| Pakistani Army commanders are debating the possibility of attacking Taliban and other Islamic terror groups in Baluchistan (southwest Pakistan) and especially its capital, Quetta (where the Taliban leadership have lived openly since early 2002.) The U.S. has been pressuring Pakistan to shut down terrorist havens in Baluchistan since 2002. But Pakistani intelligence (ISI) has refused to allow that. ISI has also kept U.S. interrogators from the recently captured senior Al Qaeda recruiter and attack organizer, Younis al-Mauretani. The army leadership is also at odds over what to do with ISI. Directly confronting ISI can get you killed, as the intelligence agency controls a number of highly efficient death squads. Many military officers still support Islamic radicalism, and none want to trigger a civil war within the military. |