The congressional investigations from congressmen purporting to "support the troops" should have happened long ago. In 2010 Wikileaks exposed what everyone pretty much knew all along, that arms of the Pakistani government are key supporters of the insurgency in Afghanistan, up to and including the planning and execution of attacks on Americans and government targets:
The documents detail a 2006 meeting with senior Taliban leaders in which Pakistani officials pushed for an attack on Maruf, a district of Kandahar that lies beside the Pakistan border. An offensive began later that year.
The files also link active and retired ISI officers to some of the conflict's most notorious leaders. According to the reports, in 2007, they sent also 1,000 motorbikes for use in suicide attacks.
The reports name former ISI chief General Hamid Gul as a go-between and claim he regularly met al-Qaeda and Taliban commanders to order suicide attacks..
This is the kind of "classified information" for which
Private Bradley Manning is on trial for leaking, in the
"Afghan War Logs."
Then that same year Matt Waldman, formerly of Oxfam and author of a critical report on the corruption of western contractors in Afghanistan, interviewed nine insurgent field commanders, ten former senior Taliban officials, twenty-two Afghan elders, tribal leaders, and politicians, and many others, on the influence of the Pakistani ISI Secret Service on the Taliban in Afghanistan. His conclusion is fairly summarized by the words of one field commander:
‘They [the ISI] have specific groups under their control, for burning schools and such like. The ISI [also] has people working for it within the Taliban movement – it is clearer than the sun in the sky.’
Waldman is now a Kennedy School of Government fellow and scholar.
One southern commander said:
‘Another group of Taliban is directly supported by the ISI. They will never stop fighting in the country; they want to destroy the government and bring chaos. Behind all the attacks on … NGOs, schools, teachers, doctors, this is Pakistan. We cannot deny that it is Taliban; but there are Pakistan controlled groups among us. They want destabilisation. They are the enemies of our nation and our country. The people in charge of these factions are members of the Pakistani intelligence.
In a passage which should have triggered thundering speeches by the rednecks in $2,000 suits like Sen. Lindsay Graham, who never miss a chance to praise "ah men and women in unifahm," Waldman found:
Almost all the Taliban commanders interviewed believe the ISI are represented on the Quetta Shura. One senior southern commander said: ‘Every group commander knows the reality – which is obvious to all of us – that the ISI is behind the Taliban, they formed and are supporting the Taliban.’ He also explained why it was not widely known: ‘Every commander knows about the involvement of the ISI in the leadership but we do not discuss it because we do not trust each other, and they are much stronger than us. They are afraid that if they say anything against the Taliban or ISI it would be reported to the higher ranks – and they may be removed or assassinated ... Everyone sees the sun in the sky but cannot say it is the sun.’
Why does no journalist ask Romney what he thinks of this report when he plays the right-wing card, saying maybe we should stay in Afghanistan because he is not a weak appeaser?
And yes, Obama as Commander in Chief should have feigned some sort of concern as well. The Waldman report was not short on details, of which if even one-tenth were true, should have triggered marches by betrayed veterans to congressional district offices across the country. Especially those missing arms, legs, and of course, dear brothers no longer here. The report, "The Sun in the Sky," tells us:
a south-eastern commander put it: ‘We receive a lot of training, weapons, ammunition and expenses from the Pakistan government. Everyone knows Pakistan gives money, it goes centrally, then flow down.’ Another commander from a central province said: ‘Of course, it’s a huge project [the insurgency], it needs huge funding, IEDs [improvised explosive devices], ammunition, training, needs everything, all of this has been given by Pakistan. We do not have facilities to produce any of this. We get 10,000 Pakistani rupees ($120) per month for each Talib. This money comes from Pakistan, first to the [shadow] provincial governor, then to the district commander, then to the group commander. It is from the Pakistan government – but maybe other countries too, are paying from behind the curtain. One southern commander reported that groups were paid bonuses for successful attacks against coalition forces, usually of $2,000-3,000, which he believed were derived from ISI sources.
By "successful" we can take it that this means American boys barely old enough to drink who will be delivered to their mothers in boxes.
An AP report today indicates that Washington may understand that American patience with the charade which is costing us $8 billion every single month is running low, but in a bizarre passage, says:
the Obama administration must weigh the impact any public criticism of Pakistan may have on the country's cooperation with it in other areas, including getting supplies to troops in Afghanistan and negotiating peace with insurgents there.
Perhaps if we stopped supporting the people who are fomenting the insurgency, there would be little need for supplies in the first place. The report says the problem is "Pakistan's unwillingness to crack down on militants." Why would the Pakistani government crack down on militants? They are the militants.
Blowing an already over-the-top report out of the water, Waldman says:
According to a Talib who has regular contact with members of the Quetta Shura, in late March or early April this year President Zadari and a senior ISI official visited some 50 high ranking Talibs who were held in a prison in a secret location in Pakistan. Some 30-35 had been arrested in recent months, and 10-15 were longer-term prisoners. Reportedly, he told them they were arrested because he was under a lot of pressure from the Americans and that, ‘you are our people, we are friends, and after your release we will of course support you to do your operations.’ (Disturbingly, Zadari’s words echo what the ISI’s commanding general, Mahmud Ahmad, said to the Taliban’s Pakistan Ambassador, Abdul Salam Zaeef, in late in 2001, “We want to assure you that you will not be alone in this jihad against America. We will be with you”, as quoted by Steve Coll in his article (The New Yorker, 1 March 2010).
Ask your congressmen and senators if they "support the troops." Then ask them if they have read
"The Sun in the Sky." Because if they haven't, they don't support the troops.
It is bad enough that Congressman John Tierney has revealed that one major source of funding for the insurgency is the Pentagon itself, in his subcommittee report "Warlord Inc."
Polls show a record number of Americans don't want this war. The vast majority of Afghans don't want it either. So who wants it, and why do we keep giving Pakistan money, nearly $20 billion so far? No more proof is necessary that General Smedley Butler was dead right, all those years ago. War is a Racket.
"The likelihood that the U.S. will end up the loser in Afghanistan is a long-term worry. In the short-term, military contractors doing business in Afghanistan will make a boatload of money..." - Investing Daily, "How to Profit from the War in Afghanistan"
ISI "bonus"