Pakistan confirms Taliban 'number two' arrested

[pampango]

Source: BBC

Pakistan has confirmed that a Taliban suspect captured earlier this month is one of the organisation's top leaders, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. The news of his arrest came as Nato forces and Afghan troops are conducting a major offensive against the Taliban in southern Helmand province, an area Mullah Baradar is believed to have been responsible for.

A military spokesman said the delay in confirmation had been due to "detailed identification procedures". But a Taliban spokesman has said Mullah Baradar, thought to be their second-in-command, is free and in Afghanistan.

There was no confirmation from Pakistani officials that it had been a joint US-Pakistani operation that netted the man thought to have been running the Taliban's military operations in Afghanistan.

The arrest suggests Pakistan is getting tough with Afghan Taliban leaders sheltering there, says the BBC's Orla Guerin in Islamabad, something that has long been a demand of the White House. It could also put pressure on other Taliban leaders to enter into talks with the Afghan government and coalition forces, something Mullah Baradar is believed to favour, our correspondent says.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8519354.stm

[ixion]

1. *yawn*

They've arrested "number two" and "number three" and "high-level" Taliban people for years now. Over and over and over and so on.

It serves no purpose other than to support rationales for rising New World Police State.

[Jamastiene]

2. Well said.

:thumbsup:

[Mari333]

3. yep. this is no 2 times 1000

the longer we occupy countries, the more people hate us and the more 'insurgents' we create.
when will we ever learn?

[Robb]

6. You're confusing Taliban with Al Qaeda. nt

[ixion]

9. no, I'm not

but nice try. :)

[Robb]

12. Actually you are.

I'm not aware of "lots" of Taliban #2's arrested over the years. I know of one so-called, several years ago. Lots of AQ, for sure.

Care to try to back up your assertion? Or just admit you're conflating the two to advance your own agenda? :D

[ixion]

15. My 'agenda'? I have no agenda. The answer to your question is as easy as a google search

this is from 2006 thru 2009.

http://news.google.com/archivesearch?pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=taliban+leader+captured&cf=all&sugg=d&sa=N&lnav=d0&as_ldate=2006&as_hdate=2009&ldrange=1990%2C2005



A top Taliban leader captured, Pakistan says
San Francisco Chronicle - Feb 12, 2008
Mansoor Dadullah, shown in a video grab, was seized and badly injured near Afghanistan. Image via Reuters. Islamabad, Pakistan — Pakistani authorities said ...
Taliban leader killed in raid - Hindu
Top Taliban Commander Is Captured In Pakistan;... - Washington Post - ProQuest Archiver (Pay-Per-View)
Sydney Morning Herald - 央视国际 - All 89 related - Related web pages

Taliban leader captured in Pakistan - reports
Independent Online - Mar 2, 2007
Islamabad/Kabul - Pakistani security forces have captured a high-ranking Taliban leader in the south-western city of Quetta, a senior Pakistani security ...
Top Taliban leader captured in Pakistan - Taipei Times - Taipei Times
Top Taliban leader captured in Pakistan - PTI - The Press Trust of... - AccessMyLibrary.com (Free with registration)
Independent - Telegraph.co.uk - All 94 related - Related web pages

Key Taliban Leader Captured?
CBS News - May 19, 2006
By Melissa McNamara. CBS News Consultant Jere Van Dyk examines the recent erruption of violence in Afghanistan and why we will see more in the near future. ...
… praises Afghan police, doubts reported capture... - USA TODAY - USA Today
General: Militant May Be Taliban Leader - Washington Post
America's Intelligence... - BreakingNews.ie - All 157 related - Related web pages

Taliban leader captured
Reuters UK - Dec 17, 2009
Jan. 17 - Night-vision device gives a gripping picture of the ferocity of close combat in southern Afghanistan. NATO forces killed several local-level ...
All 128 related - Related web pages

Top Taliban leader captured in Swat

'nuff said.

[Robb]

17. I don't see that "number two" business anywhere.

Nor "number three," for that matter. If you want to hedge, let's hear it.

If you wish to catapult propaganda, you've got to have something to back up your claims. At least when * tied Iraq to Al Qaeda he had some made-up stuff to show.

Please, again: when was the last time a Taliban "Number Two" was captured? I'll give you a hint, there is an answer. And it's not what you're suggesting it is.

