Abu Muqawama retains its autonomy and the views and beliefs expressed within the blog do not reflect those of CNAS.
In Pakistan, news of Wikileaks's Afghan cache is officially being seen as an affront to Pakistan's dignity/more lies/a general anti-Pakistan conspiracy etc etc. My favourite reaction is from an ISI man who tells the Guardian's Declan Walsh:
"It's very strange such a huge cache of information can be leaked to the media so conveniently," he said. "Is it something deliberate? What is its purpose? We'll be looking into that."
It would have been really interesting to find out how the ISI would "look into that". But, unfortunately, he doesn't go into it.
But Pakistan is much complex in it's opinions than you might gather from the odd official one-line riposte. For a more nuanced view, and one - that in my experience of speaking to people from various walks of life - is much more reflective of the everyday conversations that people have away from a TV camera or reporters' notebook, read Mosharraf Zaidi's op-ed in the Daily News.
"Wikileaks' purpose in releasing these files has nothing to do with Pakistan, or India, or Afghanistan. Its purpose is to expose the incompetence, myopia and failure of the US-led war in Afghanistan. Wikileaks is an anti-war organisation. This means that the expose is not a part of any kind of campaign against Pakistan. If Pakistan looks bad in the crossfire of domestic American politics surrounding the Afghan war, that's Pakistan's bad.
"Over time, the space provided by an ineffective Pakistani state has helped the ISI occupy in western minds, what the Mossad and CIA represent in the Muslim world: a convenient red-herring to explain the complexities, difficulties and unpleasantness of war and diplomacy in a post-9/11 world."
And my favourite part:
"Western conspiracy theories about Pakistan's evil double-cross in Afghanistan don't need to be rooted in absolute truth, just a scant kernel of the truth will often do. In that way, it is once again eminently clear that talk of a "clash of civilisations" is garbage. It turns out that human beings are the same everywhere."
But don't rely on my pull-out quotes; read the whole thing.
UPDATE: OK, i might be ruining Mosharraf's subtlety here by explicitly drawing attention to it, but I think it's too good a point to risk being lost on a quick-scan read: Pakistan's obsession with conspiracy theories are a comfort blanket used to avoid thinking about uncomfortable realities. In the same way, the US and its allies concentration on blaming the ISI also provides a comfort blanket.
"There is much comfort in finding Pakistan and the ISI under every rock and IED in Afghanistan. The small kernels of truth that enable ISI conspiracy theories are a matter for Pakistanis to take seriously and address. But they also help the US and its allies in Afghanistan avoid the uncomfortable reality of Obama's Afghan war. This is a war that does not have a happy ending for anyone. This is a war that has made America, Pakistan, India, Iran and Afghanistan less safe."
That's all fine and dandy, Londonstani. Moving on to more important stuff, have any of you wonks viewed the trailer for "Machete"?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I16020r--oM (Danny Trejo in "Machete")
Pakistan's been producing Mosharraf Zaidi types since 1947 - liberal sounding hacks who are essentially defending Pakistani establishment interests. Pakistani elites like him have had a symbiotic relationship with clueless state department liberals for a long time. I wonder why you people fall for this crap.
Look essentially, what he's saying is despite the scads of evidence to the contrary, ISI involvement in Afghanistan is a figment of your imagination or at the very least grossly exaggarated to compensate for your country's failure in the region. Also that you are no better than wild-eyed conspiracy theorists in the Muslim world who see Mossad and CIA in every domestic problem. What you folks need is a little bit of moral clarity to call bs on that false equivalence and a little less elite-on-elite incest to see past the bs and see him for what he is - a rich Pakistani who is committed to defending his social class's policies in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. The fact that he's latched on to the anti-war left in the US is fascinating.
Pakistan's been producing Mosharraf Zaidi types since 1947 - liberal sounding hacks who are essentially defending Pakistani establishment interests. Pakistani elites like him have had a symbiotic relationship with clueless state department liberals for a long time. I wonder why you people fall for this crap.
Look essentially, what he's saying is despite the scads of evidence to the contrary, ISI involvement in Afghanistan is a figment of your imagination or at the very least grossly exaggarated to compensate for your country's failure in the region. Also that you are no better than wild-eyed conspiracy theorists in the Muslim world who see Mossad and CIA in every domestic problem. What you folks need is a little bit of moral clarity to call bs on that false equivalence and a little less elite-on-elite incest to see past the bs and see him for what he is - a rich Pakistani who is committed to defending his social class's policies in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. The fact that he's latched on to the anti-war left in the US is fascinating.
gee schtick, did we read the same article?
