In the latest of what seems like a real string of major developments in a war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, Mullah Abdul Kabir, said to be very influential in east Afghanistan, has been detained by the Pakistan government. Even though this reportedly took place several days ago, the American government says it still can't confirm this for sure-even though the Times (by way of the impeccable Dexter Filkins) asserts it directly. Weird, right?
Certainly it makes one wonder further about the constantly re-fraying relationship between Pakistan and the U.S.
Coming on the heels of Pakistan's arrest of Taliban honcho Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, this is a surprising turn of events in light of Pakistan's, let's say... conflicted ideas about how to handle leadership in the region.
And then there's this, which we expect to hear much more about.
Hajji Zaman Ghamsharik, an Afghan warlord accused of helping Osama bin Laden escape from the Americans at Tora Bora, was assassinated by a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest. The bomber killed him and 14 others as they gathered at a ceremony to distribute land to returning refugees at a village in his tribal stomping grounds near the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad.Um, what? Fascinating!
I'm not one to get misty eyed about Barack Obama, but it is a credit to his Administration that they have managed to capture or kill more high level Taliban leadership in six months than the Bush Administration did in six years.
I never think that the Bush people really tried very hard. Having a big, dangerous enemy was such good business for them. (Not that I think they would necessarily have succeeded if they had made an effort.)
Also: they were looking in the wrong country!
They can't be that dumb. Or can they?
Having read the New Yorker piece about the same situation, one [me] can't help but feel played by the wildly disparate forces who pass for policymakers in Pakistan, and wondering how long any "solution" or "resolution" might last.
Yes. It's often reported as this US vs. Taliban thing there when it is so much more wildly complex than that. There is fighting within the taliban and warlords and Pakistani groups acting on their own.
I heard that Ireland has a burgeoning temperance movement, too. Strange days indeed.
This scares me.
The Times might be jumping on this to make up for how, on the govt's request, the paper sat on the Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar story for several days. It took a lot of heat for that (granted, from people nobody gives a shit about). This might be their mulligan.
How AfPak of the Awl!