[ixion]

18. You accuse me again

of having an agenda or of spreading propaganda, and I'll send it to the mods.

http://news.google.com/archivesearch?q=taliban+number+two+captured&btnG=Search+Archives&ned=us&hl=en&scoring=a

Are you unable to search google? Apparently so.

Do you honestly believe that when they get a "number two" that there is no other person to fill that position?

There will always be another "number two" to capture. That's what makes this so ridiculous.

[Robb]

19. Again, propaganda.

Sorry you don't like the term, but that's exactly what it's called when you spread information -- particularly incorrect or deliberately inaccurate information -- to further an agenda.

Even at your Google link, try as you might, there's nothing about a "number two" Taliban being captured. Lots of Al Qaeda.

You keep repeating the "OMG it's another Taliban #2" notion, which deliberately conflates Al Q and the Taliban to minimize the importance of this capture for whatever agenda you've got. You bet I'll call you on it.

[ixion]

20. Yes, there is... and it's a GOOGLE SEARCH not propaganda

I'm spreading nothing. You asked for links, and I have provided ample in that regard. You're the one with the agenda, not me, sir. Good day.

Top Taliban leader captured in Pakistan
Free with registration - PTI - The Press Trust of India Ltd - AccessMyLibrary.com - Mar 2, 2007
... Mar 2 (PTI) Former Taliban Defence Minister and the number two leader of the ... Akhund was reportedly captured along with Amir Khan Haqqani, a Taliban ...
Pakistani agents interrogate Taliban leader - Sydney Morning Herald

[Robb]

21. I'm pressing you on this because it's important not to spread misinformation.

Your link to the capture of Obaidullah Akhund in '07 is quite close to what you're looking for -- except he's, amusingly, "number 3," in that he reported to Baradar (the fellow we just picked up), and both reported to Mullah Omar.

But none of this supports your post, which I'll remind you of: "They've arrested "number two" and "number three" and "high-level" Taliban people for years now. Over and over and over and so on."

You're deliberately conflating Al Qaeda and the Taliban. I'm curious why, save to diminish the importance of this arrest by trying to lump it in with all the Bush-years "OMG WE GOT BIN LADEN'S SENIOR DEPUTY" nonsense.

Now, why would you want to do that?

(Edited for is/in typo)

[ixion]

22. Because it's exactly the same nonsense

in my opinion. That's why I don't get excited about these things, and why I've been very disappointed with the Obama administration.

I don't believe a war against an abstraction can be won, and yet decades later (in the case of the so-called 'war' on drugs) and nearly a decade later (in the case of WoD's ugly younger brother, the so-called 'war' on terror), we're still 'fighting' these 'wars' that feed into as an echo-chamber-rationale to "stay the course" and so on.

And there is a very, very fine line between what Al Qaida and the Taliban, with a great deal of crossover. And they will most certainly replace any 'number x' with a new person the moment 'x' is arrested or killed, so again, nothing to really get excited about.

It is another arrest|death in an unwinnable 'war' meant primarily to provide an massive revenue stream for the MIC and secure Pax Americana, and having very little to do with actually eliminating 'terror' (an impossible task, at best), by spreading terror.

And if you think the US is not spreading terror all over the Middle East, then I think our perceptions of reality are beyond reconciliation.

[Robb]

23. That's just not accurate.

There is quite a bit of difference between Al Qaeda and the Taliban -- in culture, beliefs, goals, and most saliently structure.

You're describing the cell nature of Al Qaeda, where people "step in" to fill vacuums. It's not the same in the Taliban, this guy actually pulled off something remarkable in uniting the different factions the way he did. He did it with charisma and ruthlessness, as well as being in the right place at the right time -- it would be like managing to organize all the crime syndicates that operate in California into one cohesive group with a shared goal, as well as splitting the proceeds of the various rackets by geography. It's a feat not likely to be repeated.

Not appreciating that, I can see why you dismiss the importance of the arrest. No one is Afghanistan will.

[Cha]

24. Thanks Robb..

For pointing out the difference to those who don't get it willfully or otherwise.

Obama's Class - And Cheney's Classlessness

Isn't it telling that as Cheney spent Sunday morning attacking the president for not being serious about the war on terror (by which he seems to mean solely Obama's refusal to commit war crimes), Biden must have already known about the capture of Mullah Baradar? The administration could have blown Cheney out of the water, but, of course, chose not to.