"If Pakistan looks bad in the crossfire of domestic American politics surrounding the Afghan war, that's Pakistan's bad." ............Virtually no serious commentator or analyst anywhere, even those embedded deep in the armpit of the Pakistani establishment, claims that the Pakistani state was not instrumental in the creation, training and sustenance of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan. Given the nature of the relationship between the Pakistani state and the Afghan Taliban, one that goes right to the genetic core of the Taliban, it is hard to imagine that all ties can ever be severed. Again, for serious people, this is an issue that is done and dusted. Pakistan's state, and indeed, its society, had, has and will continue to have linkages with the Afghan Taliban.
that sounds to me like it is not a crazy conspiracy, it is pakistan's bad. what is it you have a problem with? you don't like the lingo about the ISI being in the same sentence as the cia and mossad? bummerella.
he knows his audience isn't stupid, so he has to acknowledge the ISI's role but his agenda is to a) rationalize it ("Moral judgments about these linkages are external to this fact.") and b) to downplay it. It's establishment image management at a slightly higher level, tailor-made for the audience (sophisticated leftist anti war crowd). By the way, the part about the linkages deserving scrutiny by the Pakistani parliament is a riot.
"In the same way, the US and its allies concentration on blaming the ISI also provides a comfort blanket."
And you aren't looking for one yourself?
Blaming wikileaks for the undermining your PR? Assange "isn't a journalist." Professional journalists would have lied for you.
Just as professional politios lied about Musharraf, and Zia and professional soldiers... and on and on.
What bothers you is that others are as cynical about your 'realism' as you are about what you would call others' fantasies.
"[country name] has been producing [individual's name] types since [date here] - liberal sounding hacks who are essentially defending [country name] establishment interests."
Thank you Julian Assange
And while I'm here
If journalists had done a better job... but no.
All star cast! Michelle Rodriquez from SWAT, Jessica Alba, Cheech Marin, that guy from Dusk til Dawn... It's about time Danny Trejo got a movie, I hope he gets to boink Jessica Alba and Michelle Rodriquez, that slutsbian hottie.
http://www.amazon.com/Education-Felon-Memoir-Edward-Bunker/dp/0312280769
I first read about Danny Trejo in Bunker's "Education of a Felon", recommended reading by our D.I.s although never placed on the official Marine Corps reading list.
I hope the Chinese pirate this movie ASAP and make it available for our boys in Iraq and Afghanistan to see.
I'm sure they'll love this in Pakistan also. I see future analogies of Machete from the anti-PC-COIN bubbas soon, which I'm sure would be better than Dr. Foust's "Glee" analogy, which was just, well... gay.
I mean a Gattling Gun on a motorcycle, fellas. How badass is that. This is something the American military and the Taliban can enjoy and watch together, while all the Bacha Bazis/advisors/Central Asian experts can wait in the back room, while real men enjoy a real good flick.
For chrissakes Robert de Deniro and Dos XXs "World's most interesting Man" are in this movie.
Machete. Folks (and those who are prone to homo-erotic tendencies, ehhmm... Josh) this is your true-COIN movie of the decade, tell the President, Gen. McChrystal, Biden, Glen Beck, Bob Gates, old Leon P. from Monterey, CA, those kids controlling joysticks in Nevada apportioning death & destruction half a world away and Mrs. Priest, please watch this. Oh yeah, and that cute lesbian from MSNBC, the Rhodes scholar.
Machete.
"The funds in question were administered by the US Department of Defence between 2004 and 2007, and were earmarked for reconstruction projects. But, the report says, a lack of proper accounting makes it impossible to say exactly what happened to most of the money."
i suggest one look around the middle east and locate a particular region w/a surge of construction over the years in question. hmm
schtick, "I wonder why you people fall for this crap......What you folks need is a little bit of moral clarity"
too bad you're just a 2 bit hack blogger and not some important policy wonk in charge of our national security!!!!!!!!!
we're so very lucky to have your step by step instructions on how to read the post. oh, you may want to do a rethink on "Moral judgments about these linkages are external to this fact." he's not rationalizing the training and sustenance of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan by this statement, he's cutting off the readers instinct to rationalize it regardless of moral argument. but you would know that if you flexed those reading comprehension muscles between breaks in your schtick theory (which btw, is a riot).
http://www.vivamachete.com/
You forgot Steven Seagal. Steven fuckin' SEAGAL, man. Back from the dead.
"There is much comfort in finding Pakistan and the ISI under every rock and IED in Afghanistan. "
Yes, because otherwise the US would have to admit to a much greater degree than at present just how corrupt and incompetent the Afghan "government" is and how this unholy marriage of Western "private" partners (nobody is private, btw, as long as their teeth are firmly clasped on Uncle Sam's teet) and government is becoming what appears to be one of the biggest heists of this century, right up there alongside the Wall Street bailout.
