Don't Look Back [op-ed by Steve Coll], The New Yorker, 1 March 2010
EXCERPT: "Earlier this month, outside Karachi, Pakistani security services, reportedly accompanied by C.I.A. officers, arrested the Afghan Taliban’s top military commander, Abdul Ghani Baradar, an action that has revived questions about the relationship between Pakistan and the Taliban. The Taliban rose to power with extensive aid from the I.S.I.; the collaboration persisted, if less robustly, after September 11th. More lately, the Pakistani military, of which the I.S.I. is a component, has seemed to waver, striking against some Taliban factions in Pakistan but tolerating or helping others... As the violence on Pakistani soil intensifies, however, it would be natural for Pakistan’s generals to question whether their jihad-management strategy has become mired in false distinctions."
Read the full story.
Related articles:
Kabul says no decision to charge Taliban No. 2, Reuters, 2 March 2010
Taliban find breathing room in slums of Karachi, Pakistan, Los Angeles Times, 2 March 2010
Taliban confirm wanted terror leader Qari Zafar killed in US airstrike [blog], The Long War Journal, 2 March 2010
Related media:
Ahmed Rashid offers an update on the Taliban [audio and text], NPR, 17 February 2010
Related posts:
Taliban "routed" in raids on border camps, 1 March 2010
Pakistan Taliban leader killed in drone strike, 26 February 2010
Lahore High Court blocks extradition, 26 February 2010
Intelligence co-operation key to Taliban arrests, 19 February 2010
Taliban arrest confirmed, deemed crucial for Pakistan, 17 February 2010
