pakistani Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani (C), US General John Allen (3L), and Afghan Army Chief General Sher Muhammad Karimi (3R) with other delegates in the city of Rawalpindi in northern Pakistan on May 13, 2012. Press TV

Pakistan Is Blowing Its Chance To Create Real Nation -- David Ignatius, IBD Editorial/Investors.com

As America begins to pull back its troops from Afghanistan, there's one consequence that gets little notice but is likely to have lasting impact: Pakistan is losing the best chance in its history to gain political control over all of its territory — including the warlike tribal areas along the frontier.

Pakistan has squandered the opportunity presented by having a large U.S.-led army just over the border in Afghanistan.

Rather than work with the U.S. to stabilize a lawless sanctuary full of warlords and terrorists, the Pakistanis decided to play games with these outlaw groups. As a result, Pakistan and its neighbors will be less secure, probably for decades.

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My Comment: The culture of corruption, incompetence, tribal/ethnic/religious conflict, economic strangulation by government bureaucracies coupled with no leadership at the top .... throw in nuclear weapons, a national mindset of victimization, and a long set of grievances (both real and pretend) .... you end up with the failed but very dangerous state of Pakistan.

Why Was Bin Laden Hiding In Abbottabad?

Pakistan Can't Seem to Figure Out Why Bin Laden Was Hiding in Abbottabad -- Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic

The Pakistani commission appointed to investigate just how Osama bin Laden came to be living in Abbottabad, in a large house adjacent to Pakistan's military academy (a house built by an architect regularly employed by the Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI, according to a report from David Ignatius) appears to be struggling to reach a credible conclusion, and has already blown past its deadline:

Officials privy to the inquiry attributed the delay to the explosive question of naming and blaming those who were at the helm of affairs in secret agencies during the years Bin Laden was living in his safe house....

At least four generals, including incumbent military chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, served as head of the country's premier spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), from 2003 and 2011 -- during Bin Laden's years in Abbottabad...

"Of course, somebody was responsible and the commission is responsible for identifying that somebody," said an official. "But it seems the probe body is not going to do that," he added.

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My Comment: I agree with Jeffrey Goldberg .... too many fingers are pointing at too many key Pakistani military/security officials who had an indirect tie-in with Bin Laden. And while I do not think that internal Pakistani politics will change with this information .... how the outside world views Pakistan will change .... if not already.

On a side note, David Ignatius's article .... Pakistan and Osama bin Laden .... is a must read.

The Problem With Pakistan

There were repeated denunciations of America at the rally. BBC

The Pakistan Problem Isn’t Just The Government. It’s The People -- Jonathan Kay, National Post

Since the Taliban resurgence began gaining force in 2005, a common refrain in the West has been that Pakistan must “do more” to rein in the jihadis who are drawing support from bases in the borderlands of Balochistan and Waziristan. American officials have made countless visits to Pakistan to deliver variations on this message — with nothing to show for it.

Earlier this year, the BBC disclosed a secret NATO report, based on 27,000 interrogations with captured Taliban and al-Qaeda detainees, concluding that jihadis operating in Afghanistan continue to receive support and instruction from Pakistani military handlers. One interrogated al-Qaeda detainee quoted in the report declared: “Pakistan knows everything. They control everything. I can’t [expletive] on a tree in Kunar without them watching.”

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My Comment: Pakistan's culture is definitely very different from ours. When I was working with an Asian trading company in the 1980s, we had a policy of not taking any request or proposals from Pakistan seriously .... we were burned every time. And while I do not care on what they preach and believe within their own country, I do care when they support (or turn a blind eye) to terror groups who wish to do great harm against us. Osama Bin laden enjoyed vast popular support within Pakistan, and what is left of Al Qaeda still enjoys that support. That and that alone tells me that there is a problems there, and one that will continue to grow as Pakistan's economic mismanagement, corruption, and paranoia over others continues to fester and incorporate itself into almost every facet of Pakistani life thereby making it easier for them to blame outsiders for their problems instead of themselves.

President Obama's Silence On Pakistan's Military Is Costing The Lives Of American Soldiers In Afghanistan

The Generals Have No Clothes -- Kapil Komireddi, Foreign Policy

Islamabad's generals have been sponsoring the deaths of Americans for years, and yet Obama does nothing. Why?

Pakistan is indignant about the killing of 25 of its troops in a NATO air raid on Saturday. The circumstances that led to the assault are still unknown, but Washington and Europe have expressed contrition and promised an investigation. Pakistan has every reason to feel angry. But after a suitable period of mourning, shouldn't the United States, in the interests of fairness if nothing else, ask the Pakistani army if it plans ever to apologize for -- or, at bare minimum, acknowledge -- its role in the deaths of hundreds of coalition forces and many more Afghan civilians?

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My Comment: Bottom line .... President Obama wants US Soldiers out of Afghanistan .... if it means making a deal with Pakistan's ISI and Generals to speed this up .... so be it.

With Friends Like This, Who Needs Enemies

The Ally From Hell -- Jeffrey Goldberg and Marc Ambinder, The Atlantic

Pakistan lies. It hosted Osama bin Laden (knowingly or not). Its government is barely functional. It hates the democracy next door. It is home to both radical jihadists and a large and growing nuclear arsenal (which it fears the U.S. will seize). Its intelligence service sponsors terrorists who attack American troops. With a friend like this, who needs enemies?

