Pak playing double game in anti-terror front: US daily

Pakistan is playing a "double game" by seeking counter-terrorism money in billions from the US and simultaneously providing support to al-Qaeda and Taliban, a leading American daily on Saturday said, asserting that the time has come to "squarely" confront Islamabad.

The Boston Globe said in its lead editorial that the ISI uses jihadist proxies to counter India's influence in Afghanistan. The "puppet show" enables Islamabad to prevent India, Iran and Russia from gaining too much of a foothold there and brings it military aid from the US, the Globe said.

Now that US under the Obama Administration is focusing its energy on Afghanistan, "Pakistan's treacherous double game has to be confronted squarely," the paper said.

Referring to a recent New York Times article which described how secretive S Wing of the ISI provides militant groups with ammunition and fuel for the fight against American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, it said operatives in S Wing also recruit new fighters for the Taliban from radical madrasas inside Pakistan.

Not only this, ISI personnel help those groups with strategic planning, even counselling them when to step up and when to gear down their operations, it said.

"The bad news is that no matter how vehemently US officials complain to their Pakistani counterparts, nothing much changes," said the Globe.

Charging that the ISI goes on using Islamist militants as proxies because Pakistan's national-security establishment views them as an indispensable asset, the editorial said ISI's jihadist proxies are meant to counter India's influence in Afghanistan.

"The ISI's puppet show in Afghanistan enables Pakistan to prevent not only India but also Iran and Russia from gaining too much of a foothold in Afghanistan. The double game also brings Pakistan USD 1 billion a year in military aid from the United States," it said.

"This is how the game works: The army and the ISI hunt down al-Qaeda figures for the United States and have no compunctions about striking hard against Islamist radicals who want to seize power in Pakistan," it said, adding these actions make Pakistan a valued US ally in the war on terror.

The Globe said Pakistan has an interest in keeping the jihadist pot boiling in Afghanistan. "As long as the Taliban and kindred groups are in the field, American military aid continues coming in, and India is kept at bay," it said and went on to say that this game inflicts great harm on Afghanistan and its other neighbours.