Did rogue spies or 'Pakistani Blackwater' shield Osama bin Laden?

[MADem]

I recognize that Pakistan is technically "South West Asia" as is Afghanistan, but we have no SWA forum or group, and the perpetrator discussed in this article is quite clearly from the heart of the Middle East, a native of Saudi Arabia. That is my motivation for posting this article here:

http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/30/11465937-did-rogue-spies-or-pakistani-blackwater-shield-osama-bin-laden?lite

Kamran Bokhari, vice-president for Middle Eastern and South Asian Affairs at Stratfor, a global intelligence company, believes the idea that bin Laden moved around without a network of individuals organizing his transportation and logistics is simply not possible.

"If you're a six-foot-five Arab, and the most wanted man on the planet, you can't just walk into a place like Pakistan without support," Bokhari said. "So what's the nature of that support?"

U.S. officials publicly state they have no evidence that any Pakistani institutional leaders had any knowledge of bin Laden's presence here, nor played any role in helping to move him. Privately, however, some admit that the deep mistrust between the two nations has led to strong, lingering suspicions within many in the U.S. that Pakistan's premier intelligence agency -- Inter-Services Intelligence, or the ISI -- must have known, at some level.


"There are deep suspicions on both sides," says retired General Mahmud Ali Durrani, a former Pakistan army chief and ambassador to the United States. "I think the biggest concern in the U.S., if I put it in a phrase, is that Pakistan is hunting with the hounds and running with the hares. That is the perception."

[Old and In the Way]

1. I think it's pretty obvious that Pakistan is a deeply schizophrenic State.

There appears to be a significant penetration of AQ support within ISI and the military.

What I find more troubling is the previous administration's complete disinterest with getting OBL. Allowing SA prince's and members of the Bin Laden family to escape right after 9/11 with the Bush administration help; Bush's pronouncement 6 month's after 9/11 that the "architect of 9/11" was no longer a priority; and allowing OBL and Al Quida safe passage out of Tora Bora. And lets not forget the huge amount of "anti-terrorism" aid the Bush administration threw at Pakistan - was that to fight terror or keep OBL under wraps? At some level, there was more value to OBL being alive and available for Bush's GWOT and development of their ME agenda, then finding him and killing him. No surprise that OBL spent most of the decade holed up in Pakistan under the protection of the ISI and military. The real issue is why the previous administration couldn't or wouldn't go after OBL in the 7 years after 9/11.

[MADem]

2. Rumor has it the ISI murdered a journalist that was touching on these issues.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/09/19/110919fa_fact_filkins

The above links to an article describing what happened to Saleem Shahzad.

Pretty disturbing stuff.

[Old and In the Way]

3. Thanks for the link.

I read that sad story about Shahzad last night. It does reinforce the idea that Pakistan is a country with schizoid tendencies and cross purposes at the highest level of government. Excellent insight on how truly scary a nuclearized Pakistan is in this region with multiple conflicts and tensions existing between India, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq.

[MADem]

4. Yep. And 'schizoid' does sum them up.

You never know who's who, and with what crew they align themselves.