Tweet
That number includes Abdul Ghani Baradar, an arrest already announced, but also other top commanders like Abdul Qayoum Zakir, a former Guantánamo inmate also known as Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul currently thought to be the insurgents' head of military operations.
The people I've talked to here in Washington so far, including US counterinsurgency specialists, dismiss that view as too cynical. The belief in the White House and in Central Command is that there has been a genuine change of heart in the Pakistani military establishment and that it has recognised the Taliban (Pakistani and Afghan) as an existential threat.
My own thought is that the premise behind the Monitor's take is surprisingly optimistic. It suggests that nearly half the Quetta Shura could be ready for talks.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/juli...an?INTCMP=SRCH
The people I've talked to here in Washington so far, including US counterinsurgency specialists, dismiss that view as too cynical. The belief in the White House and in Central Command is that there has been a genuine change of heart in the Pakistani military establishment and that it has recognised the Taliban (Pakistani and Afghan) as an existential threat.
My own thought is that the premise behind the Monitor's take is surprisingly optimistic. It suggests that nearly half the Quetta Shura could be ready for talks.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/juli...an?INTCMP=SRCH
Comment