THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PAKISTAN AND THE TALIBAN

             

       In other to understand the puzzling and complex relationship between Pakistan and the Taliban, a credible source to turn is to the Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid, who has been warning for years that the problem of the complex relationship between Pakistan and the Taliban militants was being overlooked.

        In his book, Descent into Chaos he provides a shocking analysis of the crisis looming in Pakistan and the renewed radicalism threatening Afghanistan and Central Asia that will, if not addressed, impact deeply on the West. He also describes how the United States has ignored consolidating South and Central Asia, the homeland of global terrorism, in favour of invading Iraq.
       According to Rashid, Pakistan supported the Taliban when they were in power, so as to keep Afghanistan in Pakistan's corner against India. Since Sept. 11, 2001, the country's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, better known as ISI, has been duplicitous. It continues to provide sanctuary and military support for the Taliban, even to this day, while arresting some Arabs among their fighters to appease the Americans.

        According to Rashid, Iraq is however not a global international threat. But rather the threat is coming from what is happening in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia. Rashid claims the Taliban leadership were given sanctuary at the very highest level by the Pakistani army in Quetta and they are still living in Quetta. This marked the very key to the Taliban insurgency. The other allies of the Taliban, who have settled up in northern Pakistan, were also given sanctuary.     

       Indeed, and according to Rashid it appears that almost every single important extremist leader is now living on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. That is al-Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban, the Afghan Taliban, the Islamic movement of Uzbekistan, the various Chechyan groups, Kashmiris, Chinese extremists. In fact, anyone in Asia, who is interested in global jihad and al-Qaeda philosophy, is sitting there on the border, receiving training, money, and everything else.

      Rashid is of the opinion that from 2001 to about 2004 there was a holding policy in Afghanistan. The American administration was not interested in rebuilding or reconstructing the nation, empowering the government or empowering the people. Afghanistan was left to the CIA and to the Defence Department. They were given $1 billion and they were told to "Make peace, empower the warlords, and let them run the country while we do Iraq. And if they can help us find bin Laden and al-Qaeda that would be useful."

       However, the problem was that half the warlords were in bed with al-Qaeda at the time. So they were receiving money both from al-Qaeda and from the Americans. And they obviously didn't help the Americans find anyone.

       To corroborate the fact that a mutual relationship thus exist between Pakistan and the Taliban, the then president of Pakistan, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, acknowledged that, "There is no doubt Afghan militants are supported from Pakistan soil."  While Musharraf admitted the Taliban were being sheltered in the lawless frontier border regions, a declassified U.S. document released in August 14, 2007 clearly illustrate that the Taliban was directly funded, armed and advised by Islamabad itself. (Even though Pakistani officials up till this day reject allegations that their country's powerful intelligence agency still supports the Taliban and other Afghan insurgents).

        The released documents reflect U.S. apprehension about Islamabad's longstanding provision of direct aid and military support to the Taliban, including the use of Pakistani troops to train and fight alongside the Taliban inside Afghanistan. The records released also represent the most complete and comprehensive collection of declassified documentation to date on Pakistan's aid programs to the Taliban, illustrating Islamabad's firm commitment to a Taliban victory in Afghanistan.

      Islamabad however denies that it ever provided military support to the Taliban, but the newly-released documents report that in the weeks following the Taliban takeover of Kabul in 1996, Pakistan's intelligence agency was "supplying the Taliban forces with munitions, fuel, and food." Pakistan's Inter service Intelligence Directorate was "using a private sector transportation company to funnel supplies into Afghanistan and to the Taliban forces."  Other documents also conclude that there has been an extensive and consistent history of "both military and financial assistance to the Taliban."

     Thus, the objective or the aim of the international community or the U.S.-led intervention in 2001 was how to end the safe havens of terrorists in the region and how to make the government of Afghanistan not to be a threat to others and to be able to defend its country. Unfortunately, none of these objectives have been achieved yet.  This according to observers was because the bush administration was more concerned about the threat of Iraq and al-Qaeda. And also because Pakistan has greatly supported the current Taliban insurgencies experience in Pakistan to this day!