Pakistan's soldiers 'huddling in their bases' in tribal regions

[IndianaGreen]

Source: The Guardian

Pakistan's soldiers 'huddling in their bases' in tribal regions

· Army paralysed by Taliban threat, says ex-CIA agent
· Retired officers accused of helping militants

Declan Walsh in Islamabad
Saturday June 16, 2007
The Guardian

The Pakistani army is paralysed by the growing Taliban threat and some retired officers are covertly aiding the militants, according to a former CIA officer.

Soldiers posted to Waziristan, a tribal area that hosts an estimated 2,000 al-Qaida fighters, are "huddling in their bases, doing nothing", said Art Keller, a CIA case officer who was posted to Pakistan last year.

<snip>

But Mr Keller said that behind the scenes the fight was riven by divisions among the officers. "There are the moderates who fear Talibanisation, the professional jihadis who want to embrace the Taliban again, and the middle group who aren't too fond of the Taliban but resent doing anything under pressure from the US out of sheer bloody-minded stubbornness," he said. "Because of (that), the Pakistani military remains paralysed."

Mr Keller alleged that retired army officers, including the former spy chief Hamid Gul, were secretly supporting the Taliban. "To the degree that they aren't arrested or forced to cease and desist, they are tacitly tolerated," he said. Gen Gul, who has faced similar accusations before, said last night: "I morally support the movement to end the American occupation of Afghanistan. But there is no physical dimension to it, no hidden agenda."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2104325,00.html

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This is a very disturbing report from Pakistan, with Musharraf on his way out by a popular uprising, and a resurgent Islamic insurgency in the tribal areas coupled with the Taleban in Afghanistan. Meanwhile our military is stuck in Iraq, while the neocons are beating the drums for war against Iran.

[wakeme2008]

1. They have Nucs but No Oil

Move along nothing to see here. :grr:

[IndianaGreen]

2. Musharraf is on his way out, like the Shah of Iran

The best thing that can happen is that he is replaced by a civilian government. The worst thing that can happen is that Pakistan gets another military dictator who, in turn, radicalizes the society even more against him before he is toppled by a radical Islamic regime. Pakistan has nukes.