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Pakistan spy agency accused of directing attacks against US targets

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donsutherland1

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From MSNBC:

The Pakistani government, through its intelligence service, is "actively involved" in directing the militant Haqqani network to launch terrorist attacks against U.S. and Afghan government targets in Kabul, U.S. military officials tell NBC News.
The officials told NBC News the ISI, Pakistan's powerful spy agency, directed the attacks by Haqqani militants on the U.S. Embassy on Sept. 13 and on the Inter-Continental Hotel on June 28. It's suspected ISI also had a role in the massive truck bombing targeting an American base in eastern Afghanistan on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, the officials said.
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U.S.: Pakistan ISI directed Kabul embassy attack - World news - South and Central Asia - Pakistan - msnbc.com

If this is, in fact, accurate, then the U.S. should immediately cut off all financial, military, and technical aid to Pakistan unless those responsible are removed from Pakistan's government and all government-related entities. There needs to be concrete and credible evidence to justify such a drastic measure. Congress should immediately request that the evidence on which the allegations are being made is furnished to determine whether such a policy change is justified.

In the meantime, the President should direct the military to immediately devise a plan that would allow the military to rapidly eliminate the need for using Pakistan as a supply route for Afghanistan operations should the above measure become necessary.
 
I read a BBC article the other day that said that the Pakistan government is suspected to have ties to the Haqqani group. Guess this reiterates the claim.
 
If this is, in fact, accurate, then the U.S. should immediately cut off all financial, military, and technical aid to Pakistan unless those responsible are removed from Pakistan's government and all government-related entities. There needs to be concrete and credible evidence to justify such a drastic measure. Congress should immediately request that the evidence on which the allegations are being made is furnished to determine whether such a policy change is justified.
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Not feasible. Pakistan is our supply link into Afghanistan. If we cut off aid, we lose access and probably have to give up the whole campaign. Not that I really would be broken up about it, but it would make sense to stall for time to pull out before the roads get closed.
 
rathi said:
Not feasible. Pakistan is our supply link into Afghanistan. If we cut off aid, we lose access and probably have to give up the whole campaign. Not that I really would be broken up about it, but it would make sense to stall for time to pull out before the roads get closed.
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There are other vastly more expensive or politically impossible ways to get supplies to Afghanistan.

A land route through Russia and a couple central asian countries. Very expensive and would require some concessions to Russia (ie missile shield).

The politically impossible, but vastly cheaper route would be through Iran
 
donsutherland1 said:
From MSNBC:



U.S.: Pakistan ISI directed Kabul embassy attack - World news - South and Central Asia - Pakistan - msnbc.com

If this is, in fact, accurate, then the U.S. should immediately cut off all financial, military, and technical aid to Pakistan unless those responsible are removed from Pakistan's government and all government-related entities. There needs to be concrete and credible evidence to justify such a drastic measure. Congress should immediately request that the evidence on which the allegations are being made is furnished to determine whether such a policy change is justified.

In the meantime, the President should direct the military to immediately devise a plan that would allow the military to rapidly eliminate the need for using Pakistan as a supply route for Afghanistan operations should the above measure become necessary.
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As I've always suspected, the ISI has been in cahoots with various militant groups, and I think this is yet another hole in the ISI that shows they may very well have helped to hide Bin Laden, or stop other elements from finding him within the country.

There's one drawback to your proposed reaction, it could lead to the collapse of the Pakistani state, and we all know what that means.
 
rathi said:
Not feasible. Pakistan is our supply link into Afghanistan. If we cut off aid, we lose access and probably have to give up the whole campaign. Not that I really would be broken up about it, but it would make sense to stall for time to pull out before the roads get closed.
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It would be difficult, but it is not impossible. It would require "out of the box" thinking so to speak. Options include making arrangements in neighboring states or creating an "air bridge" modeled after the Berlin Airlift. Certainly, an alternative would be more expensive.

Right now, we don't yet know whether the allegations are accurate. If they are, it raises real problems. For now, Congress should seek that the evidence be furnished for a rigorous evaluation of that evidence.
 
rathi said:
Not feasible. Pakistan is our supply link into Afghanistan. If we cut off aid, we lose access and probably have to give up the whole campaign. Not that I really would be broken up about it, but it would make sense to stall for time to pull out before the roads get closed.
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Rathi is correct. Does anyone see a way to get to Afghanistan without going over a country that would not allow us in their airspace?
Afghanistan location.jpg
 
I thought when we found Bin Laden had been living a life of leisure in Pakistan we knew they were not our friends.
 
It's just an accusation for now, and even if proven true, we need to approach this situation carefully.

Despite their bad attitude, we can't afford to let Pakistan stand alone. If we leave they will become Taliban central, and as a nuclear power it would be disastrous.
 
