Most certainly, it stretches credulity that Pakistan’s military and intelligence establishment were in the dark about the US-Canadian couple held hostage (apparently by Islamist militants) for five long years before being freed on October 11 by the Pakistani military, ostensibly on a tip-off by the US intelligence.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo has, perhaps inadvertently, put a big hole through the Pakistani version of events by disclosing that the hostages were kept all along in Pakistan rather than Afghanistan.
At the very least, there is much more to the rescue act by the Pakistani military than meets the eye. Political machinations are afoot in the episode, which is obvious from the fact that the US President Donald Trump himself lauded the Pakistani military.
However, the Americans, typically, are not pressing the point or asking uncomfortable questions and instead prefer to move on. That is also the message from delightful remarks made at a conference on counter-terrorism cooperation with Pakistan held at the US Institute of Peace in Washington at the weekend, where the participants included veteran American war horses and South Asia hands such as Robin Raphel.
Coming out of the woodwork after a long absence from center stage, Ambassador Raphel, unsurprisingly, lost no time in getting straight to the point: “What’s the appropriate role of India in Afghanistan?” Former US ambassador to Kabul Zalmay Khalilzad put things in perspective by explaining candidly that Washington wants India to counter China’s growing influence but faces the reality that US-Indian bonhomie “will have implications for our relationship with Pakistan.”
All indications are that the Trump administration has once again begun dealing directly with the “powers that be” in Pakistan – the military. The Chairman of Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat, shuttled over to Washington on Track 1.5 diplomacy on Monday. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is traveling to Islamabad on Tuesday and Defence Secretary James Mattis is due to visit Pakistan in December.
And while all this is going on, the CIA has reportedly drawn up a project to hunt down the Taliban’s commanders – men trained and equipped by Pakistan’s Inter-services Intelligence – through covert operations inside Afghanistan. The New York Times reported on Sunday:
The CIA is expanding its covert operations in Afghanistan, sending small teams of highly experienced officers and contractors alongside Afghan forces to hunt and kill Taliban militants across the country… The CIA has traditionally been resistant to an open-ended campaign against the Taliban, the primary militant group in Afghanistan, believing it was a waste of the agency’s time and money and would put officers at greater risk as they embark more frequently on missions.
What prompted the CIA to change course and assume an expanded and risky role in Afghanistan we do not know. But the high probability is that the new strategy has the blessing of the Pakistani military and ISI.
In a nutshell, therefore, while Tillerson and Mattis tango with the folks in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, CIA operatives are preparing to systematically eliminate the Taliban’s commanders inside Afghanistan. The hope is that, finally, this will bring any reconcilable insurgents to the negotiating table.
Things are indeed becoming curioser and curioser under Trump. The killing of Umar Khalid Khorasani, chief of the Pakistan Taliban group Jamaatul Ahrar, in a US drone strike last week appears to fit with a nascent US-Pak effort to crack down on remaining recalcitrant militants.
While Tillerson and Mattis tango with the folks in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, CIA operatives are preparing to systematically eliminate the Taliban’s commanders inside Afghanistan
Clearly, the US has appeased Pakistan by decapitating Khorasani, which was a longstanding demand of the Pakistani military. Will there be a Pakistani quid pro quo now – say, the decimation of the Haqqani Network from the chessboard? From this point, anything is possible, since China also will be giving a helping hand to the Trump administration by leveraging its influence in Islamabad.
Against this ‘kinetic’ backdrop, the unscheduled daylong “working visit” to Delhi by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday assumes great significance. To be sure, Pakistan will expect the US to guarantee that Afghan soil is no longer used to stage cross-border terrorist attacks on targets inside Pakistan. Ghani and Afghan intelligence have to adjust quickly to the new reality.
An Indian Foreign Ministry press release says that Ghani will “review the entire gamut of multifaceted bilateral strategic partnership” with the Indian leadership and “hold consultations and coordinate on furthering the shared objective of promoting peace, security, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan and efforts to combat the menace of terrorism; and discuss regional and global issues of mutual interest.”
Tillerson will arrive in Delhi on Tuesday evening straight after the daylong talks in Islamabad. He is sure to transmit to the Indians a litany of demands from the Pakistani military, which has all along alleged that Indian intelligence is operating out of Afghanistan to destabilize Pakistan.
What a sickening person you are. You forgot the millions thah died forming this nation? making sweeping statements like this to satisfy your ego and stupidity also does not contribute to the good of humanity. You should be in an asylum.
I am not sure what it is about Bhadra Kumar and what makes him such an avid India hater after working for the Indian public services .Just look at the map that goes with his article. Parts of India are depicted as belonging to China. I havent seen another writer who gives such lopsided views favouring China. Not even in the Global Times.
India . don’t be dragged into Afghanistan meaningless war and take off bungie suggestions.Be clever and vigilant
In any measure, Pakistan has added no value to the world except terrorism. A new nation formed simply on a religious basis, driven purely by selfish political desire of a few. There can’t be a single terrorist organisation on the earth which wouldn’t have its roots, funding, training orideological support from this rogue nation. In fact, it has been the first nation way back in 50’s to manufacture terrorists and terror ideology and export to the world. Now it is a modern-day version of the ancient Taxila University which flourished there over 1,600 years ago with multi-huedglobal terrorists, all of them are "strategic weapons" that the Pakistani deep state can use against its neighbours. All terror paths globally lead to Pakistan. All roads to terror start right from here. Many large nations are waking up to this historic fact, only after serious terrorattacks on their citizens in their main land.
"However, the Americans, typically, are not pressing the point or asking uncomfortable questions and instead prefer to move on".
That is a true statement as long as the terrorists are on American side such as Saudis, Israeli or in this case Pakistan. If this had occurred in Iran, you would never, ever hear the end of it.
Pakistani ISI through bribery use the border Afghans on both sides of the border to attack other Afghans inside Afghanistan because Pakistani soldiers are woefully inadequete worthless at war and combat. Pakistan is an artificial state just as is Israel and they should both be eliminated.
endia behaving like apeasing her beloved, chooop chooop
ur problem is that little parais of Pakistan is giving you to much burings. use some burnol.endian behave like jalous DASHTA know as girlfrind in west.
buring is not going away, Hari. use some burnol. this was not endian surgical strick stupied
You are too harsh on Pak generals and politicians who they say are K peace loving.
All that a trillion dollar FDI sent to China from 1995 to 2013 is now acting against all interests of US in South China Sea and Japan.
Now US is trying to reverse that over enthusiasm of recent past and searching for an anti China grouping lead by India. It is possible, but need the similar amount to build India first.
Fools paradise to believe that Pakistanis rescued the hostages. They stage managed the whole operation and immediately got a few brownie points with Donald Trump. Later it became clear that truth is different and Pakistanis staged the rescue and sacrificed a few hostage taker lives in vain. The truth about rescue as more details emerge was different. Shame on Trump who has been so quick to praise Pakistan and learn later the truth to be different.