4 ms·

there's a long history of a sort of multi-faced foreign policy pursued by the disparate factions that exist amongst pakistani leadership. from the ISI to the mi

there's a long history of a sort of multi-faced foreign policy pursued by the disparate factions that exist amongst pakistani leadership. from the ISI to the military to the various political parties, there's just many folks who each have their own set of priorities. surely some of them were friendly to UBL, and they believed could be set as a tool against India, and other regional powers (cf mumbai and illyas kashmiri). your best source of information on the byzantine warren of pak politics is the indomitable professor chris fair of georgetown university, whose twitter is here: https://twitter.com/CChristineFair https://twitter.com/CChristineFair and of course the by-now-standard literature of looming tower / ghost wars / &c.

balladeer 10y ago
I hope you were being sarcastic when you mentioned that Twitter account. But then the structure of your comment really leaves a lot to be desired. If I have to go by that Twitter feed it sounds more like coming from s certain gentleman named Zaid Hamid from Pakistan.
- SocksCanClose 10y ago
  mention it to him next time you see him in person and see what happens. be prepared @balladeer, -- he might deny it!
cderwin 10y ago
It's also worth noting that the Pakistani military/ISI are not under the control of the democratic government, even today (and much more so in the mid-to-late 90's)
dfc 10y ago
I dont share the other commenter's criticism of the structure of your comment, but I have to admit to being a little unimpressed with the twitter suggestion. The US/Pakistan relationship is something that I find very interesting and confusing. Maybe the most recent tweets are not indicative of the normal quality? You have to hope that the linked twitter account is not the best source out there. The books you mentioned are certainly part of the standard literature as far as Af-Pak politics goes, but they say little to nothing about the India/Pakistan relationship or the multitude of Pakistan's domestic conflicts.
- sremani 10y ago
  Dr. Fair is an interesting character, she is well versed in Urdu and Punjabi and has travelled Pakistan. Probably few people in US who knows Pakistan very intimately. She is not a political scientist but I think she is into studying languages. Many policy makers including State department do not have depth, at least are more exposed to English press in foreign countries which tend to be "liberal" than their native counterparts, ex. Al Jazeera English is not as loco as Al Jazeera Arabic. So, they get a filtered liberal view, Dr. Fair was able to access the "Greenbook" that military publication by Pak Army for Pak Army consumption, and translate it, and there are major major gaps between the narrative told to the state department vs, what Pakistani Generals and Cadre are talking among themselves. To dismiss Dr. Fair as some kind of wing-nut, conspiracy theorist (say Zaid Hamid) is insane. You may disagree with her conclusions, but that woman has put some major major work in the field. She has become such a threat that she was banned from entering Pakistan and one General actually threatened her with Gang Rape (according to her).
  - dfc 10y ago
    "To dismiss Dr. Fair as some kind of wing-nut...is insane." Lucky me, I gave you no reason to doubt my sanity? I think you replied to the wrong comment.
  - SocksCanClose 10y ago
    rumor has it she told the general she didn't think he would be able to perform.
- SocksCanClose 10y ago
  giving an in-depth af/pak primer would not help because most here on hn lack context. plus, if i were to recommend carlotta, or haqqani, or some such i would be accused of any number of biases. best to just give intro books and let the motivated readers dig through the footnotes and explore on their own.
  - dfc 10y ago
    Intro books != the standard literature? But more importantly there is more to Pakistani politics than the Af/Pak conflict. I dont understand why you continue to equate af/pak with the entirety of "the byzantine warren of pak politics."
GFK_of_xmaspast 10y ago
Here's a recent tweet from that person: Christine Fair ‏@CChristineFair 9h9 hours ago The more I learn about ISIS...the more I love battlefield nuclear weapons.

balladeer 10y ago

I hope you were being sarcastic when you mentioned that Twitter account. But then the structure of your comment really leaves a lot to be desired. If I have to go by that Twitter feed it sounds more like coming from s certain gentleman named Zaid Hamid from Pakistan.

SocksCanClose 10y ago
mention it to him next time you see him in person and see what happens. be prepared @balladeer, -- he might deny it!

cderwin 10y ago

It's also worth noting that the Pakistani military/ISI are not under the control of the democratic government, even today (and much more so in the mid-to-late 90's)

dfc 10y ago

I dont share the other commenter's criticism of the structure of your comment, but I have to admit to being a little unimpressed with the twitter suggestion. The US/Pakistan relationship is something that I find very interesting and confusing. Maybe the most recent tweets are not indicative of the normal quality? You have to hope that the linked twitter account is not the best source out there. The books you mentioned are certainly part of the standard literature as far as Af-Pak politics goes, but they say little to nothing about the India/Pakistan relationship or the multitude of Pakistan's domestic conflicts.

sremani 10y ago
Dr. Fair is an interesting character, she is well versed in Urdu and Punjabi and has travelled Pakistan. Probably few people in US who knows Pakistan very intimately. She is not a political scientist but I think she is into studying languages. Many policy makers including State department do not have depth, at least are more exposed to English press in foreign countries which tend to be "liberal" than their native counterparts, ex. Al Jazeera English is not as loco as Al Jazeera Arabic. So, they get a filtered liberal view, Dr. Fair was able to access the "Greenbook" that military publication by Pak Army for Pak Army consumption, and translate it, and there are major major gaps between the narrative told to the state department vs, what Pakistani Generals and Cadre are talking among themselves. To dismiss Dr. Fair as some kind of wing-nut, conspiracy theorist (say Zaid Hamid) is insane. You may disagree with her conclusions, but that woman has put some major major work in the field. She has become such a threat that she was banned from entering Pakistan and one General actually threatened her with Gang Rape (according to her).
- dfc 10y ago
  "To dismiss Dr. Fair as some kind of wing-nut...is insane." Lucky me, I gave you no reason to doubt my sanity? I think you replied to the wrong comment.
- SocksCanClose 10y ago
  rumor has it she told the general she didn't think he would be able to perform.
SocksCanClose 10y ago
giving an in-depth af/pak primer would not help because most here on hn lack context. plus, if i were to recommend carlotta, or haqqani, or some such i would be accused of any number of biases. best to just give intro books and let the motivated readers dig through the footnotes and explore on their own.
- dfc 10y ago
  Intro books != the standard literature? But more importantly there is more to Pakistani politics than the Af/Pak conflict. I dont understand why you continue to equate af/pak with the entirety of "the byzantine warren of pak politics."

GFK_of_xmaspast 10y ago

Here's a recent tweet from that person: Christine Fair ‏@CChristineFair 9h9 hours ago The more I learn about ISIS...the more I love battlefield nuclear weapons.