Afghanistan Accuses Pakistan of Being Behind Blast
Courtesy of Amir Shah of the AP:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080708/ap_on_re_as/afghan_explosion
This refers to the recent bomb outside the Indian Embassy in Kabul, which killed 41 and wounded 150, the deadliest attack in Afghanistan since 2001. Of course, most of the victims were Afghan, but (unlike the usual result in attacks of this sort) it actually succeeded in killing some of the Embassy staff, including four Indians (one a military attache, one a diplomat).
An Afghan security report released earlier Tuesday found that the bombing could not have succeeded without the support of foreign intelligence agencies, another reference to Pakistan, India's archrival.
"The sophistication of this attack and the kind of material that was used, the specific targeting, everything has the hallmarks of a particular agency that has conducted similar attacks inside Afghanistan. We have sufficient evidence to say that," Hamidzada said. "The project was designed outside Afghanistan. It was exported to Afghanistan."
If true, this would be a clear act of war by Pakistan against both India and Afghanistan. This would be very serious: Afghanistan is an American ally, and India a nuclear Power of considerably greater magnitude than Pakistan. This might rupture the US-Pakistani alliance and leave Pakistan friendless against an enraged India.
Unsurprisingly, the Pakistanis denied complicity:
Pakistan's prime minister denied Tuesday that its intelligence service was behind the attack. Speaking in Malaysia, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said his country has no interest in destabilizing Afghanistan when both countries are fighting terrorism.
"We want stability in the region. We ourselves are a victim of terrorism and extremism," said Gilani on the sidelines of a summit of eight developing Islamic nations. He did not elaborate.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood condemned the attack on Monday, but Gilani's comment is the first high-level denial of involvement by the government.
This makes me wonder if the Pakistani regime is losing control of its own spy services. Pakistan's more radical Muslim factions within its own government are fanatical to the point where they have a de facto death wish: they want war against India, in the belief that Allah will grant them the victory and allow them to regain rule over the subcontinent. This despite the military reality that India is 4-10 times stronger than Pakistan, depending on the precise measure of military strength used, and that a total war between the two Powers would thus see Pakistan's utter annihilation and removal from the ranks of nation-states; even a limited war would see Pakistan's humiliation, as happened twice before.
America's alliance with Pakistan was an artifact of the Cold War, in which Pakistan was an important check against Russian expansion southward. With the Cold War over and Russia preoccupied with threats closer to home in Chechnya, there is really no good reason for this alliance. After all, Pakistan is now effectively sheltering Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, the organizations which actually attacked us on 9-11.
Perhaps the time has come for America to openly side with India against Pakistan, or at least to threaten to do so in order to force Pakistan to give us a free hand in her Northwest? An Indian alliance would certainly be more palatable: India is far more liberal and democratic than Pakistan. And certainly the Pakistani alliance is almost meaningless now, as it it would politically impossible for us to actually support Pakistan against India, her main foe in the region.
Pakistan is a false friend and a poor ally, and the time on the alliance is probably running out. Barack Obama has more or less said so, and the logic of John McCain's proposed policies would dictate a similar attitude.
In which case the time of Pakistan as a Power may also be running out.
I hope so.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080708/ap_on_re_as/afghan_explosion
This refers to the recent bomb outside the Indian Embassy in Kabul, which killed 41 and wounded 150, the deadliest attack in Afghanistan since 2001. Of course, most of the victims were Afghan, but (unlike the usual result in attacks of this sort) it actually succeeded in killing some of the Embassy staff, including four Indians (one a military attache, one a diplomat).
An Afghan security report released earlier Tuesday found that the bombing could not have succeeded without the support of foreign intelligence agencies, another reference to Pakistan, India's archrival.
"The sophistication of this attack and the kind of material that was used, the specific targeting, everything has the hallmarks of a particular agency that has conducted similar attacks inside Afghanistan. We have sufficient evidence to say that," Hamidzada said. "The project was designed outside Afghanistan. It was exported to Afghanistan."
If true, this would be a clear act of war by Pakistan against both India and Afghanistan. This would be very serious: Afghanistan is an American ally, and India a nuclear Power of considerably greater magnitude than Pakistan. This might rupture the US-Pakistani alliance and leave Pakistan friendless against an enraged India.
Unsurprisingly, the Pakistanis denied complicity:
Pakistan's prime minister denied Tuesday that its intelligence service was behind the attack. Speaking in Malaysia, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said his country has no interest in destabilizing Afghanistan when both countries are fighting terrorism.
"We want stability in the region. We ourselves are a victim of terrorism and extremism," said Gilani on the sidelines of a summit of eight developing Islamic nations. He did not elaborate.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood condemned the attack on Monday, but Gilani's comment is the first high-level denial of involvement by the government.
This makes me wonder if the Pakistani regime is losing control of its own spy services. Pakistan's more radical Muslim factions within its own government are fanatical to the point where they have a de facto death wish: they want war against India, in the belief that Allah will grant them the victory and allow them to regain rule over the subcontinent. This despite the military reality that India is 4-10 times stronger than Pakistan, depending on the precise measure of military strength used, and that a total war between the two Powers would thus see Pakistan's utter annihilation and removal from the ranks of nation-states; even a limited war would see Pakistan's humiliation, as happened twice before.
America's alliance with Pakistan was an artifact of the Cold War, in which Pakistan was an important check against Russian expansion southward. With the Cold War over and Russia preoccupied with threats closer to home in Chechnya, there is really no good reason for this alliance. After all, Pakistan is now effectively sheltering Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, the organizations which actually attacked us on 9-11.
Perhaps the time has come for America to openly side with India against Pakistan, or at least to threaten to do so in order to force Pakistan to give us a free hand in her Northwest? An Indian alliance would certainly be more palatable: India is far more liberal and democratic than Pakistan. And certainly the Pakistani alliance is almost meaningless now, as it it would politically impossible for us to actually support Pakistan against India, her main foe in the region.
Pakistan is a false friend and a poor ally, and the time on the alliance is probably running out. Barack Obama has more or less said so, and the logic of John McCain's proposed policies would dictate a similar attitude.
In which case the time of Pakistan as a Power may also be running out.
I hope so.