Apologise For What?

There are many things that David Cameron should apologise for, but stating the obvious about Pakistan's support for the Taliban is not one of them.

In fact, Cameron dramatically understates the case against the jihadist state. The evidence of Pakistan's double game is so overwhelming that it is impossible to discuss it in full in a single blog post, but here are a few recent examples:

- A study by Matt Waldman, a Harvard researcher whose research is published by the London School of Economics, suggests that President Asif Ali Zardari made a secret visit to Taliban prisoners in a Pakistani prison to arrange their release earlier this year. "Reportedly, he told them they were arrested because he was under a lot of pressure from the Americans and that, 'you are our people, we are friends, and after your release we will of course support you to do your operations.'"

- Furthermore, "up to seven of the 15-man war council (shura) of the Taliban are said to be Pakistani intelligence agents."

- Prior to his death at the hands of the Americans last year, Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was able to evade capture for a long time because he had friends in Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency, according to a Newsweek report.

- A special report in the New York Times in 2008 highlighted the support for the Taliban among Pakistani intelligence. Particularly revealing of the double game - that is, telling the Americans one thing and then doing the opposite - is this extract from an interview with a Taliban leader who was being completely ignored, apparently deliberately, by Pakistani law enforcement that claimed to oppose him:

So here was Namdar — Taliban chieftain, enforcer of Islamic law, usurper of the Pakistani government and trainer and facilitator of suicide bombers in Afghanistan — sitting at home, not three miles from Peshawar, untouched by the Pakistani military operation that was supposedly unfolding around us.

What’s going on? I asked the warlord. Why aren’t they coming for you?

“I cannot lie to you,” Namdar said, smiling at last. “The army comes in, and they fire at empty buildings. It is a drama — it is just to entertain.”

Entertain whom? I asked.

“America,” he said.