The Taliban have not staged their usual touchdown dance through their propaganda operations, as usually follows a high-profile attack. And so “diplomats are bracing themselves for the possibility that blame will be pinned on the Haqqani network, a militant group that nominally follows Omar but is believed to be heavily influenced by the [Pakistani] ISI.” […]
U.S. officials: Pakistani intelligence urging on Haqqani jihadists against U.S. targets
That would certainly explain Islamabad’s unwillingness to go after the Haqqanis, and their intense display of indignation when Secretary of Defense Panetta criticized them for it. Pakistan appears to be approaching a point where it has overextended itself in its double game, losing control to the jihadist groups it has attempted to leverage toward its […]
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan: Government inaction enables and emboldens “sectarian militant groups”
Groups that are technically banned, they observe, not only roam free, but do so armed. Funny how that keeps happening. “Human rights commission blames govt inaction for anti-Shia violence,” by Anita Joshua for The Hindu, September 21 (thanks to Twostellas): Outraged by the targeted killing of 29 Shia pilgrims in Balochistan on Tuesday, the Human […]
U.S. ambassador to Pakistan: “There is evidence linking the Haqqani Network to the Pakistan government. This is something that must stop.”
The Pakistanis were not happy when the Secretary of Defense criticized their failure to take on the Haqqani network. They really won’t like this, an exceptionally frank allegation from the ambassador. “U.S. links Pakistan to group it blames for Kabul attack,” by Qasim Nauman for Reuters, September 17: Islamabad (Reuters) – The United States accused […]
Pakistan resumes attempted whitewash of minority affairs minister’s assassination
No one was buying it before. No one is buying it now. The Bishop of Islamabad has called the most recent police statement “absurd.” Briefly, Pakistani authorities had at least seemed to be trying to look busy, but they are simply moving the plot along in their revised version of the circumstances of Shahbaz Bhatti’s […]
Pakistan dodges listing in Secretary of State’s “Countries of Particular Concern” for religious freedom, Saudi Arabia dodges sanctions
Just one question: Why? “Pakistan Passes Obama’s ‘Religious Freedom’ Test””After Sentencing Christian to Death,” by Terrence P. Jeffrey for CNS News, September 16: (CNSNews.com) – Pakistan, which has issued a death sentence to a Christian mother of five for allegedly blaspheming the prophet Mohammed, and which regularly prosecutes Christians for allegedly blaspheming Islam, has passed […]
CIA strike nets another al-Qaeda boss in Pakistan
No word on whether he qualifies as the umpteenth “No. 3” of al-Qaeda to be neutralized, or if that unlucky number has just been retired. The standard expressions of indignation from Pakistan are almost certainly forthcoming. “US officials: Al-Qaida ops chief killed by CIA,” by Kimberly Dozier for the Associated Press, September 15: WASHINGTON (AP) […]
On 9/11, Pakistan played victim card in Wall Street Journal
What has gone wrong with the Wall Street Journal? It was never very good on the jihad issue, but now it is worse than ever. First it hosted Rauf’s lies, and now this. “‘Vcitim’ [sic] Pak’s 9/11 ad rattles US,” from PTI, September 13 (thanks to Sanjay): An advertisement by Pakistan in America’s leading daily […]
Pakistan: Don’t take that tone with us, Panetta
A predictable reaction from Islamabad to the Secretary of Defense’s pointed criticism of Pakistan’s refusal to take on the Haqqani network. Also predictably, Pakistan is demanding “proof,” and continuing its recent diversionary tactic of accusing the U.S. and NATO of being culpably negligent in ensuring border security, in a situation they portray as analogous to […]
Secretary of Defense Panetta warns Islamabad after Pakistan-based jihadists are implicated in 20-hour attack on Kabul
When jihadists have gone over the border from Pakistan and attacked inside Afghanistan, it has never been that big a deal for Pakistan. When even Pakistan-based jihadists go back over the border from Afghanistan and attack Pakistan, it is an affront and a crisis. An update on this story. “U.S. warns Pakistan after suspected Haqqani […]