WHO'S ZOOMIN' WHO? With all due respect to Brothers Rob and Spencer, I think the more operative question is not one of "where al-Qaeda has made its most serious human capital investments," but rather, from where outside its own ranks does al-Qaeda draw expertise and logistical aid? Like its compatriots in the Taliban, it's almost certain that al-Qaeda's bench is deep with advisers from the feared Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, a Pashtun stronghold that has never truly submitted to the command of the nation's leaders. Today, on NPR's "Morning Edition," intelligence reporter Mary Louise Kelly reported from Islamabad this account of her meetings with ISI officials, who are currently under suspicion of tipping off Taliban fighters to the movements of U.S. troops. Anyone who has dared to peek under these covers has held such suspicions since the days just after 9/11, when then-ISI Director Mahmood Ahmed was tasked with convincing the Taliban to give up Osama bin Laden; instead, it appears, he urged Mullah Omar to resist the coming U.S. assault. (Depending on what details Mahmood knew of that assault, one can't help but wonder if maybe a can of Tora Bora brand beans were spilt.) Pakistani dictator Gen. Pervez Musharraf was then compelled to fire Ahmed (allegations had also surfaced that he had a role in the 9/11 plot), which the general did at some peril, considering that Ahmed was the guy who orchestrated the coup that brought Musharraf to power. Ya following me?
--Adele M. Stan
