Information regarding the location of 29 Taliban bases, ID’d by U.S. intelligence and shared with Pakistan, has lost its targeting value for Islamabad’s promised offensive against the militant group with the apparent evacuation of 28 of the training camps along the country’s northern border with Afghanistan.
The U.S. presented Pakistan with a dossier meticulously detailing the bases’ locations in the tribal areas of North Waziristan and South Waziristan, but, according to a report by Asia Times, the camps ‘have simply fallen off the radar.‘ Neither the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led coalition in Afghanistan nor Pakistan intelligence have detected any movement in the camps since early this month.
On-the-ground intelligence from both sides of the national border indicate all camps but one, operated by a hardline Islamist mullah, have been dismantled and all Taliban commanders, as well as leaders of Arab insurgent groups in the country, have disappeared. [source]
Funny coincidence that the camps went away right after we told Pakistan about them. Persident Musharraf might be our ally, but the bulk of the Pakistani government isn’t. I understand that it would be foolish to declare war on every muslim country, but why are we giving them intelligence that helps our enemy?
I think a better way to tell Pakistan about the location of the Taliban bases would be to simply say “look for the mushroom clouds – that’s where they were”.