Why?

Because they are serious about national security and do not put domestic political games before it. Unlike Cheney, who never wasted an opportunity to use a war to score political points at home. In the end, I believe this president's calm and sincere and determined efforts to keep this country safe and to defuse the appeal of Islamist terror will be better understood and appreciated. And that he has done so by adhering to American values will go a long way to repair some small part of the damage Cheney inflicted."

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/02/obamas-class-and-cheneys-classlessness.html

"TOP TALIBAN MILITARY COMMANDER CAPTURED.... Even the most rabid Republican partisans should find it difficult to disparage a success story of this magnitude.

The Taliban's top military commander was captured several days ago in Karachi, Pakistan, in a secret joint operation by Pakistani and American intelligence forces, according to American government officials.

The commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, is an Afghan described by American officials as the most significant Taliban figure to be detained since the American-led war in Afghanistan started more than eight years ago. He ranks second in influence only to Mullah Muhammad Omar, the Taliban's founder and a close associate of Osama bin Laden before the Sept. 11 attacks.

Mullah Baradar has been in Pakistani custody for several days, with American and Pakistani intelligence officials both taking part in interrogations, according to the officials.

It was unclear whether he was talking, but the officials said his capture had provided a window into the Taliban and could lead to other senior officials. Most immediately, they hope he will provide the whereabouts of Mullah Omar, the one-eyed cleric who is the group's spiritual leader.

A former CIA official who led the Obama administration's Afghanistan and Pakistan policy review last year told the NYT that Baradar's capture has the capacity to cripple the Taliban's military operations.

Nearly as important is the shift in Pakistan's approach to the American efforts to combat the Taliban. Not only did Pakistan's intelligence service play a key role in Baradar's capture, but U.S. officials believe senior military leaders in Pakistan "have begun to distance themselves from the Taliban," and have "gradually come around to the view that they can no longer support the Taliban in Afghanistan."

The former CIA official said the successful raid constituted a "sea change in Pakistani behavior."

Spencer Ackerman, who explained the strategic importance of not torturing Baradar, added, "Boy, that Barack Obama sure doesn't know how to deal with terrorism, huh?"

That isn't partisan chest-thumping; it's just reality. Baradar's capture comes just two weeks after U.S. forces took out Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban and extremist with close ties to al Qaeda. In August, Baitullah Mehsud was killed. In September, U.S. forces took out Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, the ringleader of a Qaeda cell in Kenya and one of the most wanted Islamic militants in Africa.

And Republican whining notwithstanding, these successes have come without torture, with civilian trials on U.S. soil for suspected terrorists, and while attempting to close the detention facility at Gitmo.

When it comes to the domestic political divide, only one side inspires confidence on national security and foreign policy, and I'll give you a hint: it's not the Republican Party."

—Steve Benen 8:00 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (27)
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/monthly/2010_02.php

[dipsydoodle]

4. That's an unfortunate turn of phrase.

#2 makes him sound like a piece of shit.

[Robb]

5. He is.

And it's a very, very good capture, although the DU Elevens squad wants to pooh-pooh it.

He's only considered #2 because Mullah Omar is in some serious hiding. Probably dead.

[DCBob]

7. I agree. I think Omar is likely dead and this dude is actually the big kahuna.

Huge development. Is turning point too strong? Maybe not.

[pattmarty]

8. I'll tell ya fucking what, there are an awful lot of "number 2's" and...........

..............."number 3's" in Al Queida and the Talliban. All the two's and three's they have "claimed" to have captured or killed, seems like a couple of hundred easy. What we have been seeing and subjected to for at least since 2001 is the twenty-first century equivalent of "propaganda 2.0".

[Romulox]

10. #2 to Taliban/Al Qaeda = guy with a red shirt in the Star Trek landing party.

or the black guy in any 80s ensemble action cast. :shrug:

[DCBob]

11. Afghan army raises flag on Marjah

Sounds like the Talibangers have been expunged...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100217/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

13. At last, the opium profits won't be flowing to the Taliban

they'll be flowing to Karzai and family, where they rightfully belong.

All is well.

:hi:

[DCBob]

14. I believe that plan is to persuade the poppy farmers to grow a legitimate crop..

with cash payments to help offset the difference in income.

[zonkers]

16. Is he the king of spades or the king of clubs. Oops, wrong war, sorry.