Shortly after American Navy SEALs raided the Pakistani city of Abbottabad in May and killed Osama bin Laden, General Ashfaq Kayani, the Pakistani chief of army staff, spoke with Khalid Kidwai, the retired lieutenant general in charge of securing Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. Kidwai, who commands a security apparatus called the Strategic Plans Division (SPD), had been expecting Kayani’s call.

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My Comment: A long and sobering look at Pakistan. Read it all.

With Friends Like This, Who Needs Enemies: A Commentary On Pakistan

With An Ally Like Pakistan, Who Needs Enemies? -- L.A. Times

Remember when Pakistan was our ally?

Neither do I.

But on Thursday, The Times' David S. Cloud, Ken Dilanian and Alex Rodriguez outlined just how lousy an ally that nation has become. (Warning: The following may be upsetting to you if you are an American taxpayer.)

Pakistan's powerful intelligence agency communicated with Afghan insurgents who attacked the U.S. Embassy and NATO headquarters in central Kabul last week and appear to have provided them with equipment, according to U.S. military officers and former officials.

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My Comment: Dexter Filkins at the New Yorker also chimes in with some scathing observations on our South-east Asian ally.

The End Of The US-Pakistan Alliance

Photo: Gen. Hamid Gul

Down Goes The US-Pakistan Alliance -- Arnold De Borchgrave, Washington Times

Taliban-Pakistan cooperation goes too far.

Fickle friends and strong enemies at the same time is the hard-to-decipher mojo at either end of the Pakistan-U.S. strategic relationship. Each time relations are said to have reached rock bottom, someone, somewhere continues to dig.

President George W. Bush elevated Pakistan to “major non-NATO ally” in 2004. Pakistan’s homegrown terrorists and their military backers gleefully ignored the promotion as they covertly continued to back Taliban in Afghanistan.

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My Comment: If Arnold De Borchgrave was a Pakistani writing this commentary in Pakistan .... you just know that he will be killed.

Pakistan's Descent Into An Extreme Islamic State Continues

Pakistan Faces A Divide Of Age On Muslim Law -- New York Times

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Cheering crowds have gathered in recent days to support the assassin who riddled the governor of Punjab with 26 bullets and to praise his attack — carried out in the name of the Prophet Muhammad — as an act of heroism. To the surprise of many, chief among them have been Pakistan’s young lawyers, once seen as a force for democracy.

Their energetic campaign on behalf of the killer has caught the government flat-footed and dismayed friends and supporters of the slain politician, Salman Taseer, an outspoken proponent of liberalism who had challenged the nation’s strict blasphemy laws. It has also confused many in the broader public and observers abroad, who expected to see a firm state prosecution of the assassin.

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My Comment: This has been developing for a very long time. The education system promotes Islamic extremism and anti-Christian/Hindu/Jewish propaganda. The political class always blames outsiders for their failings. The Pakistani media's rabid anti-Western coverage gives no opportunity to provide an alternative point of view. The military/intelligence services have been infiltrated by so many Islamic radical sympathizers, that any purge is now next to impossible to accomplish. And now .... the legal system is finding itself becoming a major proponent of Islamic law and its more extreme tenets.

And one more thing (before I forget) .... Pakistan has a lot of nuclear weapons.

Can A Coup Happen In Pakistan?

Coup In Pakistan 'A Real Possibility': Interview With Terrorism Expert Bruce Riedel -- Spiegel Online

Western countries would like to negotiate with the Taliban, but Pakistan would rather they didn't. US terrorism expert Bruce Riedel spoke with SPIEGEL ONLINE about just how explosive the situation currently is in Pakistan and how much influence al-Qaida still has.

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My Comment: Bruce Riedel`s analysis is spot on. The Taliban, Al Qaeda, radical Islam .... all of these players and factors are interconnected .... and all of them have a desire to strike at us in Europe and in the U.S.

This is a must read interview and analysis.

The Taliban Are Having A Free Pass In Pakistan

Soldiers on the border of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province Photo: REUTERS

Pakistan Won't Act Against The Taliban -- Patrick Cockburn, The Independent

Most Pakistani soldiers see the Afghan Taliban as Pashtun freedom fighters combating a foreign occupation.

Pakistan has highlighted the hold it has over the US and Nato forces in Afghanistan by stopping their supply trucks from crossing the Afghan frontier. The ban is in retaliation for US helicopters making an attack on the Pakistani side of the border and killing three Pakistani soldiers.

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My Comment: David Ignatius from The Washington Post has the same opinion .... Pakistan has little if any interest in to stop the Afghan Taliban from continuing their mayhem and destruction in Afghanistan. In fact, the perception is that a Taliban Government in Afghanistan would be sympathetic to Pakistan, and will be hostile to countries like India.

To me .... Pakistan reminds me of the Palestinians. Both have a long and horrible history of "screwing" things up, and then protesting on why things have gone so wrong for them. In this case, Pakistan's reluctance to confront what many in the West regard as a clear and present danger to us will result in further alienating and isolating Pakistan .... bringing little if any benefit to Pakistan in escaping the chronic poverty and violence that now symbolizes how much of a failed state it has become..