Pakistan, while probably up to its gills in seedy doings, provides a useful foil for folks seeking to shift blame and annoyance away from the Afghans and Western contractors.
First, consider these issues:
1) These are historical documents, not too relevant to the present situation operationally speaking, but of great interest to anyone wishing to extend Steve Coll's Ghost Wars narrative up to the present date.
2) The timing of the release of these documents may be intended to capture news cycle headlines in the most spectacular possible manner, while embarrassing U.S., Afghanistan and Pakistani officials as well.
3) This draws attention from what would otherwise be the main story on Afghanistan right now: the Washington Post expose on the defense intelligence contracting system by Dana Priest & William Arkin - headlines like these:
Private contractors working for the CIA have recruited spies in Iraq, paid bribes for information in Afghanistan and protected CIA directors visiting world capitals.
Now, if you read the intelligence assessment that was handed to CNAS, you might also want to read between the lines - here's the WaPo again:
Still, close to 30 percent of the workforce in the intelligence agencies is contractors.
Why are private contractors an issue?
"A second concern of Panetta's: contracting with corporations, whose responsibility “is to their shareholders, and that does present an inherent conflict.”
Now, I've got a little conspiracy theory to float - namely that Wikileaks is a dupe or a front, doesn't really matter which, and that private contractors looking to spike the WaPo & CNAS stories on Afghanistan intelligence contracting are the true sources of these documents. Now, if there is a curious lack of reference to private intelligence contractors in these documents (not the grunts and cooks and security guards) - if that's been left out entirely - then this little theory gets a little more robust.
Now, let's take a closer look at Wikileaks:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2010/06/wikileaks_review.html
In fact, WikiLeaks must be counted among the enemies of open society because it does not respect the rule of law nor does it honor the rights of individuals. Last year, for example, WikiLeaks published the “secret ritual” of a college women’s sorority called Alpha Sigma Tau. Now Alpha Sigma Tau (like several other sororities “exposed” by WikiLeaks) is not known to have engaged in any form of misconduct, and WikiLeaks does not allege that it has. Rather, WikiLeaks chose to publish the group’s confidential ritual just because it could. This is not whistleblowing and it is not journalism. It is a kind of information vandalism.
However, it does serve to generate controversy and raise news interest - it's steamy, and it gives Wikileaks more oomph. Check out their founder on Colbert Report... watch carefully, now - how polished is the delivery? Why the whole cloak-and-dagger charade?
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/260785/april-12-2...
Anyway, that's my theory - and of course, his claim that all information should be freely available is bull - is he going to publish nuclear weapon blueprints, for example?
those dern chinese sure are smart. while they're investing billions in the gwadar port and other important infrastructure projects in pakistan they've got us dying to provide the security. now that's a neat trick.
Great post, genetic core is an admission against self interest. The fact is that the article squares with logic of reason. Mosharraf Zaidi's schtick does not tackle it from that angle but gets wrapped up in the authors motivations. Any pro knows that the mind reading of motivations is a waste of time dude.
If Machete comes close to the Moltisanti/Lupertazzi film 'Cleaver', it will be a smashing success.
Hey--Was the ISI behind that 5 party civil war set off by Dr Josh's recent bacha bazi performance in the south? Because, IMO, the guy is just not that talented.
Not that talented? NOT that Talented!!!
Have you seen his Lady Gaga impersonations? or his modern dance interpretation of "Glee"'s interpretation of Lady Gaga's "Pokerface"? Give credit, where credit is due, man. Dr. Josh Foust, revolutionized Bacha Bazi since becoming an expert of the Central Asian region a few years back.
I mean just thinking about it makes want to suck on those beautiful, voluptuous man boobs. mmmmm...
I believe Dr. Foust sent Exum a copy of his recent Bacha Bazi performance and the blow by blow of the night with a particular warlord in the south, who may be leaked in Wikileaks soon enough.
Goodness Gracious, I've got the vapors!
Wiki-leaks has obtained my 11 herbs and spices needed for the KFC secret recipe.
Let it be known.... "I shall not stop until every last one of them is dead. Finger licking dead."
The Colonel is coming out of retirement to put Assange in the Judas Craddle!
http://www.medievality.com/judas-craddle.html
Now imagine "The Colonel" with me wee *beady* eyes, and smug look on me face. "Oh, you're gonna buy my chicken! Ohhhhh!"
Man boobs? That rules out ISI. Saline implants would suggest MI-6, whereas silicone would be a classic Mossad signature. Plain old human flab? Toss up between Quds force and GIS. The mystery of Dr. Joshua, bacha bazi phenom, appears an increasingly complex and intoxicating wilderness of mirrors.
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