Article

2009-05-29 India-Pakistan

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Seafarious 2009-05-29 10:46|| || Front Page|| [11130 views ] Top

#1 Is it an assumption that the ISI is monolithic and not subject to the same tribal factions as the rest of the culture?

Posted by Procopius2k 2009-05-29 11:45|| 2009-05-29 11:45|| Front Page Top

#2 "Why did the Taliban attack the ISI?"

Because they could?

Think of the parable of the frog and the scorpion: Because it's their nature.

Posted by Barbara Skolaut">Barbara Skolaut 2009-05-29 12:17|| 2009-05-29 12:17|| Front Page Top

#3 the Neo Taliban of Mullah Mohammad Omar, which was created by the ISI in 1994 when Benazir Bhutto was prime minister, still owes its loyalty to the ISI and the Pakistan government. The Neo Taliban is active against the U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghan territory from sanctuaries in Pakistan, but it has never been involved in an act of terrorism in Pakistani territory against Pakistani targets.

What I take from this is an admission that the ISI is facilitating attacks against the US and NATO, and has been from the beginning.

Posted by Frozen Al 2009-05-29 12:27|| 2009-05-29 12:27|| Front Page Top

#4 Gitcher program. Can't tell yer Talipaks widout cher program.

Posted by Herman Unineger8237 2009-05-29 12:52|| 2009-05-29 12:52|| Front Page Top

#5 I'm inclined to say that this analysis - the Red Mosque battle created the "Pakistani Pashtun Taliban" - is pernicious nonsense. Baitullah Mehsud and his people, for instance were involved in the 2004 Wana war up to their unwashed armpits. The Red Mosque might act as a rallying banner for the faction, but it wasn't an authentic incitement, any more than the Reichstag Fire incited the mass National Socialist movement.

Posted by Mitch H.">Mitch H. 2009-05-29 13:14|| http://blogfonte.blogspot.com/]">[http://blogfonte.blogspot.com/] 2009-05-29 13:14|| Front Page Top

#6 I have to question the trigger of the Red Mosque massacre as well. After all, the tribal children were well armed and indoctrinated in jihad before the army went in. As a rallying call for major attacks after, though, it serves very well. Also, why would apparently the premier boarding school for the tribal children be located in Islamabad instead of in the Punjab, closer to the childrens' families?

Posted by trailing wife 2009-05-29 16:42|| 2009-05-29 16:42|| Front Page Top

#7 I'm color-blind in that spectrum. One Talibunny looks pretty much like another to me.

Posted by mojo 2009-05-29 17:43|| 2009-05-29 17:43|| Front Page Top

#8 I note the difference between the Pak Taliban and Mullah Omar's Taliban. The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan consists of the tribal goobers -- Baitullah & Co. -- allied with al-Qaeda. The Punjabi Taliban consists of the hodge-podge of terror organizations that have evolved in the past 20 years. They've now coalesced, starting with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, into al-Qaeda in Pakistan. If I was drawing an organization chart, I'd put Lashkar-e-Taiba and the now mostly defunct Kashmir groups off to one side and note them as being for foreign operations under ISI control -- but still allied with AQ.

I sometimes look for the differences -- because I'm basically an OB guy -- in who's exploding, but all the groups are allied with the Qaeda structure, just through different controllers. Mullah Omar's Taliban is also allied with the Haqqani organization and with Hekmatyar, and it's really impossible to tell who done what in Afghanistan based on open source news. There's also an al-Qaeda Afghanistan that coordinates their operations and works out strategy.

What we're looking at in the present instance is the internal Taliban plus the TNSM, which also identifies itself as TTP unless Sufi Mohammad is trying to negotiate something. They're not allied with ISI, though they're probably willing enough to treat with them as equals.

Posted by Fred 2009-05-29 18:57|| 2009-05-29 18:57|| Front Page Top

#9 Thanks Fred. "Order of Battle".....a discipline not exercised or exploited as much today as it could be.

Posted by Besoeker 2009-05-29 19:09|| 2009-05-29 19:09|| Front Page Top

#10 is there a powerpoint available?

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2009-05-29 22:28|| 2009-05-29 22:28|| Front Page Top

23:48 746
23:47 746
23:46 746
23:46 746
23:42 746
23:34 JosephMendiola
23:22 DMFD
23:01 Clomoque Sforza3109
22:58 Anonymoose
22:41 WTF
22:38 DMFD
22:33 Frank G
22:28 Frank G
22:27 DMFD
21:38 GORT
21:36 CrazyFool
21:17 no mo uro
21:12 rhodesiafever
20:53 JosephMendiola
20:47 JosephMendiola
20:47 rhodesiafever
20:44 Nimble Spemble
20:44 JosephMendiola
20:42 JosephMendiola