| As reported in the New York Times, classified military | | | | the way to the capital, Kabul. |
| documents concerning the war in Afghanistan, | | | | The information contained in the leaked papers |
| spanning a period of six years, were made public on | | | | comes from raw intelligence and threat assessments |
| Sunday. The documents are often at variance with | | | | gathered from the field in Afghanistan. Naturally not |
| official accounts of the war and are bound to stir up | | | | all of it can be verified since official clandestine |
| considerable controversy and debate. | | | | agencies are hardly likely to be forthcoming, but |
| | | | | many of the reports rely on sources that rated as |
| The documents were probably procured and | | | | reliable by the military. |
| revealed illegally, but are too important to be | | | | None of this exactly new, of course. Reports |
| discarded casually. Primarily they detail how the | | | | describing how Pakistani intelligence has been working |
| American military and establishment have deliberately | | | | alongside Al Qaeda to plan attacks have been around |
| winked at Pakistan's duplicity in its dealings with both | | | | for a long time. Even US senators and congressmen |
| America and Afghanistan, all at the altar of political | | | | have cautioned that Pakistan's militant groups and Al |
| expediency. For example, there is growing evidence | | | | Qaeda are working together; and are being guided by |
| that the cozy relationship Pakistan's military | | | | the ISI. Sure, American government officials have |
| intelligence agency, the ISI, has long had with the | | | | expressed anger at Pakistan's unwillingness to |
| Afghan Taliban and even some elements of Al Qaeda | | | | confront insurgents who launched attacks near |
| has been instrumental in killing and maiming American | | | | Pakistani border posts, moving freely across the |
| troops. | | | | Afghanistan-Pakistan border; and then retreating to |
| | | | | Pakistani territory, where they find a safe haven to |
| The George W Bush presidency was routinely | | | | regroup and plan fresh attacks. |
| criticized for its handling of the war in Afghanistan, | | | | What puzzles many ordinary Americans – and |
| but the reality is that there have been more | | | | infuriates Indians – is that, in spite of being |
| American troop casualties since Barrack Obama took | | | | presented with growing evidence of Pakistani |
| office, In fact, Obama himself admitted that he knew | | | | skulduggery and the frustrations of American soldiers |
| what was going on: and the problem with Pakistan | | | | on the ground, the US administration routinely comes |
| was the reason he took so long to decide on a troop | | | | out with rosy public pronouncements of Pakistan as |
| surge last year. So was the US constrained to allow | | | | an ally. It's all about political expediency, of course. |
| the Pakistan military help the Taliban blow up | | | | The US military needs Pakistan's permission and |
| American soldiers because it needed to truck NATO | | | | cooperation to sustain a drone campaign targeting Al |
| supplies through their country? | | | | Qaeda havens near the frontier. Moreover, the most |
| | | | | feasible way to resupply US and NATO troops in |
| Americans troops in Afghanistan have long suspected | | | | Afghanistan is through routes that cross Pakistan to |
| that Pakistan's military spy service has orchestrated | | | | Afghanistan. Therefore it should not come as a |
| the Afghan insurgency to serve its own ends, while | | | | surprise that, during a very recent visit to Islamabad, |
| at the same time, that country has been receiving | | | | Hillary Clinton was all bonhomie, praising the Pakistani |
| more than $1 billion a year from Washington. The | | | | government and pledging a further $500 million in |
| irony is that these funds are ostensibly in appreciation | | | | development aid. |
| for Pakistan's help in combating the very militants | | | | |
| they are secretly helping. | | | | The painful reality is that the US has realised that the |
| | | | | war in Afghanistan is not winnable in the conventional |
| The leaked documents, put out by WikiLeaks, | | | | sense. It has also dawned on the White House that |
| suggest that Pakistan, while loudly proclaiming itself as | | | | President Obama's public declaration that US troops |
| a trusted ally of the United States, allows their ISI to | | | | will start coming home after July 2011 was perhaps |
| have direct contact with the Taliban in secret | | | | premature and over-optimistic. The US is desperately |
| strategy sessions, whose purpose is to organize | | | | looking for a face-saving exit strategy from |
| networks of militant groups that fight against | | | | Afghanistan; and Pakistan is happy to oblige as long |
| American and NATO soldiers in Afghanistan, and even | | | | as it is left alone to subvert the legitimate |
| hatch plots to assassinate Afghan leaders. The | | | | government in Afghanistan and install its own |
| network of Pakistani assets and collaborators is said | | | | puppets. After all, Pakistan has made no secret of its |
| to extend from the Pakistani tribal belt along the | | | | ambition to achieve what it calls "strategic depth" |
| Afghan border, through southern Afghanistan, and all | | | | against its number one enemy, India. |