Temporal said:
It's just an accusation for now, and even if proven true, we need to approach this situation carefully.

Despite their bad attitude, we can't afford to let Pakistan stand alone. If we leave they will become Taliban central, and as a nuclear power it would be disastrous.
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very unfortunately true.

:(


this news is horrible if true. I guess the old adage that "the enemy of my enemy, is my friend" sometimes ain't so.
 
The Pakistani government, through its intelligence service, is "actively involved" in directing the militant Haqqani network to launch terrorist attacks against U.S. and Afghan government targets in Kabul, U.S. military officials tell NBC News.
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Maybe the US government could cease the launching of attacks against targets in THEIR country.
It never ceases to amaze me that people get so bent out of shape when other countries do exactly the same thing to us that we do to them. :roll:
 
donsutherland1 said:
From MSNBC:



U.S.: Pakistan ISI directed Kabul embassy attack - World news - South and Central Asia - Pakistan - msnbc.com

If this is, in fact, accurate, then the U.S. should immediately cut off all financial, military, and technical aid to Pakistan unless those responsible are removed from Pakistan's government and all government-related entities. There needs to be concrete and credible evidence to justify such a drastic measure. Congress should immediately request that the evidence on which the allegations are being made is furnished to determine whether such a policy change is justified.

In the meantime, the President should direct the military to immediately devise a plan that would allow the military to rapidly eliminate the need for using Pakistan as a supply route for Afghanistan operations should the above measure become necessary.
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I have a better idea: we should identify critical targets within Pakistan and light their asses up.
 
Kandahar said:
Maybe the US government could cease the launching of attacks against targets in THEIR country.
It never ceases to amaze me that people get so bent out of shape when other countries do exactly the same thing to us that we do to them. :roll:
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We attacked the Paki government?
 
donsutherland1 said:
From MSNBC:



U.S.: Pakistan ISI directed Kabul embassy attack - World news - South and Central Asia - Pakistan - msnbc.com

If this is, in fact, accurate, then the U.S. should immediately cut off all financial, military, and technical aid to Pakistan unless those responsible are removed from Pakistan's government and all government-related entities. There needs to be concrete and credible evidence to justify such a drastic measure. Congress should immediately request that the evidence on which the allegations are being made is furnished to determine whether such a policy change is justified.

In the meantime, the President should direct the military to immediately devise a plan that would allow the military to rapidly eliminate the need for using Pakistan as a supply route for Afghanistan operations should the above measure become necessary.
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This is a very dangerous accusation to make in public. Are these officials sure it is not some rogue folks rather than government sanctioned?
 
washunut said:
This is a very dangerous accusation to make in public. Are these officials sure it is not some rogue folks rather than government sanctioned?
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Admiral Mullens didn't have any reason to lie about it.
 
apdst said:
We attacked the Paki government?
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Well, we've attacked their country without their permission (although not any government targets to my knowledge). If someone did that to us, wouldn't WE respond as if they had attacked our government? I mean, was 9/11 only an act of war because the Pentagon was government property? Surely we would've still fought against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda even if the attack on the Pentagon hadn't occurred that day.

I have a difficult time getting outraged that Pakistan might be directing attacks against US military targets, when the US is firing missiles from predator drones into Pakistan on a daily basis.
 
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Kandahar said:
Well, we've attacked their country without their permission (although not any government targets to my knowledge). If someone did that to us, wouldn't WE respond as if they had attacked our government? I mean, was 9/11 only an act of war because the Pentagon was government property? Surely we would've still fought against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda even if the attack on the Pentagon hadn't occurred that day.

I have a difficult time getting outraged that Pakistan might be directing attacks against US military targets, when the US is firing missiles from predator drones into Pakistan on a daily basis.
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I'm not aware of attacking targets within Pakistan, without the permission of the Pakistani government, except for killing UBL; and in that case, if they don't like, we should retaliate for the embassy bombing.
 
 
Read the articles - the Pakistani government was saying stop the drone bombings, they did not know the drones were coming, etc. The last article is from Al Jazeera (the Middle East leading news outlet) about Pakistan asking the US to stop.
 
Frolicking Dinosaurs said:
Read the articles - the Pakistani government was saying stop the drone bombings, they did not know the drones were coming, etc. The last article is from Al Jazeera (the Middle East leading news outlet) about Pakistan asking the US to stop.
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We were attacking AQ targets, not Paki targets. If the Paks have a problem with that, then ****'em. I say that we need to bomb the presidential palace in retaliation for the embassy bombing.
 
So if Mexico decides to bomb on a home in a south Texas neighborhood because they believe the leader of a murderous drug cartel is the house and - whoops - also blows up the houses on each side killing US citizens, you are going to be fine with it?
 
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