Ride The Strong Horse

Two more Taliban leaders arrested in Pakistan.  Let's give props to Obama's long awaited decision to commit more troops to the region:

KABUL, Afghanistan — Two senior Taliban leaders have been arrested in recent days inside Pakistan, officials said Thursday, as American and Pakistani intelligence agents continued to press their offensive against the group’s leadership after the capture of the insurgency’s military commander last month.

...The arrests were made by Pakistani officials, the Afghans said, but it seemed probable that C.I.A. officers accompanied them, as they did in the arrest of Mr. Baradar. Pakistani officials declined to comment.

...

The arrests — all three in Pakistan — demonstrate a greater level of cooperation by Pakistan in hunting leaders of the Afghan Taliban than in the eight years of war. American officials have complained bitterly since 2001 that the Pakistanis, while claiming to be American allies and accepting American aid were simultaneously providing sanctuary and assistance to Taliban fighters and leaders who were battling the Americans across the border.

...

It is still far from clear, but senior commanders in Afghanistan say they believe that the Pakistani military and intelligence agencies, led by Gens. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Ahmed Shuja Pasha, may finally be coming around to the belief that the Taliban — in Pakistan and Afghanistan — constitute a threat to the existence of the Pakistani state.

“I believe that General Kayani and his leaders have come to the conclusion that they want us to succeed,” a senior NATO officer in Kabul said.

I doubt they would be as inclined to back American success if we were backing away from the region.

I am surprised by this next bit, but who knows?

A senior United States official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the arrest of the two shadow governors was unrelated to Mr. Baradar’s capture.

Baradar was the Taliban commander whose capture was recently reported by the Times.

MORE: Former jarhead turned NY Times reporter C. J. Chivers (bio) covers a platoon under sniper fire in Af ghanistan.

Comments

[Madrassah overfloweth.]

Attacking the power in the military was a bridge too far, it seems.
==================================

[Jane]

It is still far from clear, but senior commanders in Afghanistan say they believe that the Pakistani military and intelligence agencies, led by Gens. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Ahmed Shuja Pasha, may finally be coming around to the belief that the Taliban — in Pakistan and Afghanistan — constitute a threat to the existence of the Pakistani state.

I don't buy. And I want to know what the pay-off was.

[daddy]

Just FYI

Am in Indy with the radio headsets on listening to a local lefty talk show. (am 1310 Afternoons with Amos)

Callers, guest and host are furious with Bayh and his wife. Some lady who ordered some protest today outside some local Medical Insurance Agency is saying how Bayh's wife was able to buy stock in a company she represented at 1/3rd the cost of the stock, and then immediately turn it over for huge cash gains. This lady said she had talked to the Bayh's about it before and that they responded that it had no influence whatever on his voting since the Bayh's had decided not to talk about it, so that he wouldn't act in a way to enhance his personal interest. The guest didn't believe it at all, and callers as far as I can tell have thrown Bayh under the bus. Current topic is the profits of Well Point, some Insurance Company, and a lefty State Representative is currently hollering about the Fed's not passing Health Care.

[narciso]

More commentary on the subject from a favored
source, in the LUN

[daddy]

Susan Bayh is a representative or worker of this Well Point Insurance company. Callers are livid because they are saying Well Point just made 1 Billion in profits, and that is the stock that she gets at 1/3rd the cost and immediately increases in value by 2/3rds. They have thrown Susan Bayh under the bus as well. So in the 15 minutes I've heard so far, she is being hammered by a State Dem Representative, by the host, by an organizer of a Well Point protest, and by the callers.

Haven't read any news at all today and hope this is not redundant. Will try to catch up now.

[Jack is Back!]

daddy,

Don't get so distracted by finding a left wing radio station in the heartland and overshoot Indy:)

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

Payoff was probably money or power to the cooperator/s, Jane. This is not unusual in counterinsurgency operations, or in general operations in Indo-Asian countries. They have a different view of bribery than we (fastidious westerners) do.

(Although Chicago, Boston and New York have been known to operated this way for a hundred or so years).

[Jane]

Jim,

Yeah I know about the cultural differences, but my guess is there was more than the standard payoff involved. It seems an awful big catch for business as usual. We'll see.

[matt]

in her defense, she probably has options, and that is the way they work at Wellpoint or anywhere else. her conflicts of interest are a separate subject.

maybe her sister in law, Cokie Roberts, can investigate and get back to us.

[Ignatz]

--in her defense, she probably has options, and that is the way they work at Wellpoint or anywhere else. her conflicts of interest are a separate subject--

I think the issue was his conflict of interest which the Bayhs claimed, improbably, didn't exist because he didn't talk to her about serving on the Wellpoint board and making $350,000 a year off of it.
Apparently she serves on a dozen or so boards but of course none of those gigs are related to her being married to a senator.

[Steve C.]

Based on the history of our relationship with Pakistan since the 1970s, one can safely conclude that whatever was involved, the Pakistanis probably got more out of it than we did.

[anduril]

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