Pakistan: The Anti-American "Ally"
by Lawrence A. Franklin • November 4, 2021 at 4:30 pm
In an interview aired in the US in June 2021, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that Pakistan will deny US use of its territory for "over-the-horizon" surveillance of possible terrorist activity in Afghanistan. Now, there are negotiations for the US to use Pakistan's airspace for military operations in Afghanistan, but is this really an ally on which the United States can count?
Pakistan helped bankroll and arm the largely Pashtun Taliban terrorist movement, and Pakistani anti-personnel and anti-vehicle landmines were prevalent in Afghanistan. Often, Taliban fighters were extended refuge in sites established by the Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agents. Islamabad's pro-Taliban stance could also be seen in ISI's construction of logistical re-supply depots and training camps for Taliban fighters. Moreover, on occasion. Pakistani military officers, provided direct military support to the Taliban.
At times, it seemed as if Musharraf was Pakistan's face for the Americans, while other generals continued supporting
In the months before 9/11, it became clear that US counterterrorist policy was focused on the eventual takedown of the Taliban's and Al Qaeda's ever-widening support for jihadi terrorists. It was then that the ISI cold-shouldered Washington by sponsoring huge pro-Taliban rallies in Pakistan's main cities of Peshawar and Lahore. Even then, it proved difficult for CIA field officers and Station Chiefs to fully shut down their ties to their old ISI counterparts. Reportedly, the CIA Station Chief in Islamabad caustically objected to the US decision to assist anti-Taliban Northern Alliance forces in Afghanistan, because, the officer stated, it would infuriate the ISI.
Pakistan ultimately may pay dearly for enabling Afghanistan's Taliban. The group consists of diverse movements, such as the so-called Pakistani Taliban (Tehrek-e-Taliban) , a coalition of at least ten terrorist organizations dedicated to overthrowing Pakistan's regime. Its recruits include former Taliban members from Afghanistan who had assessed that their former organization was too indulgent of infidels.
Pakistan has not really been an ally of the West for decades. It was Islamabad that gave Osama bin Laden asylum until he was brought to justice by US Special Operations forces in 2011. Now, the Pakistan's government seems to have positioned the country into China's sphere of influence.
Pakistan, once presumed an ally of the US, has been willfully responsible for the slaughter of many US and NATO troops by having massively assisted enemy jihadists in Afghanistan. Throughout the 20-year presence of US forces in Afghanistan, Pakistani intelligence operations have included the recruiting, training and arming of the largely ethnic Pashtun Taliban.
