Our Man in Islamabad

 
My earlier posts about Jamaat ul-Fuqra discussed the founder and leader of the organization, Sheikh Gilani, who happens to be a Pakistani.

Tablighi Jamaat, the huge umbrella organization whose fingers seem to reach into every terrorist group, was founded by a Pakistani and is based in Pakistan.

Pakistan is home to hundreds of extremist madrassas, those “schools” of indoctrination that have unleashed thousands of would-be terrorists to all corners of the globe.

The Taliban regime in Afghanistan was primarily a creature of the Pakistani military and Pakistan’s intelligence service, the ISI.

Osama bin Laden was a protégé of Pakistan’s General Musharraf, resided in Pakistan for a period, and was supported and maintained by Pakistan in his Afghan operations.

The leadership and rank-and-file of Al Qaeda contain numerous Pakistanis. Almost every time a major Al Qaeda operative is captured or killed, it turns out that he is either a Pakistani or is residing in Pakistan.

Just look at this rogues’ gallery:     John Walker Lindh, the “American Taliban”, trained in Pakistan	Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Pakistani 9/11 planner
Richard Reid, the “Shoe Bomber”, trained in Pakistan	Ramzi Youssef, 1993 WTC bomber, traced to Pakistan

Now look at this article in the Bharat Rakshak Monitor from the fall of 2002.

The other person who is widely perceived to be knowledgeable about the [9/11] conspiracy is Pakistan dictator Pervez Musharraf. He has recently commented [Hilton020808] that the sophistication of the 9/11 plot was far beyond the capabilities of Osama bin Laden as he knew him. Freudian slip or not, this agrees with several media reports regarding the involvement of Pakistani entities in most plots, attempts and actual terrorist attacks upon the United States in the last decade.

The highest levels of Pakistan’s military and intelligence services are deeply intertwined with Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. Notorious terrorists reside and operate with seeming impunity in Pakistan, only to be “captured” or killed suddenly at politically expedient moments. The latest example is Hamza Rabia.

Why is it, then, that Pakistan is repeatedly identified as our “ally in the War on Terror”?

According to the Bharat Rakshak Monitor,

…it is worthwhile to note that many of the 9/11 hijackers are reported to have attended or signed up for flight schools in the US and elsewhere — but none are reported to have actually demonstrated proficiency as pilots of large aircraft. In fact, most are pooh-poohed for incompetence. One hijacker is indeed reported to have had a Saudi commercial pilot license — but had gone around failing basic flying courses in the US!

It is useful to ask whether an organization known for “meticulous planning” would depend on such hit-or-miss training of their spearheads. Atta and his PAF classmate are reported to have won top honors at the technical school in Hamburg. During the 9/11 hijackings, the terrorist pilots showed high levels of proficiency in avoiding Air Traffic Control, finding targets accurately, and zeroing in on the WTC Tower using a high-G turn. In the Pentagon attack, the plane came in at 400 knots near-ground level. These skills went far beyond those implied by their scattered piloting lessons, and they worked in four teams with all the ruthless assurance of military squads. The flight school stories appear to be ways of establishing false identities and hiding the true piloting credentials of the terrorists and their military backgrounds.

So all of that training in American flight schools, all of the “I don’t need to learn how to take off or land, I only need to learn how to fly the plane once it’s up” folderol, was just a smokescreen to mislead the inevitable investigators who would come sniffing down the pilots’ trail after 9/11. All of it was designed to protect the air forces of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Most of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudis, but the planning, direction, training, logistics, and financing were largely undertaken by Pakistan and Pakistani surrogates.

So what does Pakistan get out of all this dangerous behavior?

First of all, the Pakistani zealots — the true-believer Islamists — get to attack the Great Satan and the hated infidels.

The rest of the oligarchy that rules Pakistan — the cynics, power-brokers, rich playboys, and time-servers — get to raise vast quantities of money via the jihad process, utilizing the Islamic “charities” and the time-honored practices of extortion and hostage-taking. Lacking the oil resources of Saudi Arabia and Iran, the leaders of Pakistan, by milking the terrorist enterprise, are able to maintain themselves in power.

And why is all of this not widely known? Why do the media concentrate on Iraq and Afghanistan, and ignore Pakistan?

Even Michael Ledeen means Iran when he says, “Faster, please.”

Why does Pakistan get a free pass? Is it because of the nukes?

The danger that Pakistan poses for the United States has been downplayed, ignored, or dismissed out of hand for at least fifteen years, throughout the current and three previous administrations. The breadth and depth of aid that America provides to a country which so obviously works toward our destruction is perverse. This is a malign enterprise.

Now look at the official web page for the capital of Pakistan, whose title is “Islamabad, The Capital of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.”

My emphasis.


Update: commenter Hank_F_M points out that the Islamabad site is not, in fact, an official web page. I stand corrected.