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Saturday, September 24, 2011

US allegations baseless or?


In testimony before the Senate Thursday, Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that agents of Pakistan’s spy agency—Inter-services Intelligence, or I.S.I.—provided support for last week’s attack on the American Embassy in Kabul. That is stunning news. It may turn out to be the event that compels President Obama and his advisors to finally force significant changes in America’s alliance—the word is used lightly here—with Pakistan’s military and civilian leaders. As I suggested in a recent piece on Pakistan, we should not be surprised by the I.S.I.’s blatant venality, or by its willingness to act so aggressively against American interests, despite the billions of dollars Pakistan receives each year in aid. The United States embassy was attacked on September 13th by a group of insurgents who American officials say came from the Haqqani network, an especially lethal group that is allied with the Taliban. The assault was extraordinarily brazen: the American Embassy is in downtown Kabul, and is adjacent to the headquarters for the American military and its NATO allies. Sixteen people were killed, including eleven civilians—six of them children. (The Embassy itself was not breached.) The Embassy attack was one in a series of spectacular operations, which have included assassinations and suicide bombings, that have contributed to a growing sense of demoralization among the Afghans and their American sponsors. If the I.S.I. was indeed involved in the planning or direction of the Embassy attack, it would constitute the most dramatic evidence yet that the Pakistani military and security agencies are actively trying to subvert the American-led project in Afghanistan. But it would not be the first such evidence: American and Western officials have been saying for years that the I.S.I. actively supports Taliban and Haqqani insurgents who are killing American troops. In 2008, according to American officials, I.S.I. agents helped facilitate the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, which killed fifty-four people. Privately, senior Pakistani officials have even referred to the Haqqani network as their strategic asset. Stripped to its essence, the Pakistani rationale for supporting the Haqqani group is this: the Pakistanis don’t know if the United States is going to prevail in Afghanistan—all signs suggest that the American effort has peaked—and Pakistan wants to maintain an agent of influence inside Afghanistan that will advance its own interests if the U.S. fails. By backing Haqqani and the Taliban, of course, the I.S.I. makes that eventuality all the more likely. What can the United States do? The answer is not as easy as it seems. As much as eighty-five per cent of NATO’s supplies and materiel in the region flows through Pakistan. The alternative routes—though Iran or Central Asia—are at least as problematic. That reliance has obviously led senior Pakistani officers to believe they can flout American demands—and even, it appears, help kill American andNATO soldiers. But Pakistan’s leverage may not be as great as some of the country’s senior military leaders believe. American tolerance for Pakistan’s double game is waning fast, especially in Congress, as is American support for the war in Afghanistan. It might be a first, but don’t be surprised if this time, Pakistan—caught in the act—is forced to face the consequences of its actions.

15 killed in renewed violence in Yemeni capital


Renewed violence in the Yemeni capital killed at least 15 people as forces loyal to the regime and its opponents shelled each other s strategic positions from hills surrounding the city, medical and security official said.The shelling over the city has terrified residents and emptied out city streets, already pockmarked by street battles between rival forces in different corners of the capital. A number of shops in a main boulevard in Sanaa were torched from earlier mortar shelling and oil spots covered the streets after electricity transformers also took a hit. Smoke billowed from the opposite edges of the city, as two military officials said rival forces were caught in an exchange of artillery and mortar shelling from northern and southern hills at the edge of Sanaa. It was not clear what was hit by the shelling. The Republican Guards, forces loyal to Saleh and led by the son of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, have been in control of the south of Sanaa, while defecting military units led by Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, a former Saleh aide who sided with the opposition, hold the city s north. Officials said six people were killed in central Sanaa when government forces shelled thousands gathered for a protest there with mortars and rocket propelled grenades. Snipers on rooftops also targeted the protesters at Change Square, the center of Yemen s seven-month-old uprising, and adjacent streets. Three bystanders were killed by a mortar shell in Sanaa s northern Hassaba district, the officials said. The district is home to several of the tribal chiefs who switched sides in March to join the opposition against Saleh s 33-year rule. The Interior Ministry later said four gunmen among supporters of Saleh were also killed. The rival side said one of its fighters was shot dead and 13 were wounded. The house of a former defense minister, who has declared his support for the protesters, was also hit by government shells, leaving one of the guards dead, a defecting military official said. The former minister himself was unharmed. The latest deaths took to about 100 the number of people killed in Sanaa and elsewhere in Yemen since Sunday, in the worst bout of bloodshed in months. The deaths also shattered hope that a cease-fire negotiated on Tuesday could be restored and significantly diminished the chances for a proposal by Yemen s Gulf Arab neighbors to end the crisis. The Gulf plan, backed by the United States, provides for Saleh to step down in exchange for immunity from prosecution and for the vice president to assume power until elections.