A stream of U.S. military intelligence reports accuse Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency of arming, training and financing the Taliban insurgency since 2004, the war logs reveal, bringing fresh scrutiny on one of the war’s most contentious issues. …
But for all their eye-popping details, the intelligence files, which are mostly collated by junior officers relying on informants and Afghan officials, fail to provide a convincing smoking gun for ISI complicity. Most of the reports are vague, filled with incongruent detail, or crudely fabricated. The same characters—famous Taliban commanders, well-known ISI officials—and scenarios repeatedly pop up. And few of the events predicted in the reports subsequently occurred. …
The shaky intelligence does not mean the U.S. does not believe the ISI is supporting the Taliban. The spy agency nurtured the Taliban in the 1990s and, although it purported to sever its ties after 9/11, is believed to maintain the relationship.
The British and U.S. governments have repeatedly urged Pakistan to root out the Taliban from their sanctuary inside the border, with little effect. …
But many of the 180 reports appear to betray as much about the motivation of the sources than those of the alleged foreign puppet-masters.. Access the full article>>
